Lasagne > Fulop

Only Spurs can witness their season end only to have it extended to wait to see if fourth spot translates to Champions League football. No lasagne this time, just Martin Fulop. Would have preferred the lasagne in goal to be honest, stronger backbone.

Mission accomplished then with a top four finish but then not quite job done and not quite what we had planned when you go back to the hedonistic days that came before the month of February. At one point we flirted with a title push. It's been some season. In the end it feels like we've let ourselves down but only because of those standards set early doors. We should have achieved so much more than what we've been left with. What we've been left with ain't too shabby but in context, it's bitter sweet and hard to swallow. What we have is an agonising wait for another football match to play out before we look to book tickets for the continent.

At the very start of the season I'm not sure many believed a top four place was going to be easy to achieve. Remember the back end of last season? Most wanted Harry gone after our league form slumped. Thanks mainly to other teams faltering and us pelting it, you can now nod approvingly to the suggestion that we should have done better because of the position we found ourselves in. But then when you strip away all the hype and you admit to the defiances of the squad, the mismanagement of loaned players along with the variety of outside interference that hogged the headlines from riots to heart operations to court cases to the England job...we've done as good as a team managed by Harry Redknapp can do. He found himself in a position he's never been in before and he fluffed it. A little more bravery and astuteness here or there from the gaffer might have seen us capture the odd lucky point to secure that 3rd spot even with the blip playing out the way it did. The crux is, can he learn from his mistakes at such a grand stubborn age?

No matter our ambitions before the start of the season, we've under achieved when you take into account how much the top tier of the Prem has opened up and invited us in to attack it. We've played some fantastic stuff but we have proved to be a side that only truly works when everyone is available and fit to play. Redknapp struggled too often with the pressures of rotation and tweaking strategy and catering for growth (Bale and the left flank and roaming the perfect example of losing control). Other clubs might complain they had their fair share of injuries and lack of depth issues with squad. Fact is, Harry and the players lacked the guile at vital moments that have proved to be costly. We had a 13 point lead at one point, that's Harry's doing. I'm not ignoring that. But it's also his doing that we lost that lead. I'm also not going to ignore the fact that a few seasons back we finished mid-table below West Ham United. We now compete season in and season out but that cutting edge is still required to make it all a little less nervy. I'm sure we wouldn't be complaining too much about a 4th place finish had Barca had beaten Chelsea in the semi-final. If WBA had a better keeper between the sticks would you have forgiven Harry for all the fluffs? Probably not, right? Because if we had finished in 3rd one point ahead it still doesn't change the fact that we slumped post-Feb. Either way, it's been harder than it should have been. We also lost ownership of a hashtag. The shame.

Still, little old Spurs with their 36k stadium and wage cap are once more sitting in one of the CL places (caveat: German club that needs to do us a favour). Next season we have to be prepared to build on this season's platform keeping in mind that one or two clubs that might believe themselves to have under achieved might come back with less of a brittle spine for the 2013 season. But even if they improve, if we do so to, they'll be worried as much about us as we would be about them.

We need to fix up in key areas during the summer months. Early business and not last minute. Redknapp also has to drop the 'it's as good as we've ever had it' defeatism. Although that's unlikely. He thinks and lives in the short term. Would be nice for him to tell us it's disappointing we've not finished higher and that next season we'll aim to do so. Not likely. But that's the crux of the problem I have with him and his lack of consistency with us. Nobody cares that we sat in mid-table below West Ham four or so seasons back. It's the here and now that matters, the present day. The past is the past and we need to be led into the future with relentless hunger to better ourselves. Aim high. Always aim high.

To do so, little Spurs have to play big. Since our last top four finish we've spent £16M compared to Arsenal (£64.7M), United (£80.3M), Liverpool (£132.9M), Chelsea (£160.4M) and City (£212.7M). Impressive yeah? But we need to do more than just survive in their company. We need to be able to bully them. Get on it Levy.

I'm repeating myself now. Lucky I completed my end of season review ('The regression of Harry Redknapp's Tottenham') already. Everything I've got to say is in there.

