8th spot is the new 4th

Tottenham: Not good for your health.

One moment we are high up looking down at everything, anticipating – dare I say excited. And then it begins and we find ourselves heading downwards with dizzying speed, my heart in my mouth and my gut pushed up somewhere into my head. Why do I put myself through this? When will the nightmare end? The twists, the turns. The agony and screams. The ups and downs.

It’s a rollercoaster ride.

Literally. The Colossus ride at Thorpe Park. Which is where I spent most of Sunday (making it back for the final 15 minutes of the football). But not a minute went by without thinking about how we were getting on up at Anfield.

I’ve seen extended highlights of the game and considering the players missing due to injury along with one or two Keystone cops on ketamine performances best illustrated by the lethargic Corluka – I don’t want to read too much into it. Proper end of season get it over and done with football. Shame really, as Fulham lost to Everton so we might have sneaked into Europe but then again, I’m not crying over the fact we didn’t.

Three consecutive years of European football ended probably at Blackburn when we lost 2-1 and along with West Ham, the only London clubs without a passport to the continent. Talking of which, we finished above them, which is no reason for an open bus parade, but still hilarious if anything for the fact that at one point we were so far behind that one happy Hammer bet me £100 we would not finish above them.

As for the game, the missing players illustrates that we have plenty of work to do with strengthening the squad so that the balance is not lost on such occasions. Harry once more recycling the fact that we might need to sell to generate more funds for players.

Bent, Pav, Bentley, Huddlestone, Zokora....a few that are being constantly linked with moves away. It all beings soon. You ready for it?

Keane scored our only goal, and decided not to celebrate. Which resulted with applause from all sides of the ground. Disaster signing or not, that was classy. By disaster, I mean for Liverpool. I don’t agree it was a mistake for us to get him back. Those early performances on his return were vital ones. And he'll back to his normal self after a break in the sun - one that this summer will not include any phone calls from Rick Parry.

So that’s that. Two points from eight games. Ramos and Comolli sacked. The Bale jinx. Bentleys form. Harrys appointment. 4-4. The climb up the table. Our home form. Keane and JD returning. Wilson. Laughing in the face of relegation. Touching distance from Europe. 8^th. The end.

I'm happy, if only because of the mess we found ourselves in at the start of it all. In the grand scheme of things, it's been a wasteful season and once more a transitional one. Let's just pray to the footballing Gods that next season is a little more gentle in the way of any unwanted hiccups and that we sustain a 7th - 5th spot from the start of the season. Would be nice to enjoy the season from start to finish.

We won’t even have to time to recover from this one, with the summer transfer window almost upon us.

Another rollercoaster ride no doubt. Close your eyes and hope for the best.

If Fergie wants to play the kids, let him play the kids

The final weekend of the season is almost upon us. Hoping we get a decent result up at Anfield, but I won't be crying if we lose. It's been a ridiculous season and I'm more than happy with our finish and looking forward already to the start of next season. The summer will no doubt be a rollercoaster with the rumours of comings and goings that will clog up the blogs and forums as we frantically await official word of where our season ticket money is being spent.

In the mean time we can all sit back and enjoy the relegation scrap and it's aftermath. You know, the one that fans of all other clubs were hoping we'd be stuck in. Except we're not. Not even two points from eight games could stop us leaving the rot behind.

Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle and Boro are the not so fortunate ones. The same ones crying (minus Hull) about Man Utd possibly looking to field a 'weakened' team and how they might sue if Ferguson does just that and Hull stay up.

Yes. Sue. Because it's Man Utd's fault that the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland have been utterly shit for months and are at the bottom of the table because of the countless games they have failed miserably to win and thus not accumulating enough points for Prem safety. They are bottom because that's as good as they deserve based on performances. Why should Utd care about Hull away when they have Barcelona in Rome next week? They have the right to do anything they want. They've earnt it. But there's the wee little FA rule about always fielding 'your strongest side'. Which is contentious because they could argue (if they play kids) it is their strongest side with the Champs League final in mind.

I hope Hull dick over Utd regardless rendering everything else insignificant.

It would mean I can settle down and bask in the knowledge that next season Match of the Day will be viewable without you know who smugging his way through the program in that ultra-bland monotone moan that has me head butting the tv.

Yes. After a prolonged 'Let's Relegate Newcastle' campaign to see them go down, not because of any hatred towards their fans or their history or anything else other than the fact that I do not like Alan Shearer. And for that matter, neither do I like people of similar ilk to Mike Ashley. A man who tries to endear himself to the Newcastle faithful by downing pints and wearing black and white when in reality he's just another ego that has failed to grasp the concept of what it means to run a football club. Two words sum it all up: Dennis Wise.

Debt clearance aside, it's been shambolic. From the Keegan debacle to leaving Chris Hughton (I wonder if he reads this blog?) in charge for so long and for the appointment of old skool Joe Kinnear before opting for someone who probably would not have taken the job if there were 15 games to play rather than 8 - as failure in that scenario would be a little more tricky to worm out of - legend or no legend.

Almost makes me forgive Levy for his indecisions and cock-ups which seem irrelevant in comparison.

Regardless of my hopes and aspirations, something tells me that Newcastle won't go down leaving me with a win-win situation. I guess in this paralysing scenario I may still come out ironically victorious as Shearer may opt to stay on as boss and thus leave me with a smugless Match of the Day without his dreary punditry which will give me time to concentrate on MotD2 and trying to understand what Adrian Chiles is saying because even with the volume turned up to full whack on a surround sound system all I hear coming out of his mouth his whispers. It's like the man has a black hole in his mouth that sucks in all sound waves leaving only lip-readers with the ability to comprehend his introductions to highlights.

