0-0, how exactly?

I have to say I was left requiring a cold shower to cool myself off, having got slightly hot and bothered. I'd hate to think of the mess I would have made had we actually scored a goal or three. Blistering. Pulsating. This is Tottenham. It's basically more of the same from last season. And whether our forwards (all four of them) sharpen up or we manage to bag a genuine canny trickster striker before deadline day - I'm more than confident we're going to push onwards yet again.

Let's face, we had the players before Redknapp arrived. What we lacked was direction, structure, belief...you are more than familiar with the list. He got the basics right and yadda yadda yadda. We finally achieved what we've been flirting with for so long. Sustained progression resulting in 4th spot.

Obviously, pre-season had many of us asking if we had the mentality to continue to play at the standard of last season - with improvements in areas that needed improving. We'll find that out in due course, I'd say ask the question again after 15 EPL games. And although I'm not about to positive knee-jerk after the opening 90 minutes of our season, I'd say I saw enough to have that shower running cold for many weekends to come.

We battered City in the first half. Joe Hart's day and his team will be happier with the point than we were. Outstanding Harry called it. Can't really add anything more to that. We just looked a proper fully fledged team.  No residue of those nasty depressive tears from displays of yesteryear, pre-HR. You know how it is, us fans, you expect a signing or two because new blood can add to squad depth and galvanise a side further. And I'm not saying that we should completely discount an additional player or two - but this game reminded us that we have a pretty tidy set of players as it is (we still need a player or two, but can we at least lay to rest the fallacy of importance of pre-season games now, please?)

One or two will regain their high standard in the coming weeks (Lennon still seems a little bit off-key, perhaps one too many summer Cubans?) What I (we) witnessed was a Spurs side that simply works. And did so with the tradition we lust.

Modric, tenacious rather than magical but adapted very well against City's five man midfield, running around the pitch biting at their ankles, tackling and nicking the ball. Think, white short version of Palacios with a mullet. Huddlestone controlling and dominant. Why bother to even be surprised with this? Dare I suggest this might be our most effective midfield partnership (as seen v Arsenal, Chelsea, City last season)?

Okay, so perhaps Moddle wasn't so much effective (magical) going forward as he can be, but as a unit - it worked. It all worked.

Back four - solid. BAE played alright, didn't he? Yeah, no? I'll let you lot argue that one out. Special mention re: his tackle on SWP, start of second half.

Bale is just ridiculously good, much like Daniel Day-Lewis in 'My Left Foot'. There's a reason why My Right Foot went straight to dvd, and it's the same reason why the ball went wide from Gareth's not-his-left-foot foot. Agonising and disappointing. He's still a beast though. And one of our WMD's. Keep him fit, for the love of all things beautiful on God's Lilywhite planet.

The Crouch-Defoe-Keane-Pavlyuchenko quad rotation lacked cutting edge. Heard that before, haven't we? But there's goals in them, I'm certain of it. We still need that ooze of class to push us upwards which we've all been waiting for since the end of the World Cup. At the expense of what unlucky player, I'd say it will be between Keane and Pav. If...if we managed to actually sign someone. Group stage CL football would demand that, IMO. Although the EPL has to remain the priority (and all of the above can comfortable repeat last seasons feat, but that might not be enough for 4th - we might need something extra to push us that little bit further). And how is Harry expected to keep them all happy? (look out for the next blog post).

Gio (why the persistence with agent talk over his future?) didn't have enough time to truly impact the game. But I liked the cut of his jib.

Gomes? Did he have a shot to save?

First half then, Crouch; Defoe, Huddlestone, BAE (deflected), Bale (post) then Lennon, Defoe again - all with decent efforts. Hart annoying in his defence of the goal. Second half, SWP should have scored (BAE innit), King deflected header could have also given them a goal. Pav had a couple of shots, and Bale and his right foot (arguably the easiest chance of the game) and Pav late on.

Okay, so second half City retained the ball better and had us chasing them down quite a bit, but they never threatened to the point where I was watching through my hands. Yes they have stupendous depth, but Mancini's obsession with all things defensive will probably be detrimental to them in the long run. They also had three debutants out there so I guess we should revisit this particular question (will they gel?) in around 15 games time also. And it serves to keep our feet firmly on the ground for a few games longer also.

I guess you could say we exhausted ourselves some what, but still carved out chances to win it. Toure and Kompany key players for them. Should have won it, deserved to win it. But heads up, it was a corker of a 0-0.

Clinical. That's the word for the weeks ahead. Make possession count, and try to avoid making the opposition goalkeeper man of the match, by ya know, sort of placing the ball out of his reach.

Laters.

It Begins

After 3 months of purgatory, we are back. Strap yourselves in. We're about to plunge down the other side of the rollercoaster.

Any discussion of our chances this season seems to be based around how well Man City are going to do. Personally, I think their transfer activity this season is some kind of cruel joke. Has their ever been a more colossal waste of £150 mil? Who exactly has made these transfer decisions? Because you can pretty much guarantee Mancini wouldn't have spent £5 mil on Ray Houghton, let alone £30 mil on James Milner.

I can hardly think this without guffawing out loud, like some nutcase, but is it actually Brian Marwood buying these players? Really? Brian Marwood? Sky Sports League 1 co-commentator extraordinaire? That explains a few things then. Yaya Toure is a poor man's Seydou Keita. James Milner is Steve Guppy on shedloads of creatine. David Silva was only ever any use as David Villa's lickspittle. Jerome Boateng - what are you actually buying here? A right back? A centre back? Helloooo!! Anyone at home??? Balotelli is going to be the black, attacking version of Marco Matterazzi. The PL will be too much for him, and he will be reduced to a foaming bucket of tears with alarming regularity.

