Ugly

Seems there are efforts to rationalise the Kyle Walker abuse by suggesting the player should man up and accept supporters will get upset. Some will always want to share their frustrations because social media allows such communication to play out impulsively very publicly for everyone to see after the fact (comments are frozen in time for all to see and refer back to). It's anti-social media at the best of times. There is nothing to rationalise here, just some harsh realities to accept as the ugly side of following football rears its head once again.

The below quotes are from Tottenham supporters.

I was at the game and was unbelievably frustrated by what walker did in the build up to the 4th goal and I think his defensive performances this season have been disappointing. If a player makes a crucial error like that then of course supporters are going to have a moan at the time.

But once it's done you have a duty, in my opinion, to get behind the guy and let him know that there's a way back from a spell of poor form.

You don't go on twitter calling him a c**t, or whatever it is people did.

I can understand the frustration and the moaning, but some of it gets quite vitriolic and aggressive. Why act like that towards your own player. I think a lot of people have trouble in understanding that these people are humans.

Bottom of Park Lane were on him like hounds on a limping fox yesterday after the fourth went in, almost as bad as they gave to Ashley Cole. Pretty dangerous for the team if you start abusing your own players worse than the opposition's. Some of the fans during the last couple of years have really done their best to hack off the fans that will support the team no matter what and no matter who they are.

Atmosphere only perked up when we went 2-1 up, I can't put my finger on why. I thought the atmosphere would be malevolent but it was tame, might have been a bit more intense had JT played.

This goes beyond one player's loss of confidence.

You might argue that Kyle should not have removed his Twitter account. He should have simply logged off and taken a sabbatical. Either way it's just a Twitter account. It's completely his prerogative whether he wants to remove it or not. Much like you and I are free to do the same. And let's be honest, most footballers post irreverent stuff about Nandos or just re-tweet shout outs - but it's also their prerogative to use it as they see fit. See BAE and Adebayor for examples on how they entertain us and themselves. There is nothing to stipulate how you should go about micro-blogging. So it shouldn't be a big deal either way but the fact he did remove it suggests he's hardly chuffed scrolling through the colourful messages left for him. Walker has today said it wasn't Spurs fans criticising him but rather people trolling and he's thankful for the support shown since Saturday.

The actual problem away from the social media aspect is pretty much illustrated in the quotes shared above. Our fans are still behaving erratically whether it's at the ground or elsewhere. Kyle Walker along with other footballers simply need to be prepared for the fact that some will always respond in this manner. You've got to be thick-skinned. We've always had an element of fickle and easily frustrated fans for as long as I can remember. We like to scapegoat. Just suck it up as best you can and try not to laugh at the irony that the same fans probably cheered you on when your form was solid and you were being lauded with awards and will cheer you on again when you regain that missing confidence and self belief.

The concerning trend is that the element of fickle and easily frustrated supporters is festering into a far nastier element and for what reason exactly? Are we a club in turmoil? Are we in crisis? Are we destined for mid-table mediocrity? Do we genuinely have nothing to smile about? Are the players out of form so bad, so beyond repair that the way to deal with them is to abuse them? Why do we possess a defeatist attitude before a ball is even kicked? Are we under that much pressure as supporters?

What? I can hear you. I'm back with this same agenda. I can only be reflective with what is currently happening so look closer to home if you're bored of this argument.

Walker's feet probably haven't touched the ground since his hedonistic rise. There's probably been plenty of hype to help him on his way, disguising some of the weakness that need development. The Chelsea performance will hopefully be a catalyst to some soul searching for the player and man-management from Villas-Boas and his coaching team.

Yes, things get said in the heat of the moment, some supporters react without thinking because the heart consumes the mind and it's all reactive and sometimes regretful but always because of the love we have for the club. Makes us do crazy things. Some players will rise above it, others won't.

I've said it before and I've been told much like it's Walker's prerogative to do what he wants, supporters have a right to support the team in the manner they wish to. There's something unnerving and unattractive with the attitude of a fair few of us that think a culture of blame is the way forward. That trend has been ever present this season. Some of our faithful still find it easier to heckle than support, they find it easier to scapegoat and ignore compassion and objectivity. Other's only find their voice when we're winning.

It's an emotive experience, always, supporting Tottenham. At the moment, the despondent trend is one of a minority but it persists in making plenty of noise.

That's done. Back to the football. Which is that thing that happens on the green field that is meant to bring us so much joy. Chelsea aftermath chit chat on the way.

