Modric. Again.

Late last night I was drowning in delusions and denial. We all speculated and attempted to work through the Dail Mail 'exclusive' concerning several paragraphs worth of quotes directly from Luka Modric via his holiday boat, very politely informing us of his ambitious plans to leave us for another that can offer him an immediate challenge in the top tier.

As much as it pains me, deep down, we all know footballers are hardly loyal to the club they play for unless said club is giving them exactly what their heart desires. The likes of Giggs and Scholes never looked to move. But then they were products of Man Utd and have played through one of the most successful periods for a club in modern times that any player could ever wish to be a part of.

Other successful players (i.e. Ronaldo) enjoy their success then want to move on for something different for a number of reasons (lifestyle, new league, new challenge, more money).

Then you have the clubs that are not quite top tier, but wish to be. The problem is said club (us) ends up being nothing more than a stepping stone simply due to the fact that even though we might be confident to challenge again for a Champions League spot next season we'll have to wait for the season after to be involved in it. Patience is not a virtue most players possess. Perhaps they look at their peers, believe themselves to be as good if not better and question why they're sitting amongst the chasing pack rather than in the leading pack. Not an excuse, it's a harsh fact. As much as we kid ourselves that some players are different, they all want to play at the very top.

I tend to wish (dream) that they can see the bigger picture. Spurs are trying to build something, create history and perhaps become a permanent fixture in the top four. We'll be the ones forever plucking the cream of the crop from whatever team(s) fall out of their lofty positions. And that's the crux of it. We look at it from the clubs perspective as fans. Fans who will always be here. Unlike players that come and go. They tend to look at what the club can give to them from a personal perspective.

Modric has a winners mentality. He wants to win. Sadly, much like so many of his peers, he might not want to be part of a team building up to something rather just move into one that has already been completed.

You would wish for Modric to wake up and smell the rose of our reality that can allow for his destiny to be one of far greater value in terms of allowing him to gain the success he aspires to and fulfil our ambitions as supporters. If it wasn't for dropped points here and dropped points there perhaps a more clinical finish or control of the ball or the right pass instead of one a yard off...we'd have finished 4th. Or higher. There's a fine line at work.

Our failure last season is one of a collective responsibility. So I guess what with recently signing a new and improved contract (5 years left?) Luka should have perhaps looked at how the Prem played out, how close we actually were and simply worded his 'exclusive' to be more of a challenge (a throw of a gauntlet) to the chairman in terms of matching his ambitions.

'Prove to me how ambitious Tottenham are'

Instead we got a rather apologetic thanks but please please please let me go. Which I guess is better than a sulk and a strike.

Fact is the club has to now show its ambition by signing the players that will aid us with pushing onwards, to galvanise the squad further. To truly show our unity and that we are here to stay to continue to dick off the media and the clubs that enjoy looking down and bullying us every summer.

Levy's statement was powerful. It's one thing telling interested clubs sniffing around Luka to go away, it's another to inform them and the world that there is next to no chance of him being sold. For any price. Now my thinking has been that we would play a game, one that Levy is pretty much the master of. Deflect and manipulate the situation to our favour to maximise a potential transfer fee. Have the likes of Chelsea breaking British transfer records (again) to sign him.

Remember this concerning Berbatov and Keane?

"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence.

This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively" - Daniel Levy

Difference? I guess two things. Contract length and the fact that today isn't yesterday. Where we currently in terms of position as a squad means that if we don't fight to retain the spine of our team then the message to the squad and everyone else is that if you want to push us over go ahead. We'll stumble and fall and pick ourselves up. Then you can wait. Then push us over again.

I know it's dangerous committing yourself to words that never speak louder than actions, but when you read the statement from the chairman it's abundantly clear to me that Daniel Levy has supreme confidence that there is utterly not a chance in hell the player will be sold or bother to continue to engineer a fruitless move away. It's worth repeating.

Which means this is end game. Final boss defeated. No lives lost.

So what now? I said yesterday that what happens post-Daily Mail article would be important to how things shape up for THFC and the player. Levy has done his bit. It's now over to Luka Modric. We still don't know how the events leading up to yesterdays bombshell came about. Perhaps it was as simple as agent/player using the media to pressure the club into accepting talks with Chelsea. Someone pointed out to me the timing of the statement. Why had Levy waited to inform us about rejecting the bid post-bombshell? I guess I would have done that. Makes you look even more kick-ass, standing in the face of adversity and sticking up two fingers.