If anyone can provide transcripts, I'd be grateful.

Spurs 1 Toon 0 - Breaking the hearts of the Geordie nation

There was no goal glut in the end. Instead we enjoyed a rather comfortable home performance, with the usual unwanted bonus of nervy late moments you associate with Spurs. But in truth, Newcastle was neither menacing nor cohesive enough to ever cause anything near sustained pressure. A spurned Nolan shot and Martins kicking high over the bar, the only moments I sighed relief. A nail in the coffin, our job done as one of their opponents in the ‘Let’s Relegate Newcastle’ campaign. The smugness of Shearer is disappearing faster than a pint of Brown Ale in a Newcastle pub.

Pre-match I was a little surprised. No Roman in the starting line-up or the bench. I’ve since heard it was due to a back complaint. So Bent got the nod again, with the undroppable-no-matter-how-quiet-he’s-been Robbie Keane partnering him up-front. King’s knees flared up in training, so Michael Dawson started and in central midfield Jenas failed to shake off the hamstring injury he picked up against West Ham which meant Tommy Huddlestone would get his chance alongside Palacios. Hutton and Defoe both on the bench. It’s nice to see so much quality in depth. Something we had at the start of the season, without the confidence that’s required to gel it all together.

Newcastle had Martins, Smith and Viduka on the bench. Owen up-front and to be honest I’d be hard-pressed to remember the rest of them.

Only took two minutes for something to happen. A Bassong tackle on Darren Bent that possibly warranted a red card. If it had happened 30 minutes into the game or at some point in the second half, then he would have got his marching orders for sure. Not to worry. We dominated possession and created chances with relative ease, resulting in a Bent goal at the second time of asking after Harper saved his initial cross-come-shot. 1-0 up and the much maligned Bent does the only thing he does…and that’s score. Do we still want rid of him? Yes, of course we do. He’s still one-dimensional. But for now, I have no problem being a hypocrite and celebrate his goals. We spent the rest of the match attempting to get the second, which in the end eluded us.

It’s actually a frustrating problem. It cost us three points at Blackburn and it might have cost us a couple against Newcastle. We have a stupendous home record this season (under Harry, not Ramos) with one defeat (against Everton), possibly one too many draws, but only 9 goals conceded overall. 13 is the ‘record’ low goals against at the Lane achieved back in the 60’s. Only Liverpool this season have conceded less goals on home turf. Fortress White Hart Lane? The flip side to this is the fact that we haven’t scored that many going forward. Boring boring Tottenham. So what exactly is the problem? Well, I’m not sure there is one. Other than maybe attempting to walk the ball into the back of the net. Couple of occasions yesterday found us on the edge of the area with the players passing the ball around like a hot potato – all afraid to have a crack. Our general play is fine, but just needs stepping up just a tad in the way of final balls and that ruthless killer instinct.

We should not have gone into the final 10 minutes biting our nails. In the end, Newcastle lacked the composure to take any of their half-chances. Lady luck doesn’t always lift her skirt up and playfully wink at you. With Alan Shearer changing formations more often than Mike Ashley likes to appoint new managers, not only are Newcastle a mish-mashed squad of players, they also appear to lack any understanding in the way of responsibility, leadership and spirit. No miraculous away day for the Toon army this time. No shock 1-4 win. It never looked like happening for them anyway. This isn’t the soft-touch Spurs of old.

Dawson and Woody were commanding at the back. BAE enjoying a relatively easy afternoon. Corluka, clumsy with his passing at times, but otherwise fine. Had to slot into the centre-back position when Dawson was stretchered off with an ankle injury that might well end his season (hope it isn’t too serious). This all meant we welcomed back Alan Hutton who was pretty a-ok on his return. One or two excellent crosses played in with pace, one to the head of Bent who was a little unlucky not to get fully behind it for what would have been a certain second.

We also got to see Jermain Defoe in cameo mode. Still a little way off from being completely match-fit, but who cares. He’s back and will almost certainly score a goal or two before the season closes. Martins had that one effort that had Shearers heart-in-mouth, Viduka…can’t remember if he did anything of note. Although both him and Martins did improve Newcastle going forward, and as they pressed late on, looked more of a team than they did in the previous 80 minutes. Alan Smith was his usual dirty self.

Only thing Newcastle bemoaned was a tackle by Woodgate on Martins. But since when is ‘winning the ball’ a clear penalty shout? Jonathon Pearce thought otherwise on Match of the Day 2. The BBC also opted to cut out the Bassong foul. In fact, the editing of the match was a complete joke. All very complimentary towards Alan Shearers side. Worth noting we had around twenty-two attempts compared to their eight. But you’d think the game was equally matched if you hadn’t seen it live (at Spurs or on Sky). Skys commentary, by all accounts, was as expected with Andy Gray co-commentating. Conspiracy I tells ya, it’s a conspiracy! Those pesky Arsenal and West Ham journos strike again! Down with this sort of thing!

And what of the enigma Huddlestone? Palacios return makes such a massive difference to the side I have to once more call on Harry to look for a young(er) understudy so that we don’t miss him too much when he’s out, suspended or otherwise. He gave Tom time to show-off his sublime passing range. Although to be fair, even I would have time on the ball against Newcastle United. It’s the type of game where you find yourself thinking maybe, just maybe, Tom does have a future as a first-team player. But the reality is, it wasn’t a top performance against top side opposition. It was a good performance against poor opposition. Add pace to an opposing midfield, and he’ll struggle. It’s worth mentioning he was in hospital this past week with a swollen neck (glands?) so well done regardless of the usual question marks we like to throw his way.