Liverpool will be more of a threat. And that's not saying much. Jovanovic is a decent player, but really nowhere near the standard required for what Liverpool want to achieve. He will be like a slightly less clumsy Dirk Kuyt. Everton will be useful, but will ultimately be crippled by their manager’s simplistic, conservative playing style.

This just leaves Super Spurs. Transfer activity has been quiet, but I can't help but feel that's a good thing. The prospect of Micah Richards and Scott Parker left me cold inside. I've seen enough from the Kyles to suggest that both will be pretty decent players for us this season. Naughton looks ridiculously comfortable on the ball, and is a proper defender to boot. Walker looks like a truly awesome product, someone who will probably end up playing CB or CM. With some of Jordsy and Bondsy's magic coaching juice, I can see these players both making great strides this season, and not ending up drifting, aimlessly....like Micah Richards.

Sandro will soon be arriving, and interestingly enough O'Hara remains on the scene. I can't believe there have been no loan offers for him yet, but I also can't believe that Harry plans to actually play him. Maybe he is waiting to use the lad as a makeweight in a future transfer deal.

I like to think that Levy is playing an influential role in transfer dealings. I like to think he has told Harry he's not wasting 10-15 mil on mid-level domestic players. Ultimately, our best players (Gomes, Bale, Modric, Hudd) have not been established, PL players. They have been foreign imports or Championship wunderkids. I like to think Levy has realised this. Having said all that, the more the summer has gone on, the more I've warmed to the idea of getting Bellamy in. But to do so, Keane would have to leave. Levy's business mind probably won't allow him to let Keane leave for less that his value, but I have a feeling he will be off before the window closes. 

Harry knows something is missing up top. We heard his slightly uncharacteristic dressing down of Defoe on more than one occasion last season. It's almost fate that Dos Santos played his way back into the reckoning in Africa. I for one, and Harry for two, must be excited about the prospect of pairing him with Big Pav. Expect Defoe to start, but don't be surprised to see him yanked for Dos Santos at the first sign of stagnation. Playing Dos Santos in an inevitably more withdrawn role will also probably necessitate playing Bale on the left, as his penetration up front will be much needed.

But it seems Harry is set on playing young Gareth at left back. Probably they key to all this will be how well Sandro plays in the centre of midfield. If he turns out to be the player we all hope and dream of, then Modric will play on the left, and Bale at left back. If he doesn't, then it's Modric in CM and everyone favourite hairstyle, Benoit, at LB. I have implored Harry to buy another left back, but I suppose if you intend Sandro to be a first team regular, you don't need another left back. But we'll see. One of our strongest aspects last season was our ability to adapt and change and think on our feet, so if Harry has to make some tough choices, he'll make them.

I think a vast majority of our transfer activity will take place after Tuesday night. If we win, expect Crouch, Keane, or even both to leave, and some heavenly being to ride into town to lead us to the Promised Land. I haven't given up hope on Forlan yet. I'm half suspicious that some kind of deal has already been struck. We can dream can't we? Didn't do us any harm last season did it.....

Harry has already laid down his marker for the season, much in the same way as he did last season. We all recoiled in horror when he boldly proclaimed 4th was well within our grasp. I suspect that due to the success of his wild talk last season, we were all slightly less horrified than we might have been to hear him talk up our title chances. But bear in mind, this boast is also a veiled threat to the squad. He's saying 'you lot are good enough to mix it with the best, and if you don't, I'll ruthlessly root out those who are holding us back'. Some players will take it as a threat. Some will use it as motivation. Some will feel the proverbial ten feet tall. This is who it's really aimed at. The likes of Gomes, Bale, Modric, Hudd and King. They know what is expected of them, and to be honest it's no less than they expect of themselves.

Game on.

by guest-blogger Chrisman.

How many times did you give up last season?

How many times did you give up last season? I know some of the knee-jerkers amongst us probably gave up after we got trounced by three of the top four early season. After that, there was possibly a further five or six times that fourth was deemed 'out of reach'. Yet, we persevered and dug deeper than ever. Sure, I had some minor moments of doubt. Who wouldn't with our history of choking? But I sang on this here blog many times about the virtues of belief. The impossible dream became a reality and now, as we fast approach EPL 2011, there appears to be something eerie about the start of this brand new season.

It's almost like Neo from the Matrix has slowed things down, so much so that he's fallen asleep on the sofa, cup of tea on table, slippers falling off his feet.

Is it the despairing World Cup England had or the fact that the transfer marker remains in a comatose state? I'm not feeling the pressure. Perhaps I've yet to be bitten by the bug. I'm not nervous. More pragmatic. But heart ready to be placed on sleeve. I'll explain...

Purely from a THFC standpoint, it's in our nature to be at times (LOL) pessimistic. It's a defensive stance. In fact, for many people regardless of club colours, discussing and then assuming the worst allows them to prepare for it. Just in case. It's not exactly wearing your heart on your sleeve because you are in essence protecting yourself from the big fail. And some of our fickle faithful are guilty as charged. Although that 1-0 up at Eastland's had me biting my hands off such was the intensity of the occasion. But I'm not talking about one off games. I'm talking about our ambitions for the season ahead. Our mentality. As individuals and a collective (a rather famous thread over at one Spurs forum at the start of last season spoke about relegation fears. No joke).

Ostrich with head in sand is so yesteryear. Where's the peacock showing off its plumage?

