Saturday 12th January 2002, 3.00pm

FA Premiership, Portman Road

IPSWICH TOWN 2  (Bent 10, King og 81)

Marshall - Makin, Venus, McGreal, Hreidarsson - Wright, Magilton (Peralta, 63), Holland, Reuser (Clapham, 46) - Armstrong (Stewart, 57), Mbent

Rebrov

Ferdinand (sub Iversen 28)

Ziege (sub Davies 46)

Anderton

Poyet

Sherwood

Taricco (sub Etherington 85)

King

Richards

Perry

Sullivan

Subs not used: Keller, Gardner

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (Poyet 58)

Referee: - Matt Messias

Attendance: - 25,077

Two individual errors send Spurs to another disappointing defeat against a team we would expect to beat and our run of 4 points from 15 in matches against Ipswich, Southampton, Villa, Blackburn and Ipswich again has seen us slip to a respectable but disappointing 8th in the League when our form before this run would have seen us well placed to take at least 10 points and be well established within the top six.

After only just over an hour from Liverpool St we arrived in Ipswich. During a quick walk round what I assume was the town centre we saw a signpost saying “Football Club, Cattle Market”! It was the sort of place where you saw a bank you were still not sure if it had a cash point!

To protect the locals from a load of “Chas n Dave” types, the away fans were given a designated pub – the Drum & Monkey.

This is an excellent idea and as the beer flowed the songs started and we went into the ground in a good frame of mind and in good voice. 

Spurs were without the suspended Sheringham and Hoddle chose to revert to 3-5-2 with Rebrov coming in for Davies to partner Sir Les up front. At the back, it was great to see Sully get a recall, and although I have nothing against Keller, Sully is the number one. The cup tied Richards came in for Gardner (even though everyone hoped it would be for Perry) and Sherwood started for the first time this season in place of Freund who is out for the season with a cruciate ligament injury sustained in midweek. Ipswich were without Finidi George, but had Marcus Stewart on the bench and a host of two bob journeymen made up their team, well managed as ever by the likeable George Burley.

 The Spurs fans in the Cobbold Stand were in good voice as the game kicked off with Spurs attacking the imaginatively named North Stand.

Unfortunately for Spurs, the away day Jonah was present and all of the best laid plans and that……

Maybe he was the real reason for Ledley’s defensive abborations later in the match! although I should add at this point that the ADJ is a top bloke and it is a shame that Spurs have reserved their best for when he is not about!

The opening exchanges were fairly even with neither side carving much of an opening but Spurs looking comfortable, before Ipswich won a corner after about 10 minutes. As the corner was taken, the whole box seemed to freeze apart from one Ipswich player, Mbent, who got a couple of yards on the sleepy King and headed home powerfully from about 10 yards at the near post. Terry Thomas would have described the defending for this goal as “an absolute shower”.

Despite going a goal down, Spurs began to look the better side as the game wore on, although in all honesty it was probably not that difficult to look impressive up to the final third against an Ipswich side who’d already lost six times at home in the league, but much of our play broke down before we were able to create a chance. Sherwood and Ferdinand carved out a chance for Rebrov with an interchange of passes, but the little bloke shot straight at the keeper from 20 yards.

After about 20 minutes, Sir Les needed some treatment and not long after he had to be replaced by Iversen.

This was a big blow to Spurs as much of the play is focussed around Sir Les holding the ball up – something Iversen is not able to do with his clumsy control which sometimes makes you wonder if he is made out of rubber. 

Poyet came close to scoring for us with a 40 yard effort which was not far away and nearly caught their keeper unawares, but the best chance was created by Iversen who sent over a good cross from the left, and although Rebrov did well to get to the ball first, once there, he should have done better by at least hitting the target, but his low shot went wide.

At the other end, Reuser cut in from the Ipswich left and hit a fierce shot which Sully did well to palm away and was relieved to see Mbent head the ball weakly back towards the goal so he was able to gather comfortably.

One thing that I think Spurs are wasting at the moment is goalscoring opportunities from dead balls and corners. Some of the crosses from world class dead ball players like Anderton and Ziege have been woeful in recent matches. The insistence on short quick free kicks in the oppositions half has always baffled me since the days of Ossie as a player. Maybe trying this once or twice in a match is ok, but I would much rather see a ball played into the box (preferably from someone other than Mr Ed) as this must surely give us a better chance of a goal!

Near the end of the first half, Ziege took a knock from Matt Holland, and although he tried to run it off for the rest of the half, he did not appear for the second half, being replaced by Davies, with Treacle coming over to the left and Davies playing at right wing back. You all know my views on where Anderton should be playing, and why we force Davies (and Anderton) to play out of position because Anderton believes he is a central midfielder is beyond me. 

At half time, I did not think we would lose the match – I just felt we needed to keep on playing the way we had and a goal and probably two would come. The one thing we could not afford to do was to concede another one.

Rebrov had a great chance at the start of the second half, but he smashed his shot well over after being set up by Iversen. This miss looked to be costly as Ipswich embarked upon their best 15 minutes of the match. 

Armstrong was released with a clear run at Sully, but our Keeper probably the best outside Schmeichel in the Premiership when in one-on-ones came out well to narrow the angle, forcing Armstrong to curl his shot wide.

Sully then showed why he was player of the year last season, and a must for the Spurs goalkeeping jersey, when he produced a fantastic diving save from an Mbent header. A clear message to Glennda lets hope.