Robbie Keane was once more on the quiet side. Run around, waved his arms. But not too much of anything else. Hopefully his game will pick up again with JD back. He does appear to look a little too comfortable in the starting line-up. Lennon did well in-front of Fabio, but there’s no doubt he needs another step up in the way of all-round play. It will come.

So, after all the hype and the banter, we have possibly ended Newcastle United. Their three remaining home games take on monumental importance. They cannot afford to lose any of them. It’s not quite end of days for the Geordie nation just yet. I’m just glad it’s them down there and not us.

Talking of which, we are now left with two winnable home games (WBA, Man City) but away trips to Man Utd, Everton and Liverpool. Plenty of minutes for Harry to continue the rejuvenation of the team.

Those relegation worries seem a million miles away now. You remember…two points from eight games, innit.

Spurs v Toon: Revenge! Now we’re cooking!

So here we go. Newcastle at home. Palacios back in central midfield with his bossing boots on. Roman (hopefully) replacing Darren Bent up front where Robbie Keane will have to improve on his previous performance when going in search of goals (rather than dropping deeper than a submarine with a gaping hole in its underbelly). Jenas (if fit) and Woodgate are up against their former club. And Jermain Defoe, possibly on the bench. King will start, obviously.

Loads of pre-match hype, the usual worrying omens are winking out from the tabloid papers. It's a must win for Shearer.

Newcastle welcome back Mark Viduka, and if Obafemi Martins plays then I might bite my nails until we are several goals up. They always beat us at St James Park. It’s almost like that scene in the Fortress of Solitude when Superman slots in a crystal and loses his powers. Yes, we're more Clark Kent than a Kal-El at the best of times, but the point being we seem to lose all ability and allow ourselves to be bullied and beaten, all the time, up in the North East. And in recent years, it’s been no better down in N17. They must be packing Kryptonite in their boots.

Last season’s 4-1 defeat was even more ridiculous than usual thanks to the fact that they scored all 4 efforts that were aimed at the target. It was a mugging, but a well deserved one. Make your own luck, score a wonder goal...it all counts. It was still completely unexpected, much like tomorrow might be. At the minute, you’d put your money on Spurs winning. And on form, it’s a worthy bet. Our home record has been pretty great, with few goals conceded. But if there's a game Newcastle need to win, this is it.

Sunderland won today. Newcastle are 4 points from safety. Win at the Lane, and then their home match against Pompey suddenly becomes a Cup semi-final. Three points there and they could possibly afford a defeat at Anfield before the final against Boro (at home again). Then it’s Fulham (yes, it's also at St. James Park) where they may well consolidate their Premier League status...if they pick up the three points.

It’s actually more promising than most would think, but no margin for error is left. It's do or die for them.

The flip side to all this is they've been gash for ages now. Their defence is not great, and their midfield is non-existent. Which is why their defence looks even worse than it is. If they really want it, REALLY want it, they have to conjure up something magical and inspirational. Sound familiar? Wasn’t long ago that our form was worrying all of us whilst those Facebook Relegation Party invites were clogging up my inbox. We were lost, desperate and disillusioned. Bit like the aftermath of getting slapped around by a bullying trucker.

But we remembered what pride and self-respect was.

We always had the quality. It was only a matter of brushing off the pathetic self-pitying to help regain it. The confidence and belief returned. We turned it around. We switched it. We did it to them. I mean the lights were on out here while we were safe in there.

Do Newcastle have what it takes to pull themselves away? Can they trick their way out of certain death?

Even if they do ‘turn up’, there's the little question of Tottenham Hotspur. We owe them. And the team owes the home fans.

Palacios will give us an abundance of grit, tempo and urgency in the middle of the park. The panther prowling, snarling against what is a fragile Toon quartet at the best of times should allow us to dominate, and if we do, then the freedom given to General Mod and the blistering pace of Lennon (who is due a more then decent game) should be more than enough for us to walk on water.

But it’s football. It’s funny. You never quite know.

I guess the problem for us is – goals. We don’t concede many, but we are not full of them offensively either. Something has to give. And Newcastle have that desperation about them where they have to go for it. It will either come off for them, or they will fall humiliatingly into the cold depths of the Championship.

Enjoy the game. Hopefully there's a glut of celebrations only from the men in Lilywhite on Sunday afternoon, with the public left asking:

''They’ve killed Newcastle! What are we gonna do now?'

Spurs 1 Chelsea 0 - It’s so quiet, it’s so quiet, it’s so quiet....over there

When I heard the game was delayed because of a suspect vehicle in the Park Lane, I thought maybe Harry had parked a bus. Typical that our first 3pm Saturday kick-off since forever didn’t take place till 3:30pm. But who cares anyway? Sun was shining. And the delay allowed me to tuck into a cheeky burger pre-match.

Excellent performance. I don’t care that Chelsea were sloppy at times. We competed and created and deserved the points. What we have at Spurs is a team. One that works hard and one that has players in the right positions with a complete understanding of what their responsibilities are, individually and as part of a unit. It’s taken some time to get here, and there is no doubt it can improve further. Just makes a mockery of some of the concerns we had in recent months. Confidence breeds more confidence which leads to self-belief and good form. Form that reflects the quality we do possess rather than a shadow of it which saw as falter so pathetically early in the season.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a team of square pegs slotted into square holes. Rejoice at the simplicity.

