The Progression of Harry Redknapp's Tottenham

There's little point in drafting up a 10,000 word War and Peace blog on Harry's tenure thus far and how best we progress into next season. I say no point because I have the Bill Murrays since the season ended, what with a distinct lack of newsworthy commentary (other than our shared meltdown of the Modric media circus) it's ground-hog day every day if every day is spent looking back at how it all ended. 

Not a lot to chit chatter about until the window opens and the universe sucks itself into oblivion whilst we all watch on in agonising slow mo.

In the previous end of season articles (all linked below) I more or less stated what we all know has to be done.

Keep the spine of the side together.
Sign a forward(s).
Patch up other areas and let the deadwood go.

Hardly rocket science. More on the transfer window and the theoretical blueprint for success in the next article.

So what of Harry and his (our) team?

There will always be fragmented opinions on the 'miracle' Harry performed when he arrived. Yes, we were in a mess, but he only proved that back to basics man management was enough to get the players out of their disillusioned state and work as a unit. He stuck men in their rightful positions and got the best out of them. No complexities with the chalkboard. No language barrier. Plenty of mayo and Ketchup. We played for each other, in support for each other and with pride.

Sure, it wasn't the Houdini act Harry wants us to believe it was. But credit to him. You can hardly be critical. From the depths to the heavens. The desire to get into the CL and the manner we fought for it was like nothing we've seen at the Lane for years and years.

Okay, so it's never perfect. When is it? Much like it isn't at any club. Sure, we have a right to want more and shouldn't anchor ourselves just because it wasn't too long ago that we struggled with upwards direction. Ambition - it's imperative in the stands and in the mind sets of the players. Perhaps, the job of the manager is made easier if he was to manage expectations without the ambiguity and bloated contradictions.

Never them, always us. That's how it should be.

We'll always have our team under the microscope. We (the fans) always believe we know best and we also know it better than someone who has just a little more hands on experience at it. Get on twitter to see the evidence.

There's always been an element of circumstance and luck (Gareth Bale, almost loaned out/sold on). But on the flip side, as an example, he worked wonders with BAE. When he returned from injury to left-back, the new-born Bale discovered a brave new world on the left flank. The Rafa signing perhaps highlighting the erratic opportunistic nature of the transfer window and the knock-on effect which was positive and negative with hindsight. Perhaps reactive management isn't the best template to work from, but it's got us stable for the moment.

We still lack that bullying nature, that killer instinct and that fabled cutting edge. We didn't do too badly considering our handicap, but not doing too badly amounts to 5th and not 4th or higher.

We did attack Europe, defending with naivety at times, but that was more down to the fragile mentality of our players who had to grow and mature very quickly. Which we did. Individual lapses of concentration proved costly. But the dismantlement of Inter at home and the patient counter-attacking in the San Siro against Milan, a joy. We finished top of a supposed difficult group and did so scoring goals for fun.

Back in the league, we ended another couple of hoodoos.

We still find ourselves questioning formation and tactics. The van der Vaart conundrum and Redknapp's favouritism to what he thinks is best, the reason behind the lack of cohesiveness that damaged our points total. Far too many games at home drawn. A fine line between 4th and anything below it.

Last season we were underneath the bed sheets with lady luck. This season, we were alone, eyes shut and hands free dreaming about her. You make your own luck and we were far too often apologetic in our body language, never seductive and playful.

The over elaborated expansive play paradoxical at times with the one dimensional hoof.

The disappointment exists because we know we lost out on fourth when others were not exactly a millions light years ahead of us. They simply grinded out more results.

But much like the CL was a journey of self-discovery, the experience of handling both Europe's elite competition and the bread and butter of the league will serve us well as yet another building block of our progression.

The team has to unite once more. All the ingredients are there. Just need to spice it up with some seasoning and not look to over-cook it.

I'm beginning to think perhaps Harry's ego has been left a little bruised. He refuses to accept responsibility publicly, hiding behind sound-bites proclaiming our 'best season ever'. Telling us we haven't had it so good. It's how he works the PR. He's a self-promoter, always has been. He's at a big club which means he has to live up to the expectations he has actually carved out for us by bringing stability and performing at a higher standard - one that equates to the players we possess and potential.

He's mis-managed that a little. Too many sound-bites clogging things up. Too much on the defensive.

I personally think no matter when he leaves, if the club is left in a position not too dissimilar to the 2010 season (or the one that's just ended) it will be deemed a success. In terms of there being a foundation for someone else to hit the ground running. Spurs can not afford the overhaul ilk of transition we became accustomed to through-out the 90's and the early parts of the last decade. Although we were never falling down from a higher step, just constantly tripping over the first one.

Have we ever had it so good?

Truth is, we haven't. Well, we have, but not for a long time and only in terms of being able to look ahead and agree we can challenge for a place in the CL. Hopefully winning a cup isn't completely dismissed as an objective as it was this past season.

We are fragile (the fans), having had a taste of the top tier anything less feels like its a relegation of stature. It's emotional, slowly transcending from pretenders to contenders. We're in a state of positive flux, as are the teams around us (some arguably touching on the negative but hardly in crisis). Our perception of what is progression and what is stagnation is dependent on you and thus varies from one fan to the next.

So what are we contending? Depends on how Harry spurs us into the summer and the start of the 2012 season with support from chairman.

We are in good health. We need to tighten up and we need to rediscover that hunger. There is no need to look for inspiration because it's there already.

The top four.

Don't bother knocking, just kick the door down.

'Seasons End' articles:

Tinpots

Forward Failure

Midfield Majesty

In our defence

This is as good as it gets

Firstly, frequent readers of this blog, I apologise for the lack of activity this past week in the build up to the season finale. I was brainwashed by the other half and spent most of it with her and the rugrat. Something about the latter celebrating her first birthday. To be honest, regardless of lack of time, I hardly felt inspired to match preview our final game of the season. When thinking 'football', my thoughts were on more pressing matters such as whether we have a decisive strategy with how to deal with the transfer window from opening to closure and if we plan to get our business done and dusted long before pre-season with viable targets already listed and targeted internally. Yes, I have my mind on science-fiction and my body is about to be frozen with the aid of cryogenics to allow for a more comfortable summer.

Okay, so 2-1. Pav with a couple of scorchers.

A game that spent most of the first half with no bite, like a sleeping lion. Plenty of teeth, just not on show. Livened up a little second half but mostly because of the Survival Sunday musical chairs playing out across the country. We performed with persistence considering this game was hardly do or die for us but we didn't quite brush the visitors aside where it mattered (in front of goal). Birmingham were plucky in pockets of play but without possession and without a Pavlyuchenko. In the end, Liverpool lost to Villa so 5th was secured regardless of Roman hammering the final nail into the coffin of Birmingham's Premier league life. Their fate sealed elsewhere on this day, Death lingering with his scythe, teasing the afternoon away.

