Is this the reason Spurs form is so poor?

Aaron Lennon has complete control of the team stereo on match days. Nobody else gets a look in. I can only shudder at the thought of his musical tastes having seen plenty of photos of him at parties, baseball cap on back to front, dancing with an urban flavour and rude swagger.

Strictly no Chas and Dave, Barry Manilow or McNamara’s Band for our wee Aaron. He's got way too much street cred to associate himself with music that was made before he was born.

I have this image of a dressing room dance-off with Dawson breaking it down with mad floor skills as he body pops his way to victory against Zokora's mash-up of Usheresque fluidity and silky leg movements. Beats listening to ABBA.

In other news:

Ghaly is gone. I’ve always swayed from one direction to another with this guy. His attitude and arrogance was toxic, his abilities mediocre. He had one or two fine performances, but other than the game away to Chelsea in the Cup and the pitch-side dentistry that made you gasp he wasn’t exactly consistent. Shirt throwing aside, the Birmingham transfer fiasco summed up his tenure as a Premiership player. In his head, he was brilliant. Maybe if he was signed when he was in his early 20’s, we might have developed him into a worthy squad player (then again, us and developing don’t particularly go hand in hand).

The swaying I was referring to concerns some comments I made a few weeks back relating to the boo-boys who managed to change the mind of Redknapp during a game, sending Ghaly back to the subs bench rather than bringing him on. He’s been working his socks off in the reserves, so it’s possible he has managed to grow a little in maturity. We’ll never know. Al Nasr have him now on a 3-year contract. Maybe the fact he has moved there and not to any other continental top flight league sums up what most think of him.

The club has also announced that the price of season tickets will be frozen for up to two years (long enough for relegation and promotion back up to the Prem, hey Daniel?). So, that includes the reduction of VAT at 15% for seasons 2010 and 2011 meaning you’ll pay less for it than you did this season. Levy must be finally shifting those copies of the Opus he’s got stacked up in his garage. Don’t under estimate the power of car boot sales.

The freeze on season tickets has been introduced as a thank you from the club for our ‘continued and exceptional loyalty’ and to help ease the financial burden that nobody appears to be immune from at the moment. Looks like I have no choice but to continue my suffering.

Let’s sum up the weekend

3-1 Wigan win. Not vintage, but then again, we haven’t been outstanding at any point this season. Side was balanced if not perfect (by not perfect I'm referring to most of our players having an abundance of space with regards to climbing the personal improvement chart). One or two (or more) still need to get on top of their game. Patience? I’m sure they will buck up their ideas once the transfer window signings arrive at the Lodge.

Wigan, toothless, so home win was never in doubt. Bale on a winning side, so crack open that bottle of Bucks Fizz and get on with snorting those lines off that hookers cleavage. Might not happen again, our Gareth, celebrating a win. Man Utd next. Away. Have to adore those warm balls in the Cup draw.

Ghaly. If you search the labels (bottom of the blog) for Ghaly posts, you’ll see I’ve been critical of the lad in the past. What’s done is done. He fucked up. Sure that night against Blackburn, he was all over the place. More Ollie Reed than Christopher Columbus. But you couldn’t fault his effort. His reaction was an emotional knee-jerk. Other players out on the field were just as bad as Ghaly performance wise, but not as forward as him with the ball, so obviously if you’re going to fail you’re going to look twice as bad if you are attempting something twice as bold.

His Birmingham transfer collapse and the consequent complaints about training sessions again didn’t help the Ghaly PR machine.

Now he’s back, and it’s obvious Harry wants to try him out in the first team. Would have played on Friday but the crowd’s reaction – the idiotic minority – were at it again. Difficult to pin-point what type of fan this is. The one who prefers the negative to the positive. There’s plenty of them in the South Stand, and in every other stand. Not a majority, but enough to make an impact strong enough to make Harry change his mind on the substitution. The club have since had to release a statement on the official site to help mitigate the situation.

Boo the team – as a whole, at half-time – if you’re getting stuffed 3-0 and the performance has been shambolic. It gets a reaction, at least it should. But pin-pointing individuals, and then harassing them? Well, we know all fans love a bit of this. And we are no exception. And much like all sets of fans, when things aren’t that great, we tend to find it easier to have a go, with zero tolerance.

When things are great, loudest noise in the world, White Hart Lane shakes the foundations of the planet. Space time continuum gets ripped a new one. But groans and moans, we do that just as good.

I might not rate Zokora. Or Jenas. I’ve never boo’ed them. Never. Why should I? And why would I think that boo’ing them would actually gauge a positive reaction from them? A monstrous call to get it together would be about a million times better for the individual who’s struggling.

