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TOPSPURS |
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The thoughts and views on THFC
updated daily from Jim Duggan - Shelfside season ticket holder, White Hart
Lane resident & supporter since the early 1970s |
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31st
December 2001 – Tano/Deano oh no/Sully & Keller/Thoughts on Blackburn Blackburn Rovers – Spurs compete for their 12th point of the last week and a half on New Years day and after a disappointing sequence of results need a win badly to not lose anymore ground on the top 6 places, of which we are now 5 points adrift. We were not at our best at Ewood Park (although this was the game where the Ledley King song was born in the Fernhurst Arms pub before the match) but after the performance at Villa on Saturday, we should be able get things back on track with a win against Blackburn who will be boosted by signing ex-Gooner lightfingers Cole from ManU over the last couple of days. For once, I don’t really care how we play, just that we win and get the momentum going again as we still have some modest opposition coming up where we must get some points on the board if Europe and a high league finish is to be There have been some good games between Spurs and
Blackburn in the Premiership – We will remember the 3-1 under Francis as one
of our best performances of that season, while the 3-2 defeat a year later
was a great match where Spurs fought back from 2-0 to equalise at 2-2 and
nearly take the lead in the last 10 minutes before Shearer popped up at the
other end to complete his hatrick and finish us off. That match nearly saw a
classic Walker moment when a defender kicked the ball back to him, and while
he was looking up the field, the ball bobbled past him and was on its way to
the goal before he scrambled back and cleared it, giving one of his silly
smiles when it was all over. 98/99 Tottenham Hotspur 2
(Ferdinand, Nielsen), Blackburn 1 (Gallacher) 97/98
Tottenham
Hotspur 0, Blackburn 0 96/97 Tottenham Hotspur 2
(Iversen, Sinton), Blackburn 1 (Hendry) 95/96 Tottenham Hotspur 2
(Sheringham, Armstrong), Blackburn 3 (Shearer 3, 1p) 94/95 Tottenham Hotspur 3
(Klinsmann, Anderton, Barmby), Blackburn 1 (Sherwood) 93/94 Tottenham Hotspur 0,
Blackburn 2 (Shearer, Gallacher) 92/93 Tottenham Hotspur 1
(Anderton), Blackburn 2 (Newell 2) The origins of Tano – I put this question to Treacle “Why is the great man called Tano? and where did the name come from?” and he replied via his own website: Thanks about the great man,
but I'm not, I'm just a footballer. In Argentina there are lots of Italians,
and their nickname in general is Tano. In Argentina we call "Tano"
to an Italian, my dad is Italian and that is why. Also is short and simple
word to remember Many thanks to Ipswich fan Simon Fuller who runs the www.mauriciotaricco.com - if you have any more questions click on the site and submit them to Simon who will be glad to put them to Treacle More Deano for England nonsence –Sir Les has repeated the Richards for England nonsence after his good match against Villa – I suppose he has been biding his time and waiting for Richards to finally have a good match for us – he could not have said it after Leeds, Charlton, Ipswich etc. The facts of the matter are more clear – Richards has a long way to go to prove he is good enough for Tottenham, and while good performances like at Villa will go a long way to cement his place in the team, he is not even the best English defender in the back three – and honour that remains Ledley’s who after a couple of dodgy matches at the start of December has been back to his awesome best in recent weeks and looks our most likely England defender. "Dean has been fantastic for us. He's come in and settled
in so quickly and he's looked as if he has been playing in our back four for
more than half a season. It was important that we stressed to him as players,
and also the management, that he was not Sol's replacement. "If people
want to make comparisons between him and Sol, then that's up to them but it
is unfair without a shadow of a doubt. "He's here to do a job as Dean
Richards, to do a job for Tottenham and to defend the way that he knows how
to defend and he has responded very well. I definitely believe Dean can make
a challenge for the World Cup squad. People are saying 'he's too old,' but
that's rubbish and the England squads are picked on how well you are
performing. "If you look around the country at English defenders, then
Dean is doing as well as any of them. There are always one or two players who
sneak into World Cups via the back door Top marks to Les for supporting a fellow player in public, but unfortunately Les, they ain’t saying he’s too old, its been more like not good enough and I personally think Sir Les has a better chance of making the World cup squad than Deano – with Ledders ahead of them both. Hoddle on the Sully/Keller decision: –Glennda has