And it’s no surprise that it's coincided with the arrival of Wilson Palacios. Lost to Bolton on his debut, but since then we’ve remained unbeaten. Sure, his distribution wasn’t great today and it’s definitely an area that requires improvement, but Wilson’s work ethic is quite simply outstanding. His positional sense and strength in shielding the ball allows other players to go about their business knowing that the Panther is primed for attack if any of our forward play breaks down. Modric is the obvious benefactor of our new midfield enforcer.

And as for Luka, yet again we find ourselves with a brilliant player, one that’s imperative to any sustained progress we plan to make from now into the start of next season. Juventus and his agent can go take a running jump.

First half saw us have a couple of chances, both from Robbie Keane, both efforts well saved by Cech. Chelsea’s efforts equally dealt with at the other end. It's plain to see this is not the unstoppable, unbeatable Chelsea crafted by Jose. It’s a great feeling to know at half-time that there’s every chance we can beat them. One league win in thirty-eight games (that’s nineteen miserable years) and it’s Chelsea who don't quite look to have the better of Tottenham.

Second half, with Chelsea knowing about Utd’s loss away to Fulham, most would have expected a storming start from them. One with intent and purpose.

Instead, Bosingwa decides to play his way out of the penalty area rather than allow the ball to go out for a goal-kick. Messy passage of play sees it cleared, but only as far as Woodgate's head. Seems Football First and MotD both over-looked the (under-stated) header to Lennon, who dinked and crossed superbly for Modric to strike a cracking ball beyond the reach of Cech into the corner. Great play from Woody. Great play from Aaron. Great play from Luka.

His performance deserved that moment. Could have added a second when Lennon again crossed for again for him, this time Luka hitting the shot into the ground allowing Cech to collect with ease.

As expected, Chelsea far more forceful in possession after going 1-0 down and there was a moment when I almost conceded that we would need a second goal to win this because surely Chelsea would equalize. Almost did too. Staggering Gomes saved from John Terry. Match-winning stuff from the Brazilian. Then we countered, breaking with Lennon released out on the wing, only to then see him balloon the ball into the crowd. Had he zipped in a composed cross Bent or Jenas would have it 2-0. Heart still in mouth.

Chelsea continued their pressure in the 4 minutes of injury time. Plenty of nervous incident.

Anelka effort saved Lampard corner, Alex heads it into the ground, oh no no no, off the bar, phew, Gomes flicks it away Ball out of play,
Keane tells the fans to hold onto the ball Malouda effort,
another corner, Ballack turns and shoots, blocked off the line

Final whistle.

Still unbeaten against the ‘Top 4’. Our defensive record this season remains impressive (compared to last season’s antics). Unbeaten in six games. Three points from a European place. Nine points from the bottom three. Highest league position since August 2007, which is actually depressing coming off two successive 5th spot places, but it wouldn’t be Tottenham if there wasn’t a transitional period slotted in every couple of years. And just in case you’ve forgotten, we only had two points from eight games when Harry took over.

Surely this warrants a DVD release-party on an open-bus, paraded on Tottenham High Road?

Match Ratings:

Gomes – 8.8 – Has come back to reclaim the number one jersey, and has done so with some solid performances. Yeah, we know what he is prone to doing (spilling the ball, missing punches) but he’s cleaned up the calamity and is pretty solid between the sticks. His save from Terry was fantastical. He blocked almost everything else, apart from the Alex header, but even lady luck flirted with the Brazilian today. Lovely.

BAE – 8.6 - The perfect illustration of a player coming back from injury, playing through the hard times and continued to be selected allowing him to find consistently good form. Not the greatest defender or attacking fullback, but bloody reliable and dare I say.....good. He's come along way from the liability tag most bestowed on him.

Corluka – 8.6 – Man City sold this player...why? Looks half-asleep, but plays like a lucid dream: Always in control. Defended well, attacked even better when supporting Lennon. Anyway back for Hutton?

King – 9 – Can only play one game per week. Anyone who has any doubts about him should be declared clinically insane. A colossus at the back for us. Quite content with his one game every seven days if Dawson can cover with the type of form he has shown recently.

Woodgate – 8.8 – When you have a rock playing alongside a colossus, its happy days. King and Woody are an exceptional pairing at the back. Reads the game superbly. Touch wood (oh the pun, the pun) he has escaped major injury concerns and has also been a model professional for us. Something that some people said he'd fail to do when he made his move from Boro to London.

Jenas – 8 – Frustrating at times. Makes you wonder why the generosity with the 8/10. Misplaced passing aside, he worked his socks off. Looks to play the forward ball and was mentally on the level required, rather than sitting by a corner pin rocking backwards and forwards very slowly. He can thank Wilson for the new founded spirit. When JJ puts in this type of shift, it's easy to see why some might under-rate his effort but if you watch the game, he doesn't stop running. And in games like this, anything less is unacceptable.

Palacios – 8 – Distribution nowhere near perfect, but the man has adamantium in his bones. Completely unbreakable. And this is Wilson on about 75% of what he can do. Against top tier opposition you need someone who not only has grit but excels physically. He didn’t look out of place up against Essien (a far more complete midfielder), Ballack and Lampard. Fantastic buy, and I no longer shrug with disapproval at the hefty price tag.