The match doesn't warrant an in-depth analysis. Tag me with the lazy label. It doesn't mainly because it felt like an afterthought on this; Tottenham's finest ever season. Hey, don't take my word for it, just take the words of our gaffer. Go ahead and pick any words you want.

"This is as good as it gets"
"They're idiots"
"What do they expect?"
"Won't get any better"
"Anyone who has got any brains and understands will know it's been an amazing season"
"Go and support someone else if you don't enjoy it"

Redknappology at it's finest. I'll come back to ' finest ever season' and other discussion points in future blogs. As for Harry...

It's no longer about the cluster of contradictions. No point reminding him of when he talked us up as title contenders which probably followed a comment about how it would be impossible to finish top four again because nobody else will point it out. Sports presenters will probably just laugh with him when they repeat his rant on tv or radio. Good olde Harry, he's socking it to 'em. Let's play the video/audio every half hour.

He's reactive to whatever is happening at the time and is usually happy to share safe and media-friendly assessments and vibrant self-preserving pats on back for himself and all his friends within the game unless there is something eating away at him. When there is eating we are treated to body-shots of sarcasm and petulance. A glimpse of his true feelings. You can only play ball with my ball because I'm letting you play ball with it.

Crouchie responding to a fans request for a strand of his hair

Let's send him to QPR next season

This isn't another slice of some 'lets all hate on Harry' propaganda. The actual crux of the problem, the reason why people (that's Tottenham fans regardless of whether they pick up the phone and dial up a phone-in show - which by the way, if idiots call up to complain via this method of communication it's ironic how it's the same method of communication Harry uses from time to time to hype up his portfolio) are unhappy is because of his body language oozing vanity and ego whilst spitting out disrespectful snides.

He's upset at the idea that any one would possibly dare to criticise him. Perhaps humility is a commodity he hasn't quite grasped can work in his favour, even if his underlying agenda (self-preservation) remains the same. We don't have to know we are being fooled. He doesn't have to comment on anything and everything and end up drowning in all the rhetoric.

Harry is deeply lost in his tapestry of talk like a badly organised Inception where he can no longer tell what level of the dream state he's in. But it doesn't matter because his media chums will not question the lack of continuity. What is birthed from this is Harry + tabloid story versus the ungrateful impatient fans. Makes us look fickle. We can do that just fine thank you very much without any additional help.

He cites the great Champions League adventure (which it was always going to be) and our wins at the Emirates and Anfield and against Inter and AC Milan. All great moments in terms of how much this side has progressed under his guidance (be it at the same standard of last season rather than a massive improvement).

Now perhaps another manager might actually brush it all off and say something along the lines of, "We've had some highlights this season, learnt one or two things. We're growing, progressing...but winning at places like Arsenal and Liverpool...this shouldn't be seen as anything other than what is expected. If this club wants to be top four or better we have to always look to win away to other 'top four' clubs. We've done well, it's a learning curve...but it's hardly worthy of being showered by an ice bucket".

In other words: Under play it. But that's not his methodology. He is far too involved with making sure nobody has missed the point: It's because of him if the because is something to sing about.

I have no idea if behind closed doors Harry does under play what he says in public. That behind closed doors he outlines the disappointments and how we have to look to improve further. Perhaps we believe what we see is what we're getting when in fact it's not and there's more than the one dimension. But considering the history Harry has with referencing players in post-match interviews, I doubt it. He's so wrapped up in himself he can't even contemplate genuine mind games of the ilk that would appease the Spurs fans who dislike his ways. For all the talk of his great PR skills he hardly displays them where it matters most.

Simply put, there are no other dimensions.

It's pretty much like if they cast Michael Caine to portray Jose Mourinho in a movie and Caine based his performance on post-match videos of Harry Redknapp. It makes no sense.

Harry is Harry. He does what he does. Deflect, protect and blame. He's obviously not a Jose and it's unfair to compare of course, but it's worth reflecting on the fact that with Jose it's Jose + the fans versus the world. A brand of unity that binds the manager and team with the fans unequivocally. We have a far more fragmented variant.

Harry doesn't play off the media in any clever way He just uses it as means to make sure he has his back covered. We knew this from before, it's no shocker. Still, anyone would think he was fighting for his life the way he was soundbiting our 'amazing' (it's the new triffic) season.

There is no need for him to be so defensive. Someone like Martin Jol, say in another hypothetical, would be quite apologetic when looking back at the season we've just had if he was the manager. But still carry a hefty weight of pride with his words that would warm the cockles of the listening Lilywhites. Even if he also carried the extra weight of responsibility for the failings that saw us fall short of another top four placement.

Redknapp prefers to simply remind us of how improved we are as a team and how all the positives are because of Redknapp. Of course they are, he's the manager. Everything the team does on the pitch is down to him. The good and the bad.

There is no need for him to be so defensive unless he can only be so because he can't fathom the reality of anyone daring to question what he knows was a disappointing end to the season (3 wins in 15 if my maths is right). That's not being ungrateful, citing such stats. They are worthy of discussion. United have won the title by accumulating 68% of all their points at Old Trafford. We've only lost the once at home all season in the Prem. Turn some of those draws into wins, and my God, he'd be banging on the door of the Buckingham Palace requesting a knighthood right about now.

THFC remains on the up. It's good to have the problems rather than sat in mid table. We should not be in a position of fragmentation regarding the relationship of manager and fans.

We've not had it so good?

There's more than an element of ample truth in that statement. It was however hardly delivered with a loving touch. And perhaps he meant across the two seasons, although he clearly stated this season to be better than the last. It's all relative. By definition this season might be deemed more memorable and the better of the two because of the CL adventure. In the grand scheme of things we've simply retained a level of consistency meaning we are in the position to challenge again within what is the most competitive top tier of any league in world football. We could have done better, it's a fine line and all that.

So yes, we are grateful and we're more than content that this club of ours finally has some stability on the pitch. We can look forward to being in the thick of it, from one season to the next. We can compete, we've proven that. So Harry should be taking that onwards rather than dwelling on any feedback or opinion (which is our God given right) as being some form of dagger to the heart.

It's all getting slightly embarrassing now. The post-match interview with Sky Sports was ugly.

Harry - I'm no longer certain it's us that you need to be constantly reminding we haven't had it so good. You've never had it so good. That huddle in the middle of the pitch that galvanises our players and stirs up emotion from the fans before kick-off. Get in amongst it.

COYS.