Rooney was practically done and dusted at Utd before he signed a new contract there. Some took a while to forgive him. Seems like a ploy in hindsight, a stupid one, to earn more money. Modric was ill advised and naive to do what he did. It's happened but I'm not going to allow any part of my heart to darken over it. He's just a player that plays for my team. This has always been about intent to finally buck the trend. Modric on the pitch in Lilywhite epitomises what is so great about supporting Spurs at this moment in time. We can't allow a key player to leave.

I will just have to readjust my expectations of footballers and remember they are not Tottenham Hotspur. We are, the fans. If we happen to balls up next season, then next summer will be grim. But we're not going to balls it up and this summer will be looked back on as the turning point.

So Luka. Man up and send Daniel a box of chocolates and a card. Because he's the daddy.

Kick it out? Sadly not

No place for racism in football. And homophobia. No place for it in any walk of life.

Read this earlier today: http://www.kickitout.org/news.php/news_id/4742

It irks me that Kick It Out have latched onto this 'story', considering that song and those charges were laughed at by a judge and thrown out of court because there was no case to answer for. You'd have missed that if you are a Daily Mail reader. In fact most of the tabloids were happy to post photos of the Spurs fans wanted for questioning but hardly reported on the fact that the two people (a father and son) who refused to accept the charges and fought on, won the day in the end. Not newsworthy enough for the agenda-obsessed media to print that as a follow-up with as much coverage as the initial witch-hunt.

Okay, that doesn't make much sense in context of the article linked above. I'm in full support of their (Kick it Out) campaign and awareness drive and I guess using the content they've used in their news article helps them raise some publicity and serves as a reminder for anyone who is stupid enough to consider doing anything stupid not to do it.

Let me explain my irkness.

It's Spurs who are saying they wont tolerate 'racist' abuse. But then Spurs and every club in the country don't and shouldn't tolerate this type of abuse, so its business as usual, no? The Daily Mail's report on this simply quotes a Spurs spokesmen talking about the NLD being high category and that there will be a police presence - no different to any other big game. Spurs are being sensitive to the potential hellmouth of bad publicity and will no doubt be relentless in removing anyone who over-steps the mark - which they have my full support of doing. No doubt one or two people might be removed for not over-stepping the mark, simply because the abuse is directed at a particular person out on the pitch. It's a thin line.

The usual propaganda rhetoric clouding the reality of the situation. There is sadly plenty of racism in football, but hardly any of it is ever directed 'him'.

Campbell is a liar, an ego-drunkard and a fantasist living in a Walter Mitty universe where he believes he has done no wrong and is above terrace chanting. I don't agree with the ambiguity 'that' particular song carries simply because its used by him and others as ammunition to deflect attention away and back on the 'bitter' fans who will never forget. It's a crude song, and it's embarrassing. You're asking for trouble if you sing it. Thankfully it's always been a minority. But ironically, a judge didn't deem it offensive. Which paints a picture of much confusion.

If you take yourself back to the very very first occasion he returned to WHL for the scum, after the game, he accused us of abusing him because of the colour of his skin. Us, Spurs fans, black and white on and off the pitch, racists - according to him. Yes, that's why we hate you Sol. Because you're black and not because you're a treacherous Judas (*sigh*). One or two radio presenters - one an ex-player and the same colour as Campbell laughed at this when it was once more repeated a few years back. But that's all nothing more than minor details lost in the sea of delusion that our protagonist is swimming in.

Somehow him swapping Lilywhite for period red was 'ok' in his books. He actually believes we owe him our blessing. He is actually angered by OUR reaction to him. Which is only going to incite our fans telling him exactly how we feel at every opportunity. Many of us have never let go. Something he hasn't done either.

If fans want to shout and scream at him, they should. Not because we still have sleepless nights about his crime. I don't. It was so long ago. But if screaming non-racist and non-homophobic abuse at him 'gets him rattled' then go for it. We do it to John Terry. Lampard. Bellamy etc etc.

There are plenty more footballers out there who are victims of torrents of abusive screams. Just ask Steven Gerrard and the welcome he gets from the Everton faithful. But he just gets on with it. Just ask Arsene Wenger. And yet there is Campbell, unique and special, forever bringing it to everyone's attention when perhaps if he acted the man and ignored it we wouldn't be talking about it.

And there you go. I always promise myself to ignore this bullshit and yet still end up having to jot a few thoughts down. Soz. I can't help but react to the Daily Mail.

Kick it out? Sadly not. We have to wait for him to retire first.

Back on topic tomorrow. FA Cup semi-final preview which then takes us nicely into next week and the NLD followed by another derby against that little club from Fulham.

I wonder how much press coverage this will get?

You'll have seen this already on one or two message boards and a few blogs. It deserves all the coverage it can get. Remember the Spurs fans who had their faces plastered all over the press and Crimestoppers for allegedly singing indecent chants at the Pompey v Spurs game?