We have more or less the same squad of players that got us into 4th with some slight improvements, yet you'd think we are somehow weaker for it. Not saying everyone is thinking this way, but I guess there is concern over why we've not strengthened massively considering that after years of trying we've cracked the big time. Consolidate, right? Buy big. Draft in a superstar. Make a statement to everyone. Close the gap further.

Well, that would be good if there was actually some viable affordable players out there. We need some tinkering in some areas, one or two players to make sure the squad is beefed up for our two main priorities, but no major surgical work is required. Botox rather than a nose job - Although liposuction might be an unavoidable treatment (out with the excess). Anyways, the priorities:

1) Finish in the top 4
2) Get into the CL group stages and enjoy it

All eyes will be on City again because of money spent. Man Utd and Chelsea will be the title favourites, although neither are exactly worlds apart from the chasing pack. Arsenal are becoming more and more like us. Pretty football, no end product, and no silverware (well, not completely like us then). Liverpool - who knows? They might find the resolve to fight it through till the end much like we did. Back to basics for them, might just work. Villa you can probably discount what with the goings on there at the moment. Everton could be the dark horses as they seem to duck and duck in and out of challenging the top tier. They are due one.

So, not much has really changed. This season is going to be last season with a couple of extra bells on it. There has been no mammoth game-changing factors introduced. If you're going to say City, they've had another influx of players - need to let some go and will probably need to re-shuffle and find their feet...again. Their chances concerning 4th might well be dependent on the form of the teams around them...again. If they do power themselves into the top four places early doors, then we might find ourselves with genuine fragmentation. Well, depending on the club they replace. I'll let you decide what's better for football. City in the top 4 or Liverpool. I'd say I'd be happy with both as long as Arsenal finish 5th and we finish above them.

Back to our challenge of finishing top 4 - we've made it there the once. We know what it takes. We've learnt some valuable lessons in defeat. We found new levels of performance and grit. We have experience and application we've not seen before. We finished 4th, we didn't win a medal for it, but there comes a maturity from the achievement that will serve us well this season. This season is not a transitional season. We simply seek consistency. Continued structure. We know where we need to improve and we know our strengths and how to use them. The trick is to look forwards not back.

Belief.

All we need to do is believe.

The doubt, I think, sits with the concern that if we lose one or two key players we might struggle with competing in both the league and the CL. Last season, we - at any given moment - missed key player(s). It's mouth-watering if we avoid injuries, to have the likes of Modric, Lennon etc all season long with others (Bale anyone?) firing on all cylinders too. That's probably my only concern. I'd welcome a talisman of a forward - but I'd say a couple of new squad players just to make sure we are never left short is a vital to our plans.

The progression of Harry Redknapp's Tottenham goes on. So, perhaps my particular eerie feeling has to do with being confident, more so than pessimistic. I'm not fazed. Neither should our players be.

One thing I'd like to see is for us to win a Prem game away to one of the 'Sky Top 4'. It's not the moon on a stick. It's three points.

COYS.

Super Spurs

Fixture list for 2011 is out. As you've probably already seen it and read it a dozen times and worked out our potential points tally for the opening five or six games. Doesn't look too daunting this season as there appears to be no 'month from hell' (ala April of season past). Although that particular month of hell in the end turned out to be nothing more than a skip down the yellow brick road.

Obviously the most telling sign of the list is our inclusion in a couple of Sky Sports Super Sundays.

Feels a bit dirty, doesn't it?

Although I don't believe for a second that we will be embraced into the elite or have Howard Webb award as penalties. And I'm sure to compensate our arrival and aid Keyes and Gray, the Big Four will be refereed to us the Big Three (with an additional special mention to Liverpool and their divine right), and we'll continue to sit amongst the chasing pack again. Plucky Spurs, can they do it again? Quite happy for us to be underdogs/written off once more.

Having been scorned for so long as a team deluding ourselves that we could ever possibly finish 4th, having done so, the hype and pressure will now concern the retention of said position - as anything more would be considered a title challenge, and we're not quite up to that standard yet. Although continued stagnation for the likes of Arsenal (and if Liverpool fail to swim above water once more) we might find ourselves flirting with 'it'. Until Chelsea and Utd pull away once more. One step at a time. But if you look at how fragmented the goons were and yet how close they actually came - it's a very thin line between success and failure. And the line is almost as thin, separating us/others and 3rd spot.

Anything less than a sustained challenge to equal or better ourselves (i.e. failure to get into the CL group stages or/and finishing 5th or below) would be a bit gut wrenching. But it's a risk, the latter more so, because of the sheer openness of the Prem these days.

All depends on about a thousand things. I'm sure City will have their own ideas, if they don't muck up their cohesion with another major influx of players. Villa and Everton should never be discounted. And obviously our rivals, West Ham.

For THFC, there are two areas for improvement:

- Not losing to the newly promoted sides at home (or away for that matter). It's a trend we've seen in the past, but even amongst all the glory last season - we still suffered, especially at the Lane

- Winning a game away against a seasoned 'Top 4' side (Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool)

We've invaded Top 4 space. One of the seasoned members dislodged themselves. Others also harbour ambitions to knock on the door. There's no guest list, it's open invitation. You just have to get there before the lock in.

Fact is, if we do progress and do so with focus and intent and consolidate CL football season in season out, then our standing will change. And that dirty feeling will be near impossible to wash off.

Injuries? We laugh in the face of injuries

It's time to pay kudos to Tottenham Hotspur - the unit. The team. The work laid out and delivered by Harry Redknapp and the march into battle the players repeated time and again, regardless of depletions, AWOLs and MIAs.