Triffic against traffic cones but sweet FA for 'arry

Spurs 2 Blackburn 0

We got everything right without really hitting full pelt. Selection, tactics and tempo. Players looked brighter and more hungry for it, the football flowed and had the final ball been a notch better we'd have been comfortably out of sight long before we scored a second. Blackburn Rovers turned up. In the stands. On the pitch, fairly non-existent. They just set themselves up to contain but hardly managed to do so convincingly. We utterly dominated from start to finish (something ridiculous like 71% possession). We had 17 (or 19) shots they had nothing. Not even a shot off target. It was a akin to training match against traffic cones that had wheels attached to them and someone on the touch-line was remote controlling them really badly to force our players to run a little more energetically towards goal.

Sandro was sick. Literally and in terms of class. Beastly in effort. Tenacious with and without the ball, it was good to see this again in Lilywhite. Plenty of solid tackles, neat and tidy play. Unlucky with his shot that struck the bar and his marauding run was a proper punching the air with encouragement moment. He was solid in his defensive duties (winning the ball back, tracking) and tasty going forward. Parker wasn't missed. Seeing players wanting to win, it shouldn't be a luxury, it should be a given.

Chipped away at Rovers for the 1-0 with Rafa scoring. The second a brilliant free-kick (oh my God, direct from a set-piece!) from Kyle Walker. Sorry Robbo.

Defenders had little to do. Flankers were involved without being overly exciting. Bale still roaming (although against Rovers it was the only way he could probably remain awake). Modric was free to collect and lay off in the middle to his hearts content and although this game was made easy by the lack of endeavour from the opposition we still had to work as a unit, which we did. Wasn't spectacular. Not going to complain either. We had to win, we did. That's enough for me.

Bolton next. That won't be easy in comparison and a far sterner test. Been here before post-Swansea win. Spurs, Harry...still with plenty to prove.

As for Roy Hodgson being approached by the FA who have yet to approach anyone else, either they will ask to speak to others or they've decided against Harry or perhaps they we're never really interested in him in the first place. Where the irony sits is up to you and your own perception of this saga. 

Was the FA ever interested in Redknapp?

Could they not have released a statement and clarified their position unequivocally at the beginning (when Fabio was sacked) to say they will appoint someone in the summer when the season is actually over? Because if they did that (I forget) it still feels like its been dragged out with dollops of uncertainty landing in our back yard.

Does the FA not think they are causing uncertainty and distractions by doing their business when the season is still running its course? WBA still have games left to play last I looked.

If the FA did not approach Harry, then does the blame sit with Harry and his media mates who whored and manufactured a relentless campaign of hype where England was constantly mentioned and cited?

Why did Levy and Redknapp not meet behind closed doors and agree to draw a line under it and release a statement to reiterate focus on Spurs and Spurs only? If a manager is constantly talking about another job even if it's in response to media questions, surely a quiet word on professionalism wouldn't go a miss?

Good luck Roy.

It's funny to think that the FA might have had Redknapp in mind but changed it after the Spurs blip. A self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. If we don't qualify for the Champions League will Levy want to part with a mass of (compensation) money by sacking his manager? Or more to the point, is he now stuck with him? Or do we plug away with what we've got, because what we've got is still good enough to fight for a top four place next season? Even though it means we have to tolerate the continued disassociation and naivety which will point towards under-achieving - though this will depend on your perception. Competing top end of table is hardly under or over achieving if we keep doing it but could we be doing better and is the blame shared with Levy or is this simply the highs and lows of progression we should be enjoying? Kudos for removing the mid-table anchor but we should never ignore the sentiments in aiming high. Or are we limited due to wage budget and therefore at a level that can't be surpassed when comparing ourselves to the clubs above us?

I don't get this free-pass mentality that is being bestowed on Harry simply because 'we've never had it so good'. I still stand by what I said recently. Look at the position we were in early this season then look at the collapse and the subsequent handling of said collapse. Do you want to risk going through that again at a pivotal moment next season? I won't cover old ground (read The regression of Harry Redknapp's Tottenham, four parts for a far more detail look at this season and the future).

Still, the person that needs to step up this summer is the chairman. Longevity, transfers and decisiveness. We've been far too cautious for too long. Can we afford to speculate with a little more oomph? It's still tricky to work out whether we have the funds or not. How much of a hindrance (until built) is the NDP if at all? Are we aiming high or simply looking to sustain continuity.

I will end with this quote (from Harry's favourite tabloid) from Harry: “Good luck to Roy. I can see my future at Tottenham and I would like to stay. But that is down to the chairman.”