spoken on the reasons behind the change of keeper on Saturday suggesting that
the time was right to
hand Kasey Keller his chance - and insisted the break might do Neil Sullivan
good in the long run. "It
was a difficult decision I had to make, it really was. "Sully's been
terrific for us but I just felt Kasey's been waiting in the wings and it was
the right time to maybe throw him in and see what he could do for us. He
played very well. "When you build a squad you are going to use them
during a season. Players will be used through injury, lack of form, tactical
changes and that's no different for a goalkeeper. "Kasey's come in and
has been very unlucky not to keep a clean sheet. Without the penalty I think
he would have had one." "I get
paid to win matches, or to try to win matches and that's the major thing. The
team comes first. "Sully is a tremendous keeper and at his very best,
one of, if not the best British keeper. Outfield players sometimes come down
from their form a little and get rested or left out. I think in the long run
it might do Sully some good." Sully is a big favourite at topspurs after his excellent displays last season and I hope he waits patiently for his chance to get back in the team, even if it means a long period on the sidelines (its not as if he has a chance of going to the world cup) while it was great to see Keller have such a good match for us and hope he retains that high level of form throughout his career with Tottenham. The club and fans are winners as we have two top keepers keeping each other on their toes for the top spot. The Ticket office – and why they are such ****s part 1,158 – Not content with charging away season ticket holders £35 per ticket for admin, it seems we are also in for special treatment when it comes to getting tickets. No point in sending our tickets out when everyone else got theirs before Christmas – it seems we have to wait until a day or so before the match receive ours for the Coventry match – all because the tight fisted wankers wanted to stuff the envelope with Chelsea and Ipswich tickets. The £35 service charge (or £70 for me as I have two tickets at the same address works out at £1.67 per ticket per match, and yet every ticket that has been sent out has been with another one. When Glennda writes in his programme notes about the great away support – just remember it is other elements within his club that are trying their best to piss people off enough so that they won’t bother. Something needs to be done about this and I will be writing to Levy, Karen Murphy the ticket office manager and the Trust to try and get this situation sorted out. Please send me your ticket office nightmares to the following email address (confidentiality will be assured if you request it): ticketofficenightmares@topspurs.com Rebrov (and of course Phillips) – In his usual way of voicing discontent, Rebrov has spoken to a Ukrainian Newspaper about his current situation at Tottenham. The interesting bit, despite the club denying it, is that he says the management are ready to talk about a Transfer. This could (and this is only a guess) mean that the Phillips part is sorted ready to come in so that we can afford to let Rebrov go, with the Italian Transfer window opening on Tuesday. Just a guess, but here is what Rebrov has got to say: "It
appears to me that the Tottenham management is now ready to talk about my
transfer. I'm interested in it too, though my opinion remains unaltered - I'm
not keen to leave London and I would like to keep playing for Tottenham. But
since I spend very little time playing, the prospect to continue my career at
Lazio - which is undoubtedly a great club - looks optimal to me. As for the
fact that I've recently started playing more often for Spurs, I only think
this due to Les Ferdinand's injury." |
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30th
December 2001 – Weekend Reflections Back on Track: While it was disappointing not to have won at Villa, it was good to see a good Spurs performance after the Southampton debacle, and I’m sure most of us would have taken a 1-1 before the match. The Ipswich and Charlton defeats have been put in context by subsequent results – Ipswich winning their next two and Charlton having good away wins at Chelsea and Everton, although nothing can excuse the awful display against the Saints. Things are again looking up and lets hope we kick off the new year with a win over Blackburn Rovers to claw back some of the ground we have lost recently. Sully & Keller: I was very shocked and a little saddened that Hod chose to drop Sully for the Villa match as although it is fair to say he has not been at his best this season, he was fantastic last season. In saying that, Keller took his chance really well and had an excellent match and I think its fair to say we have a couple of excellent keepers keeping each other on their toes for the number one jersey, which is good for the club. Shoot!: Rather