I can now look forward to all the ITK nonsense that is about to explode in our faces. I didn't give them much stick last couple of windows so I might need to allow the therapy to consume me as the alternative is to follow England in the Euro's and that is one ugly alternative.

The end of season finale (ep 43) of The Fighting Cock podcast will be recorded on Wed, out Friday.

Onwards.

Is this the bit where I'm meant to brick myself?

Here we go then. This might just be fun. Although if Woolwich are dicking WBA early on, attention will soley be on attaining 4th until we switch onto Champions League final night to discover our fate. A variety of permutations, a textbook Tottenham end to the season. Admit it, there is no other way with us. Get ready to have that heart ripped out of your chest once more. With any luck it will be thrown back in and patched up in time for a post-match drink and smile.

I remember 2006 very well. More than I care to. I was in the depths of my depression at the time and football was key to the pretence I kept up when in public, which was basically only to go to football games or work (before I was signed off for my 'sabbatical'). Something I have joked about since concerning that period of time was the fact that when I returned home from Upton Park having witnessed us puke away our chances of a top four place, I proceeded to eat (a pizza) and later that evening experienced one of the worst bouts of food poisoning I've ever had. Knocked me out for a day. Kick a man when he's down.

No pizza for me this weekend and no Lasagne for Spurs in yet another final day of explosive emotives. Bit different this time round. It's not in our hands like it was that fateful day in 2006. Mind the gap? The gap? We fell into it and even though our olde enemy has given us an unexpected lending hand to lift us back up, we've managed to slap it away more times than I care to mention. Yet they have persisted in attempting to drag us back up. No puke, plenty of choke all round. Everyone wants it, no one is taking it.

No matter how the table looks at full time across the country on Sunday, there has hardly been that much in it across the course of the season. Between all the clubs up there, each one has its own set of unique frailties and strong points. Everyone has work to do in the summer. There might have been a points gap but there is hardly one in terms of quality and application. If there is a single point in it at the very end, you'll wonder about all the disallowed goals and the dropped home points and the unexpected away defeats. But don't bother. Won't change a thing. I can only speak for us and it's been discussed a thousand times, but we've been wasteful aided by a numerous amount of reasons ranging from tactical to outside distractions. It's like any season, there will always be regrets. Much like our competitors will argue the very same thing. Some valuable lessons learnt, 2013 is another season.

For now, all I ask for is a strong Spurs performance and three points. If its meant to be it will be. The irony is not lost that it's Martin Jol returning to the Lane. A man in our hearts, a man with Tottenham in his heart. A man that probably wouldn't share a hug with our chairman any time soon. No Dempsey for them. In addition some very pro-Spurs comments pre-match from big Martin. We're also unbeaten at home for an age in London derby games, and so on. I hate all the build up, it screws with the head. I'll probably gorge on re-heated pizza if we managed to lose and Woolwich dropped points to WBA.

Onwards Spurs. I love you so much you crazy cockerel. Echo of glory please.

Christ, what a season it's been. More of the same next year please, just keep the blips to a minimum. Ta.

A case to change allegiances

A CASE TO CHANGE ALLEGIANCES
By (a somewhat frustrated) Forza Huddlestone

 
A mate here in Florida supports Fulham, which I've never quite understood and he's never listened to my pleas over the years outlining the futility of such a gesture. Fulham is not a team in the Premier League an American would obviously gravitate toward – for that, see Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc. But then, Tottenham isn't a team that has that sort of allure, either.

Or it didn't when I started following them.

That was in the beleaguered last days of Glenn Hoddle, trying to make a team work with players such as Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand and Gus Poyet on their last legs. Make a team work? In those not-so-halcyon days, just not being relegated was a minor feat. I watched my first game in the West Stand, saw Spurs beat West Brom 3-1, heard the Park Lane Stand singing their lungs out and fell in love.