Lennon – 7.9 – Quiet(er) performance today, but you can’t help but believe something good is going to happen when he runs with the ball. As seen with his assist to Luka for the goal. Having signed a two-year extension that will keep him in Lilywhite till 2014, I’m hoping Levy understands the importance of a ‘just say no’ policy to the likely bid(s) from Liverpool or whoever else in the summer. He's agreed to an extension. He has publicly stated he is happy at Spurs. It’s impossible for him to leave the club. I just feel the need to state this out loud via words in a blog article. He can not leave the club.

Modric – 9.2 – Playmaker, creative midfielder, magician. Cracking goal, cracking performance. We have ourselves a brilliant midfielder who will get better as the team continues to improve. Dictates the tempo for us. It’s ridiculous that some believed he was too lightweight for the Premiership. Hoping to see a lot more goals from the little man next season.

Keane – 7.9 – Worked hard and as Harry pointed out, came deep (we all know how good he is at that) to support the midfield and link up play. Not his day in front of goal, but did exactly what was required, just without the polished touch.

Bent – 7.9 – Played very well. Effort was stupendous. Might have lacked a touch here and there and sometimes displayed weak decision making, but hassled the Chelsea defence relentlessly. When he plays like this, you can’t fault him too much. And I’m not going to be critical just because I don’t see him at the club next season. He is not right, from game to game, as a first choice forward, IMO. But he can do a job. It's just that for the fee we signed him for, he should be first choice. Which is why I expect us to cash in on him cometh the summertime.

Redknapp – 9.5 – Balanced side, no unnecessary tinkering going into the game. Got the players up for this and tactically was spot on.

If we continue to improve, then I hope to see us boss the minutes after we go up a goal - against any opposition. When we're under pressure, we sometimes don't make it easier on ourselves by putting our foot on the ball and slowing the pace down to suit us. But this is a general observation. Chelsea are not exactly going to make any game comfortable for the opposing team.

It's just gone 2am, and it's pitch dark outside. Sun is still shining though. COYS.

Happy with Harry?

If you frequent Spurs message boards you'll have probably seen the rather special version of the league table with the Lilywhites sitting pretty in 7th place. What's that? We're not seventh? Oh yes we are. If the Premiership began on October 21st we'd be just three points behind Arsenal and seven points off a Champions League place. This alternate reality is one I would very much like to visit. Next season, yeah?

As superfluous as this table of accumulated points since Redknapp's arrival is in the real world, it does illustrate that we haven't done too badly under his man-management. Even more so when you consider that the reason we didn't pull ourselves out of the mire sooner was due to that dismal patch of successive away games that saw us lose points in the dying moments. Lack of concentration that has since been fixed.

It's taken some time to get here. Where here is, I can't say for certain, but it's better than sitting in or just above the bottom three. If anything, for psychological reasons. We can still be pulled back, but it's unlikely. Class, it seems, always manages to shine through in the end.

At times it didn't look likely, but that's more down to our lack of patience and general emotional knee-jerks. Whether you like Harry and his media-whoring or not, there is no doubt that he (unlike 'couldn't wait to get the hell out of here' Ramos) appears to care a little bit more about progression even if he does have his own personal agenda. Who cares as long as Spurs improve as a team.

The Honeymoon Period

When you sack a manager and bring in a new one you are reliant on the textbook reaction players tend to give when there's a new man at the helm, but that is not always enough. Thankfully, Harry got us plenty of points which arguably become the foundation to re-build the confidence of the team. That's plenty of points in games we did not really expect to win or even draw. Did we ride our luck? Yes. But luck tends to fall into your lap when you go out seeking for it. Prior to his arrival we looked a sorry bunch, completely absorbed in our own self pity.

Fortress White Hart Lane

We still need to turn some of the draws into wins, but we are no longer a soft touch at home. Get points at the Lane, and half of the job is done. It's the basis of any team looking to do well. In our case we needed to the points thanks largely to the fact that our away form required major surgery, which took several weeks to complete.

Aaron Lennon

I doubt Aaron is playing well because Spurs spent £15M on David Bentley. His (Bentleys) performances will not exactly inspire others to excel. Harry should take the plaudits for getting Lennon back on song. Absolutely no doubting it, he'll be the fans player of the year this term. Under Ramos, Lennon was one dimensional and without intent and purpose. Under Harry he has been a relentlessly outlet of speed and not so perfect but getting there end-product. It's the best we've seen from the lad.

Addressing the fundamentals

No steel in midfield? In comes Wilson. Need something extra up front? In comes Defoe. As a consequence of his injury, in came Robbie Keane too. How both will fit in when JD is back from his lay-off will take some hefty man-management skills to resolve but it's something I'm certain Harry will deal with, let's say, diplomatically. His handling of the Gomes situation, equally impressive. Signing Cudicini was an inspired choice as we can finally say there's competition for the number one jersey. Modric found himself finally playing in a position that allows him dictate and create. King playing in Prem games rather than UEFA matches. Jenas and Zokora more responsible when tasked with 'jobs to do'.

Harry has tinkered here there and everywhere to find the right balance through the team. With a little bit of luck and confidence returning, the team has naturally improved with each passing game. The Chimbonda signing (decent cover if he bothers to stick the effort in) might be the only shrug thus far. But (even those its a mockery) re-signing Keane has proved to be a justified transfer.

Tactics

Took some tweaking to settle for his 'best' 11, but seems to understand the necessity of retaining a consistent team selection - one that can grow in terms of effectiveness with each passing game. I'm repeating myself.