We are meant to be the 12th player. So giving it in the way of support is the logical thing, no? Well no. It seems some of our fans have found it far easier to give up on a player and make sure they get the message.

Nothing new in this. And Bentley/Ghaly aside, Jenas tends to get it along with a few other players who have lost form or struggling since return from injury.

Eboue, who was having a mare for the Arse, got applause on his return. Ok, sure. He didn’t take his shirt off and throw it aside. And much like Ghaly, he’s an average player. And you might argue that he shouldn’t be anywhere near our first team. But if you or I were the manager we’d have Sergio Agüero upfront with Kaka playing just behind him. So let Harry pick the team. Let Ghaly - whether you rate him or not – play. And then we can pass final judgement.

Modric doing 'the worm' old skool style

Elsewhere this weekend. Defoe has been receiving death threats to his home phone. Looks like his Pompey days are over and out. Whether Spurs is his destination, we’ll have to wait and see. Again, why he was sold in the first place considering the Berbatov situation at the time. But hey, old ground. Been there, done that about 1000 times already. Ironically, £20M for a player we sold for £9M? That’s some accountancy if we make the deal happen.

Downing has – or will be – handing in a transfer request. Uncertain about this one because I haven’t really taken much notice his weekly performances. Would mean having a left-winger for the first time in an age, so if you have another bottle of Bucks Fizz, keep it chilled.

Harry has also told us that we have ‘fantastic options’ in the transfer window, whether the Defoe deal happens or not. Fantastic is obviously debatable as a description if he means Bellamy. It’s not just his age (29) that bothers me, but personally, never liked his complaining/bitching attitude and his injury problems. He’s like a more gobby Robbie Keane, but far less likeable. Can he do a job for us? I’ll have to support Harry and the side he selects if Craig finds himself in it. If avoiding relegation means spending £8M on a West Ham player, then you know we’re in trouble. So let it happen if he can score the goals to lift us out of the bottom bit of the table.

At least Pav is finding his way a little more now. Learning the lingo and settling into English Prem life isn’t an over-night occurrence. As many seem to forget.

Utd in the 4th round. Again, yet another hiding to nothing up at OT. Makes you want to cry that.

Burnley at home on Tuesday night. Need a good tidy professional performance there. 4-0 will do me.

And no 'Stand up if you hate Arsenal' chants. Even if you want to annoy the stewards who ask you to sit down. There's eleven Spurs players out on the pitch. I know it's a bit drastic, but how about pushing aside all references to them lot, Judas and Defoe and concentrate on a bit of pro-Spurs support? I'm stuck up in the South upper stand on Tuesday as I forgot to reserve and purchase my seat in the lower tier. Bless me. No standing up all game for me then.

We are Tottenham

“Alright mate? Tommy Tottenham ‘ere. Top bloke from the Park Lane lower. Fucking ‘ave it every week with the Spurs, home and away. You know what I’m sayin? Giving it large. Proper fan. Don’t miss a game or a cheeky pint before or after kick-off. Happy with the 3-1 Wigan result. About time that Russian did the business for us. He’s been pony. £14M for an International player who can’t even settle in a Prem League club? You what? Exactly. Reckon he just about saved his Spurs career with that brace, otherwise ‘arry would have had him back on a plan to Siberia. You know what I mean?

Too many pounces down our way at the minute. And I’ll tell you this, for £700 I reckon I’m well justified to make my opinion public, at the game, if I don’t like what I see. You know what I’m talking about, right? David bleeding Bentley. Utter pants. Can’t do a thing, not a single thing, right. I mean, he’s a footballer, no? Yeah? Then beat the first man. Play the simple ball. Trying way too hard, got not an iota of confidence that lad. Which is why he needs to know that he’s playing shite, cause ‘arry aint telling him. He’s picking him every bleeding game.

Oi, David, you are crap mate. And I’m gonna keep reminding you how crap you are every time you pick up the ball and try something fancy-dan. It’s the only way we’re gonna get it through to your thick highlighted skull, ya get me? Same goes for any Spurs player not doing it out on the pitch. You’re gonna get it in the neck, cause you’re on 30k+ a week, and I’ve spent a ton for my match-day experience. That’s travel, ticket, beers in, pie and chips and a match-day programme. So show me some loyalty, yeah? Give me a performance otherwise you’re gonna get a verbal smack. Hold on for second...

STAND UP IF YOU HATE ARSENAL, STAND UP IF YOU HATE ARSENAL, STAND UP IF YOU HATE ARSENAL, STAND UP IF YOU HATE ARSEEEEEEEEEENAL.....

