Chimbonda, just the man for a relegation scrap

Sky Sports News understands that Pascal Chimbonda is having a medical at Spurs on Monday.

That's right, Chimbonda is on his way back to the Lane.

Pascal 'Kevin Keegan has approached me and they’ve offered me more money. I am definitely leaving Spurs. It’s all about the money. I don’t care about the final, I don’t care about the cup ' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'storms down the tunnel at Wembley' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'I would love to play for Arsenal' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'hands in transfer request to Wigan after the final whistle' Chimbonda.

£20M worth of right-backs at the Lane if this happens.

Gunter. Young and needs development. Talented, but we can't expect him to make the position his own just yet.
Hutton. Still injured. If you believe the whispers, he'll be off in the summer.
Corluka. A right-back, but required more as a centre-back thanks to King's constant trouble with fitness. Bringing in an experienced RB will allow him to play as a CB.

So what of Pascal? Ignoring his indiscretions as a person, can the logic of having him in a Spurs side out-weigh the mockery of a transfer this is, based on the fact he was sold not that long ago?

He can play left-back and he can play at centre-back too. Arguably better at CB (defensively) where he appears to be far more disciplined than at RB. He does possess decent attributes. Determination is there when he's on-form and as an attacking forward he is more than adequate, but he does suffer from lapses of laziness and concentration and has (in the past) undermined the likes of Lennon when playing behind him thanks to his own agenda when pushing forward (i.e. failing to cover and support the right-winger).

Zokora is the one tagged with having no footballing brain. Pascal's lack of positional sense is a deterrent to him being a reliable full-back 100% of the time (not that anyone is) as he sometimes plays for himself more than he plays for the team. Which is what I meant by undermining Lennon and having his own agenda. He has more freedom at RB, therefore, he goes on far too many walkabouts. Stick him at LB or CB, and he concentrates more because naturally, he is out of his comfort zone - but the fact he plays well when called upon proves he DOES have something of a footballing brain and the concentration and discipline to go with it.

However, part of me would consider that the reason for the Lennon/Chimbonda partnership not working was more to do with Lennon than it was Pascal. It's something up for debate.

As for the transfer itself, it's yet another laughable example of how desperate we are. No news on the improved offer for Jones at Sunderland. I'm scared to even listen out for information on that one. Perfect foil or not, if he is signed we'll be guilty of over-spending again. Desperate desperate times.

£3M is the reported price for Pascal. As much as I dislike the principle of this transfer (it's a massive risk) and dislike the man himself, it might just work as long as Harry knows what to do with him and re-ignites that fiery passion we did happen to witness on a number of occasions. We need that in every game, and none of the blasé drifting.

His attitude will remain questionable because of his history, but he isn't guilty of anything just yet.

We are in a relegation scrap, we need the cover. He can hit the ground running. If he shows no immediate impact and fails to do a job for us, then don't fret. He'll pull out that transfer request away to Liverpool on the final day of the season and begone.....

.....let's pray we are not gone.

Utd 2 Spurs 1: A Review in Quotes

Quotes from around the web on Saturdays FA Cup exit at Old Trafford, including a choice pick for best pre-match blurb.

Pre-match:

If a team no longer strives to win, and admits even before taking to the pitch that it doesn’t want to win, it ceases to be sport. The team in question ought not to be there. The attitude towards the UEFA Cup is similarly odd, in that having strived so hard to get there for years, we’re now encouraged to view it as an unwanted extra burden, one we’d be better off without. If we don’t want to win any of the cups, why bother staying in the Premiership?

We’re certainly not going to win that any time soon, so why bother? It’s just one fixture after another. We don’t want to qualify for Europe, as that creates too many games, so let’s avoid the problem by dropping down a division. In fact, let’s just avoid the entire problem of playing every week and disband the team. Let the players become full-time celebrities, without the hassle of this 90-minute malarkey. (Depressingly, I can think of a couple of players who might be genuinely taken with the idea…) - Mike Lac and the All-Action-No-Plot world

Post-match:

In places we played brightly and threatened. But what frustrated was that lack of oomph to go that extra yard. You get the impression if one of our lot started tearing around like Tevez he'd be greeted with looks of bemusement from his colleagues. It's a case of perception. And if you stop your average Yid in the street and ask, the response is that many of our lot don't look as if they're all that bothered. I do hope the gravity of our league position is clear in the minds of whoever plays against Stoke - Harry Hotspur