In the time since then, Tottenham found ambition. Or perhaps rediscovered it. We qualified for Europe for the first time in an age, we fired a manager when he looked to be incapable of leading us to the Champions League, we won silverware (the Carling Cup, which to be fair, Birmingham captured this past year so it’s not anything more than a nicety), finished in the top four and finally qualified for the Champions League (where we played in famous glamorous stadia such as the San Siro and Bernabeau). Off the pitch, we shifted our attentions from the NDP across to East London and the OS. Our charming (to us, mostly) White Hart Lane simply isn’t big enough but Stratford will not be our destination with the club looking to make the project in N17 viable.

During this time, the prices of season tickets crept upward. Say this for our chairman, Daniel Levy – he knows how to make a buck (or pound, rather). He also knows we would pay that extra pound(s).

We were sold on the idea we were a big club. We finally broke the hold of the Sky Four and the bank account of Manchester City. Big things are ahead, they claimed, we claimed. Players will clamour to put on a Lilywhite shirt! Glory Glory!

That hasn't quite happened as we drop back into the chasing pack. But then Levy did warns us Champions League would not be a given every single season thanks to the renewed competitiveness of the Prem. But there were more personal reasons for our failure second time round.

The big-time striker never surfaced, whether Harry Redknapp felt we didn't need him, we never seriously tried to land one or we were just inept when the transfer market turned to high stakes. When Tottenham obviously (and desperately) needed a striker last January, Spurs tried to bring in non-striker David Beckham (failed), then in the final days of the window, reportedly threw around big-money bids for players that were never coming to White Hart Lane – Aguero, Rossi, Llorente and the likes.

Rafael Van Der Vaart was our consolation prize.

They say you can't win if you don't try, but...

The season ended with a fifth-place finish, a tiny bit of bitterness after the taste of Champions League ambrosia from the year before. The Europa League beckoned again. Luka Modric, the heart of much of what we do on the pitch, apparently decided he'd rather play for a real “big club.”

We're still no closer to that elusive striker, while trying to convince ourselves that Tottenham is a big club, while the price of my ticket in the East Stand creeps to the four-digit mark. We’re a big club in terms of support. But then one or two others could claim that also.

So my thoughts return to my Fulham-supporting mate. His reason for supporting them are less complicated than mine (his ex-wife's granddad supports them) and he wears his Cottager heart on his sleeve, bless him. (I've offered for years to pay for him to put PANTSIL 4 on the back of one of his shirts and he always refused.)

I have history at Fulham. I remember going to my first game at Craven Cottage and one of my pack sidled up to me as we walked with the supporters through Bishop's Park and said with a grin, “Be prepared to have your breath taken away…with underwhelmedness.” But what the hell, it's a better neighborhood than the N17 to be sure.

I saw the reserves play there when Ledley King was on his way back, after many of us had written him off with arthritic knees (some things will never change).

So why not support Fulham anyway? (Admittedly, I say this from the perspective of a Yank who comes over to see 2-3 games a year, not someone who was brought up watching Hoddle, Lineker and Gazza.) After sitting down and thinking about it, I decided to play around with the idea (not that swapping affiliations is something I’m serious about…but what if for the sake of argument...?).  

I found a few reasons that supporting the Cottagers could/would be appealing. No seriously, I did.

There is no illusion that's you'll ever be a big club.

In a 20-team league, how many “big clubs” can there be? Four, maybe five? This puts Fulham in a difficult spot to ever breathe such rarefied air. Even if they hit a purple patch where everything went right, they'd need to hope not only that one of the big boys stumbled, but that one of the chasing pack weren't prepared to catch them as Tottenham and City were the past two years. Sort of like the golfer in the middle of the pack who shoots a 65 on the final day of the Open – you need to hope that nobody in front of you plays well. In Fulham's terms, that pack includes Spurs, Liverpool and Everton – and at least two of them will be spending money to keep them close.

This is not to say there won't be big moments. Remember, Fulham are two years removed from a ‘European’ Cup final – one of five English teams to do so in this decade, whether Fulham's was a Mickey Mouse cup or not. And unlike Spurs, they do seem to be capable of beating Man United when the mood strikes.