He doesn't squad rotate for the sake of it. Liked how he subbed Zokora for Corluka the other day when it become apparent that Zoko could not cope with Young. Compare that to some of Juande's random subs. And there seems to be a far more evident game plan. Yes, we've had to endure one or two 4-5-1's here and there. But that was a stop-gap rather than a solution.

Overall, he is doing the job he was paid to do. At the start of next season he won't be able to remind us (about 6000 times per week) that Spurs only had 2 points when he joined. What happens in the summer (and yes, I do know this season still has a few games to go) will be vital. He should not look to overhaul the squad. Maybe one or two key changes, but starting from scratch is best avoided. We have a decent defence. Decent forward line-up. It just needs a bit of tweaking here and there.

What do we do with David Bentley? This season is a complete write-off, but discarding him would be callous and a little premature. Even if he has been a non-event on the pitch. Once he starts doing the basics and playing like a footballer rather than attempting to be a superstar, things will come good for him.

King? Retiring? Don't believe the twisted rumours. He'll continue to be our part-time God at the back. Gareth Bale reclaiming form a priority IMO.

And as for dos Santos and Adel? Like to see both of them back at the Lane and in the first team squad. £4.7M is a lot of money to spend on a mistake. He should be given the opportunity in a more stable side. Adel is a player who needs to start more games. I'm hoping he has a storming loan at QPR.

Bent is likely to go. All eyes on Pav who needs to show us all what he is capable of after a good summers rest. I'm hoping he has a bit more buzz about him when 100% sharp.

Personally, and I'm sure most would agree, the most important thing is how we handle ourselves in the transfer market. We've overspent on the wrong type of players far too many times. But with no DoF and having re-signed (almost) everyone we sold the summer before - it's down to both Harry and Levy to make sure that we bring in players because they are unequivocally required.

I'll concern myself with all these points of discussion again after we see ourselves through the final 9 games of the season.

Triffic.

Villa 1 Spurs 2 - Snapshot review

A lickle match report following on from the minute-to-minute coverage of the game:

Well done to all. Great team performance. Especially the second half.

Well done to Harry for the selection and half time team talk. Thought we weathered the storm really well in the first half and taking Zokora off who struggled to handle Young was a great decision. Team looked very balanced in comparison to previous away day outings.

Modric drifting in from the left and Lennon absolutely the sex on the right wing. Wonderful unplayable ball into the box for Jenas to get his head onto. Keane is Keane. Dropping deep, pushing forward. And Bent deserves some credit today for his work ethic especially with the counter-attacks we mustered up. Guess his agent told him to put himself in the shop window, considering it was live on tv. Yes, 15 goals. But let's be honest. This game is exactly what Bent lives off. Counter-attacking football, running down the channels. Slow the game down to something a little more intelligent, and he struggles. Still, for this type of away day job, it was a job well done.

Jenas performed very well today. There, I said it out loud. Palacios not so great but forgiveable. I'm talking about his passing which was at times clumsy and sloppy. He still hasn't performed to the standard of the Arsenal home match but was fairly strong today and worked well with JJ. Modric had his moments, but was relatively quiet compared to what we know he can do. But these are not complaints. They all deserve credit.

As for the defence, BAE was superb. King and Woodgate, brick walls. The only leak came when Carew beat Woody for the Villa consolation goal late on.

Midfield improved immensely in the second half, but I guess Villa made it a little easy for us to boss it. Still need to work on our possession play and when the games pace is slowed down we sometimes struggle to adapt.

Great to see us being ultra-pro with the time wasting at the death. Nice to be in that position and work it a little to guarantee no late show heartbreak.

Fantastic three points. Villa look dicked for 4th spot now. Three points off 8th spot. Four points off 7th. Six points off the bottom three. Happy days.

Sunderland 1 Spurs 1 - Keane to the rescue

Once upon a time Sunderland were the ones scoring dramatic last minute equalisers to dent Tottenham’s Champions League hopes. Yesterday it was our turn for a late goal to help add to the tally of points that will surely see us safe come the final day of the season.

Loads of possession yesterday, some decent build up play but a quality final ball dinked in was missing for large patches of the game which meant apart from a King effort well saved and Bent ballooning the ball over when one-on-one with the keeper, we did well to stay in the game with Sunderland squandering a few chances of their own. It's refreshing to see us claiming a late goal in our favour for once.

Obviously, we went 1-0 down within a couple of minutes. But considering how often we seem to get bullied away against the more physical teams I can’t complain too much about how we went about our business yesterday after Richardson scored. Boro stood off and let us play football on Wednesday night. There was no chance Sunderland would do the same. They don’t make it easy for anyone up there. And typically, we made it easier for them with our lacklustre start to the game.

Defensively we were not great. And as mentioned, the final ball was not always to the required standard. And although Redknapp exaggerates a little with his ‘we dominated’ assessment, we were good for the point and deservedly got it with Keane’s smart late finish.

I know we have tired legs and Harry has done a good job getting us through the congested fixture list, but playing Chimbonda at left-back was never going to be productive. Hutton is back soon. Would like to see him slot into right-back and Corluka at centre-back and Chimbonda can be used for either RB or CB if required. Let BAE and Bale battle it out for LB. Utility player or not Pascal might be able to slot into the LB position but having no left foot means it’s a bit like asking a eunuch to star in a porn movie. The additional chorus of boos that followed every touch he made didn’t make it a comfortable afternoon for him. Still, he muddled through. Not sure why he wasn’t started at right back and Corluka slotted into left back (he didn’t do too shabby there against Liverpool). Harry did rectify this cometh the 75th minute mark.