A complete roll-over by Spurs. They should have f*cked off back down the motorway at half-time - LaNausee (GU sports)

We were so dreadfully lethargic that I was wondering if Harry told them to play like that - Mulletperm (glory-glory.co.uk)

I thought it was another pathetic performance...........no urgency or desire to really get the result, just going through the motions really even when space opened up at times on the counter we never looked like we wanted to get at them. Even when we went 1-0 up I just knew what was going to happen, just isn’t enough backbone in so many of the players and we got knocked out without so much as a whimper - DC_Finsbury_yid (glory-glory.co.uk)

Also noticed that Redknapp defended his players like a real manager today, in response to the harsh comments from Teddy Sheringham and others. On high time. Criticising lack of effort, lack of fight and character, players out of form etc. is relevant, But my main worry is that even on our better days there are no trace of a football team, a unit with a clear idea about how to play. In that respect we've gone from bad to worse.

Under Martin Jol we had a clear style of play, arguably very dependent on individual players and not based on the foundations of a system, a philosophy and well defined roles in the team. Under Ramos we saw clearly what he was trying to do, over ambitious maybe, not successful definitely, but recognisable nevertheless. Under Redknapp there's not a trace of anything but panic and turmoil, the players play for themselves to avoid being booed by their own fans or hung out to dry by the coach and his mates in the tabloids. For my life I could not tell what Redknapp is trying to do in terms of tactics, direction and leadership.

And that scares the s**t out of me - Terje H (spursornothing.co.uk)

That was the closest thing to the games running up to Leeds relegation I’ve seen since. No passion, no heart and if I was a fan having travelled up for that id be asking for my money back. Spurs are side in deep sh*t, I’ve sat through a carbon copy of this. Players that can’t be bothered getting paid far too much and don’t really give a shit. Disgraceful display - dermot mulligan (GU sports)

We do not play good football, we are rubbish. Completely devoid of anything resembling a midfield, nothing going forwards, no creative spark, passionless rubbish. To make it worse we have a 'winger' in charge who is already covering his own arse with the spectre of relegation looming large. I honestly believe we are the most boring team in the premier league, slow, dull, predictable and were in serious serious trouble - Vienna Spur (glory-glory.co.uk)

The way Spurs rolled over in that game was pathetic. Looked as though they wanted to go out of the fa cup. Man Utd just sat back most of the second half a little bit like they did against Derby in the cup and what did Spurs do? A lot of them players should be ashamed of themselves I would be well pissed off paying out all that money to go and watch that shower of shit. Don’t think Harry was too arsed either otherwise he would have brought Defoe on well before he did or started him - Stacki (rumourwhores.com)

Turns out the traffic cones wore white. Spurs never developed any rhythm, defended well in spells, yes, but offered far too little going forward, rarely causing United to raise an eyebrow, never mind break sweat, and conceding what little possession they did enjoy far too cheaply. Not bothered, though. Progression in the Cup would just have been an unwelcome distraction from the job of survival in the league, and an opportunity to collect damaging injuries - Dave Gallagher (spursornothing.co.uk)

Damage limitation in a cup game. What has happened to Tottenham? - Diego_Maradona (glory-glory.co.uk)

I thought we did well. It is tough to come here - you have to be careful, if you open up you can get beaten by four, five or six goals.We started well, but a bad two-minute spell cost us. In the second half neither keeper had an awful lot to do. But I thought we were always in the game and I could see us nicking a goal and earning a replay - Harry Redknapp (BBC)

I was encouraged by the performance on the whole. I thought Bentley put in a good shift and really caused a good Utd team some problems.. Gunter kept Ronaldo quiet for the most part. Pav scored a very good goal from the Huddlestone cross, (so who ever was saying Thudd dint get near the Utd box, what game where you watching..?)

