Saturday 22^nd December 2001, 3.00pm				FA PREMIERSHIP, WHITE HART LANE
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (Davies 10)
Sullivan
Perry (Gardner, 45)		Richards				King
Taricco	Freund		Davies (Poyet, 75)		Anderton		Ziege
Sheringham				Rebrov (Ferdinand, 67)
Subs not used: Keller. Deadwood
IPSWICH TOWN 2 (Finidi George 40, Armstrong 88)
Matteo Sereni, Chris Makin, John McGreal (Titus Bramble, 83), Hermann Hreidarsson, Mark Venus, Jim Magilton (Alun Armstrong, 71), Matthew Holland, Jermaine Wright, Martijn Reuser, Finidi George, Marcus Bent (Richard Naylor, 76)
Referee: - Mike Riley, Leeds				Attendance: - 36,040

Just like the old days. What looked an easy match on paper was taken too easily by the players and we paid for our complacency with a defeat against a team that had not won away all season, and had not won since their only league win in 17 previous matches in August. Despite Spurs playing poorly, it was a match that we probably would have gone on and won if it was not for the controversial sending off of Teddy Sheringham a the start of the second half, which left Spurs chasing to get a win with only 10 men. We’ve got our Tottenham back all right, but I would still rather lose like this than any of the crap we’ve had to put up with under Graham or the last few seasons.

Once again it was top marks to the Snout who named the starting line up and subs on Friday afternoon, making TOPSPURS the only website in the whole world which managed this and my thanks goes out to him again! Rebrov was in for Sir Les who’d had an operation to drain some stuff from his ankle this week, while Ziege returned to left wing back, moving Treacle to right wing back, Davies to central midfield and Poyet to the bench (something to do with resting him so he is ok, suspension wise for Chelsea). A noble idea to give some of the other players a go with a few matches coming up in quick succession, but I wonder if we’d have started with Les and Poyet, would things have been different. - although to be fair to Hoddle - Rebrov and Davies are capeable players and did set up and score our only goal

For much of the run up to this match, the supporters and even some club representatives have been treating the game like a foregone conclusion, and despite holding out 'til 12noon, I succumbed to the temptation to believe that we were going to do Ipswich with a big score by posting the following to the Spurs-List when the request went up for a score updater:

Subject: Re: [THFC] SCORE UPDATER STILL NEEDED
15' Spurs 1-0 Ipswich - Spurs controlling the match have gone in front thro Davies
27' Spurs 2-0 Ipswich - Spurs have made the match safe, this time a Sheringham penalty
45' Spurs 3-0 Ipswich - A ten man move finished with a tap in for Rebrov
71' Spurs 4-0 Ipswich - Freewheeling Spurs go further ahead with another tap in after a multi man move, with Anderton scoring this time.
75' Spurs 4-0 Ipswich - Titus Arseholes sent off for a second bookable offence
81' Spurs 5-0 Ipswich - Glenn Hoddle sunshine football - Richards nods the fifth from an Anderton corner
89' Spurs 6-0 Ipswich - The day is complete when Freund scores from 25 yards, giving Sereni no chance

Despite all my 32 years of experience, I bad lucked Spurs and accept my part of the blame for today’s defeat!

On another bitterly cold afternoon, I was treated to the Paxton cabaret of the burger man, who was in sparkling form “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave a looooooooooook at daaaaaaaat, laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaverly grub, fank you very much Colonel” was how I was served my calories in a bun before the match, A top bloke and a must see on a visit to the Lane. It was downhill from there really.

In the first minute of the match, Sereni clattered into Sheringham taking a catch after a foul had been called. A needless piece of aggression which went unpunished when he should have been done cos he could quite clearly have avoided flattening Ted. Spurs, attacking the Park Lane, never really got in a rhythm in the first 10 minutes where Ipswich had most of the ball, but did nothing with it.

We took the lead out of the blue when after finally stringing a few passes together Davies burst over the halfway line with the ball. He sent the ball out wide to Rebrov on the right hand edge of the box and continued his run. Rebrov turned and jinked with his excellent close control that often makes it appear that the ball is attached to his boot with glue, before whipping over a dangerous cross behind the last defender and in front of the goalkeeper. Davies was first to react and managed to nudge the cross goalwards giving the keeper no chance. A fine goal from Davies with a lovely set up by Rebrov, both of who would have been on the bench if Hoddle had of chosen Poyet and Sir Les.