With thanks to THFC6061 (of Glory Glory) who is the (Ledley) king of statistics.

So, why 'the unit'? What made Spurs so special this season compared to previous (limp) efforts? Well for starters, resolve. Spurs have instilled a work ethic and spirit that means if we lose a player to injury, we get on with it, no complaints - with the replacement fulfilling his duties.

Now if you go back to Christmas/the New Year you'll remember all of us (yes, me included) holding our heads in the palm of our hands at the fact that we didn't quite spend during the window to fill the gaps in our midfield. Kaboul? Really? We shrugged. Again, this was a very subtle form of knee-jerk, mainly because we feared for the worst (lose Palacios, and we're doomed, dooooooomed I tells ya). When the reality of the situation was we had plenty in reserve to cope. As seen with the injury to Luka early on. Ye of little faith.

So, exactly what was the damage on paper concerning key players? You hear it from them lot over there in the swamplands telling us how they would have faired far better had they not lost players to injury. Using their logic, we'd have faired far better too. We all know it doesn't quite work like that, and had BAE not got injured, would Bale have broken through etc etc.

Anyways - to the stats. Below is a general overall breakdown, but for all the glory in Technicolor - please click here (and bookmark the site for reference as it's a gold mine of wealth). We've had a number of players out injured this season, but looking at key players, here are the numbers that mattered (but didn't quite knock us off our perch):

(All competitions)

Woodgate - 3 starts, 3 total appearances, 194 minutes players, (46 games injured) - Five game period saw Woody play three times, but has since spent a very lonely time stateside, with doctors struggling to work out what his injury is exactly (and how to fix it).

King - 20 starts, 21 total appearances, 1,637 minutes played, (29 games injured) - Vast majority of the season spent missing games and playing when his knee allowed him to do so, only managing to play 4 games on the trot in the finale to the EPL to aid our push for CL and his England ambition.

Lennon - 33 starts, 34 total appearances, 2,846 minutes played, (25 games injured) - Our Azza missed a run of 22 games which meant various shuffles in selection for Harry as he attempted to find the best formation to make up for the loss of one of most potent creative outlets.

Modric - 28 starts, 32 total appearances, 2,547 minutes played, (15 games injured) - Fourteen consecutive games missed in all competitions. Play him on the left or in the middle, when you lose Moddle you lose that craft and those dinking runs that allows us to dictate tempo offensively.

The Fab Four - 115 combined games missed through injury.

In addition:

Corluka (8 games missed towards end of season)
BAE (11 games missed - allowing for Bale to cement a first team place)
Bale (7 games missed at start of season)
Dawson (7 games missed at start of season)
Jenas (19 games missed through injury across the season)
Kranjcar (6 games missed at end of season)
Huddlestone (6 games)

We've had other players picking up knocks (Pav, Bentley etc) - but nothing out of the ordinary. The main key players cited above (Woodgate, King, Lennon, Modric) - are backbone players, imperative to the way we set out and play.

We got through the start of the season - special mention to Bassong who took his place against his centre-back partner without complaint and has been a quite superb signing for us. The King scenario is no surprise. We know he's not able to perform for us every week. So we make do. Having no Woodgate or Dawson didn't help but this is where people covered and got on with it.

Losing Modric was devastating. Felt like it would be detrimental to our progress. But we shuffled. Niko played a part on the left and at one point was quite simply unplayable as far as the opposition were concerned. He tore City a new one. Then when Modric returned, Lennon got injured, and again we had to balance the side to avoid any loss of cohesiveness in both attack and defence.

Moddle playing a part in central midfield, Wilson and Tommy sharing the other centre-spot. We showed adaptability and application with responsibilities given out by the gaffer.

No squad depth they said? I remember we got burnt after Robbie Keane's comments about the strength of our team on the pitch and on the bench. But across the season, he has had his comments vindicated - even though the irony of him being up in Scotland whilst we took 4th is no doubt hurting him bad.

Every time we lost a player, Harry tweaked it. Bale coming in for BAE for left-back, then shifting forwards to left-flank resulting in a flourishing lefty relationship between the two.

Huddlestone. More on the big lad in the next few days. Stay tuned. But I'll note here that he has time and time again proven the critics wrong and has been one of our most vital players in central midfield.

Kaboul, equally maligned, proved in the end that he was worth bringing back. Yes, he's raw and very much rough in parts. Whether there's a diamond underneath all the dirt, we'll have to wait and see. But he covered well (had his comedy moments) but should be applauded for his efforts. When it mattered, he dared to do.

At any given moment this season, we've had someone key out on the sidelines. More than one at any given moment in fact. It worried us. It didn't appear to worry the team.

The players deserve the accolade. It's a team game and we did more than enough to prove we are a team and one that doesn't crumble or lose heart because we are without a talisman or two.

The surprise factor also helped. Bale's resurgence. Pav's free-scoring goal-scoring stint. Love it when it all comes together when the Gods do everything in their power to test your resolve.

Well done.

Buzzing, just buzzing...

Not sure where to begin. There is so much to take in, I can hardly concentrate on matters concerning in-depth analysis. I know I sound like a broken record, but I always knew we'd do it. I've banged on about it for ages now. I think most of us could see it but could hardly even consider embracing the idea, because in our heads, that would be as close to jinxing it as we could possibly come. This quote from AANP sums it up:

"As a long-time Spurs-supporting chum put it to me yesterday, we’re not built for this sort of thing. Let-downs and heartbreaks we can deal with, but this business of every single blasted game coming loaded with significance is just too much to take"

And when the stakes are high, the faster the heart beats and the more intense and unbearable things are. Which is why a defeat here or there had some of the faithful, knee-jerking. It's a defensive inbuilt psychological mechanism that aids us, protects us from the disappointments. Same old Tottenham we say. And when disaster strikes, we shrug knowingly and then look forward to next season.