The equaliser was unlucky and Scholes was 45 yards from the goal when the corner was taken, I’m sorry but if you mark someone on the half way line you lose someone in the box, it’s a Utd trate and its very hard to defend against you have to play the law of averages and say you’re better off with the extra man in the box marking and take the chance Scholes isn’t going to hit a screamer from 30 yards and yesterdays was going wide if not for the deflection... The second was the reason they paid £30m for Berbs we all know his class and that showed. Other than that Utd didn’t really cause us that many problems and Alnwick looked comfortable - LillyWhite Yid (glory-glory.co.uk)

We put up a better performance than usual, and their equaliser was lucky. Knocked our fragile confidence severely. To be honest, that was more than I expected before the kickoff, seeing that we have been gutless and lethargic lately. And that's not to say we wouldn't have lost had Utd not gone in at half time ahead, they would've broken us eventually. Utd were playing with belief. And for the record, Utd sat back and made us chase the game, meaning our fatigued players got more knackered as the game went on and posed less of a threat, we came up against a better team and lost, I don't think we disgraced ourselves, which is a change, but equally we didn't put in 110% but there are factors for that - Laudski (rumourwhores.com)

Wonder if everyone is still in love with the "Redknapp Revolution" - David Soul (GU sports)

The Tottenham we want is the type that would run through a thunderous storm into a herd of stampeding steroid enhanced rhinoceroses just to look upon the shirt. To put the shirt on they would stare up to the heavens, laugh at the lightning bolts and silence the Gods with a dirty look before turning to the rhino’s with a war cry of such ferocity, they’ll curl up like kittens.

What we’ve got instead is a Tottenham that holds an umbrella while it apologetically shrugs towards a ditch until the herd has passed then decides the walk is too long so heads back in the opposite direction – Spooky (this here blog)

In Defence of Redknapp

“When I see it devalued like a couple of years ago when teams suddenly didn’t want to get involved, like Manchester United did, it’s very disappointing. As far as I’m concerned I’ve always had a go at the FA Cup wherever I have been. I’ve never been at a club where we weren’t interested in winning the FA Cup. We start the season in two cup competitions where we have a chance of winning — the FA Cup and the Carling Cup — and we go for it. We’re not going to win the Premier League at Portsmouth, so we need to have a go at the cup competitions.” - Harry Redknapp, April 13, 2008

“I can’t risk [Jonathan] Woodgate on Saturday because we’ve got Stoke on Tuesday and I will go to Old Trafford with the weakest team I can possibly find.” - Harry Redknapp, January 21, 2009

For any Spurs fans having a dig at our King of the Soundbites manager, get a grip and look at the bigger picture. If we sat on 31 points rather than 21, or for that matter, had we beaten Pompey at home in the Prem the other week and avoided extra-time against Burnley, we probably would made plans to go to OT with a strong(er) team. Not that the desire to do well shouldn't be evident on Saturday, regardless of the team fielded.

Play a strong team against Utd, lose more players to injury, then lose to Stoke at home in the league is not the way I want to see things pan out over the next few days. Rock and a hard place at the minute for us. And unfortunately, in a competition which has a rich history for Spurs fans, its a sacrifice we simply have to deal with. Sums up our season really that we have to make the Prem the priority, but for the wrong reasons...which are the right reasons if we want to be playing top flight football next season. At least we've got a day trip to Wembley to look forward to.

I wonder how many copies of the 2008/2009 Season Review DVD the club shop will sell when its released? As long as we secure rights to have the theme tune to the Great Escape as the soundtrack, I'll be more than happy to kick back with some popcorn and a can of coke zero and relive those magical moments.....like the thrashing dished out to Stoke City at White Hart Lane on the 27th January.

Cough.

Late late show saves spinless Spurs

Milk Cup Semi-Final
Burnley 3 Spurs 2 (6-4 to Spurs on agg.)

Imagine an incontinent old man who tries hard to avoid wetting himself, but can’t stop it. No matter how many times he changes his pants and prays it won't happen again, it keeps happening. Over and over again. That’s Spurs.

You could argue that on a mud drenched rain soaked playing field Burnley gave it a right go but only actually managed three worthy efforts on target. All of which ended up in the back of the net. They hardly ripped us to shreds. We missed several chances to score including a sitter from Roman (managing to out do Bent from the other night), long before the final two minutes which saw Roman (making up for that sitter) and Jermain spare us humiliation. You could argue that the performance – which was shambolic with our lack of cohesion and retention of possession – felt 100 times worse because we expect so much from our players.

We expect them to play like the players we know they can be. Although a professional and efficient performance will do just fine, which is something they should be giving us without expectation every bleeding week. But we don’t have the luxury of that at the moment. Face it, that’s how bad we are. We can’t even beat the promoted sides in the league, so what made us think last nights second leg semi-final was going to be easy? Even at 4-1 up you suspected that Spurs would make it difficult for themselves. Their attitude doesn't bode well for our up and coming games. New blood, unaffected by these pathetic moral levels, will probably be the key to turning things around.