So, yeah. Bentley. Waste of money right there for ya. And talking about waste of money, that Ghaly back on the bench again. What you playing at ‘arry? You mugging us off or what? Know your history. He showed some proper disrespect to the shirt when he discarded it the way he did. Proper home support that was. The way we got to change ‘arry’s decision to bring him on with the booing. Class. Don’t want him anywhere near the club I love. We need players who want to play for the shirt, and not throw it away. I aint having him on the pitch again. What if he strips off and chucks it in my face? Last thing I want to see is a player push forward and attempt to make things happen, but mis-place all his passes. One Bentley is enough thank you very much. Error of judgement is inexcusable and unforgivable. Like that Judas, Campbell. You know what I mean? Got no time for has-beens.

I’ll show my support right, I’ll show it, but I’ll show it where it matters. For the individuals who deserve a good song, a mouthy boisterous chant for the ages.

Like that Defoe. Proper Spurs is young Jermain. 64 goals in 110 starts for us. Well worth spunking £20M on to bring him back. That’s some half decent sell-on value for Pompey there. Levy, take notes son. White and blue blood running through those veins. Can’t wait to have the little menace back in the Lilywhite. He’s exactly what we need at the minute.

JERMAIN DEFOE HE’S A YIDDO, JERMAIN DEFOE HE’S A YIDDO...

‘ave it mate. That’s what I call support yeah. Singing for a player who doesn’t even play for us. We transcend the terrace. The Park Lane yoof go beyond the norm when it comes to a good song. We are existentially vocal. You know what I’m saying right? Proper illuminati shit. If you ain’t Spurs, then you got no chance of understanding us. You don’t need to understand it. Ask Gomes. Doesn’t drop the clangers that much anymore does he? Course not. Cause we gave him our backing. Touch. Makes your eyes bleed our home support. And that’s how it is. That’s how we do it.

You wait till we move into our 60,000 seater stadium. Us proper fans might be a minority at the minute, but hold onto ya hats. We’ll be ‘aving it louder than ever.

Supporter power innit. Ain’t no pantomime. It’s our right to support the club and the team, and if it means weeding out the mediocre elements with a bit of tidy pro-active sing-a-longs and boos, then job done. Cheque in the post right, ‘arry? Cause you got a couple of thousand coaches in the stands doing the job for you. Hahahaha, Come on you Spurs....”

Our guest blogger, Tommy Tottenham, is a loyal Spurs supporter who goes to every game.

Guess who's back?

Shudder.

Ghaly

All is forgiven.

Ghaly move collapses

From the official site:

We can confirm that Hossam Ghaly has decided not to proceed with his transfer to Birmingham City.

The Brummies will be relegated without him. Seems that Ghaly is holding out for when AC Milan come calling.

Proof that some football managers have brains made of shit

So The Fall Guy has left the building. Turned out to be the perfect little ploy by Mr Levy, to the tune of £3M. He must love it when a plan comes together. Anyways...

Steve Bruce, manager of Birmingham. And twat:

Birmingham have completed the signing of Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly from Premier League rivals Tottenham.

The 25-year-old international has penned a three-year deal at St Andrews after agreeing terms with the Blues.

"The signing of Hossam is an excellent acquisition," said Blues boss Steve Bruce. "I was always impressed when I saw him play for Spurs last season.

"As well as being technically gifted, he can stand up to the physical side of the game and give us that edge."

I think the Bruceisms deserve to be bullet pointed:

• The signing of Hossam is an excellent acquisition
• I was always impressed when I saw him play for Spurs
• Technically gifted
• Can stand up to the physical side
• Give us that edge

Excellent acquisition? Sure, for Tottenham it is. I don't say it often, but credit to the board on this one (don't get too excited people).

Always impressed was Bruce apparently, when watching Ghaly play. When was this then? When he played so poorly he was incapable of holding onto the ball or passing it to a player in the white shirt of Spurs that he was then subbed having come on as a sub? Or the countless other cameo apperances that involved running around like a headless chicken with a ferret up its arse.

Shirtless Ghaly celebrates his move with an apple

Technically gifted? For sure, in the art of pulling his shirt off and throwing it away.

Ghaly can also 'stand up to the physical side' of the game too. Not sure making two-footed reckless challenges counts.

And as for giving Birmingham an 'edge' - truefax. If you want an over-rated, hot-headed talentless ego running around flattering to deceive.

Mido. Next. Please.