The semi-final and the 3-1 up at Sunderland have proved to be in some ways inspirational to the team.

9 wins out of 11 games to secure glory. That's just fantastic. Unquestionably fantastic.

What we've gone and done has made every single miserable moment worth it because this win, this historic moment, is all the better for the pain suffered in the past. Next season? I can't wait for it. Is it small time to celebrate this achievement? Of course not. Considering how bastard hard it's been in the past decade to get anywhere near the Top 4.

So, I'm now going to attempt a match review. This is gonna be messy.

I can't say I enjoyed the match. The experience made me sick. Even with my continued confidence since Christmas, it all appeared to desert me just before kick-off. I found myself shifting uncomfortably, almost not wanting to watch, preferring if possible to lose myself in a trance for 90 minutes and awake to find we've won. No such luck. I had to endure it, and for the first time this season I was actually incapable of retaining any form of composure. I found myself dismantling every nano-second of the game, micro-analysing it to the nth degree. It all played out in slow-mo.

21 wins in 28 games for City at home. But we hardly ever lose up there. The stats being churned out just made me dizzy. This was the £30M/£40M/£50M match they said. Cash Wednesday (seriously, only Sky could call it that). The play-off.

Bricking it big time.

First half, was okay. Not amazing. Something lacked, at least that's how I was seeing it. Lennon and Bale not so much in the game thanks to the constant hoofing of the ball up to Crouch. Our play seemed rushed at times. All a bit too much too soon too little. No retention of the ball. City were having a go. We were just a tad too passive. But with hindsight I guess we were measuring up the opposition. Slowly slowly getting a grip of the game. Patiently waiting for the tempo to change in our favour. Which it did in the second half.

However, the nerves obviously blinded me because a neutral would have pointed out that the game could have been 2-0 either way. 0-0 was good, for us. Just needed to test Fulop more. Crouch unlucky with his effort off the woodwork. King scored. Should have counted. Tevez a menace for City.

I found myself thinking 'this is f*cking bollocks Spurs. Get stuck in, and smash these over-rated ****'s out of their own ground'. Wanted to see a bit of that dare to do dance from the boys in Lilywhite.

Second half. Lennon on a run across the middle, doesn't pass to Bale, shoots, wasted. 55 minutes in, first shot on target that Fulop was made to save. Decent effort from JD. Hudd stamps. Lucky with the yellow. Still need to be brave. Modric showing great spirit and fight in the middle of the park. More action. Moddle getting crowded out in the box. Lennon cross, defended well. Then a cross and Defoe and Crouch stretching…almost, almost. Agonising.

Then the word ominous appeared in front of me in the form of a footballing God, all smug and arrogant, asking me how things were going, before disappearing with a cheeky wink. The git.

I was emotionally dead at this point. And although I could not see it at the time, we were bossing it. Creating chances. And City's flirtatious first half of attacks was becoming a distant memory.

Lennon off, Bentley on. Heart stopped for a brief moment when Gomes allowed the ball to go under his foot. Then we had a mazy mazy Crouchie run. My heart. My poor poor heart.

In the midst of all this, when City did have a moment, we had Ledley King. You know him right? He's the one that isn't human. Phenomenal player. The block from Tevez, just amazing. You shall not pass indeed.

Just before that, Fulop pulls off a stupendous save. Or just saves a weak Crouch header. Depends how badly you knee-jerked at the time. I held my head in my hands.

Then it happened.

Before kick-off, around 6pm or so, Chas (from Chas and Dave, obviously) was interviewed on a London news programme. He cited Crouch and said he felt he would be instrumental in the game. I sort of scoffed. This was before the sides were announced. Amazing In the Know knowledge from Chas. Even though he looked a bit dazed on the piano, he was on the money with his prediction.

Fulop, having palmed the ball instinctively away from a Kaboul cross, deflected off Bridge, finding Crouch and his beautiful beautiful head. Crouch making amends.

Absolute insanity.

Kaboul dancing past Bellamy with ease thanks to a pathetic attempt by the Welshman to stop the pulsating Frenchman. Crouch getting the goal he deserved for his second half performance and the travelling Spurs fans along with every Spurs fan the world over going mental, just mental.

82 minutes. And the dream, the dream was not just alive and kicking but stripping off and about to run around naked, big willy flapping around all over the place. This was it. You could taste it now. Er…not the big willy, Champions League. Obviously.

The ominous feeling was gone, the footballing God appearing before me, no longer looking on smugly, but instead whistling the theme music to the Champions League.

This. Can't be. Happening. What are these emotions returning to my wrecked body?

Wilson on for the excellent Modric. Four minutes of injury time.

Then the final whistle. And years of hurt vanquished in the midst of celebrations. Bottle jobs? That fallacy has been buried 6 feet under. This Spurs squad has time and time again dug deep in the face of adversity and come through it. No dodgy lasagne in sight.

It wasn't just at Eastland's. This CL position was won against Arsenal and Chelsea at WHL. But obviously won across the 37 games played. Even with the hiccups. We have been consistent. Spurs. Consistent. Amazing.