Images taken from Facebook via Daniel Nash (Crouch and his disagreement with a fan) and Twitter (Keano banner via @BurkosBox).

Original creators of Keane banner are Dan and Ben from Bedford. Clicky here.

Ain't no pleasing you

guest-blog by Chris King

When is it no longer acceptable to complain? To moan about a service provided, an experience gained or an attitude presented to you?

What makes it unacceptable? Do you have to take in to consideration everything that has gone before – to apply a “mus’n’ grumble” attitude to everything you do – as hey, there is always going to be someone far worse off than you; someone below you – way below you.

When do you hand over your right to complain? As soon as UEFA doles out their 30 pieces of TV silver; or does it go back further than that – to Eastlands last term, to when Harry signed, to when Jason Dozzell went back east?

This is the picture currently being presented to Spurs fans – fans who feel they want to exercise their right to politely point out where the team has gone wrong over the last couple of months. To comment, complain even criticise (lick windows and howl at the moon as some in the media are suggesting us “nutters” do). Yet we are being reliably informed that we are clueless; that we have no right to moan about this past season – as this is the best it has ever been (since circa Sky and all that).

Swallow your penance, shut up and accept your lot.

But what if you are one of those book learning types; you know – those that can read. Can look at a set of results, the names in a squad; understand maths sufficiently well to add up points that could (read: should) have been gained against those clubs below yours. What if you then came to the conclusion that all was not right? That something had gone wrong; horribly wrong – and the slight swagger you presented to the world back in March – was now a hunched shuffle, which had you sloping back in to the pack – to where most believe you truly belong.

City beating us was no great shock last night – eggs, paper bags, and the geek’s even nerdy dad could have Spurs in a rumble right about now. Yet if you read twitter last night, or skimmed through the obituaries – sorry – I mean match reports this morning - you’d think we were just popping off cloud nine for a pint of milk, a decent keeper; and we’ll be back amongst the big boys before next season was but a few weeks old.

It was official – we weren’t allowed to complain. We weren’t allowed to pluck figures like one win in 10 (I appreciate it’s more, I just like round figures) out of the cold, hard facts. We weren’t allowed to comment on the apparent lack of desire at times against West Ham, West Brom or Blackpool. 

We weren’t allowed to question the tactical acumen applied to the team selection in those game, or last night – or the switches made, and the personnel introduced. 

Unbeknown to Spurs fans, a new law was passed across the land placing the penalty of treason on any negative comments directed at the Red Top’s new “King of Hearts”. Harry is lauded as a very good manager who had a bad run with a few dodgy decisions, sendings off, injuries – it was always someone else’s fault.

But what if we want to complain? What’s stopping us?

Well there’s the ever so slightly patronising undertone that we’ve been shockingly bad for so long that, To Dare – is apparently above us. We should be happy with the fact that we’ve beaten AC and Inter Milan – we’ve had a run in the Champions League that no one expected of us, and that we took our beating against Madrid like men.

If there’s a Spurs fan out there that can’t find a positive from the season, then there is a little more than something wrong with them – and in fairness, to those baying for Harry’s head, only Vicente del Bosque would get the sack after some of our European results this term – but there is no disputing that our season was derailed sometime in March – and if we can’t moan, then at least let us ask why it all went so wrong?

I don’t buy in to the notion that the European experience did for us. We’ve been all over clubs at times – West Ham at home, City home and away – and what have we got to show for it? If we can’t criticise Harry, do we point the finger of blame at Dear Mr Levy? – who is so cunning in his transfer bargaining that he left us a striker light, and gave us Pieenar – a player who appears to have left what form he had, back up in Liverpool – no doubt a victim of that gang that targets the prized possessions of their local players.

But we can’t moan – nor question. So what do we do? We do what all Spurs fans do at such times, we argue with each other. If no one is prepared to listen, we find someone to at least shout over the top of on the same subject matter; though for once, we all seem to be shouting the same things.

No Journos will return our tweets, opposition fans only see the folly in our arguments – we’re no longer the darlings – back to being the overly expectant, laughing stock we’ve been since the ‘80s.

If last season delivered the earth, this season promised the moon and the stars as well. There was, daft as it now seems - the faint glimmer that we might even be the club to take the title race in to May. Looking at our last 13 league games, the teams we’ve played and the points we dropped – would it really have been so daft?

Though I guess it is not really our fault. United, Chelsea and Arsenal are where they supposedly belong – City have bought their place at the top table, and Liverpool – well, they’re just the Liverpool of old; same efficiency, same manager, same reliance on the back pass to the keeper. So if it feels like we robbed ourselves of glory; chances are it just wasn’t meant to be.

So if you feel like moaning – ask yourself a few questions: are we better than we were under Francis? Have we enjoyed some fantastic European nights down the lane this term? If the Red Tops want Harry for England, surely he’s still the man for us, right? If we’d have won half of those last 13 games, would we be back in the Champions League next year?

Actually, don’t ask that last question; it’ll only cause you to question, to moan….. To ultimately, be wrong!

Chris King, a regular on the old Shelf and held a season ticket in the Park Lane Upper. He now lives in Leeds, where he spends most Saturdays trying to teach his daughter the words to Spurs’ songs. Writes for In Bed with Maradona and his own blog Northern Writes.

The anomaly festers

From March 2011 (Interim results and Chairman's statement):

The statistics will show how fiercely competitive the Premier League now is. We shall look back and be disappointed with our form against clubs in the bottom quarter of the table if we fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League at the end of this season. It has been in these fixtures where we have taken fewer points than any other team in the Premier League and this is the anomaly in what has otherwise been one of our greatest ever seasons.

How best to fix the anomaly?

Is the problem truly one that can be resolved by replacing our forwards with some of genuine world class ability? Or is there a general stagnation of coaching and ideas from Harry and his back room staff? Have we over-complicated formation and strategy? Not highlighted complacency quick enough? Are we perhaps going through the motions on the training pitch? Or are we allowing emotion to cloud our judgement? Victims of a lull of form or the result of degradation that has been festering for a while?

Redknapp got us into the Champions League. Whether this was an expectancy based on the players we possessed is something that's been discussed many times before (the thinking being it was hardly a miracle achieved). It's a fine line between success and what many would deem failure and this season, there is (even though 6 points separate us) not a lot between us and City. Even with the anomalies we could have made it back into the CL, still leaving us with questions unanswered whether Harry can once more reclaim an uncomplicated system, style and swagger next year without the odd anomaly holding us back.

With CL nigh impossible, it's now all assumptions around the fact that what we are seeing at the moment are issues that can not be resolved. Harry apparently distracted by the media game he plays, even though there hasn't been a season in his career where he hasn't taken part in it.