حسام غالي: The Fall Guy

Hossam Ghaly. Do not kneejerk yourselves into a frenzy. This man did not disgrace himself by taking the shirt off and throwing it away having been subbed after coming on as a sub. He did not spit in the face of the Cockerel. Yes, it appeared to be petulant. Yes, it looked selfish and disrespectful. But you may also think that some degree of passion was displayed, making up for the lack of composure shown on the pitch. Self inflicted frustration and the sound of 36,000 frustrated moans can make you do silly things. But then sometimes you do silly things because you are instructed to do so. And because on the surface it looks like the reaction that people expect you to deliver when in fact you are simply following a script that has been handed down to you.

It's difficult to prove this, but I'm certain that the whole Ghaly incident was a very well organised sting, a dramatic sketch fooling the watching public and WHL faithful.

Iconic: Seen by millions

Ghaly's performance was bad. Very bad. In fact, so bad that it seemed like he was doing it on purpose. Compare his performance to others that had started the match from the opening whistle.

How was several mis-placed passes and dinks of the ball finding no one any worse than Tainio's wonderfully pathetic performance? TT is a player who sums up the Levy Era of transfers (along with the Ghaly transfer). Can't pass, runs around a lot and thus gets labelled 'tenacious' and receives thunderous applause for the odd successful tackle, but nobody seems to be half as frustrated as me with the fact that he is incapable of playing 5 games on the trot without getting injured. The bloke, apart from having a sharp haircut, is fucking shit. He is also a lame passer of the ball. Yet he escaped any jeers and boo's from the sheep of the Lane who flicker from one emotion to the next like Pete Doherty stumbling between rehab and a needle.

Yet Ghaly came on and played even worse than Tainio. How is that physically possible to achieve unless you actually attempt to play that badly on purpose?

Martin Jol; clueless to the conspiracy at hand

Ghaly has the touch of a rapist, but he is not the only guilty one. The £8M Zokora who even having played a full season, has taken up the best part of that finding his way around the Prem, but still struggles with his first touch. Surely, a 'Carrick Replacement' should have the basic skill of control under management? But his lack of first touch is apparently forgivable it would seem, week to week.

Anyone watching would have seen that in the space of 30 minutes, the boo-boys decimated Hossam's confidence from zero to minus-zero. His shirt-throwing was a 'fuck you' to the lack of support he got. But it was all too obvious and staged. How eager was he to pull his shirt off as he walked off the pitch?

Ghaly wants out of Spurs. He has (going back weeks) already asked for a transfer. He believes he is being held back at Spurs. Not allowed to keep his place in the team and constantly played out of position. The player has no future at the club. And Levy knows this and took his opportunity to turn it into his favour.

I can't prove this (yet) but I'm certain that Ghaly was instructed to play badly to orchestrate a move away from WHL so that Levy can reclaim some of the money (Jol doesn't want Ghaly out...or at least didn't till Thursday evening). So Jol was unaware of what was set to play out against Blackburn.

I'm not completely certain of Steed Malbanque's part in all this. Was he genuinely injured? Did he feign injury to allow Ghaly to enter stage and give the performance of a life-time?

The throwing of the shirt (Levy's idea) was a symbolic disposal of this seasons design - making way for next seasons 125th Anniversary range (which, coincidently took place on Friday). Another textbook subliminal message from the mastermind chairman.

And as for Ghaly, his exit would guarantee the exposure required to elevate his struggling profile to one that would allow potential bidders to fax across their offers. Ghaly's previous independent attempts were to lose all his front teeth and score at Stamford Bridge, but these incidents did not have the desired effect he wished. Ghaly required help. Levy was there to offer his helping hand.

Ghaly got what he wanted this time. And Mr Money-in-the-bank Levy will claim back the cash spent on Hossam when Jol is now forced to sell him.

Fond memory

According to Jol and the club Ghaly has been fined and has apologised, but according to an interview on Egyptian television on Friday he had not even spoken or seen Jol since the incident. Seems that the cover-up is already under way. And Jol is nothing more than a wave in the sea. A sea of deception and lies.

As much as Ghaly is the fall guy here we do have something in common. We are both oppressed by a plight of ignorance. I am surrounded by ignorant people who don't see through Levy and his agenda. Ghaly is Lee Harvey Oswald. A patsy. Both of us are unable to express ourselves and our beliefs because the powers that be deem us insignificant and manipulative. But I'm just a little bit more clued up than my friend Hossam.

We are brothers, still. Except I don't speak Arabic and he probably doesn't have a criminal record for streaking at the West Stand entrance with a Levy effigy attached to his groin.