than shout “Shoooooooooooooooot” at Freund, I think we should do it anytime
one of our forwards, notably Sheringham has the ball inside the box as one of
the most frustrating elements of the recent matches (and to some extent the
season as a whole) is the tendency to have an extra pass and want to walk the
ball in the net. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating a return to the
Graham ooof it and hope regime and accept Sheringham and the way he plays,
but I would like to see us test goalkeepers a bit more often. |
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28th
December 2001 – Daily Round Up The end to the Cold Turkey?: Spurs travel to Villa Park for a fixture we have not won since the opening day in 1986/7 – not the sort of place you want to go after three soppy defeats in four matches have left us outside the top 6, when it should have been the time to consolidate our position at the top. While it has not been good, it is in the past now and we must look to the future which remains bright. We remain in the healthiest position the club has been in for years and despite the disappointments are in the highest league position at Christmas since 1995/6, and of course are in the League Cup Semi. These are good times at the Lane and we have to hope that Hod and they players sort out what has been going wrong, and soon. Spurs will probably field the same team that started at Southampton, with possibly Mr Ed returning for Gardner – although that is only a guess with no word from the snout. I trust in Hod completely, but would much rather see Davies and Rebrov before Deadwood (if at all) if we in the position of chasing the game – and think it should be the worst performer on the day rather than the smallest name that has to make way. Squad: Sullivan,
Taricco, Ziege, King, Richards, Freund, Poyet, Rebrov, Anderton, Gardner,
Davies, Ferdinand, Sheringham, Keller, Perry, Iversen, Leonhardsen, Thelwell
and unfortunately Deadwood, Villa are usually dull and always hard to beat will be without an number of key players – pug-nosed pixie Hendrie is doubtful (although with Taylor as a replacement it will be like for like in terms of quality), and also have “What’s it all about” Alpay, Hadji and Delaney all out, although old Spurs favourite Ginola could be having his last appearance in front of the Spurs fans from the bench. The game is tough, but if we play well – not giving away soft goals at the back and scoring when we have our chances – we should be ok for at least a point and after winning at St James & Upton Park for the first time in the league for a few years – there will be no time like the present to end our Villa Park hoodoo. Whatever happens it cannot be as bad as last year………… this year we always travel hopefully, and although sometimes come back empty handed, we can ask no more at the moment. Transfer News: It’s all out in the open now so I can talk openly about it! "We are looking at the Redknapp situation," said Tottenham vice-chairman David Buchler. REDKNAPP – The Redknapp situation has been going on for a while now – rumours of him at Spurs Lodge, other rumours of him playing in behind closed doors friendly matches – and as a player Hoddle likes I think it is a matter of when and not if. This is an important consideration, as he will be available on a Bosman in the summer – so if he wants to come back to Spurs (where he trained as a young lad) and we want him, are we not best off getting him in the summer. Reports suggest that he does not want to leave Liverpool without compensation (a fine example of loyalty, unlike some cunt centre back we use to have) and a £3m fee is being talked about. This is surely too much for6 months are we are not a charity for ugly Scousers, but a nominal fee of £500k seems about right, and on a pay as you play contract we have a decent deal. I don’t know that much about Redknapp's game although I remember Redknapp being a decent player, notably 6 years ago in Euro96, but a midfield of Anderton, Poyet and Redknapp does not sound like a ball winning/protect the defence away from home. Quality not doubt, but the right kind of balance is open to question - although I won’t be questioning the great man if he brings him to Tottenham and I’m sure there will be the same sort of fuss over Louise (or Denise as I referred to her on here before) as there was when Pat Van Den Hauwe used to bring Mandy Smith. REBROV: As I have mentioned when the story first broke last week, the little bloke is on his way to Lazio when the right opportunity arises after the opening of the transfer window. After his pitiful 4 minutes against the Saints as third Sub, he has made more noises