Next season is monumental. We took a risk on him in the first place and it worked. It's worth another gamble? Or not? As I mentioned in my last blog, it's a collective failure this season. But then such a failure always rests on the shoulders of the gaffer. Then again, it depends what you class as a failure. You might be content, much like Levy might be when remembering how he cited that CL would not be possible season in season out. Which would point towards another season of Harry at the very least.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Harry Redknapp. What does he do exactly?

Morning. I'm sort of back. My absence? Call it a creative lull thanks to ill health and lacklustre concentration. Not had the time to write. Doesn't look like I've missed much. Michael Dawson with another rallying (worrying) battle cry pre-match. Have we actually won a game after he's attempted a Churchillian speech? Talk about the validity of Europa League qualification continues. Bill Nick would have taken it, I'm sure. Then again, Bill Nick would probably have got us into that other competition. Also there's the transfer tittle-tattle which continues to link Modric and Bale to moves away. Lennon to Liverpool another firm favourite.

I don't mean to be disparaging to other football websites, but linking X player to X club(s) hardly warrants coverage after the 200th time. God help us when the season is over. It's going to be a summer of absolute nonsensical BS drowning out our every move. We wont be able to breathe. And that's just the return of Big Brother. Let alone what the wonders of the summer transfer merry-go-round will bring. Fergie tap-dancing outside the Lane. Redknapp signing ten relegated West Ham players. Jenas, five year contract extension.

Shame there's no such thing as a stasis chamber.

The pear-shaped cockerel will crow again

I'm still sick. My immune system, as dependable as a Brazilian goalkeeper suffering from bouts of aphephobia on any given weekend. If it wasn't enough having Death sat in the corner of my bedroom reading Playboy and periodically tapping the face of his wrist-watch, my problems are compounded. The old girl has pneumonia and I'm having to reorganise time I don't have to fit in all the other pockets of bane in my life to avoid a complete meltdown. In addition to all this drama I'm now experiencing disturbing nightmares, terrorised in my subconscious by a returning Adel Taarabt ghosting around White Hart Lane, tricking and flicking himself to a brace of goals and as many assists. I wake up screaming every night.

These are difficult times.

There isn't a match report of the Chelsea debacle because I was lost in the depths of depression at the time with football hardly at the forefront of my mind and a television nowhere in sight. Not to say I want sympathy for my Easter break that had more cracks in it than a Cadburys egg. Retain your apologies and group hugs for our rather limp run-in which has seen us surrender any genuine chance of reclaiming a Champions League spot.

Is it overly dramatic to suggest that we've surrendered it? I don't think so. I do appreciate that there are certain dynamics to arguing and debating why it's all gone pear-shaped based around the lack of forward activity in the Jan transfer window, the inconsistency with formation and tactics and one or two other plausible post-mortems. In a nutshell, you could sum it all up by perhaps siding with the uncomfortable realisation that we - Tottenham Hotspur, players and manager - gave it all up by making  repeated fundamental mistakes.

This flaw in our grand design simply one that pertains to the fact we have defeated ourselves. Over and over again.

The reason the dynamics here are ambiguous is because, say for example; Arsenal could suggest if they had a decent goalkeeper and more cohesiveness at the back and perhaps took their chances they'd still be in the hunt for silverware. They are, according to their manager, so close.

Which is what we are. Had we a keeper who wasn't prone to making big mistakes at key moments. Had we a genuine world class striker. Had we retained more consistency and structure across our formation. Had we not allowed errors in officiating consume us psychologically. This isn't on the basis of our last game. Generalisation of hope lost.

So close, yet so far.

In both cases (us and the enemy), the problems might be apparent and obvious and almost feel like a final piece of the jigsaw only needs to be slotted in to complete it, but that final piece is somewhere under the sofa and nobody is bothering to push it aside and reach into the dustballs to find it.

We are close. But we are still some way off. Because signing a new keeper or a new forward and deciding on a set formation - these are missing pieces (rather than a single piece) to the puzzle and once it's complete there's no point leaving it on the table gathering dust until it's broken up and placed back into its box for someone else to solve.

Supeglue the sonofab*tch and frame it on the wall for everyone to admire. Because even with the right players and tactics, the glue that binds it altogether is still required for its final decisive completion.

Arsenal still have issues with choking and only when the pressure is off do they turn it on (see their 1-0 win over Utd). With us, perhaps it's complacency or attitude adjustment. It's all about the glue. Sellotape just wont do the job.

That extra spark of something has to be drilled into the players, that desire and hunger, that necessity to be better. Better than the rest.

Yes, it's quite disconcerting to see us drop down to 6th. Doesn't feel right does it? But then the past 15 years haven't exactly been kind to us. Not to say that just because we've had erratic progress and transitions upon transitions that it's okay for us to accept this seasons almost certain failure as one of those things and we'll be back and we'll be stronger for it.

Sure, look at the positives but it still has to be deemed an unacceptable resolution to 2011 because how else do you make sure the squad retain unity of belief and ambition and drive them forward?

We should still look to win all our remaining games. It's a lull, it's a poorly timed one (is there any ilk that's planned?) and its even one we might have got through just about okay had we not dropped all those points against 'weaker' opposition earlier in the season. But the reason we dropped those points is because we've not been good enough across several games domestically.

Not that I'll admit to defeat until its mathematically impossible. So looking ahead, what do we do?

The club has to retain its spine. The club, no matter the competition, needs to be in Europe.

We need to be decisive about the future of Woodgate and King. We have to clear out players who do not have a place as part of the squad and bring in the loaned out players that do. Sign a competitive alternative to Gomes to sharpen competition for the number one jersey. We need that forward. Dare I say we need two new forwards, with spare parts gone as part of the clear out.

Tactically, Redknapp - if stays for one more season - has to accommodate a change in his own agenda. Not a clue whether the England job is going to happen for him. No one is going to argue he looks after number one, has his own set of personal priorities and is very much a media PR manipulator and man-manager who perhaps does lack that killer killer instinct but has proved (to a certain extent) that he can also deliver. He might be self-centred, but it has still benefited us.

He has delivered, the hard way, rather than in any overly dominating fashion. Stats don't lie although they do disguise certain failings. Regardless, Harry has done a good job. What he needs to do is an outstanding one.

Very few, hand on heart, would disagree that we should have done, should be doing, far better than we are. At least that's the general consensus. But then this season has seen similar discussions with the other top tier clubs also wondering why they've not taken it by the scruff of the neck.

It's no easy task fighting for a top four place. There's a buzz about Spurs. Would be a shame to lose it. Long term, Levy should probably start working on that contingency plan. This club has to be in good nick when it's handed over to the next coach.