No wonder he looked so glum post match.

Never a dull moment at Spurs. 

Harry Redknapp loses his voice

I'm staring out the window at the moment. The evening sky where I am is an assortment of angry dark greys, all brooding and moody looking. If the clouds happened to be in a bar enjoying drinks, one of them is about to bump into another and spill a pint and it's all going to kick off. A downpour and a thunderclap. Any minute now. Here it comes.

That other window, the one most of us have our eyes on even when we sleep, is equally damp. What has today brought us? Just more suggestive journalism and soundbites. Very little dancing in the rain. Early days though, right? Reading too much into it, yeah? Might be sunny tomorrow, you just never know.

Abel 'goal machine' Hernandez bid rejected

In summary:

Uruguay international.
20 years of age.
Plays for Palermo, Italy.
£8.9M bid.
Maurizio Zamparini (president) rejected it.
£18M the valuation and alleged acceptable offer.

I don't know too much about the player but was told the quoted '2 goals from 22 games' is not quite factual. It's 3 goals from 12 starts and 10 appearances as a substitute. So statistically (not much of a difference), it's hardly the world class forward signing we need. But then if we did bid for the lad, considering it was a bid under the £10M mark you'd think this signing would not be the marquee statement we are eating away at our fingers for. Rather 'one for the future' who could still make an impact as our second striker in rotation. 

I've had the following pointed out to me (not disputing it, but if anyone has anything more to add, please do):

He's had heart surgery.
Recovered from an injury.
Is highly rated by the press and by other Serie A clubs.
He's expected to truly take the league by storm next season.
Cavani, in his first season in Italy, only scored 5 in 33.
Palermo are known for their good youth work with young South American players.

It's down to the person who scouted the player and fedback to chairman and manager on how best he could fit into the team. If they want more it probably wont happen because we are obviously working to a budget and can't over spend on players we don't value as highly as the potential selling club. Can't complain. We'd laugh off £20M for Modric if someone has the nerve to write a cheque for that amount.

Phil Jones. Nearly.

Harry Redknapp is always at hand to compliment others, never a bad word to say and always looking to make sure everyone knows he/we were somehow involved in the big story of the day. Phil Jones signs for Manchester United and guess what...we tried to sign him. He's obviously a lad with great potential, so I don't disagree with Harry on that. I'd expect us along with one or two others to be interested in the player. Why would you not be if you harbour ambitions to progress, push on and polish up on your squad by signing a young talented player? What I don't need to hear is a post-mortem on how we missed out, pinned to our chest like a badge of honour. Whether we inquired or actually lodged a bid or even spoke to Jones, I'm not sure. Harry has retained the details perhaps to reveal more in another interview. I guess the point is, why do we need to make public every single target or attempted signing? Why can't we just get on with it, and if it doesn't happen move on without comment? Why?

What? Oh yeah. Harry Redknapp.

Crouching Peter Hidden Somewhere

Here is the quote (apparently from Harry on a golf course, the bloke can multi-task with the best of 'em) in response to Peter Crouch being sold:

"I doubt it. Crouchy is a good player. I like him. He is a great lad and I love him as a fella. He is not one I'm looking to shift. We are looking to bring a striker in but he is not one of those that we are looking to sell if we can help it"

You take the Phil Jones soundbites as face value (perhaps with permission from the chairman to share the info, hinting at activity behind the scenes) but how to take the above? Personally, it's akin to the Bible code. A cryptic message can be found if you look carefully at the text, if you study it with time and patience. Here, take another look:

"I doubt it. Crouchy is a good player. I like him. He is a great lad and I love him as a fella. He is not one I'm looking to shift BUT HE'S BLATANTLY AVAILABLE YOU JUST NEED TO ATTRACT OUR ATTENTION WITH A BID THAT ISN'T ON THE CHEAP SIDE. We are looking to bring a striker in but he is not one of those that we are looking to sell WE'RE LOOKING TO SELL ALL OF THEM IF WE CAN REPLACE THEM WITH BETTER PLAYER if we can help it"

See anything yet?

Kyle Walker

Is Walker back at QPR on loan? Bit miffed if he is. Yes he's a right back and we have a neat collection of them in the first team squad currently, but I have this fantasy that he breaks into the first team and doubles up as a right winger (ala Bale's journey on the opposite flank) as back up for Lennon. He's a talent and unless I'm mistaken we've got the Prem, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup to contend with next season. Always feels like we loan players out until they're good enough to be sold for a tidy profit. Hutton will be sold (I've been pinning needles into a voodoo doll since the end of the season) so we need some enthusiastic fearless yoof in the side for rotation and cover. Walker back to QPR? Apparently just red top gossip at the moment. Phew.