But you wouldn't expect to see, say, Chelsea getting nervous over a trip to the Cottage. Or any other team in England, really.

On the other hand, if you don't have the expectations of being a big club, you won't be let down when you don't become one. Surely that's worth something.

Bluntly speaking, your games are in a better part of London.

You walk through a lovely, leafy park to go to Fulham games. To be polite, Tottenham is not a garden spot. Yes, the Chick King is a fixture, but could you see yourself going there on a day when there wasn't a match?

Fulham has the Thames to admire on a sunny day. Tottenham has pubs that are slightly seedy. As a community, it's a Premier League team away from being Hackney. The toughest thing about the area around Craven Cottage is the crush of supporters trying to make the train at Putney Bridge.

But then, Fulham actually does have an Underground station. Point Fulham.

Big Martin Jol is now managing Fulham.

You remember the big man, don't you? The lovable Dutchman that took Tottenham to European football for the first time in years, then was surplus to requirements when Levy's crack football mind decided he wasn't good enough to get us into the top four? (Where did we finish last season, by the way? Damn that Comolli).

You remember the big man squaring up to Wenger on the touchline, then saying afterwards, “He doesn't know how strong I am.” I've never been so proud to be a Yid.

He's now at Fulham. Judging by some comments on various message boards, he might get a bigger cheer than Harry Redknapp when the two teams meet at White Hart Lane next May. Assuming Redknapp is still at Tottenham, of course.

When has Fulham ever lost a tug-of-war over one of its own players?

These battles to keep players seems to occur with Tottenham every other year, at least. It's not as if Modric was the first. He follows a long distinguished line of players who have used Spurs as a training club before moving on to greener pastures. (Note to the more romantic of supporters: Skip to the next paragraph as the next few sentences will stir bitter memories.) Dimitar Berbatov. Robbie Keane. We couldn't even hang onto Stephen Carr, once upon a time. Since then, Carr has proven to be dogsh*t, but did we know that at the time?

(The “big club” Carr went to so he could win trophies? Newcastle United, speaking of dogsh*t. No offence.)

Notice how you don't see Ferguson bigging up Bobby Zamora the week of the Fulham match, talking about how lovely he'd look in a United shirt. Or Roman Abramovich having Clint Dempsey on his yacht for a few cocktails. Or Jonathan Greening telling the press how Levy promised he would let him go to a big club if an offer ever came in. Yes, they're not up to so-called Tottenham standards, but you know they're going to be there next year.

Who was the last player Fulham lost*? Louis Saha? How many teams has Saha played for since then?

*Yes, okay, Smalling. But that doesn’t fit into the standard template akin to the one at Spurs re: losing players.

Lastly, season tickets are half the price of Tottenham's.

Of course, this doesn't mean as much as it should because Tottenham season tickets generally aren't available unless you already have one. According to seasonticketwaitinglist.com (which might be as useful as redtube.com, you never know), the paid waiting list for a season ticket at Tottenham is more than 30,000 strong. In other words, you could fit the entire waiting list in Craven Cottage and still have about 5,000 left over.

On the other hand, you can get a season ticket at Fulham for as little as ₤379. Or ₤415 will get you a seat in the Hammersmith End, where you can “enjoy the fantastic atmosphere created by the Fulham faithful.” (Insert snarky comment here.)

Say what you want, but ₤415 will only get you halfway to a Spurs season ticket, if that. But then, Spurs season tickets aren't widely available, and the waiting list means Levy and Co. don't really give a toss if you renew anyway. That new stadium so imperative to so many waiting patiently in the wings.

Of course, the natural reaction is to say, “Football isn't about money.” Sort of like Levy tells prospective transfer targets during the window, just before, “Yeah, but we won the double in 1961. Isn't that marvelous?”

Football's not about money? Try telling that to Chelsea or Manchester City. I'm not saying you have to like it, but it's as much a part of the game as Jermain Defoe getting caught offside is.