Perhaps our evolution does require another season of growing before we step up a further level. If there is to be no Champions League qualification this season then let there be a relentless fight for it next season. Because anything less will not be good enough.

Running up that hill

So there stood the general with his army at the foot of the hill. Memories of a past glory in battle which was fought gallantly and won. Having returned to reclaim the land for a second time, his tired troops look up at the steep hill and frown. For it's not an easy task to climb and fight and then stand at its peak victorious, then do it all again.

Their foes, they are more prepared this time. The element of surprise, no longer a factor.

"Onwards we shall charge", the general commands.

Dissent in the ranks.

"Onwards? Charge? Again? Why can't we just go around the hill? Then come up the other way and surprise them? Fight from the top and push them back down", say the tired troops.

"We don't have enough men to do that", some say to each other.

"We don't have the right type of men", some dare to whisper.

"Onwards!" Screams the general.

"This just about worked last time, we've been stuck at the foot of the hill all year, it's too late. We should have attempted something different from the offset. They can see us coming", say the tired troops, dismissing their generals strategic know-how.

"Onwards! Let us claim what we deserve!" The general commands as he begins to lead his men forward on horseback.

And onwards they march, for they are soldiers and they obey their orders.

Once more. Running up that hill, battle cry from all.

And if they were to be pushed back once more by the barbaric hordes that await them then surely the general will admit defeat and return to the foot of the hill and await for reinforcements from the emperor. And then perhaps another tact will have to be embraced to once more reclaim the land and plant the flag of victory in it's peak.

The hill will always be there. The fight will always be a tough one. And if it's been done before, it can be done again. Perhaps next time, by taking no prisoners.

Onwards.

Tottenham is burning

Dear Mr Levy,

As you gleefully play your lyre, singing arias whilst watching the death and destruction as Tottenham Hotspur burns to the ground as you look down from the comfort of your own personal Maecenas...ask yourself, when the fire is extinguished...who shall you blame? Who will take responsibility for this calamity? From the ashes, will you build on the devastated land a palace for your ego and eunuchs? Will you blame us, the common man, citing Stratford as a catalyst?

Or will you be overthrown?

What’s that? It’s too late? This is fidelity? It sure is. Faithfulness to your own beliefs to the bitter end.

I can only hope Chirpy is caught in the fire too. I think he’s best served up on a plate with a dab of jerk seasoning and Piri Piri sauce. You see, much like my feathered friend, I have a permanent expression of comedic shock on my face. Is this really happening? Are you truly sitting back in your throne eating grapes and watching this despondency and dismay play out before your eyes?

Why do you not listen to the people and their cries for help? Even your soldiers show discontent with their general. But that’s the crux of it isn’t it? You appointed the general yourself having removed your second in command. No more director of football. A wheeler dealer in his place. But we’re not fooled, then and now. We never wanted him in the first place. Any half decent coach would have kick-started our season when we sat bottom of the table. And now, two seasons later, we look set to return to the mediocrity that almost engulfed us. We are stagnating. Sideways stepping when it’s abundantly clear we should be 10, 12 points better off.

When you look for your scapegoat and make an example out of him be sure to remember that the blame should be shared between the both of you.

You for sticking with him and him for making nothing stick.

Where would you like me to start? How about I just throw one or two statements of facts your way and see how much of it you manage to catch? You may need to place your lyre down for a moment.

Two transfer windows and not an inkling of a world class forward. Instead, we’re left rotating the three stooges whilst we try to accommodate a midfielder who is best played centrally but is instead used in the hole in a tragically flawed 4411 formation that rarely proves to be fruitful. If we had two proper forwards signed in the summer along with a fully-fledged right back, a central defender to cover expertly when Gallas and Dawson are not available and in addition a new goalkeeper and better quality cover for Bale on the wing – we’d be challenging for the title. Instead we are struggling to remain in 5^th spot whilst being humiliated in Europe because we have no tactical astuteness to go to Madrid and get a decent result whilst multi-tasking the domestic games.

Don’t give me all this propaganda about the red card and Lennon’s illness. We should have reshaped comfortably and contained Madrid with the odd counter thrown in for good measure. I reckon a 2-1 loss, possibly even 2-2 was more than achievable. If José Mourinho was our manager do you honestly believe we’d have lost 4-0? Do you? Of course not. Harry proving he can’t hack it at the highest level, completely at fault for our surrender and capitulation. Perfect for England.

Let’s go back to the summer again and the New Year. The failure to sign a forward. We get offered a midfielder, rejected from his club, and we lap it up because how can a donkey possibly deny itself from taking a bite out of the dangling carrot? Everybody knows that if van der Vaart had not been signed we’d have been forced to play a traditional 442 system and Defoe, Crouch and Pav would have scored a bundle domestically and in Europe.

Then again, probably not. Neither of them are world class and last season’s fourth spot finish was nothing more than good fortune rather than managerial shrewdness. Because our manager, mugged in Madrid (a second time), doesn’t have the knowhow on how to beat the big teams and inspire the side when the going gets tough. It’s all sound bites with him isn’t it? We’re under achieving and he’s still trying to enforce a down to bare bones mantra to hide the truth and his deficiencies.

In the New Year we should have signed Carroll. He's have been fit and able round about now to make it for the push. £35M well spent rather than sitting in your bank account earning interest.

The form of some of our players has been down to luck and aided by circumstance and nothing to do with his man-management. Bale was always going to come good. Modric was always best suited for the middle of the park. BAE was always a decent left-back. It's more than obvious. The team picks itself unless the team picked loses meaning a different team should have been picked in its place to start with although if tactical changes are made they should only be referenced if they don’t work and ignored if they do work. But mostly they don’t. Which is why we’re 5^th with a handful of games to go and about to be (already) knocked-out of the CL in the quarter-finals.

We got rid of dos Santos and Taarabt – two players destroying their respective leagues with their new clubs, be it the former on loan the latter sold. We could have done with dos Santos mental strength and Taarabts composure. It's painful, the schoolboy errors witnessed. Painful.

We’re always playing our Plan B which means Plan B is in fact Plan A which points to the fact that if Plan B is Plan A then what is Plan B if Plan B is A and Plan A is actually Plan B masquerading as Plan A? With better players we’d be in are far better position than we find ourselves in.

We’ve done ourselves no favours with our European adventure which has simply papered over the cracks. What’s the point in progressing in the Champions League when we’re meant to be competing for a top four finish so we can qualify for it the following season? It’s all about the qualification, not the taking part. We’re never going to win it so why bother trying? It’s an absolute mess. And it pains me to witness my beloved club falling apart at the seams with bickering and in-fighting, dressing room afloat, lost in a sea of despair. What with squad trimming immediate, I expect us to lose Bale, Modric and van der Vaart in the immediate summer months – but we won’t fret as the profit will go towards signing that elusive world class striker leaving us with no midfield to create chances for him.