King, so deserving of this. Kaboul was a monster. Dawson, Huddlestone - all of them, every single one of them have played a part. I even thought Jenas movement for the drenching of Harry in his post-match interview was superb. All the players deserve credit. Not just for this game, but through-out the season. And to think at any given moment we had a key player out injured. That's actually scary that. Sign a couple of top top drawer players in the summer and I can see us sustaining a Top 4 challenge again. Which is key to progress, because the next step would be to challenge for bigger things. But yeah, one step at a time...

This (CL qualification) might not be an FA Cup final. This might not be silverware. And history will only remember a 4th spot (3rd still a possibility, but let's not get too greedy), but the significance of this is far more important in the here and now.

We stopped City from getting CL football and possibly consolidating their position in the Top 4 for years to come. The pressure is back on them to go for it again, whilst we can prepare for retaining this position next season. Which I have no doubt we will do. The elite, the Sky Sports Top Four has been cracked. This is massively important, mainly for the purposes of belief and mental strength. A winning mentality. The players now have a benchmark to aim to better in 2011. This isn't a fluke or an upset. We deserve this. And can only build on it.

Qualifier obviously standing in the way of the group stages, but I'm sure we'll be just fine. We're edging ever closer to them lot across the road too.

I'll cut this short now (I know, it's been anything but short), as I could go on and on, but will instead blog more later in shorter parts. Like I said at the start, so much to cover.

I have plenty to say about Harry Redknapp (spot on selection and tactics) and of course Daniel Levy, the man who scrapped the DoF system and went back to basics. From bottom 4 to top 4. And yes, that includes a letter to the chairman. But will leave those thoughts for later on in the week. I'm also looking forward to seeing how the press and pundits react to our achievement. Yes, I'm referring to Hansen and Lawro and the mongs on Gillette Soccer Saturday.

Remember last season. 2 points, 8 games. Gillette Soccer Saturday playing a comedy video of a clown, ripping the piss out of Spurs with various stand-up jokes whilst the panel laughed away. Remember this season, after winning 4 straight games then coming unstuck against Chelsea and Arsenal and United. Back in our box, they said.

You might feel dirty for it, but gloat. Gloat to your hearts content.

What a f*cking season. We've actually gone and done that thing that everyone wanted and everyone else expected us not to do. We did it. And the club shop dvd of 2010 will no doubt be a best-seller.

I choked up at the end. Cried for the first time since Italia 90.

We dared. Congratulations.

I f*cking love football and I love this club. Bask in it. It's richly deserved. New chapter, new adventure.

I've gone all giddy.

Believe

COYS.

I'm not going to sleep much tonight.

The future's bright, the future is still Lilywhite

What's that now? 68 games away from home against top 4 sides leaving us with a bitter taste of regret in mouth? Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I'm thinking I should embrace the fact that Wilson has not been great this season and we should have shown balls and kept the same line-up without having to shuffle players for the sake of over-cleverness. Even though I did think we'd be 'ok' if we did just that.

BAE at right-back, uncomfortable and out of sorts. Bale at left-back, almost felt like he'd been gagged and tied to a chair. Safe to say that Hudd/Moddle in the middle with BAE left-back and Bale left-wing should be our line-up for the remaining games. But don't fret, I'm not about to knee-jerk. We got it wrong. But take away two stupid clumsy defending errors (the two pens) and the roll-out of the red carpet for Nani (three errors then) and things might have been different. Even with the changes in line-up.

Though I still feel we didn't show half as much guile as we should of. Not disgraced, but all a bit of a limp effort in the end. We didn't give the occasion the swagger it deserved. But then it was by no means looking (from either side) to shape up into the classic game most (wanted) expected. On the bright side, Azza is back amongst us. King is a frigging freak of nature. And Bale is best played offensively.

We should have played football, taken the game to them. To dare is to f*cking do, right? I cited state of mind in my match preview. But perspective please. It was United. Perhaps not a storming version of Ferguson's men what with Rooney up in a box, but if you're going to make mistakes, you don't make them in their patch - especially when they have a title at stake.

So, six points from nine then? You simply cannot be disappointed with that, considering that few expected us to win even one of the three, let alone two of them. Makes you think that before we entered the month of April, only the insane (me) would have stated 'we will finish 4th' - considering our fixture list compared to others.

City drew at the Emirates (Zzzzz). Villa and Liverpool both won. This chase for fourth spot continues to twist and turn. Although nothing much has changed this past weekend other than the important footnote for all sides involved; that one more defeat will spell the end.

City v Villa will be the one to watch as it will no doubt shape the tension for our visit there. We first need to avoid the banana skin of complacency when Bolton visit the Lane.

So what next?

Spurs - Bolton home, City away, Burnley away
Villa - City away, Blackburn home
City - Villa home, Spurs home, West Ham away
Liverpool - Chelsea home, Hull away

Spurs 35 played, 64 points - 3 games max 9 points - 73 pts max
Villa 36 played, 64 points - 2 games max 6 points - 70 pts max
City 35 played, 63 points - 3 games max 9 points - 72 pts max
Liverpool 36 played, 62 points - 2 games max 6 points - 68 pts max

We may have failed to conquer our Old Trafford demons, but redemption awaits. It's in our hands. We have shown grit and heart and style through-out the season to continually remain up top in the mix. With every hiccup, we down a glass of cold water, and crow.

Bolton (H) - We need to be professional. Focused. The Lane has to rock in the same manner it did against the red and blue scum. We simply have to dismantle them and apply the pressure on the other contenders. As noted, pick up and bin that banana skin.