Having said all this, I'm not sure I have it in me to chuck in my Spurs season 'ticket' card and support Fulham. We (Yanks) are not all akin to Bill Simmons, swapping teams like an American football franchise swaps states. I couldn't possibly look elsewhere. Would doing so mean that I had to disavow the memory of a 5-1 victory over Arsenal at the Lane or the lasting memory of watching Edgar Davids score his only Spurs goal at Wigan? Or even Woodgate's game-winner in the Carling Cup against Chelsea?

Well, no. Memories are forever. Great moments are great moments. They stay with you. Whether you stay with a club is another story. And paying Champions League money for a team that balks at going after Champions League talent might make me think twice.

Besides, I still have a shirt or two bearing Jol's likeness. I wouldn't mind wearing them again. And their  colours aren't that dissimilar to Spurs, at least when they don't have a red away shirt.

On the downside, I would be watching home games – I shuddered just now typing that – at a ground featuring a statue not of a great player in its history (Fulham does have one of those, right?), but of Michael Jackson.

That's probably the point sending me back to N17. And feeling just a little bit like a sucker in doing so.

But hand on heart…all that emotion, anger, disappointment, déjà vu, the head shaking and the air punching I get watching Spurs, the perpetual ‘almost’ team…is what makes supporting them so impossible not to. I’d rather take the pain with the pockets of glory than sitting by the river.

The quiet life is not for me.

Forza Huddlestone has been a season-ticket holder at Tottenham Hotspur since 2006.

A list of things you’ll probably agree with regarding the Spurs/Fulham game

We were hardly at our exciting swashbuckling best
Bit of a snoozefest to be honest (we are spoilt far too often these days)
Looked more than a tad tired, which is no great surprise considering the festive fixture fun and the detrimental effect the two successive red cards have had on the legs
But you can’t argue with a return of nine from nine available points
Proving that a quality side doesn’t have to be at full pelt to win
And two clean sheets on the trot, a Christmas cracker with no joke
Fulham probably deserved more out of the game but then you make your own luck
Talking of which, nice flick onwards from Bale from vdV’s free-kick – accidentally in the right place to flick it towards goal but hardly rehearsed
That’s eleven goals from Bale which isn’t too shabby
Blatant tapping up by Real Madrid
Back to Fulham, no cutting edge, but enough to have us biting nails with their pockets of patient pressure
Well done to Dawson and Gallas who take the afternoon’s plaudits
Also well done to Corluka, a player who lacks the pulsating rampant runs of Hutton but knows how to weight a pass and did so well – even though we missed the more direct methods of the Scotsman and his crosses you can't argue against the controlled partnership he has with Azza
We need a world class striker, right? But he can hardly do anything if Bale, Dawson and Lennon get into decent positions and scuff their shots
Not a lot to say on Palacios and Roman other than a sigh so long that it would have the ghosts of Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle dancing around me
Actually that’s unfair and overly harsh and I’m willing to ignore most of the lethargic performances based on the festive season taking its toll - soz for the cheap shot
‘Off-key’ seemed to be the trend but it says plenty about the determination of the players to still find something to half-grind out the result on aforementioned shattered legs
However, a general and obvious observation, Pav does not possess the movement, physicality or intelligence to lead the front-line and thus it served as further evidence for the need for a WC forward
If we do play one up top with vdV behind in the hole then said WC player is required - Pav (bless him) does work decently in a more traditional formation although so would a WC player who could easily adapt, but let’s not get side-tracked with tactical dynamics for now
Dawson continues to stabilise our back four and massive applause for his goal-line clearance
What’s that now, eight games unbeaten in the league?
Once more, guile and grit on display with that sprinkling of luck – all ingredients required to challenge rather than pretend
But feet still firmly on ground
This was hardly vintage, it was hardly Tottenhamesque, but how can anyone possibly be critical of three wins out of three?
Perfect Christmas
Dug deep running on empty

In addition:

Nice little gap opening up just below 5^th spot – so the top five clubs are currently the expected top five. It’s tasty. Looks even better if we win our game in hand. The initiative has to be taken and the resulting pressure on the rest will be applied and someone will buckle and choke. Someone will end up as Pete Best whilst the Fab Four go on a magical mystery tour.