This save kept Spurs in the match and soon after we looked to have got level when Rebrov dived bravely to head home a Poyet cross, only for the lino to cancel the goal for offside. Rebrov’s finish and his disappointment at not scoring reflect his commitment to Spurs during the match, and although his future lies elsewhere, no one can complain at his effort.

In was not long after that we did draw level. Spurs moved the ball through the right and centre, eventually reaching Rebrov with his back to goal on the edge of the D. He slipped a ball through the inside right channel on to the run of Poyet, who struck a low shot which sneaked inside the near post with a less than convincing effort from their keeper. The goal was a great relief to all the fans and a just reward for our play.

For the next 15 minutes, Spurs continued to play well as we looked to win the game. It was all too much for the ref, who hobbled off to be replaced by the spare ref. Anderton had a 30 yarder during this period, which fizzed just wide.

With 10 minutes to go, it looked as if we’d have to settle for a disappointing point in a game should be picking up all three – but even that was snatched away from us.

Another corner from the attacking team’s right saw another slow bit of marking from Ledley, this time he was only just behind the Ipswich player (McGreal, the wanker who was involved in the Sheringham sending off three weeks ago), who mis-headed the ball onto Ledley’s head, but the ricochet sent the ball flying into the net giving Sully no chance  - A cruel goal.

We had our chances in the last 10 minutes with Rebrov and Poyet, but the most clear cut was at the other end when a Mbent cross was missed by a couple of Ipswich players. 2-1 Flatters Ipswich, 3-1 would have been a joke.

The final whistle put us out of our misery, or just started the misery if the message boards and chat rooms are anything to go by.

Much of the optimism from earlier in the season seems to have been blown away by the recent dip in results – but it is the same players, minus one or two injuries & suspensions – and while it is frustrating that we have not capitalised upon a run of seemingly easier matches, things will come our way soon and we still have a lot to play for and another 48 points to fight for – COME ON YOU SPURS. 

The Word of Hod

Glenn Hoddle branded our defending as 'disgraceful' after two goals from corners cost us dear at Portman Road.  We punished ourselves with our marking from corners," blasted Glenn. "It was disgraceful really and if we don't get any better then we'll be punished again, simple as that. Managers can accept markers losing a player by half a yard, even a yard, but when three yards are given on both occasions and you lose the points on the back of that, it's very frustrating and annoying I can tell you.

"At half-time, I said we can't concede again like that and the players have to make sure that over my dead body does it go in the back of the net. Someone wasn't listening. We were in control of the game for long periods and at 1-1 I really felt we were going to go on and win it.

"There are no excuses. It was poor defending, end of story. Sometimes you get away with it and the headers go over the bar but I'm sure they won't score two easier goals all season. We have to learn a lesson from it. If we go from now until the end of the season without conceding a goal from a corner, we'll have learnt from it and it will be a positive. We have to make sure that happens."

Boss Glenn Hoddle's initial reaction was to suggest that Les Ferdinand and Christian Ziege would be back for two to three weeks. "Les has got an ankle twist and a kick at the back of the Achilles, so it's quite a nasty one. Christian has got a knee problem that will need to be looked at on Monday morning. I'm not sure of the timescales yet. Christian might be out a bit longer than Les but that is off the top of my head and until the doctor's had a look and it's been scanned we won't really know. We'll keep our fingers crossed it won't be too long but looking at them I can't see either being back for two or three weeks.

"It's a massive blow for us what with losing Steffen Freund as well. It's a testing time for the squad because the long-termers are not ready to come back yet."

Sullivan (7/10) – Great to have him back and rewarded his re-selection with a fantastic save in the second half, as well as a good display all round. Hopefully now back where he belongs as Tottenham number 1.

Perry (6/10) – Did ok without being brilliant. When the emphasis is not on last minute interceptions and tackles, Mr Ed looks less good as his lack of ability with the ball is more exposed.

Richards (7/10) – Had a good match with a couple of good interceptions early on and generally looked ok

King (5/10) – For most of the match was the Ledley we know – but for 2 incidents he was “Ramon”, leaving first Mbent and then McGreal at corners – errors which cost us the game. These errors were very much out of character and lets hope they are not repeated.

Ziege (6/10) – Was doing ok, before coming off worse with a challenge with Matt Holland just before halftime

Taricco (6/10) – A solid match without doing anything really of note

Anderton (6/10) – Gave the ball away too often but was generally ok without being brilliant and you cannot fault his effort. Missing Sheringham as an outlet.

Sherwood (7/10) – Very pleased to report on another good match for Sherwood, who has made the loss of Freund almost un-noticeable with a strong display in the middle of the park. Not error free but a good committed effort and his renaissance continues.

Poyet (6/10) – Another game where apart from his excellent goal you wonder what he gets up to for the other 89 minutes!

Rebrov (6/10) – A typical Rebrov performance in many ways, flattering to deceive. Scored when offside and set up our goal, but also contrived to miss a couple of presentable opportunities when we really needed them as goals not excuses.

Ferdinand (6/10) – Was in the process of having his usual good match before succumbing to another ankle injury, which is threatening to disrupt his best period at the club.

Subs:

Iversen (6/10) – Did ok after coming on for Ferdinand, but often let down by his poor control.

Davies (6/10) – Unfortunate to be left out after a good display against Chelsea in the week and another solid match in the second period at right wing back and an injury to Ziege should see him back in the starting line up for our next few matches

Etherington (6/10) – Given a few minutes at the end and did ok

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