Even though lady luck had more to do with it in the end than our class prevailing (Burnley tired out and got punished for settling for the away goal rule), if you swapped Alnwick for Gomes, we would have got through this game without the need for dramatics. Yes, I know Gomes is prone to the odd dropping of the ball, but Alnwick was very much a weak link and clearly cost us 2 goals. Not exactly the environment for an ideal debut.

As a team we were simply woeful, a side of individuals with no team structure who made it very easy for Burnley to get within touching distance of a cup final. We always do just about enough to lose games without getting battered, and last night was a prime example.

Far too many mentally weak players with the fabled ‘I don’t care’ attitude. No urgency or self-respect and very little acknowledgement of the fans loyalty. It’s been like this for quite a while now, and even the threat of relegation doesn’t appear to bother them. Maybe one or two of them are already thinking about where they wish to play next season. Wake up. Wake the f**k up.

Yes it was a game played in nasty conditions against a team that has battled through the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal to get here, but regardless of this and regardless of the players missing from our team, how can you possibly excuse that embarrassment of a performance? 4-1 up and they still managed to almost throw it away. Where was the determination? The passing? The possession? How can you possibly excuse that?

You can’t.

Shut your eyes, this time last year we swaggered to a 5-1 win over Arsenal. I think the final itself against Chelsea was the last time we actually played really decently.

Easily the most inept performance from Spurs I’ve witnessed for some time. We almost got what we deserved. But we suddenly decided to play for two minutes towards the very death and display a little of that almost forgotten Premiership quality.

I'm not completely sadistic. I am 'happy' we have another day trip to look forward too, but not best pleased with the display that got us there. Well done Spurs, you complete absolute joke of side that I love with all my heart, but hate how you pull it in all directions and bleed it dry.

Post-match?

Our players will probably think they did alright tonight. To be fair, one or two did not disgrace themselves. Dawson in particular and Bale and Bentley had far better games than anything else they've done for a while but that's not saying much at all. Zokora, possibly playing for his career at Spurs with the imminent arrival of Palacios also stood out from the dross, but put into perspective – this was all against Championship opposition. Adel (arriving us a sub) showed some spark. Overall, rubbish.

I was half expecting Harry to say we 'weathered the storm' in his post-match interview, but now I can understand his public slating of players. He is right to have a go at them after a performance like that. It's difficult to blame him for the tactics because the players don't look like they actually follow them. His post-match was brutally honest and to the point. We have players who look like they are sulking and feeling sorry for themselves. They need a good slap. The lot of them.

"The players should be fighting for their lives to stay at a great football club like this. Their future is on the line, they need to perform to stay at the club”, said our Harry after the game. Thing is, they stopped fighting a month or so back. I'm inclined to think Redknapp's man management isn't enough at the minute. It would be easy to say he is once more playing the blame game and deflecting attention away from him and onto the players. But the players performances are as bad as they were under Ramos.

You'll have one or two of the giddy idiots getting their suits measured for the final. Faces in Gants Hill tonight for them no doubt.

Looks like we are sending a second-string to Old Trafford on Saturday. Shame we have to discount the FA Cup, but even with a full strength team on current form, I wouldn't fancy our chances. FA might slap his hands for making the comment about a weakened side, but who cares. Mish-mashed will have to do. It’s sad really because it’s the FA Cup. And it’s at Old Trafford. Regardless of the team put out, they should give it 100% because if Spurs can’t be arsed with games like this how exactly are we going to fair in the bread and butter of Prem survival? Where is the passion? I can show you some passion for free, let alone the levels I could reach for £30,000 a week.

Only Spurs can make you feel despair and ecstatic punching of the wall joy at getting to a Cup final. My knees have gone all trembley.

Tottenham's transfer policy explained...

White Hart Lane. The chairman’s office. A few weeks back...