Gomes gave us one moment of ‘oh shit oh shit oh shit’ when he came but failed to make contact with the ball. But was otherwise untested. Sunderland’s other efforts, including one from a superb Andy Reid cross that Cisse failed to turn in, were half chances at best.

Lennon did his thing. Always find he can get the opposition fullback yellow-carded quite easily with his tricks and turns, but needs to go in for the kill more often and get them sent-off. Can't believe this hasn't been drilled into him by the manager. His crosses hit far too many defenders. A slight off day for the menacing wing magician. Modric was quiet, but still in an attacking sense, our other best outlet.

Huddlestone (such a great passer of the ball, but just so damn immobile – can we ever make more use of him?) came on for Jenas (who was neither great or average - just stuck somewhere in the middle). Bentley (decent effort) and Pav also on towards the end.

Palacios was a bit on the quiet side.

We kept plugging away and from a Sunderland corner/penalty claim all the way to the other end of the pitch that saw Bent cross in for Keane to hit a half volley into the ground which gave Fulop no chance and to give us a point.

And as for fans favourite Darren Bent, if they handed out points for players who run around constantly he’d be top of the table. But that’s not enough. It’s frustrating that when he had the chance to score (divot or no divot) he struck the ball high above the bar. But then again, he’ll get double the amount of moans and groans aimed at him because of who he is. We all know Robbie misses his fair share of opportunities. But Robbie does score important goals and does contribute substantially more. Bent has more negatives with this game than he has in the way of positive attributes. I don’t believe the ball bobbled. It was a shocking miss. But we survived. And he can be happy with the assist.

As for Sunderland, just worth mentioning that Jones looked fairly average and the £15M price tag a joke. Steed created, much like Andy Reid did. The latter defining gravity with his movement and his knack for a quality ball. I half expect the ground below him to give way and swallow up his plumb rounded figure, but it doesn't. Probably because Reid would swallow up the ground if he fell towards it, mouth open, knife and fork in hands. An appetiser before his post-match all-you-can-eat buffet.

One other thing I’d like to mention. Did anyone catch Football First? Big shout out to Barry Horne and his laughable bias commentary. If anyone watched the internet stream live they would had heard him complain about Robbie Keane waving an imaginary card at Steed and the ref which was a direct reaction to Steed waving it first. Horne completely ignored this and instead banged on about Keane and that he should be booked for demanding a yellow for Steed. The commentary was littered with some embarrassing sound bites.

Villa up next. They’re struggling a bit, but it’s still going to take a more confident display defensively to get something out of it. I’ve still got us down with picking up a few shock points away from home in our remaining fixtures.

5 points from the mire. 5 points from Europe. It's absolutely ridiculous and in classic Tottenham-fan mode, I ask myself, what if...........what if we didn't have that atrocious start to the season? In fact, what if Spurs displayed the type of commitment and effort Villa have for most of the season? Next year, yeah?

Ding dong, Spurs are on song

Smoggie, Tranporter Bridge, James Cook, Paul Daniels, drug dealers, Roy Chubby Brown, youths with no front teeth, town not a city, the Parmo, Chris Rea - can you hear me, Chris Rea! Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of beating!

Four goals. Clean sheet. Some more than decent passing and movement. Lennon (still) on fire. Modric pulling the strings. Keane off the mark. Pulling away from the drop zone. Three wins from a UEFA Cup spot. Knighthood on the cards for Redknapp. Opus available for £19.99 at the club shop. Bent playing down the middle of the pitch. Daniel Levy retires from football.

Ok, getting a little carried away. Back to reality.

4-0 win. Excellent response from the players. With so many games sandwiched together this past 2 weeks, Boro (much like Sunderland on Saturday) probably fancied their chances against a half-tired Spurs team welcoming back the 'rested' Keane and Palacios (Woody also declared fit for duty). Even though Boro started brightly anytime Lennon got hold of the ball and whizzed forward you sensed we'd be scoring goals and it was simply a case of how many based on how many we would concede in order to come out on top, because we are bound to concede, right? Well no, wrong.

Tuncay had opportunities and a disallowed goal. Downing, very early on, gave it a go to no avail. It was soon apparent that Boro's victory over Liverpool had more to do with Rafas men being outstandingly poor rather than Southgate masterminding a genius result.

We went one up thanks to Keane being left unmarked at the far post and after the disallowed Tuncay let-off, made it two with Modric (ooh that dummy!) laying it on for Pav and then three before half-time with Lennon notching his first after a wonderful passing move that included some great possession football.

Obviously, Boro being shit isn't enough of a guarantee for us to simply show up to claim the points. We're a soft touch at the best of times. In games like this we need to turn up and turn it on. And we did just that. Got lucky at the back a couple of times, but there was confident football on display, and a bit of hunger and desire going forward. Wasn't by any stretch of the imagination a dominating victory but it was a reminder of the quality we do possess and what happens when we knock it around with a little bit of swagger. And yes, it was still Boro and up and coming opposition won't be this easy to pull apart.

But a win was required and a win is what the players and management gave us, so well done to all.

Sunderland away up next (which no doubt will be a bruising encounter) is where we need to show another side to our digging deep ethos. An ethos missing for the best part of the season from one week to the next. Harry, who is much maligned for his soundbites, is probably quietly aiming for us to finish as high as possible, but will continue to downplay it for greater effect. As long as the players know that beating Boro was simply one step in the right direction.