The likes of the Daily Mail and other tabloids had no qualms about going to town in true sensationalist tabloid hack fashion (with obvious support from the police). The assumption being they must surely all be guilty so plaster their faces all over the front page and villianise them before they have a chance of proving otherwise.

Well done to Ian Trow for standing his ground:

9 months to the day, the CCTV images of 16 Spurs supporters were distributed by the police to all national media, and these images were placed in all papers, and on front page of Crimestoppers next to the likes of murderers and drug dealers.

For the first time in the 9 months since I woke up in a hotel in Germany and saw my face and that of my 13 year old son on the TV screen we can now hold our heads up high, having been proved innocent of all charges.

I cannot go into full detail, as we will be bringing civil action (certainly on behalf of Lewis, as I can get all costs covered under Legal Aid) against the police / CPS for the damages their total negligence and lack of due care caused.

In summary though

In December 11 of the 16 people identified themselves to the police (including a 13 and 2 15 year old boys), and were all charged with engaging in racist or indecent chanting.

In February 4 of these people pleaded guilty the other 7 not guilty. The difference is the 4 were singing the Sol Sol song which certainly is indecent. The other 7 were singing songs such as "We've got Ledley at the back".

These 7 people were then banned by Tottenham under the premise that we had been arrested and that contravened the terms of our season ticket (the fact that we had not been found guilty was irrelevant).

Early May all 7 people were offered cautions, as they had not been singing indecent songs, 5 took what I would call the easy route out and accepted the caution, I decided to uphold my principles and decided I have done nothing wrong so why should me and my son admit any form of guilt (which in effect is what a caution does). The police then offered to drop all charges against me if I would get my son to accept a reprimand (they were obviously scared of future repercussions by my son) I rejected this out of principal as well.

Middle of May, the 2 of us went to trial at Portsmouth Magistrates Court and despite there being no evidence to support the charge brought against us we were found guilty basically by association of singing indecent songs, i.e. we can prove bad songs were sung, we can prove you were at the ground, therefore we assume you were singing these songs.
My legal counsel advised me afterwards that this was always going to be the case, it was purely a show trial, in front of national media (invited by the Police). We were given a 3 year Football Banning Order.

Yesterday we had a full re-trial at Portsmouth Crown Court in front of the most senior judge in Hampshire, but I was quite surprised no media was present. The prosecution showed their evidence, to which the judge said "Is that it". We asked for immediate dismissal of the case (before we even had the chance to put our defence case) and after 2 minutes of deliberation the judge that came back and said, "Not guilty, no case to answer and that is totally unanimous of us all and you can tell by the time it it took it was not a hard decision". The judge then ripped into the CPS that this had been brought into his courtroom, and even been tried in the first case.

All costs have been awarded to me, football banning orders lifted etc.

I have been in touch with the club and expect to hear early next week that the season tickets will be returned.

I would like to thank my family, friends, fellow supporters who have supported me in this, and also the Tottenham Trust who gave some invaluable advise and have been in contact with Spurs during the whole scenario.

I am writing this with a sore head (as you can imagine I celebrated hard last night) and with a big :) on my face. I will be going into Tottenham for a few (or maybe more than a few) drinks today, as I am now allowed back into the borough of Haringey on match-days, although I do not have ticket for match.

Thanks for the support
Ian Trow

COYS

Hopefully the club will have a few words of support on this matter too. The whole sorry affair proves how superficial the media are (we all know how they work and what sells papers so it's no real shock), how easily influenced the police are and how the complaintent's quest for what he perceived as undeniable justice can be steam-rolled into a witch-hunt just to appease his ego.

Another mid-table finish, so says Piers

The latest from the Daily Fail. Piers Morgan has made some predictions about the Prem season ahead. Here's the one he's made about us:

11 Spurs will get off to a flying start and I’ll start getting the usual crowing cockerel texts and emails from my chortling White Hart Lane pals. Then they’ll hit a blip, Harry Redknapp will announce his pet dog could score easier than Defoe and Crouch, Robbie ‘kiss the badges’ Keane will leave for another ‘dream’ club and they’ll end up mid-table, like they always do.

Get the usual crowing cockerel text messages? Yes, very good Piers. Thing is, your Tottenham mates will be there to answer the phone and stand up and listen to your abuse, as opposed to disappearing off the face of the earth, which is what you insufferable melters do when things turn to shit.

Still, at least he admits that Arsenal do not have a squad with the physical or mental strength to seriously challenge for trophies. Depressing, is barely the word for it, he says.

Welcome back to the real world. Don't go getting knocked out of the Champions League now.

Should footballers be compared to a postman, mechanic or office worker?