HARRY: We need some proper players here.
LEVY: Ok, not a problem. Let me just get Damien in here and…
HARRY: Comolli? You sacked him.
LEVY: Oh yes, of course I did. Laugh out loud!
HARRY: Come on Daniel, breathe nice and slow, here...take a seat, I’ll fetch you a glass of water.
LEVY: I’m not sure I can make...make any suggestions.
HARRY: You let me worry about the targets. Make sure you’ve got the readies ready for Redknapp. HAHAHA, got to use that one next time I speak to the boys from the press.
LEVY: Who are you after?
HARRY: For a start, Defoe. They love ‘em here. We should bring him back.
LEVY: He’ll cost more than we sold him for.
HARRY: Pompey owe £5M for Kaboul, so we can write that off as part of the deal.
LEVY: That might just work. I’ll earmark £15M for Jermain.
HARRY: We also need a proper midfielder. A DM, holding type of midfielder. Not enough grit from the current lot.
LEVY: Any thoughts?
HARRY: Not sure at the minute. Shame Diarra went to Madrid. Might need to watch Match of the Day to get an idea of what’s available. Or take a trip to Africa. All expenses paid of course.
LEVY: Well, we could…
HARRY: What?
LEVY: There’s a formula Damien and myself would use when we signed players. We could possibly implement it now. It’s effective. Worked with Bale, Bentley, Gomes and Pav.
HARRY: I’m all ears.
LEVY: Well, based on Fantasy Football points accumulated and tabloid reporting and tv highlights we calculate who is considered to be the most hyped up player of the past month.
HARRY: Ok. Then what.
LEVY: We bid between £14M and £16M for him.
HARRY: You know...that might just work.
LEVY: There is another system which is equally as affective.
HARRY: Hold on, let me get a notepad.....go on…
LEVY: We buy whoever played well against us.
HARRY: That’s brilliant! Gives us plenty of targets to choose from. We’ll use this going forward.
LEVY: You don’t want to use your system?
HARRY: What system?
LEVY: ...
HARRY: ...
LEVY: Right. Targets.
HARRY: I want Bellamy.
LEVY: Hold on, we haven’t used the formula.
HARRY: He’s scoring goals, he’s on form. He’s got grit and determination.
LEVY: I’ll call West Ham.
HARRY: Bid £12M, that should do it. West Ham are desperate for the cash.
LEVY: Ok.
HARRY: And Defoe?
LEVY: Already made a bid.
HARRY: How?
LEVY: Blackberry.
HARRY: Triffic. Triffic. Love modern technology. Only had paper back in my day.
LEVY: I was right getting rid of the director of football system wasn’t I?
HARRY: Of course you were, of course. Can you use that Bluebell thingie to text Duxbury about Bellamy?
LEVY: Also done. Fingers slipped though, and I bid £15M for him.
HARRY: Triffic. We work well together, don’t we?
LEVY: We do. Director of football? Who needs one?
HARRY: Not us! Let’s get Appiah in for a trial.
LEVY: Harry, Harry, Harry…the formula! The formula!!
HARRY: I know, I know, but he’s a free agent.
LEVY: Sorry, he’s a what?
HARRY: A free agent.
LEVY: I don’t get it.
HARRY: He’s free. He won’t cost us anything.
LEVY: He won’t cost us anything?
HARRY: That’s right.
LEVY: So, he’ll cost us something?
HARRY: No, he won’t cost us anything...something...we don’t need to pay a transfer fee. He’s free.
LEVY: But...but someone needs to be paid.
HARRY: Well, there’s his wages to consider. Signing-on fee.
LEVY: Not...enough...someone...must...be...paid…
HARRY: Daniel...Daniel, breathe...that’s it...here’s your paper bag...breathe...that’s it...
LEVY: Can we talk about something else?
HARRY: Yeah, of course...of course.
LEVY: Good, good.
HARRY: How about Palacios?
LEVY: The Wigan player?
HARRY: Yes. Perfect fit, upgrade on Zokora.
LEVY: He can pass and tackle?
HARRY: Yes.
LEVY: Can he dance?
HARRY: I...I don’t know.
LEVY: Ok, hold on. Let me look at the formula…
HARRY: ...
LEVY: ...
HARRY: So...?
LEVY: Hold on a sec...And we...YES!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!! HE FITS THE BILL!!!!!
HARRY: Daniel, Dan mate...get down from up there, you’ll break your back!
LEVY: Stop your worrying! Today is a good day!
HARRY: So, Palacios?
LEVY: Texting via my Blackberry as I speak.
HARRY: Another £15M?
LEVY: Just under actually.
HARRY: Really?
LEVY: I’m feeling a little cheeky...