Disaster. Everywhere I look. Disaster.

You wanted back to basics? You got back to basics. This is football 101 and our ploy of ‘running around and kicking the ball a lot’ has finally collapsed in on itself.

The end is nigh. The fire started with a single match lit by your hands, Daniel, with further fuel added to the flames by Harry. It’s criminal that we’ve failed to compete with consistency and cohesiveness. We find ourselves in this position solely because of your mismanagement of the transfer windows and Harry’s player favouritism and abandoned first teams dumped out on loan. At least under Comolli we had direction, drive. All we have now is a manager winging it with battered feathers taking to the air for as long as a penguin can jump above ground.

Still playing your lyre, Emperor Levy? Your arrogance and self-preservation has once more destroyed all hope in N17. The blind leading the blind, you allow your general to march us into an untenable position and yet more failure. A battle that simply cannot be won. The dream is over. It's hart no longer white, but burnt black from the fire.

Play your lyre, watch us burn away. Watch us all burn away.

Yours tragically,

Spooky

Milan, revisited

Was meant to write up a match report of the Milan game but alas, I’ve been too busy celebrating the best 0-0 ever. Touring the saunas and lap dancing clubs of London can take its toll. And to be honest, in retrospect I’m not sure too much can be read into the manner of the game in terms of tactics and especially in terms of it being any form of marker of improvement or further maturity. It was one of those games that did not go the way we wanted it to, but adapted by digging deep. We might have to do that again, and perhaps next time find a way to turn up the tempo in our favour.

This side, under Harry Redknapp, is more than capable. They’ve proven that. It’s beyond dispute. Amazing considering how it all started with our Bambi foot-work away in the opening qualifier of our campaign. It was always about that gradual learning curve having to tap the vein of belief and inject confidence until our eyes rolled and we flew as high as a kite.

We’re equipped but we’re not going to win it are we? Actually scrap that question. What I meant was, we’re not the best equipped to win it are? So it won’t be humiliating or laughable when we get knocked out because we’ve made the quarters. Sorry playa haters, but as much as your bitterness drives you towards wanting us to fail, but virtue of our progress – it’s now impossible to do so.

Do I want the journey to end? Of course not. I want more. I want more twists and turns and more chronicles in the making. Only two games away from the semi-final. I guess that’s where Spurs fans irk the other fan bases, by being dreamers, by believing the unbelievable. Heart on sleeve, might be too giddy for some but for us it’s the way we live our football. Two games from the semi. Four from the final. So be it. We’re not going to be found out, just out-classed when/if we get knocked out. And there will be no shame in it. 2006 seems so long ago now.

As for the game. I’ll try and cover everything I had planned to in the match report.

Milan – Okay, so they turned up and played like the home side. Controlled possession with good passages of play. I’ve sat down and re-watched the game and for all the time they had with the ball at their feet and their desire to get forward and test us – they didn’t do that much. Two or three chances? Arguably none of them were clear cut. The Gallas clearance? That wasn't even clear cut thanks to how the ball travelled towards goal. I’d go as far as saying that a side with three better forwards would have punished us. I’m going to firmly state they flattered to deceive. Big whoop. The Zlatan Zeppelin burning to the ground in flames. Robinho is not that good and Pato, when in a good position fluffed his efforts on goal.

Now they might cry injustice, but they're in denial. We expertly mugged them at the San Siro in a game where they failed to truly make home advantage count. Gomes the hero in that game, our patience the key with our counter and away goal. At the Lane the only injustice is the suggestion that Ibra calls himself the best player in the world.

Now in terms of how we lined up and how we played, it’s tricky to gauge. Other than perhaps forming your own opinion and taking the sage of Harry in his post-match. We don’t sit back and soak up the pressure in Europe. We appeared to do so against Milan because I’m not sure we had much of a choice. The lack of genuine fitness from van der Vaart and no Gareth Bale from the start meant a couple of outlets of our play were not present. Lennon was doubled up on (personally thought he came through and produced some quality balls into the box the longer the game progressed). And because Crouch will eternally give away free-kicks simply because he’s tall meant that the olde knock-down double act with vdV wasn’t going to have a productive night.

All made more difficult thanks to Seedorf and his excellence and Milan’s midfield and their work ethic. We failed to hassle them back in an attempt to regain sustained possession and instead built a wall out of Brazilian bricks and named it Sandro, the Beast of the Lane. The graffiti clearly stating ‘not tonight, I'm going to give you a headache’ with Milan attempting to get past it and failing time and time again, reaching for the paracetamol with the tick tock of the clock as the game worked towards its conclusion.

As pointed out by a keen follower of South American football, we hardly signed him from a team of Sunday leaguers. He played for a top side in competitive games, not unlike the ilk of Champions League. The kid has taken time to adapt to the pace of the Prem (I say adapt, it’s still early days with a handful of appearances) but even during the appearances made he looks assured, confident and believable as a defensive midfielder who can play the ball a bit (no Huddlestone) can tackle and can get stuck in. He’s robust and simply doesn’t look unfazed by much.

Our performance, our initial drive towards how we wanted to play might have been to hit Milan down the flanks and put them under pressure but having been placed on the backfoot, I think we dealt with them pretty well because the players wanted it and were therefore completely focused at completing the task. If we were not going to score, neither would they. Even with the odd error or scrappy clearance thrown in for extra nail bites. What we didn’t do is change it or attempt to change it, not until late on with the substitutions. Risky, but it worked out.

Gallas, Dawson also excellent on the night. Gomes, ignoring his walkabout, handled very well. Corluka was calm which makes me less nervous than having Hutton at right back. BAE did a job too. Modric had one of his ‘quiet’ games, it’s the type where you might at first glance think he was ineffective. But once more he recycled possession (when we had it) and worked hard covering plenty of ground. 90% pass completion from the Croation. No major link up play with vdV, a player I long to see at even 85% full fitness, something I’m not sure we’ve witnessed yet. Piennar, not box office but another hard working display. Would Niko have worked on the left in a game where grit was required because there was no apparent time for spark? Lennon our main outlet, even when constrained by the double-up, gave us some rest bite.

It was not an offensive Spurs performance by any stretch of the imagination. It was a forced defensive one. Crouch could have should have headed that second half chance at goal rather than across goal. Not enough of the ball out on the flanks which meant not enough of anything in forward positions. High hoofs to Crouch, one dimensional, at the sixth and seventh attempt but one out of desperation to get the ball up top to release the stress at the back – only to give the ball back to Milan.