City (A) - Cup final day. The £30M+ game. Potentially. The irony that things might work out that City have to win at West Ham on the final day of the season to finish 4th is tinged with the type of irony that would see a new statue built outside Upton Park to commemorate the occasion. Tevez scoring the winner would have the home support cheering louder than the travelling City fans. And then there's the irony of us playing away to Burnley (same colours as WH). Shades of 2006 all over again. If City and Villa score-draw (if if if), a win at City's patch and it's done and dusted (as long as another 3 points is collected).

Burnley (A) - Relegated. If we failed to win here (no disrespect to their club and fans) we don't deserve to finish 4th.

So all this is easily simplified... Just beat Bolton and City and it wouldn't matter what the other sides do, it wouldn't be enough for them.

So all you crazies, keep the faith.

And keep on believing.

Let the games commence...

You'll have probably noticed Rafa Benitez has thrown it out there that Spurs will shag it up thanks to our difficult fixture list. Spurs will lose points is the headline on the official Liverpool site (from yesterday). And Rafa tells the reds:

“It depends on us and if we can keep winning our games. Tottenham have difficult games so I think we’ll be closer, and we’ll see. Every week will be different.

“After the Europa League we have Birmingham and that will be very tough. But if we can win our games, I think they (Spurs) will lose some points and I think we can be there.

“I hope it can still be a successful season. You can always have bad seasons, but the main thing is the reaction of the players. We will try and fight until the end, and then we’ll see.

“Hopefully we can get in the top four and progress in the Europa League.”

Don't know about you, but I find this sort of thing inspiring, and so should the players. Yes, Liverpool are fairly boring and have had an unspectacular season but they are seasoned CL qualifiers so to be engaged by them in this manner should be used positively by our lot. Guaranteed at one point, 4th for Liverpool, wasn't it Rafa? 31 games in and we are the ones who have remained anchored to fourth, and when we've slipped down a place or two we've dug deep and climbed back up. With thanks to others around us (guess who?) who have remained inconsistent through-out. Nothing wrong with our form. If you take a look at the season thus far there is more likelihood of Liverpool dropping points than there is us.

I don't think for a second Spurs have had the type of mentality at any point in the season where we've gone into a game expecting to win without effort. And we continue to take nothing for granted - players and fans alike. We've fought hard every time and when the odds are stacked in our favour, we've been professional about it. The only weakness has come in the shape of complacency which cost us at Everton and Birmingham. The defeats at home against Stoke and Wolves boil down to frustration and lack of composure breaking down said teams who parked the bus. It's been a learning curve, a steady progression.

Sure I'm bias and believe it would be a travesty if after all our hard grafting, Liverpool squirm their way into the Champions League. And Rafa is obviously saying what he's saying so it plays in the minds of our players. We're in the winning position, its ours to lose.

But it's not Rafa we should be concerned about. It's the enemy within. Which he's obviously hoping to summon with his choice of words. The inferiority complex that sometimes sees us choke against the really big teams. A self-fulfilling prophecy that seems to force the issue against us, placing us firmly back in our box. In the past the players almost subconsciously surrendered as though the expectancy to lose the game weighed heavily on their shoulders. Happened earlier in the season against Chelsea, Utd and Arsenal.

Times have changed. But we still need to prove it.

So, thank you Rafa for the pep talk and letting us know you care. Far more understated and subtle as far as mind games go, but we all know his track record when he opens his gob.

4th or FA Cup?

FA Cup = immediate silverware, club shop dvd, another chapter written into the history books

4th = CL

CL = more money, better players

More money, better players = possible title challenge

Title challenge = top 4 placement every season

Top 4 placement every season = CL every season

CL every season = even more money, even better players

Even more money, even better players = sustained title challenges

Sustained title challenges = potentially lots of silverware

Simplified, I know. Qualifying one season for the CL doesn't mean there's a guarantee you'll be in it the following. But that's a defeatist attitude. Anyways, to answer my own question:

Both.

Wigan 0 Spurs 3: From Russia with a smile

It was no majestic execution of total football so don't expect a club dvd release of our 3-0 away day win in the marsh lands of Wigan. However, don't be dismissing the performance completley out of hand. Take some pride from the professional taking of three points, even if it took a couple of cameos to conslidate the victory.

That Harry sure knows how to make subsititions, hey?

Okay, so for long periods of the match there wasn't too much going on and even the goal scored by Defoe to stick us 1-0 up was blatantly offside, even if the build up play (Niko and Bale involved) was deserving of a more pure finish. Many thanks to the assistant referee and his reluctance to lift his flag for that piece of good fortune. If he had eyes we'd be all busy slating JD for getting a light year ahead of the last defender before the ball was crossed.

What we got out of this incident was the lead in a game we were comfortable in, which was great because we weren't exactly having many shots on goal. I'm not about to drum up the olde 'cutting edge and lack of' discussion because the pitch was a travesty. It's hard enough for us to create chances on a decent one so no shocker we muddled through this. We mixed it up a little, tried to pass it around and had Crouch as the option if we required a long punt forwards with accompanying knock-down 3 feet away from the feet of Defoe.

Game for me changed when Modric came on.

At the start of the afternoon I found myself nodding in agreement that the lickle Croatian was on the bench. Wasn't just about the state of the pitch either. He's been a little off-key so allowing him to come on and make an impact if need be suited me just fine. Because you could see early on it was going to be one of those games we'd have to bide our time with.