about wanting to be off and I think it will be soon – after Iversen is fully fit, and Hopefully with Phillips coming the other way through the door. Not heard anything on any of the others and these seem to be the most likely comings and goings in the next few weeks. The Wooldridge affair – an unsatisfactory end!: After this cunt called Spurs fans racist in his own racist rag the Daily Mail, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust took the matter to the Press Complaints commission and this is the reply they got back from the waste of time toothless watchdog. The Commission noted your concerns that the article made inacurate suggestions about Tottenham fans. However, it emphasised that under the terms of the Code newspapers are allowed to publish partisan comment provided that it is clearly distinguished from fact. In this instance, the article was clearly posited as a personal, if controversial, perspective and the Commission considered that readers would not have necessarily been misled into believing that the views contianed in the article were anything other than the opinion of one journalist, which he was in any case entitled to express under the terms of the Code. The Commission could not take a view on the rights or wrongs of this opinion, but only on the right of the journalist to express it. Consequently, it concluded that no breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) had been established. What a load of useless wankers – Partisan comment!, it was an incitement to racial hatred. So in the interest of balance, where was our partisan comment suggesting for instance that Wenger was a paedophile – which just to separate from fact he is not – but it is just as ill informed and nauseating. BOYCOTT THE MAIL, and rip up and destroy all copies you find on trains etc so that their filth is not spread anymore than necessary. BTW –Well done on the Trust following up this matter 101 things to do with a Euston: Another classic from Jacob Goldberg
on the message board http://www.btinternet.com/~clutterbusters/coneman.html
And finally – Andy
Anderson!: A big topspurs
hello to the man who sits next to Daniel Wynne. |
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26th
December 2001 – Saints 1-0 Spurs – Rubbish! Cold Turkey: What a disaster! Just mention us as possible outsiders for the title and a week later we have lost to two relegation candidates – What a nightmare. Even I have now called off the Championship party away at Leicester on the last day of the season. Spurs were rubbish all over the pitch & while it might have been different if Sir Les had of taken either or both of his chances either side of half time – he did n’t and it wasn’t. A major bit of soul searching is need before Villa and the rest of the 57 points we still have to play for during the rest of the season. Spurs need to stop believing the hype and go back to the flowing football of the earlier part of the season which saw us take apart the current league leaders away from home & we need to stop the slump soon, and no better place than Villa Park on Saturday. We are still in the
best position Spurs have been in since the 1992/3 season – but the fact
remains that ENIC or whoever control the Spurs finances need to back Hoddle’s
judgement and provide him with funds to strengthen his squad. |
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25th
December 2001 – Saints Preview Wuperts Warriors: Just one defeat, however unexpected, seems to dent the belief that we have turned the corner and are on the way back with Glenn Hoddle. This has happened after Blackburn, Charlton and now Ipswich. But not at Topspurs, 100% Hoddle through the ups and downs. At times like these we need to take a step back – think how bad things were this time last year and how good they have felt in the 9 months since the Gooner Cull – it may not be perfect, but at least we travel hopefully. We have the best young manager in England, we have a talent squad of players old and young who are capable of competing with the very best and we are 7th in the League and have not been lower for a month, in the semi of the league cup & Hoddle is the only manager in our recent history to have won more games that we have lost. We’re on the road, and occasionally things go wrong, but we are going forward and we travel hopefully. After all the crap that
has gone on with Wupert, I hope Spurs stuff them on Boxing day to complete
our first double of the season. Nothing against Saints or their fans – it’s a
personal thing with their arsehole chairman – Come on you Spurs – re-ignite
all the hopes for the season. |
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JOYEUX NOEL:
I’d like to wish all Tottenham
Hotspur Supporters a very merry Christmas & 3 points against wuperts mob
on boxing day |
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22nd