What makes this season a complete mockery is that as mediocre as we've been on so many many occasions, we are still a handful of points adrift of West Ham who have only won 3 more games than us all season. And they're meant to be having a good one. And yet two defeats might see us pulled back into the mire at the bottom. A fully confident swashbuckling Spurs side wouldn't have a single Spurs fan worried about the relegation scrap. Half a swashbuckling side will see us right. We've got more than half at the minute. Harry has to make sure the expectation level is just about right to see us through to the final game.

The fact we didn't disgrace ourselves at Wembley proves we can still muster up the big day occasion too, and even though we have some tricky opposition ahead of us, I'm certain we'll compete and pick up some unexpected points. It was nice to see us compete against the lesser opposition last night. Bread and butter.

Back to the game, Boro came back in the second half with us a just a little on the back foot, but still didn't stop us notching up a 4th. Happy days.

Lennon's burst of pace and his trademark mazy runs. Modric's dummy for the Pav goal. Both stuck smiles back on the faces of the faithful.

BAE continues to impress. Pavyluchenko's work ethic is also under-rated (he'll be twice the player once he's 100% after the summer). Darren Bent however just doesn't do it for me. I'm not the only person to note he's always wondering to wide positions. Jenas was quiet, Palacios good but not great (saving that extra bit of energy for the games ahead) and Keane showing us a glimpse of what we've been missing. All in all, some individuals excelled, whilst others didn't have to bother.

Well done. We needed that. We need it again on Saturday.

Spurs overhull City to claim Cup final victory

Woodgate header, 2-1, winning goal. We've been here before haven't we? No fireworks at the final whistle this time round, but the importance of claiming the three points practically pushes this result into open bus parade territory.

Spurs have been to Hull and back. No glory football here. First half performance was gash, only highlight a rather deliciously curled opening goal from Lennon who had all the time in the world to blast it in, but preferred instead to add a little gloss to proceedings and show off some of that end product he has plucked from the frustrating realm of eternal potential. He remains our one bright spark in the dark gloomy basement that the past year has been. Hull's equaliser was assisted by Calamity Cudicini (Gomes must be jealous) who fumbled the ball, allowing for an easy slot to make it 1 a piece.

Dodgy at set pieces, less than confident goal-keeping. Here we go again, right? No, wrong. Rather than losing the game in the final moments, Woody planted his head on the ball to give us one of those rare moments. An away win. Fantasy football. School boys own stuff. Jumpers for goalposts.

Thoughts and prayers for Hull City who haven't won for 10 league games. Their dizzying holiday towards the top of the table nothing more than a distant memory. They can now consider themselves invited to the relegation party down at the bottom.

Thankfully as Hull walk through the front door with a bottle of cheap wine, we've managed to escape from the prank that saw us locked in the downstairs toilet to standing a little easier in the kitchen, which everyone knows is the best place to be at a party....even a party as depressing as this one. We need to focus now and try to flirt with the attractive lass giving us the eye. She's leaning up against the middle of the table, showing us a bit of leg. Boy would we like to climb up that leg. She's no babe, not like some of those top class European birds at the party up the road, but she'll do. Beggars can't be choosers. Aim to impress her with a little charm and slick moves and we'll be out the front door, into a taxi, and back at hers for a coffee leaving this party of losers behind. Now and again, it's ok to play ugly if it gets the right result.

We've now got the interference of the second leg of the UEFA Cup game on Thursday to look forward to. Which is a bit like going on a blind date and finding out your 'date' at the bar with the bow in her dress is your sister. It's inconvenient.

To be fair to Harry, it is a tad ludicrous the way the fixture list scoffs at us. And it's a crying shame the UEFA Cup has been relegated to insignificance thanks to our Premiership predicament. There's been much talk of how Harry has disgraced this clubs great traditions in Europe and how ironic it is that Spurs strive to get into Europe, something taken very seriously a couple of seasons back, to complete dismissiveness this term. Fact is, we have been crap all season long and attempting to win the UEFA Cup when our Prem survival is yet to be guaranteed is arrogance we can not afford. Arrogance probably too strong of a word there. What I mean is, we have by default devalued everything other than the league games thanks to our lack of consistency and form so pretending we can afford to play full strength teams in games that are not important in the grand scheme of things is misplaced. We could play a strong side and win, and take that confidence forward. Its agreeable logic, but the history of this season has served up one certainty: Spurs hardly ever turn up. I'd rather go out of the UEFA Cup, not lose any players to injury, and try to salvage some pride in the league.

I expect another reserve/youth team combo and a sharp exit out of the competition, but this being Spurs, I wouldn't be surprised if the complete opposite happened. Just for larks.

Sunday is now the new priority for the remaining week with Hull decimated. Utd, who we all hope get dicked by Inter this evening, will not be fielding a super-strength line-up at Wembley if they are a goal or two down by the final whistle tonight. Their second leg game at OT is obviously always going to be far more important than the Milk Cup. So amazingly, form aside, we do have a lickle chance of surprising Fergie on Sunday. Although their reserves are not going to be push-overs. And even with the Inter game sandwiching the Cup final, I still expect to see a superstar or two grace the field against us.

I'll be praying for some joy in what has been a joyless season. Fireworks in our favour please. Could even handle an Orish jig or two.

I'm still 'offline' and without internet access and will be travelling on Wednesday/Thursday so will resurface at some point on Friday.