Ok, this is going to be shortish and sweet. Drunk, tired and emotional so I'll probably read this back tomorrow and wonder what the hell I was jabbering on about.

Question: Should footballers be compared to a postman, mechanic or office worker?

If you work for a company and another firm comes along and headhunts you, offering a bumper pay rise to join their venture (which might also include the odd trip to the continent) you'd probably take the job.

More money = better quality of life.

There's no doubt this applies in modern day football, you'd be naive to think otherwise. But it's not the same thing and in some circumstances players turn their heads away from a true challenge and follow the money even if the true challenge still offers an amazing wage and far more prestige.

That happens back in real life too, but with the greatest respect to any football writer who seems to think its fine for players to do this because the ordinary man in the street would do the same thing, the reason why its ok for a postman or a mechanic to leave their work place for the opportunity of earning more money elsewhere is because they're not on that much to start with.

Some people would much prefer not to work at all. It's not like work for most is the highlight of their day. Its an unavoidable inconvenience. It's not rock'n'roll. It's a job, 9 to 5, bane of our lives. And if we exel we might earn a promotion but if we can't go any further in the company hierarchy we look to move on to another work place so we can progress further and earn more money.

But an average footballer, even the ones in the lower leagues, bring home thousands per week and drive around in plush sports cars. These are the ones you might laugh at for being shit or journeymen. Professionals that are not on top of their game. Bit like a postman who fails to deliver all his letters.

I'm not saying players shouldn't strive to get the most out of a billion-pound industry and maybe I'm the one being naive in thinking that there is still an ounce of loyalty left out there, a little slice of romance, in that us fans - the true bread and butter of this great game - are at times the only ones who truly love the game for what it its meant to be loved for. The football.

And the players, the lucky sonsofbitches who get to wear shirts with badges we worship become more and more detached with the bloke in the stands. You know, the postmen and mechanics and office workers who give up their Saturday afternoon to go through emotional upheavel as they cheer on their team. Because for us we don't have the luxury of ridiculous wages to comfort us in defeat.

Seriously, 100K per week? Do they even know how lucky and blessed they are? They play football for a sodding living, ffs.

As a fan, if someone came along and offered you 200K to change your team loyalty you wouldn't do it, would you? Would a Newcastle fan change his allegiance to Sunderland? Would I change my team from Tottenham to Arsenal? Of course not. I'd rather chop my balls off and watch rats feast on them (I have big balls) than have anything to do with them lot.

There is so much money in the game that whilst fans chase the dream, the players chase signing-on fees. I know what you're going to say. It's still their livelihood. One that involves playing football. No Microsoft Office or spanners or mailbags. Kicking a ball and being idolised. Their careers don't last for that long in some cases. Their form might dip or they might suffer a career-threatening injury. So money is important. If football generates millions then they deserve to earn a fair percentage of it.

But that's not the crux of it, is it?

Football is a religion to most who follow it. It just feels that we're giving all our money to tv evangelists who don't care about anything other than their fat wallets and getting their leg over (Yes I know this is a broad stereotype and doesn't apply to all).

Without us the game wouldn't exist and there are still plenty of millionaire footballers out there who do care as much as the fans do. But the culture of money and greed is one that is slowly eating away at the game.

And with the FA (39th game) and billionaire owners and football agents it's not something we can stop.

So, to answer my question - if I suddenly handed in my notice at work my work colleagues would be happy for me if I was moving onto a new job and doubling my wages. Even if it was a rival company. Our customers wouldn't give a toss about me moving on because they won't know I even exist. I'm looking after myself because I'm not accountable to anyone other than my family and my own good self.

I just don't see how this is comparable to millionaire footballers who move on for more millions.

I laughed

The Daily Mail.

Why does one bother? This is from a write-up (slagging off Spurs fans for booing Berbatov):

At half-time, a justly anonymous comedian was brought on. He bellowed a string of dull jibes at Berbatov, each greeted as if he were Tommy Cooper in his prime. It was truly toe-curling. The fact he left White Hart Lane in order to better himself professionally was of no account. Neither was the equally cogent fact Spurs had received some £30million from the transaction.

Right, so going on strike is not something we should hold against him? Or the fact that along with his agent, they constantly used the media to help secure a move with the usual bullshit propaganda. Do one you daft bitter Manc/Chelsea/West Ham/Arsenal fan (delete where appropriate). If you're going to construct an argument, I'd suggest you do your home work on the 'anonymous comedian' who has the fastest selling stand-up debut DVD ever. And as for being greeted as if he was Tommy Cooper, please, don't exaggerate. People laughed out loud, nothing more, nothing less. The only thing that's truly toe-curling is the fact that I've even bothered to highlight this. I'm embarrassed for you and me both.