A goal against the run of play with our first serious attack should have been the stepping-stone to an onslaught against a team seemingly down on their luck, but Spurs failed to build on the lead and were a shambles for the rest of the half. The Mrs asked why Marcus Bent had ‘M Bent’ on the back of his shirt and I replied it was an African thing like Mboma, but only got a dirty look, and the rest of the first half fell as flat as my attempts at humour.

The moment many of us have been waiting 108 appearance and nearly three years for came a couple of minutes after the goal. Spurs worked the ball down the left and as it got played into the box, Ted laid it back for Freund who’d continued his run. Nutter managed to get a curling effort on target and with a reasonable amount of power, but unfortunately it was straight at Sereni. It brought a great cheer form the crowd, but if he’d have tried a “Tony Galvin special” – a curling effort into the far corner – we might have been celebrating the great mans first goal.

Ipswich had a lot of the ball but did not really do much with it, which made our inability to build moves all the more frustrating. Rebrov had a lively match up front, and nipped in between defenders when the ball broke just outside the 6-yard box but his shot lacked power.

I think it’s fair to say that Sheringham was having an off day and Anderton was finding it difficult to get control of the midfield. When these two are not on the top of their game, we struggle. Ted may have been struggling with the clattering he took in the first minute and was being constantly fouled by his marker, without the referee giving anything.

Ipswich managed a couple of chances Reuser had a long range effort which Sully dealt with and Magilton had a shot deflected wide, and it would be fair to say an equaliser was coming, when it unfortunately did.

A corner from the Paxton/West Stand side was headed downwards into the six yard box, and a tremendous piece of skill by Finidi George allowed him to fall backwards and hook a shot into the net from within the six yard box, giving Sully no chance. It might have been different if it was Ledley standing behind him, but he had no trouble rolling Perry to the ground and scoring an excellent goal.

Ipswich sang to the Vieira song “He comes from Africa, he drives a big Tractor, Finidi oh ooh” – a quality song from a decent set of fans who managed to fill out the away end – and although today was a disaster for us, they must have been delighted with their visit to the Lane.

That should have been the kick up the arse we needed and within seconds a right footed 20 yarder from Ziege had cannoned back off Sereni’s right-hand post with the keeper well beaten, but 1-1 at half time was a truer reflection of the play and it allowed Hoddle to go mad at them at half time for being so ineffectual.

Halftime saw Ant Gardner warming up on the pitch with the coaches, and it was clear that he was going to come on to replace Perry who was guilty of wasting too much possession with bad passes or aimless oofs. The other benefit of this is that Ledley, switches to the right centre back position where he is best, while Gardner a natural left footer slots in at left centre back.

Spurs could not be as a bad as the first half and nearly took the lead when an enterprising bit of play by Rebrov on the right saw him deliver an excellent cross for the on rushing Ziege, but he could not keep his effort down and it thudded against the cross bar and was eventually cleared to safety. With a bit more luck we could have been 3-1 and coasting with Ziege’s two efforts against the woodwork, but they say you earn your luck, and we certainly had not with the lack of enterprise shown in the first half.

While we were not brilliant we were certainly playing well and it seemed a matter of if, when and then how many we would go on and win the game by. A flick by Davies found both Gardner (what was he doing there! – it certainly was n’t a position Perry would ever have found himself in) and Taricco both unmarked inside the right hand side of the box. Gardner took responsibility had hit a shot which Sereni scrambled away for the corner which was to be the turning point of the match.

I was not watching Ted, but as Rebrov took the corner the ref blew and ran over to Sheringham and McGreal “Sheringham’s punched him” a bloke in front of me said, and you could tell by the body language that it was going to be a Red. The wanky ref took both players away from the penalty area, and waved away Matt Holland. When he first spoke to McGreal and then showed him a yellow, I was even surer of Ted’s fate, and it duly arrived to the gasps of horror of the crowd.

The Spurs players surrounded the ref and Ted walked off calmly.