Harry doesn't rate you, or you.....or you

Harry Redknapp, the undeniable high priest of man-management and media handling. Right?

No.

Our 'arry is at it again. When things don't go quite right, he always seems to deflect attention onto someone else. He does so in a manner that doesn't allow much room for any fingers to be pointed in his direction. Not that Darren Bent was blameless on Sunday against Pompey. He missed a sitter. A nailed on back of the net winning goal. We all saw it. Everyone at the game and everyone watching it at home. So is there really a need for a manager to further highlight this as emphatically as our 'arry has done? I can almost imagine Bent getting a pie in his face after returning to the dressing room at full time.

Maybe a simple 'It happens sometimes, he'll bounce back' would have sufficed instead of the 'unbelievable' description he tagged the miss with. We all know it was bad, we don't need additional commentary on it, and neither does Darren Bent.

I'm sure 'arry was critical of Match of the Day 2 host Adrian Chiles a while back concerning the coverage of Gomes on the programme. Chiles would highlight 'mistakes' made by Gomes every week, regardless if the Brazilian retained a clean sheet or played well. Redknapp wasn't best pleased.

And our 'arry has followed up his public criticism of Bent by having a dig at Cesar Sanchez, our reserve goalkeeper who is subject to various 'Does he actually exist?' forum discussions. 'arry doesn't rate him and has made this clear to all but stating that he is looking for someone who is good enough for first team football.

He refers to him as the 'Spanish goalkeeper'.

Well in there Mr Redknapp. No need to stop with Cesar (that's his name 'arry....C E S A R). Any plans on outing Gareth Bale and David Bentley as both being completely out of form and lacking in assured belief and confidence? Maybe you could phone up Sky Sports News and tell them you think both players are complete pants and you'd even consider playing Joe Jordan as an alternative you're that frustrated.

Unbelievable, no?

Yes.

As much as I've personally been critical of the effort and urgency of some of our players, draining further confidence from players who have very little is not the right thing to do in public.

I am tired, weary, and I haven't a hope left

According to dear old Graham Roberts the Spurs midfield are nothing more than midgets.

"Most of these Spurs players are not up to it. The one thing with Harry is that he will tell you how it is. I believe he has got some players up his sleeve and that he needs to move some on before he can get them in. Because they need to get stronger.

You look at Harry's teams at Portsmouth. They were absolutely massive in midfield. Strong, physical, athletic. Tottenham? They've got midgets. None of them can tackle. They are fantastic at home playing the ball around teams but against Burnley in the first half we should have been out of the Carling Cup. He needs a right clear-out." (from the Daily Mirror)

Midgets? I think 'shit' is a far more apt description. Midgets would clearly do a grand job of disposing Burnley in the Cup. Spurs in the second half simply did the basics and upped the tempo by about 2% and managed to score four times. The gulf in class, even between a decent Championship side and a very very poor Spurs side is still massive, if that Spurs side decide to play a little. These same groups of players have shown this season, a cameo or two, that ticks the boxes of strong, physical, athletic. Hey, Zokora ticks those boxes every bleeding week. He just fails to tick the all-important 'I can play football' box.

Not very politically correct there Graham with your description. Maybe Hobbits would have been a better choice of words? Little men on a quest that will lead to greatness. Spurs have been perpetually that since Keith Burkinshaw left the club. But alas the mountain is nowhere to be seen.

'Them' and not 'us'

Nice little short on Redknapp, pretty much echoing the fact that Harry is all about Harry. As the article points out, our man at the helm is already beginning to distance himself from Spurs, just in case. But then, as noted many times already. Harry does tend to go overboard so that claims of a miracle are just in the end.

Do agree wholeheartedly with this gem of truth:

"Just buying players won't do it. New players just get co-opted into the prevailing mind frame. He needs to change the mentality of the squad to give them belief and desire"

Nail on head. I think it's a job too big for Redknapp to gut out the this plague of mediocrity that's haunted us for over 20 long years. It's not only far too easy to be average at Spurs, its roundly accepted. White Hart Lane has been a career comfort zone for far too many and simple a stepping stone for the talented few.