Ref was inconsistent, Defoe lucky (not just with the goal but with one or two tackles and a card - thankfully just yellow). It was fragmented and untidy. King leaving the pitch just after 50 minutes was no shocker. Surprised he was risked in this game considering (no offence) that Wigan are not exactly going to pose the type of threat Everton will this weekend. We could have easily gone missing, but thanks to Wigan's reluctance to play long balls it was a game where both sides tried - as much as possible - to play football. And as for the physicality, Wilson handled it along with the rest of our players. There was no pushing powder-puff Tottenham off the ball in this game (Wigan simply not strong enough to do so).

We had the best of it in the first half, went a bit quiet and then in came Modric (for Niko) and we looked good for a second goal. Because we all know we can't rest unless we get a second.

Crouch should have scored. He didn't. Failed to lift it over the keeper. Modric unlucky with his shot coming off the post and into Kirkland's hands. When Pav entered the field of play I had a gut feeling he would get onto the score-sheet.

Scoring twice was a bit lovely considering how he's not even meant to be in a Spurs shirt. Took his first goal with ease (Modric at the heart of it, threading the ball through to him after a determined run) and then his second (from a free-kick) coming after a save from his initial header, casually slotted in through a tight gap, again with ease and a smile.

It was almost like Roman was mucking about in the playground with his mates during lunch break. Compare his efforts to the over zealous efforts witnessed in recent games. Pav was cool and calm, a refreshing alternative that we've almost forgotten about devoid of any misplaced urgency or lack of confidence. I like this Pav, much more than the one that moans in the papers, but then you can understand why he moans when he's never played. Harry, bless him, scratching the back of his neck and shifting uncomfortably couldn't quite muster up a heartily pat on the back for the Russian. You'd have noticed his comment post-match was underlined with the suggestion that Pav is a good player when he can be bothered. Yes, Harry gave him a chance because he trained well (for once). Unlike all those other times when he didn't.

"He's fantastic, trffic, quality player, top class, blah blah"

Yes, yes, if you believed any of that he'd have played a ton more games than he has. If Pav is not training well then it's probably because he's a tad disillusioned. Stick him up front against Bolton and let's see if he can do the business again. Leave the favouritism alone for once. Suck it up and just give us what we want.

Yeah, I know, I've written off Pav plenty of times in the past. Let's face it, his first season was a mess and he'd not had a chance since. Most Spurs fans would agree, so call me a soppy romantic but my heart melted for the lad when he celebrated and more so when seeing the united front all his team-mates put up for him during and after the game. He's well liked. Which is a great achievement for someone who can't speak English.

So in the end we didn't suffer the usual indignity of a last minute equaliser thanks to the magic of Modic who glided around the mud pitch like a skater on ice and Roman's clinical finishing.

We dug deep, got lucky with an offside, still pretty much dominated the game and did our goal difference a world of good along with pushing ourselves up from 7th into 4th. Again.

Happy days.

Spurs away to Wolves...this is no side show

13 games left. And tonight's visit to Wolves is a 100% 'have to bloody win no sorry pathetic excuses or what ifs' type of encounter. I know we can't and won't be winning all our remaining matches, but (with no disrespect meant) this has to be our three points. Grafted and deserved. It's considerably more comfortable a game than one or two other fixtures ahead of us.

The opposition might not be big, but the game is most definitely king-sized. Complacency? I damn you to hell. Plums are of no use here, bring your grape-fruits.

Can we do it? We can, can we not? You're not stalling your answer, are you?

So therefore, I expect to be pushing ahead with my planned demonstration outside THFC tomorrow, with one banner, one simple banner stating the words: DIE LEVY DIE

I am not asking for the resignation of any of the directors or the manager. It's not that kind of demonstration. I am simply pointing my finger towards the person solely responsible for the club and it's progression so others witnessing are left with no doubt as to the persons identity, allowing them to join in with proceedings. It's subtle, I know. And you might wonder why I'm doing this in German. It's dramatic. It reminds me of Klinsmann.

Harsh you might think that I'm waving my finger just at the chairman. And I do believe he should have done more in the last window. Not suggesting we over-spent or panic-bought. But simply worked harder to secure a deal for another midfielder. We've had since the summer to do so. The chance to consolidate is one that has been missed. Much like 2006. But the team is still more than capable. And we remain a club without (potentially) crippling debt.

I'm ignoring Harry's 'we can finish about Arsenal' media-friendly pre-match nonsense. And I'm happy to hear Luka speak of the Wolves defeat (back at the Lane) and how revenge is on the cards tonight. And although King will be absent, I can not disagree that if we do continue to play the way we are playing, we are going to hit good winning form.

I personally believe we'll smash someone to bits very very soon. Teams defend deep, suffocate space and make it a pain the backside for us when playing in N17 causing way too much fragmented urgency. Away, it's different. They come and have a go, allowing our players to use the space presented to them. It's ironic we are more comfortable on our travels. No always, but more often than in previous years.

We need to be lucky by making up our own luck. And we need to take a risk, both on the pitch and off it (then on it) - in the way of substitutions at pivotal moments in the game. Would be nice to see Niko make an appearance tonight - at some point. And the continued improvement of Bale and Bentley goes without say. But most importantly, we need to be patient. Much like we were at Leeds in the cup.

So, with those thoughts in mind, I'm hoping to see you all tomorrow, outside the ground at around 11am. In celebration of victory, and in celebration and support of our chairman. A love parade of sorts. A demonstration of endearment for The Levy; Daniel Levy. And the supporting cast of manager and players. Our support is very much needed. Believe. And the players will believe.

After tonight, its down to just 12 games and 36 points.

Can we do it? We can, can we not? Of course we bloody can.

COYS.