Redknappology

Once again (and as a conclusion to the running theme pillaging its way through the above) we find ourselves asking what is the internal directive concerning the manner in which we update the media on our every move? There is nothing to be gained (other than informing all of our scatter-gun desperation and the apologetic nearly men theme) to continuously comment on any failed bid or interest of an unattainable player. Once upon a time (be it a short space of time) it was all hush hush then suddenly bang bang...here's a new player for ya. Currently we have a living breathing RSS feed relaying conflicting information via a twitchy somewhat unreliable server updating us on all our transfer movements. Unless of course Levy let's Harry get away with it all because it serves him as an means to an end. Look at plucky THFC, doing it's best for a third successive window.

Harry loves a camera and can't help himself so it's more than likely that he uses the countless occasions to do himself some good and get the word out on players we might be looking to offload or sign or make people believe we want to sign. Levy in the shadows, lurking...allows it to play out because it won't make a blind bit of difference to the work he's doing. Remember the van der Vaart signing? Harry couldn't wait to let us know how the deal came about and underplayed it a little too. I think he's opportunistic with the soundbites. I just hope Levy isn't so opportunistic this time round with the signings. Three fantastic signings is what Redknapp wants the chairman to bring to the club. If that's the case can we stop with all this persistent Parker, Cole, that bloke from Fulham linkage? What's that? Rio Ferdinand? Murked.

Someone define fantastic (not to say a fit Rio wouldn't do a job for us, but seriously...define fantastic).

Harry Redknapp loses his voice? We live in hope. Even if it did happen he'd probably turn up on Sky Sports News dressed as Marcel Marceau.

It's stopped raining now. More of the same forecasted for tomorrow. Much of the same in the news columns too I'd expect.

Spurs win again

Uninspiring 90 (and some) minutes of football at the Lane. Said in my match preview all we had to do in-order to dismantle Pompey was to turn up. We hardly even did that. I didn't expect our lot to take it so literally. That's not a criticism, in fact to play without ever truly (having the need to) shift out of first gear and win against anyone is testament to the players. Patient play rather than panic mode.

We did enough and it was more than enough, if nowhere near exceptional. DVD on ice. Portsmouth were fairly woeful (and that's being kind). They had a couple of moments, nothing more. Didn't exactly dismantle them. Sort of just quietly gave them a dusting and placed them a box, pushing it under the bed for safe-keeping, tip-toeing away.

You'd think they'd give a better impression in the FA Cup semi-final, you'd hope at the very least if you're a neutral or one of their fans. But judging by this performance and the injury to Hreidarsson (not great to see), I think we can be quietly confident of safe passage to the final. Monumental if they managed to beat us in that. But as ever - let's not take anything for granted.

Back to Saturday - and no complaints. No point going overboard with match analysis either. It was all a bit damp out there. We won, nothing else matters at this stage. No rampant football, I need to stop expecting it when its most expected.

Palacios benched, midfield comfortable with Huddlestone continuing his return to first team action. Bentley also starting. BAE joining Wilson on the sidelines. Walker put on a decent showing, lots to learn but it's good to see we have another kid with bags of potential. Hopefully we can take better care of this one as he develops. Good game to début in too. Bale (that other kid who we almost failed) just continues to go from strength to strength.

Players doubling up on him is something that's becoming common practice as of late, but he just gets on with it. Love watching him, every time he charges and surges forward he looks like crafting some form of havoc for the opposing players. Wonderful pass to Crouchies head for 1-0. Walker involved in the second, cutting back for Modric who didn't quite connect but Niko was there to flick it in with his foot. Couple of wood-work bound efforts before that second goal and a few chances in a very low-key second half. Much ado about nothing tbh. And Pompey's moments served a purpose only to remind the players to present some quality to cement the victory. Which we did.

Second half really was that sleepy. Kaboul (on for Daws) tackle on Brown (who was lively) in the penalty area one of the highlights. Just for the sheer shock-value. Kanu could have done better with a chance but didn't. Pompey losing a couple more players to injury (including David James) to further compound their misery. Crouch (from another Bale supa-run) shooting just wide of the far post deep into extended injury time.

Comfortable sleepy comfortable stuff.

Dawson going off? Hopefully precautionary rather than another sodding hamstring.

Five wins in a row now for us. Dizzying stuff. We just don't want to let go of 4th. 7 games left.