It's 'Redknapp'..spelt..HOUDINI

So, according to Harry Redknapp, he’s a better coach than O’Neill and Sir Alex. Been in the business for 28 years, so he must be right, right? According to the News of the World all this. But how relevant is it? All managers/coaches get interviewed, and most of the time they mouth off various sound-bites, all in the aid of kidology or egotism. Hoping that this particular masterful pat on his own back was an attempt to deflect attention away from his players. Even though he was gladly attracting attention to them when slating them for yet another poor display. You keeping up with this?

Pinch of salt should always accompany a Redknapp quote or interview. Does he love the sound of his own voice? Yes. Does he love talking to the media? Yes. He’ll even phone them up now and again and give them an exclusive. Does it all serve a purpose? Yes. But that purpose is dependent on how much (or little) you trust his agenda.

He’s in it for himself, that, there is no doubt. But then most are – more so modern day players. He also knows how to keep the press sweet, which explains the non-stop media assault. But what he does best does have to do with his responsibilities as coach.

He plays the blame game to a tee, banging on about how the squad he inherited is unbalanced and lacking in depth and how the whole universe is conspiring against him as he attempts the impossible with bare bones Tottenham.

Ferguson is the master of kidology. Redknappology is altogether a different thing. Our ‘arry manages to engineer and bend reality to aid his untouchable public persona. Immunity to criticism is a wonderful tool to possess. Harry Houdini. You know him right? He failed to oversee the escape from relegation for Southampton.

The Daily Mail (stop laughing) who seem to always have some kind of insider story or exclusive that never quite pans out to be true (can you believe?) have one such story today about how Harry launched a tirade of abuse at the Spurs players after the Wigan game.

Transcript?

'I don't think you love the ******* game’
'I think you ******* are here for the money, I don't think you give a ****. You, do you give a ****?'
'You? You're the ******* worst of the lot!'

I’m not suggesting for a second this never happened, because it’s the exact type of thing you would hope a manager tells the players after a defeat like the one at Wigan. But if the transcript is word for word correct, then my money is on a cheeky little chappie by the name of Harry calling it in, because once more all eyes are on the Spurs players as the ones who should be blamed. And again, to a degree, they should be responsible. But just how far will this subtle finger pointing go? How far will Harry allow it to go?

You can see it now. Spurs get relegated and it’s all down to those pesky uninterested Spurs players. Harry Houdini walks away, chains left behind for someone else to pick up and tie up the next clueless mug.

Where now for Harry's mouth?

Yet another rain-swept Monday for yet another depressing weekend of football for the Spurs faithful. Gone, it appears, is the original conception of a 4-5-1 formation, with two wide players and three central midfielders which managed to produce a decent balance of passing and grafting. Whether it’s down to the injuries Hudd and Jenas picked up which forced a change in tactics or not, it seems the current formation is nowhere near good enough to even compete with Wigan. Not that Wigan are too shabby at the minute, but still. Compete or die are the two options for survival and avoiding it.

I know it’s early in the transfer market but it seems that Harry has now taken upon himself to be critical of all things Spurs. He’s highlighted that Spurs need fighters. Proper players. Possibly Appiah is one of a few he plans to sign. But to be critical when your first signing is Defoe. Small player, no real strength and can’t hold up the ball. And with no chances created for him, he is rendered even more useless for the task in hand. But don’t fret. It seems that the likes of Bent and Pav have no definitive future at Spurs as he’s also said we need a player that can hold up the ball. Surely that is more of a priority than a poacher? But I’m being presumptuous. At the end of the window is when we can hold Harry accountable or (hopefully) applaud him for the re-building exercise he’s conducted.

Woodgate, Dawson, Zokora and O’Hara have been pin-pointed as the type of players we need in comparison to the soft gutless flair players. This is worrying in itself. Zokora? Really? Sure, he runs about a lot, but a player with no footballing brain? Dawson is all effort, little ability. Although hasn’t been prone to many errors recently, so I won’t throw rotten fruit at him just yet. Woodgate is class and O’Hara has some bite.

So, what’s the answer? Another forward to hold up the ball? Another midfielder to replace Jenas (who has apparently lose his vice-captaincy)? A left-winger (not Downing)? Another central-midfielder (King’s cameos are not enough)?

And somewhere in all that, there has to be that all important element of leadership that we lack. That real scruff of the neck, slap around the face, determination and spirit that even the ‘class’ Woodgate can’t muster up enough of.