As mentioned, Harry made the right subs late on. And also, as mentioned, Milan for all their posturing did nothing decisive when it mattered. Other than fall to the ground hurt time and time again. Nice one KPB and Robinho. The ex-goon also showing more of his class with another trademark lunge.

Team unity got us through it.

We have dismantled teams, bossed it and scored goals in abundance at home in the CL. This time out, it a test of character and perseverance. No matter how you wish to analyse, the fact remains, two games against one of the best sides in Italy – and they couldn’t score past us. Luck? It wasn’t luck that saw us finish top of our group was it? Doesn't matter if Ibra is over-rated or that Italian football struggles when played at a Prem rate of pace. We out smarted them in the first leg. That's what won it. That's what they can't get over.

I'm still smiling.

COYS.



Not Tonight Sandra, I've Got A Headache

guestblog by chrisman

Sandra Redknapp is going to have a lot of time to catch up on her knitting over the next few
nights, because her husband Harry has a case of what's commonly known as 'selection headache'. Usually he's a sexual tyrant, but recent events have given him a bit of a 'narky miff' and left him unable to 'smash it' with any real conviction.

Now that we've all calmed down and had a chance to think about Tuesday's Triple Epic-Burger, a few things are becoming clear. One fact, lost in the ethereal San Siro mist, was that it was our first away win in this season's Champions League. Actually, it was only our second away win in the competition, ever (the other being over Feyenoord in 1962-63).

More importantly, the win was based on the defensive stability that served us so well in reaching the Promised Land in the first place. These may not seem like things that would normally give you a headache, but when Harry starts thinking about why we were suddenly so solid, he might come to some troubling conclusions.

So what was different from the away days of Bremen, Enschede and Milan last year? The obvious answer is that the Gallas-Dawson axis is now in full effect. But that doesn't explain the often-frantic defending and lack of shape and discipline against Sunderland, Blackburn and Everton (to name a few). Nor does it explain it's absence in Milan on Tuesday.

Sure, the players raised their performance levels for the big one, but if there is one thing you can't really accuse Spurs of these days, it's lack of effort in the 'smaller' games. The commitment is there. But the stability of last year is not. King has been a big miss, but we have a good replacement in Gallas. Huddlestone's absence has been more keenly felt, simply because no one has been able to adequately fill his shoes. Until now.

Sandro, please step forward. You are the man to pick up the gauntlet laid down by Big T's vastly-underestimated defensive displays. People tend to throw around, in a willy-nilly manner, all kinds of comments about Tom's defensive abilities, or lack of them. 'He's slow, lumbering, lazy, a big girl's blouse'. Well willy this nilly - he's a bloody good defender.

We sometimes forget that he started life as a centre half. He has an ingrained defensive nous that other midfielders will never have. He instinctively knows where the centre-half wants him to be. He knows how and where an attack is going to develop. He knows when to tackle and when to jockey. And as well as Wilson and JJ have played at times this season, neither of them will ever have any of these abilities. Physically, they have it all. Technically, they are excellent. Mentally, they lack that extra couple of percent of discipline, concentration and decisiveness that separates very good players from great ones.

JJ and Wilson are both at their best when they are running, and using their fantastic pace and athleticism. But when your main role should be as a shield to the back 4, it's often best to restrict your movement to a few square yards. To really work effectively as a unit with your 2 centre-backs, you have to be close to them and move with them. JJ and Wilson are too erratic and spasmodic with their positioning and movement. Both could potentially work well in a 2 or 3 man midfield, but with someone to sweep up behind them and allow them to maraud around the pitch.

Sandro on the other hand is at his happiest about 5 yards in front of the centre-backs, ready to make a challenge outside or clearance inside the box. When people talk about the Makelele role, they usually associate it with passing and starting attacks. What they often underestimate is the selfless and disciplined nature of the role. Rarely should you pass the halfway line (an attitude people criticize Big T for having). Even the full backs can get forward more. Sandro loves doing that grimy, filthy defensive work.

Against AC Milan, with Sandro match-fit, bedded-in and playing well, we comfortably repelled their attacks. Ok, there were a couple of headers, but we followed the tried and tested template of last season - sit back, let the defenders defend, and hit them on the break. Apart from the 2 headers, Gomes was untroubled. We kept them at arms length on the edge of the box. Calm, controlled, clinical. The compact triangle of CBs and DM could not be penetrated by the trio of Ibra, Robinho and Pato.

So where from here? The easy answer is 'straight ahead', with a simple tweak of swapping Palacios for Modric. But will Harry be willing to effectively have Sandro do a double-leapfrog over Wilson and JJ? Or will he be a bit sly, and with a nod to pragmatism 'rest' van der Vaart and go with JJ or Wilson in the middle with Modric, and Sandro behind?

In reality, if we're only playing 1 up top, van der Vaart needs to be in the team - if fit. That leaves 1 space in the midfield alongside Modric and van der Vaart, and considering  you want the magical pair to have as much freedom as possible, it makes sense to play a disciplined, selfless player with them. That player is Sandro. There are, however, other options....

One idea I'm sure Harry has toyed with is playing van der Vaart in a wider role. Van der Vaart excels most when he has space and time, and he doesn't always find that when playing in the congested central area with big bruising PL players. So moving him to a wider starting position may give him more room to pick up the ball and use that murderous left foot. He played wide right in some games earlier in the season and it worked. It could easily work again.

Another positive for this formation is that Lennon is apparently pretty comfortable switching flanks and cutting inside with his dribbling. So you get 2 great creators out wide, and 3 solid men in the middle (Sandro, Modric, JJ/Wilson). Essentially all you are doing is swapping Pienaar for JJ or Wilson, and in doing so are giving yourselves more speed and power in the middle to give your match-winners more freedom to win matches.

Despite all of this, I'm sure it's also going to be hard for Harry to resist the temptation to re-unite Crouch and Defoe up front. Blackpool will obviously come forward and leave us lots of space. Defoe could bag a couple and get his confidence back in time for the run-in. But will loading the strikers and leaving the midfield relatively bare (Lennon-Sandro-Modric-VDV) play right into Blackpool's hands?

The pragmatist in Harry surely will not allow him to be so gung-ho, and that means dropping one of the seemingly undroppable trio of Modric, Lennon and van der Vaart. All logic therefore points towards a 5-man midfield, but then again Harry's feelings for the Defoe-Crouch partnership have always been about more than mere logic. It's just something he feels comfortable with. But on recent performances, both from the team and Defoe individually, it seems the days of the 4-4-2 may be numbered, especially away from home. And since the next 2 games are indeed away from home, Harry is going to have to make some tough, emotional choices.