Many points to consider here –It was not a punch, a couple of pushes on the shoulder trying to get McGreal from tugging at his shirt which he had been doing all match without punishment, which the ref must have been able to see if he’d have been closer. Secondly, why did McGreal get booked? If he was innocent he was innocent, if not why did the ref not award a penalty as the ball was in play a split second before he blew the whistle. Ted will now miss the Coventry cup game, the Ipswich League match but most importantly the first leg of the semi against Chelsea. Lets hope this sad little man of a ref has enough about him to realise he was wrong and gets the ban over turned.

The corner was retaken but came to nothing and a sense of injustice burned around the lane with the obligatory chant of the referees a wanker”. This goading of the ref got Anderton a booking when a strong challenge in front of us in the shelf was deemed a foul and then a yellow. Ipswich players twice cracked Davies on the head with nothing done either side of this and it was clear that the ref was taking out the abuse the crowd had given him on the team. He went from randomly bad to both teams to an anti Tottenham ref, calling Ziege for a foul every time he went for the ball, and later giving fouls against Les when he challenged in the air. A truly shameful episode of refereeing from a sad man cretin.

With 10 men and a resolve built on the injustice of the sending off Spurs piled forward with attack after attack on the Paxton goal, which seemed to build up a force field to keep all sorts of chances out.

Rebrov shot straight at Sereni after good work by Treacle and Ledders down the right, but unfortunately this was to be his last action of the match. I’ve agreed with most things Hoddle has done this season, but thought that Davies or even Freund should have been the one to make way for Sir Les as Rebrov was playing well.

After coming off the bench against Bolton, Les was dynamite setting up and scoring goals to turn the match and it very nearly happened again, with the great man steaming on to a Ziege lay off before smashing a thunderous 25 yarder which hit Sereni in the goal, and as Les raced to the touchline to get the rebound a goal looked on, but he could not find Davies in the box who had an open goal with his cross.

Les ran around at what seemed double the speed of the rest of the players on the pitch and had an excellent match. He also looks a lot leaner these days and in this type of form he is a top-notch striker and long may it continue. I was critical of Sir Les earlier in the year and was not sure he should have been given an extended contract over the summer, but his form this season has been excellent and I’m glad to say I was wrong about him, and would like to thank Sir Les senior for persuading him not to retire when the injuries and George Graham no doubt were getting him down about 18 months ago.

It was all Tottenham and Treacle found himself in the box for the best chance of his first Spurs goal against his old club after good work by Ziege and Ferdinand, but his shot was deflect just wide by a defender who threw his body in the way.

From one of our many corners, the ball was flicked on at the near post and it hit Ant Gardner, more than him heading it (not even sure he jumped he is so tall) but the ball looped back across the goal and agonisingly wide of the far post. A week earlier a similar situation saw a Gary Speed header drop into the Blackburn net and give Newcastle a win, but it did n’t happen for us today and while they sit top of the league we have to deal with the self doubt of two defeats in three matches against the likes of Charlton and Ipswich.

With about 5 minutes to go, I reflected that a point from a game where we have played much of the match with 10 men is not too bad, but even the point was taken from us by a criminal piece of defending by Dean Richards. Gardner headed a long ball to the left hand touchline. Finidi George got the ball before it went out and delivered a run of the mill cross to the near post. Dean Richards stood still during the whole incident and let Armstrong run on unchallenged and nod home. An awful piece of defending and I’d expect better from a youth player let alone a £8.1m defender, and for me he has yet to justify his selection in the team and has now played a big part in our last two defeats away at Charlton and today.

4 minutes of injury time were shown and it was all played within the Ipswich penalty area. Richards had been sent forward as an emergency striker did well with a strong run at Ipswich, but was eventually crowded out and there were several goalmouth scrambles when the ball seemed likely to get put in as anything else.

Many of the crowd had left when Ipswich scored the winner and it was left to the remaining fans to let their feelings know to the wanker ref. Hopefully Ted will get let off the sending off, but it still meant we played 40 minutes with 10 men for no reason, which has cost us three points. All in all it was a poxy afternoon – bitterly cold, a crap display from Spurs, a sending off for Ted, which will mean he will miss three important matches, and a defeat, which all but ends our outside hopes of the championship.

This season has been the most enjoyable for years and we are finally getting back to the old Spurs we love, so this defeat should be put in perspective against the other great results we have had this season. In many ways, we should look back at how far we have come under the 9 months of Hoddle, but a close examination reveals that more work, much more work is required if we are to really be top 6 – more money for more and better players and more drive and will to win from those on the pitch.