That’s some shopping list. To sign players who can not only slot into positions that are currently ineffective in the current Spurs side, but also be able to pick up the workload to allow our flair players the freedom to express.

No idea why Harry went for such a distorted over ambitious but ultimately flawed line-up against Wigan. Maybe he was attempting to illustrate the fact that we are nothing more than a group of individuals, weak in the vital areas, with no cohesion no matter the tactics.

What happened to the basics that saw us climb off the bottom of the table? The blame game and stating the obvious sounds way too Tottenhamesque for my liking. Shrug it off. That’s you Harry and the players. Before it’s too late. You’ve got just under 20 days to complete the jigsaw. And I don’t want to be hearing anything about losing any pieces behind the sofa.

Blame game

It's the players fault. Harry seems to be pointing out the bloody obvious. For the umpteenth time, let's hope the players react positively to it.

V for Victory™ - D is for Demoralising

Disgusting, disgraceful, dismal, dejected.

5 games - 1 game down, 0 points, 1 defeat, 12 points available

What the fuck is actually going on? Won the double in 61 and then nothing since. Fucking cunts the lot of them. Tear it up and start again. Wankers. I might have manflu, but at least Night Nurse will see to my recovery. As for Spurs? They have an incurable disease. No matter the players or managers, it's the same old excuses and problems. It's tiresome. It's pathetic. These are the games we are meant to be showing up for.

You can sit there and question the line-up, that found Ledley King paired up with Zokora in centre-midfield. Bentley and Lennon dropped to the bench, mainly due to when Lennon plays, Bentley has to make do with the left-hand side which results in nothing more than an inept display. King and Zokora gave us nothing in midfield. But then why would anyone expect a centre-back to display the clout to dominate that part of the pitch? Doing it for England an age ago in one game is not a good enough reason to test it out again, especially away from home. And especially with us sitting so low in the table. Bentley on the bench is fine, because on form, he deserves to be there or worse.

You could also question the general negative approach to the game. Or the substitutions that made no sense tactically. Why start with a formation and change it a quarter of an hour later? Because it's so apparent it's not quite working perhaps? What was the point of taking Modric off? Well, I suppose because he was distinctively average today. But the difference made was practically invisible.

You could question the lack of desire and passion and direction. The will to win, the will to want to win. Three times now we've conceded (winners) in the final minutes/seconds (Newcastle, WBA, Wigan) and lost.

That's softer than Winne the Pooh's belly-button.

Yes. Here we are again. We got rid of Ramos and replaced him and the arrival of HR gave us some great results, and that seems to have been it. Maybe we need to sack Harry and bring in a new manager, and do so every 8 games until we are mathematically safe. We don't actually have to sack Harry for real. He can just wear a face-mask every couple of months and talk through a voicebox. The seriousness of our current position in the Prem doesn't appear to be enough in the way of inspiritation for our millionaire players to react too.

I still say stick a couple of fans into the half-time dressing room to give an additional team talk to the one Harry gives.

Injuries, lack of creative juice, bad luck and the textbook disappearance of concentration at the death all mixed in with some poor tactical instructions give us a 91st minute defeat like only Spurs can muster up. And the defeat was justified.

No dream debut for JD, failing to score or do little else. Much like the rest of the team.

Harry has surely now run out of sound-bites and wisecracks to tell the press in the post-match interviews. A slice of shut-the-fuck-up pie followed by a glass of actions-speak-louder-than-words for the man at the helm, please. Serve it up hot.

Bale. Still no Prem league win. But face it, it's not his fault he has no confidence playing in a shit football team. Then again, his all round play is woeful to the extent that if Bentley doesn't deserve to play first team football, then neither does Bale. Jenas returns to the first team and yet it's almost like he's still out injured, such is the impact of the player.

Lennon came on, hardly touched the ball. Bent on for Pav was insignificant. Sums it all up with Zokora had the best chance of the game for us.

Bottom 3 once more. Blackburn have a game in hand on us. The next two home games are do or die for sure. Pompey and Stoke at home. I would now not even bother with the FA Cup of the UEFA Cup. Then again, we won't be beating Utd or Shakhtar Donetsk anyway, so at least the Prem games will take priority. Which is what they should be but don't appear to be.

The Redknapp effect has worn off and he's got the look of relegation written all over his ugly mug. Or maybe that's just the reflection of the players wearing Lilywhite.