Beckham musings when I next get a spare five minutes.



Spooky recommends...All-conquering Englishman spurs his way across Europe

Capital Punishment by Kris Mole - Ebook available here

extract:

Having blagged his way into a Barcelona FC press conference...

"My fantasy interview was cut short by someone entering the room talking on a mobile phone. I turned to see who it was and couldn’t believe my eyes. Xavi, all 5’7” of him (he’s a littl’un) was standing beside me having a chat to someone, probably his girlfriend, telling her he would be home for dinner soon and could she make sure there were a few San Miguels in the fridge. He glanced at me with a look that said,

“Who the **** are you?” and I nodded a greeting his way. He then looked down at the cockerel on my chest and sighed the kind of sigh that I knew meant, “If only they would put in a bid for me. I would love to play for Spurs one day.”

He finished his conversation and left me alone once again."

Selection this, selection that...

You might have read West Ham United have complained to the Premier League about Fulham's decision to rest players last weekend when they played (and lost) 2-0 to Hull City. Obviously, a weakened Fulham side is detrimental to West Ham (and arguably others in the same predicament down at the bottom) because to those sides struggling for points, seeing one of their rivals for survival gather them with comparative ease leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

You'll remember similar complaints when Wolves fielded practically a reserve side up at Old Trafford, a sacrifice/risk that their manager calculated as worthy. If you're not going to win against Manchester United, you might as well lose without losing players to injury. Utd's rivals might also disagree with these types of selections because it is, on paper, an easy three points. But that's not Man Utd's problem, is it? The same way it's not Fulham's problem if West Ham are absolute toilet.

Wolves lost three points at United, and won three against Burnley. Rather than end up with the one or nothing at all. Sure, it should be about glory and had Wolves shocked Utd...but then again the manager makes the final decision, and in this case it paid off for McCarthy. Much like it has in the eyes of Hodgson and their 2-1 win in the Europa League.

For the sake of footballing justice, yes, I agree every side should be at its most strongest in order for competition to be fair. But define strongest? Actually, don't bother because that's not your job - it's the managers. If Hodgson wants to play youth and reserves because he has prioritised his teams objectives (Europe being that priority) then the side that faced Hull was the strongest he could possibly field.

If West Ham are in such dire desperate times, they should perhaps look inwards at sorting out their inability to function as a cohesive unit. If a side is in trouble it's because they've dragged themselves down there and not because other teams are winning thanks to the odd (very rare) occasion a rival side has played an under-strength upper region side and won.

The footballing governing bodies should not legislate team selections to the nth degree. Even if the final game of the season a manager rests every first team player in a game that might decide someone else's fate - and yes, I know, the Hull/Fulham result might just have been that type of game - just not played on the final day. And nobody rests players for the sake of it, there's always a reason and that reason is always justified as far as the team doing the resting are concerned. It's the ones who are desperate who look for a way to claw back some hope.

The crux of the problem is that this form of complaint is driving towards the suggestion that a club should consider the plight of another club when they are making decisions based on their own ambitions. The rule about having to field a full-strength side is there to protect the integrity of the league - which it does perfectly fine.

But placing another club ahead of your own? In a parallel universe perhaps where a match is postponed to allow players to recover from a dodgy lasagne, perhaps.

Hodgson cares for nothing more than Fulham and their progression, so of course he's going to take a risk and sacrifice potential points for the sake of silverware in another competition.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, and I know that if Spurs had to rely on others to fail (a possibility in the run-in for 4th place) its still something completely out of our control and there is nothing we can do other than do the best in our own games - a destiny we can shape. If one of our rivals plays an under-strength side and gains points that places them above us, that's just the way the cookie crumbles. If it was the other way around, we'd be smiling our faces off.

So to go back to the actual rule that West Ham are arguing Fulham broke (from the BBC article covering this story):

The Premier League's E20 rule stipulates that clubs must field a full-strength side in all top-flight games.