The Word of Hod

Glenn Hoddle has asked referee Mike Riley to study video evidence of the incident that saw Teddy Sheringham sent off "He has agreed and that is fair enough. We'll take it from there," said Hoddle who would have the right of appeal should Riley not change his mind. But if the Leeds official sticks to his decision, Sheringham will face a three-match ban and miss Tottenham's FA Cup third round tie at Coventry as well as the first leg of the Worthington Cup semi-final at Chelsea.

Hoddle said: "It wasn't a punch. It was a push. Teddy had his shirt pulled for about 30 seconds and just pushed the player in the face to get him away. Anybody would do the same but it is about time shirt-pulling was dealt with as a sending-off offence. If people are holding you back like that it is natural you are going to do something to try to get them away."

The Word of Ted

"I've seen the replays and to be fair to the referee I'd say it looks worse than what it is but I can tell you now that he sent me off for throwing a punch and I'm not throwing a punch. The fella's got hold of my shirt, almost pulling it off my back and all I'm doing is trying to get him away from me. He'd been doing it all game and I'd had enough by then. He'd pushed and pushed again and he still had hold of my shirt but the referee can't see that, all he can see is my arms flailing and that's the decision he's given.

"Normally when you give someone a shove they'll let go of your shirt and you look to move again. But he's pulled, pulled and pulled again and I can't get free so he's wound me up a bit really. How that's deemed as malicious I'll never know but I'm telling you now it wasn't a punch thrown, I was just trying to get him away from me."

"Let's hope I can appeal," he added. "But I came off for 40 minutes and I'll miss games and it's too late, really. It's a situation where I've not thrown a punch, simple as that. I've been sent off once before, about 15 years ago (1989 for Millwall) and I'm not happy about it."

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Sullivan (6/10) – No chance with either of the goals and was ok otherwise, apart from oofing long balls for Rebrov to challenge for in the air

Perry (5/10) – Generally sound defensively, but as ever his use of the ball made him a liability and was removed at halftime to give Gardner a go

Richards (5/10) – Still looks jittery, but and was completely at fault for giving away the second goal. Still a long way off the defender we need to command the back three.

King (6/10) – Had a decent match, one lovely bit of skill in front of the lower shelf in the second half revealed his class

Ziege (6/10) – Managed to hit the woodwork twice, the post with an excellent shot in the first half and the bar from three yards in the second. He sometimes showed the great talent he possesses, but all too often he was found giving the ball away too often or moaning to the ref today, despite playing with great spirit in the second period.

Taricco (5/10) – Had another chance to break he Spurs scoring duck, but his shot was deflected wide. One of a number of players to under-perform on the day.

Anderton (6/10) – Played much better once we were down to 10 men and led most of the Spurs attacks in the second period, but was anonymous in the first half, along with the rest of the team.

Freund (7/10) – Had a consistent match, getting involved in the midfield battle and doing his best (as well as having a shot on target), but it was not enough to drive us back into the match.

Davies (6/10) – Scored a fine goal and when he had the ball going forward, Spurs looked dangerous, but it did not happen often enough, which was not always his fault as the team in general had an off day.

Rebrov (6/10) – Had a decent match in a creative sense – setting up Davies for the goal and all but putting it on a plate for Ziege – and was unlucky to be subbed when Sir Les was introduced as he looked one of the players most likely to get us back in the match.

Sheringham (5/10) – Was clattered by their keeper in the first minute and looked to be suffering from the knock throughout the first half where he was generally poor & like Bagpuss, when Ted is off form, so are Spurs! Did not see the sending off offence, but it was not the cleverest thing to do, even if he was getting fouled all the time without the ref giving anything

Subs:

Gardner (6/10) – Looked good, esp. going forward after being introduced at halftime and in his match an a half this season hopefully has done enough to convince Hoddle that he is a better option than Mr Ed at the back

Ferdinand (7/10) – Came on with a rocket up his arse and nearly scored with his first touch, a fierce 25 yarder. Continued to play well for the rest of the match and while it was probably sensible to rest him after his operation in the week, a fully fit Sir Les might have made the difference

Poyet (6/10) – Did his best in the last 15, but to no avail.

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