Sandro, Palacios, Jenas, Modric, Pienaar, Kranjcar, Lennon, VDV (edit: not so fit). That's 8 fit and on-form midfielders. Good luck Harry, and Sandra...call me.

The Spurs way is the hard way is the only way

Everyone feeling a little better now that deadline day is only accessible by time travel? I'm sure the ones that choose to watch Sky Sports News in the aftermath have braved a pure red assault on their senses, what with one hell of a Liverpool love-in consuming all that dare to leave the remote out of reach. Green-eyed, I've decided to avoid it altogether. I'm still gutted that Jim White's head failed to explode. The window was disappointing in more ways than one.

Quite a bit has been said, in recent guest blogs and in the comments section, so I'm going to avoid another epic waving of arms in the hair, spitting blood and growling at the moon in protest of what looked on the surface (which is what matters because it's the only thing we get to see) to be a massive error of judgement/poor negotiating/ non-existent scouting or perhaps nothing less than a schooling dished out to us for the purpose of deflection/propaganda.

Firstly, Levy. Ignoring all the N17/Stratford agendas and also side-stepping the suggestions that some of our more fanciful bids were superfluous - we did try to sign players. The question marks remain in the manner we want about our business and the almost desperate approach to capture some of La Liga's finest. With the added bonus of Neville and Adam - that still make no sense to me in relation to the time left in window and the fact they appeared to be attempted 'bonus' signings to appease the disappointment of no forward.

All a bit messy, no? Hardly a clear and concise strategic plan. On the surface.

I'm also wondering how much truth sits in with some of those La Liga bids, as there's a suggestion in Spain that Atlético Madrid's president was building up hype to show strength to their supporters that they would not accept bids from anyone. Unless I'm thinking of one of the other clubs subjected to one of our bids. Perhaps off the back of that claim, we went from denying making a bid for Sergio Agüero to 'playing the game' and pretending we actually did. But that's just me reading way too much into it.

The point is, we all know/knew a forward was required because our forwards simply don't score enough and our system requires something a bit special to lead it up top. We tried, not very well, and failed.

But what's done is done. And as if by (dark) magic, we find ourselves now without our talismanic Croatian crafter for a few games thanks to an almost ridiculously timed 'op' that has nothing to do with football (injuries). Kaboul is out. King has been out since forever. Dawson serving a suspension. Huddlestone breaking down. (edit...and Bale...and Pienaar).

Bare bones, backs to wall, two points eight games.

You know, we can all sit here - at home, in the stands, wherever - and complain and bite our nails and generally puff out cloudy negativity like a depressive locomotive smoking sixty cigarettes a day.

Or we can cite last season. Injuries aplenty. Hardly ever starting our 'best eleven'. Disappointing pockets of results that inflicted pain and sorrow and statements as deceive as 'that's it, we wont finish fourth now'.

And yet, we dug deep. We overcome what many though impossible on-paper fixtures. And players, including those that are much maligned, out fought opponents in one superb battle of tenacity after another. Strength as a team, as a unit.

Now last year, we were chasing something we've never got before. So the hunger, the determination - it was specially moulded by each test presented and passed week in week out. This year, this season...the Premier landscape has changed a little and with it, so must we.

Time to forget the past and just look forward with one thing in mind. Belief. Even if we are disgusing that perhaps we don't have the tools in key areas. We've done it before, we can do it again. Even with our limp attack.

I'd take every word Harry shares with this bestest mates in the media with pinch of salt in terms of his complaining about lack of this type of player and lack of that type of player. I'd also just forget about the whole 'we need a forward' thing because as much as a forward would have given us renewed impetus - the fact is, we never signed one.

It's a great testament, for me anyway, that I can look at our team and find myself preferring that the more difficult the task looks, the more comfortable I am with the belief that we can finish in a top four slot. Gone past the half way stage and we've still not quite hit that form. I'm placing a lot on faith, but that's the building block that made last season so epic.

Still wholly dependent on the players recapturing that guile and spirit that saw us victorious last time round. The message is therefore rather simple.

Wakey wakey, cock-a-doodle-doo.

COYS.

Onwards, this beast of a team, onwards...

Hoping for three points tomorrow and a month that won’t end with yet another last second dramatic go on then why not transfer deal to Tottenham. Although if it did it would be the norm and fairly acceptable practice in the Spurs universe. And hardly anyone will scoff if it turns out to be another player of similar ilk to the Dutch maestro, our galvanising force behind our sparkling resurgence from the dark days of two points eight games. Hopefully Daniel Levy will spare a thought for Jim White on Sky Sports News and have our consolidation signings done and dusted well before the deadline to avoid his head from exploding as he eats the camera and pulls himself out of the television and into your living room.

Blog awards and some other bits and pieces looking back on 2010 will follow in early January. It’s been ridiculous these past twelve months. Heart strings pulled and plucked all over the place. Gone, it appears, are the constant lulls of pain and hurt. The shrugs of despondency when the realisation that yet another transitional season is upon us. What we have now is altogether a different experience. A renaissance.

We play with style. With spirit. With belief. We have world class players and ones that aspire to be. We’ve taken back the copyright, no longer clown princes but Kings of the Lane, and entertainers – domestically and abroad where we’ve injected the premier European competition with plenty of glory glory football.

And then there’s the glue. The sticky stuff. No, no, I’m not talking about excitable nights in watching  DVDs. But rather the glue that keeps it all together. This sustained progression, this onwards journey. Our soundbite happy gaffer. Bless him. And of course the supporters who for once - when we finally do have players of quality and a unit of players playing for each other, the badge and the support – we all manage to keep our feet firmly on the ground (be it with plenty of jumping up and down), enjoying every second of it. And why not. After so many years of false dawns, messiahs coming and going, internal politics and failed continental experiments – we flirt, genuinely flirt with the top tier as it seductively lifts its skirt up at us, panties on show, restrained salivating, first base no longer enough.

So, onwards may this majesty of THFC continue. We’re by no means the finished article. We have a lot of work to do. But in pure footballing terms, we have our Tottenham back.

Some bum slapping now. Massive thanks to:

teh trunk, Chris Toy at Studs Up, All Action No Plot, Who Framed Ruel Fox?, Spurs Musing, Windy, Tottenham On My Mind, thfc1882, Football Filter, NewsNow, iFanshare, enemy Republik of Mancunia and new kids on the block False10. Also all the Spurs fans on Twitter and the girls and boys of Facebook and all the new Spurs bloggers that have lost their blogging cheery this past year. And lest we forget the heathens at Glory Glory. If I've forgotton you, your cheque bounced.

Happy new year. To dare is to get very drunk.

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

Capital Punishment by Kris Mole - Ebook available here

extract:

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

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

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

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