December 2001 – Spurs 1-2 Ipswich Bad day at the Lane: A bad first half performance, the sending off of Sheringham and conceding a late goal to lose the match made it pretty miserable stuff at the Lane. It was an “easy” game Spurs would traditionally cock up and so it proved today when the prevailing attitude seemed to be that they thought they just had to turn up to get the points. Ipswich were poor, but worked hard and were more determined – and although we did everything but score in a much better second half – you cannot get away from this being a painful lesson in how not to treat easy games. Richards: Somebody on the wallyboard had the affront to laugh at my comments on Jesse’s links with regard to Dean Richards the other day – well I’m sorry mate but I stand by what I said (even though the Jesse thing is only meant as a laugh), £8.1m or 10p, he just does not have the quality to play for us – and he is now starting to cost us games. Not bothering to do anything as Armstrong headed the winner was the last straw. I’ve been hearing all the “he’ll bring Ledley and the other young players along etc” (probably the funniest is when he talks about his England chances) – but its all bollocks. He will make Ledley look good in the same way Vega made Rsol look good! This is a difficult one for the Great one – having purchased him with what seems all of our transfer budget for the season, he needs to start being a proper centre half soon, or the great man needs to swallow his pride and give the someone else a go. I know whom I would pick as a back three if Ant, Ledley and the Doc were all fit. I hope and pray Richards starts to improve and repays the faith the great one has put in him, and while it is still early days, 11 matches is over a quarter of a season and he has failed to convince in most of the matches. The Premiership: A 5 minute football programme wedged in between adverts, gave the twat Lynam chance to say words to the effect “poor old Bowyer, he’s been found not guilty and yet he still gets all this stick” – Wanker!! Bowyer somehow managed to get off but he is a million miles from innocent. Even if you accept the verdict (and lets not forget he still has the civil case to deal with), he is still guilty of racist violence in 1996 in the MacDonald’s incident where he violent towards and racially abused a member of staff. The defence of Bowyer was shameful. Little Hitlers: We have had wanker after wanker try to ruin Spurs matches this season & I’ve had enough. After seeing Ted get sent off earlier in the day, I was amazed to see Viduka not get sent off for raising his arm in a challenge with Dabizas (not even a booking). Proof that “a quiet word from the ref” is a complete nonsense was proved a minute or so later when he put in a typical Leeds type challenge to injure Dabizas so badly he had to go off, with the squashed faced Aussie only getting a yellow. The only good bit of the story was that it happened to the cheating wanker Dabizas who cost us a semi win in 1999, but then again why can’t the little Hitlers just apply the law rather than trying to carve out personalities for themselves. Last week a Vieira handball (or 40 yard two fisted punch to be more accurate) was not punished and the Hammers missed out on a chance to do the Goons, whereas the same offence this week, rightly got Newcastle a penalty. Man U had their usual helping hand when VanNistelroy nudged it forward with his hand before scoring his second, but fuck all was done about that as expected. It seems the bigger the physical deformity of the official in question, the more random the refereeing. Today’s clown at the Lane – skinny, balding, nerd - was awful, and the arbitrariness of his decision making was in proportion to how much of a pillock he looked. Elleray was obviously bullied at school and is bald – meaning he has to be in the players faces as he gives crazy decisions like the Doc and Poyet sendings off at Goodison. His vanity also allowed him to appear (unsuccessfully) on TV chat shows. Gallagher another skinny Baldie has the same problem & Durkin has probably never recovered from the trauma of only coming second in a Barnie Rubble look-alike competition and takes it out on the rest of the world with daft decisions and inability to see hairy Greek arms in the penalty area. It really is time we
had proper refs, not social misfits with no mates, but foreign refs or ex
players with respect. Whoever is in the middle is just an enforcer of the
laws – no common sense, just give a foul when one is committed and keep out
of the way at other times. |
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22nd