Perhaps next time Hodgson should play a full-strength side and ask them to play at around 40% effort. Which matches the level that West Ham have been playing all season long. Which should restore some balance to the farce.

Breaking the heart of O'Hara

Now that's what I call Tottenham.

Still buzzing. The high octane swashbuckling football was nowhere to be seen first half, Fulham had our number, taken from under our pillow whilst we appeared to sleep. Head in palm of hands for most of it as they frustrated the fuck out of the players and the fans. BAE and Corluka seemed to both be obsessed with playing lackadaisical balls, and there was no authoritative swagger from the boys in Lilywhite.

Just efficient effort from Fulham and for the best part of the first 45 Harry was getting out-smarted tactically on the field. Ominous when they took the lead, Zamora of all people finding the net with a curling shot. They deserved it.

Football is always funny in about 1000 different ways. At half-tme you wondered what we would need to do in-order to get some kind of grip on the game. For starters, own the tempo. Said it in my match preview - make them worry about us rather than be concerned with trying to counter any spoiler-tactics directly. Hodgson is no fool. He did his homework, suffocated the midfield and had his players working their socks off on and off the ball. Made all the easier by a ghosting first half display.

Even though we pushed forward after going a goal down we still looked out of sorts. WHL wasn't exactly pumping positive pomp from the home support. Fulham had got to us. And we were concerned. It could have been far worse at half-time.

Then Harry Redknapp birthed a second half that was so majestic in difference, you'd have thought you had tuned into a different game. He must have had some words to say at half-time for a start. No doubt told them to forget about how Fulham were playing, slapped them about a bit and then made two quite simply superb substitutions. Yes - Harry Redknapp made impact-changing subs. Stick that up your bollox you non-believers!

On came Bentley and Huddlestone - both returning to the first team since taking time out injured. Off went Niko and BAE - both players well under par. All my hope was anchored on the first 10 minutes of the second half. You can tell what direction a game will go in from the tempo played straight after the break. Within minutes it's 1-1. Ace.

Bentley (first touch?) hit a stunning undefendable free-kick into the box that beat everyone (including a interfering-with-play-offside-Corkuka-if-he-touches-the-ball-which-he-doesn't) and it flys into the goal past a despairing Schwarzer. The Lane is rocking, and not for the first time this season, Bentley's foot is on fire.

The injury curse made a cameo, claiming Corluka as it's latest victim. And once more bold Redknapp played an absolute master-stroke (or perhaps out of desperation...sshh). Enter the Russian goal machine, Pavlyuchenko. Who just about made it on the bench and was never meant to play more than 20 minutes having survived a late fitness test. Seven minutes after coming on, he's off sliding in celebration. The big smiling show-off. 2-1 Spurs. Bentley again involved, crossing in, finding Pav who scores a sweet volley into the far corner. Schwarzer - no chance again.

What. A. Frigging. Turn-around.

For all of Fulham's guile and commitment to Hodgson's match strategy, it counts for nothing when we changed gear in this manner. Dictate the tempo, dominate the game. Inspirational stuff, proper full on FA Cup loveliness. This was more like it.

Obviously, being Spurs, you're not quite content until you get yourself 2 goals to the good. Six minutes after Roman's super-sub scorcher, we made it 3-1. And relax.

Playing it confidentially and with purpose, the ball finds Modric who (with deflection) threads the ball into the path of Gudjohnsen who takes the ball around Schwarzer (yep, despairing once more) with a touch and manages to get another to send the ball goal-bound. Happy days.

Fulham ended. Wembley again in our calender.

Kudos to Redknapp. Hodgson and Fulham were 1 up on him at half time. His man management skills coming into play, he mixes it up with some changes and the game completely changes course because of it. Great to see both Bentley and Hudd back - both involved and effective. And credit to the visitors for making it a painful first 45 minutes. It served a purpose. It showed we retain the backbone instilled since Harry's arrival at the club and the players believe in themselves and their ability.

Also - special mention to Gud. Class act, a player that oozes experience, patience and vision. He links the midfield with the forward line perfectly. Ice ice baby. He has mad skillz.

Pompey next in the semi. So so close now.

Tottenham Hotspur. Exclusive copyright on putting their fans through the mire every time.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

COYS.

Additional: Villa drop two points, City lose.

What a night.

More post-match commentary tomoz.

One more time...

COYS.

Glory under the floodlights...

Every game now is pretty much a heart-in-your-mouth nerve disintegrating half-epic that involves plenty of watching through hands, wishing the 90 minutes evaporate into 90 seconds whenever we take the lead. That's if this end of season run-in is making you weak at the knees every time we play. The vast majority, I hope, will be enjoying it for what it is. Us pushing for it, on two fronts. So if we're going to go down in a blaze of glory or limp out of either challenge before us we may as well do so singing, arms in the air, fingers dancing.

If there's one competition that is Tottenham Hotspur in it's purist essence it's the FA Cup. It's testament to how much football has changed and how different it was back in the days of short shorts and rolled down socks when you can still see Ricky Villa twisting and turning City inside out. Cup final songs, classic never to be forgotten Wembley finals and replays. Flair players, all writing themselves into the history books and our hearts forever. And it saddens me it's almost been 20 years since we last graced a proper final and had our ribbons dressed up on the Cup.

So, Fulham at home in the replay. Won't be easy. This close to a semi-final, this game tonight should stand alone. It's the present. What I mean is, this has to be treated as the most important game of our season. We are too close to treat this game with even an ounce of disrespect or casualness. And 1991 is now just a memory on a VHS tape. But boy, what a memory! And what a Cup run that was. Back to the here and now, it's time for a new page to be written up. I want a DVD at the end of the season.

But tonight, I will make do with just high octane swashbuckling football. A pulsating North London night where everything just clicks together. The reality of it might be slightly more jagged. Fulham are no push overs. Just as that Old Lady they mugged the other night.

Probably no major unexpected changes to the team that played Stoke City - apart from Gudjohnsen starting up front with Crouch (who just has to score soon, right?) and Wilson Palacios back in central midfield (Kaboul is cup tied - with much thanks). Wilson might pick up a yellow tonight - something that some will be wishing for so he returns in time for the big big April games. Hoping the Iceman can continue his sparklingly intelligent play under the floodlights. You have to say, footballing brains are all the rage at Spurs at the minute; Gud, Luka, Niko. It's mouth-watering and add to it the power of the beast (Bale) and I'm pretty much gushing a waterfall. I'll be drowning in my own excitement if we had Lennon back. Soon, soon.

Fulham have one or two selection concerns so you have to say on paper we are...actually, there's no need to say that out loud.

Confidence. Belief. On and off the pitch. That's all that matters. Make them worry about us, and not be worried about them.

Sing up, sing up.

COYS.

Pompey gives me a semi

Will shed tears if we botch up the replay. One game away from Wembley, be it a semi-final. I bet tabloid hacks across the country are busy sacrificing virgins in the hope that we beat Fulham and set up a triffic contest with Portsmouth. Redknapp slap bang in the middle of one massive journalistic clusterfuck of a story.

Harry up against the club he left behind, the club he returned to pluck the likes of Defoe, Crouch, Niko and whatshisname, the French dude with no eyebrows. The club in administration, practically gutted to the bone. There's still plenty of meat to get your teeth stuck into, and with Fulham about to enter a titanic fixture list of games, I would personally be devastated if we somehow managed to allow them to win through the replay and see them face the south-coast club instead of us.

Yes, 4th spot is important. But ffs, this is the business end of the FA Cup. And it's been an age since we got our suits measured. Silverware. You can stick it on a trophy cabinet.

Having said that, Pompey in a cup final is drenched in ye old FA cup magic irony. So expect the footballing Gods to be wearing their colours, ringing out a cowbell in that traditional annoying manner that grates eternally. Considering their plight it almost feels like destiny. Or probably does from their fans perspective. No doubt if this (us v them) is the game that does take place, most will be rooting for the underdog.

I'd happily accept our role as party-poopers/villains in this.

COYS.