December 2001 – Phillips/Belgian Link/Ipswich Thoughts/Other stuff Tractor Boys: Everyone assumes this game is a done deal – Spurs have scored 10 goals in the last two matches at the Lane without reply while Ipswich are rooted to the bottom without a win since August. Those of us old enough know we have been here before and cocked things up, but as long as we go out with the same determination to win we have shown in our recent matches we should be ok, even if Ipswich prove more difficult that we expected. The snout has confirmed that Rebrov will start alongside Sheringham up front with Les rested on the bench. Ziege will also return, with Taricco switching wings and Davies going back into the midfield, with Poyet possibly being rested with the booking and the semi final situation. Lets hope the Spurs put on a show of Glenn Hoddle sunshine football and that we get win 4 out of the 5 winnables up to Christmas from the West Ham match and get firmly entrenched in the top six for Christmas. Phillips: A little dickey bird told me on Monday that we were in to buy Phillips (I’d known about Rebrov for a couple of weeks) – and I’d not mentioned it as it was very hush hush and I did not want to cock up and potential deal. Now that it is out in the open, I’m glad to say this looks like a good bit of business all round (apart from the Sunderland fans who will be gutted, I’m sure). Rebrov will get a chance to prove himself again in a new country and we get a goalscorer in the Clive Allen style. I’m not yet convinced about Phillips for England, but as a Premiership player, he is excellent and will be even better with the Ted factor, as the great man has increased the goalscoring ratios of Shearer, Cole, Armo and now even restored Ferdinand to his old self. Lets hope the deal is done soon, although as I understand it, it is like a moving house, both deals have to be in place before it can go ahead. Those who claimed ENIC had no money were probably right, but the stewardship of the club has generally been good and we can expect better things in the future. Excelsior Mouscron: Spurs are at last acting like a big club, even if we aint go any money, but securing a partnership deal with Belgian team Excelsior Mouscron. Lets hope it bears fruit in terms of nabbing top Belgian talent and gives some of our younger players a chance to play at a decent level. Gino Gylain, the Mouscron chief executive, said: "We will be able to exchange players, training ideas and coaching staff with them". If any Belgian TOPSPURS have an info or opinions on this deal I’d be glad to hear of them Nayim@topspurs.com Toner off on loan: Ciaran
Toner has joined Barry Fry's Peterborough United on a one-month loan after failing to break into the
first-team squad. Toner will stay at London Road until February 2 of next
year. Toner looked good for the reserves last season, but this will be a big
test and it is also good that Spurs are giving back something to the club we
purchased Etherington and Davies a couple of years ago. Freund – he knows!: Nutter is delighted with the
way the side are playing at the moment, but admitted More sure than some of us! – 108th match against Ipswich and still goalless! |
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21st
December 2001 – Great quality on the topspurs message board Many thanks to all of you who contribute to making the daily grind of work bearable on the topspurs message board & here is a special ditty from our very Jacob Goldberg to away in a manager. This seasons song for Europe! Away on a Sunday |
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21st
December 2001 – New Training Ground & Bowyer New Training Ground & Funding: It was mentioned to me a while ago that Spurs were going to move the training ground in Chigwell (although as it was commercially sensitive I was asked not to mention it) but I did not know it was part of a £40m funding package It is understood that a deal to purchase the land - currently the home of the Abridge Golf Club - is at an advanced stage, with the total budget expected to be in the region of £15m. Costs will be met through a major fund-raising initiative. Spurs' owners, ENIC, are believed to favour a securitisation loan similar to the ones, which have aided Leeds United, Newcastle, Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich. Spurs will be able to raise the money by pledging a percentage of their future gate receipts for a period of up to 25 years. The long-term financing practice has historically not been available to football clubs, but works much like a domestic mortgage in terms of its capital and interest repayments. The youth academy and stadium upgrade are priorities for funding. He will
not be left entirely without funds to strengthen his current team, although
any money needed for transfer activity will probably come from existing
sources rather than the new loan. Anything left over once the academy plans
have been finalised will be ploughed into developing the stadium. Dodgy South
Londoners: The Club did well to come out and make it clear we were not in
for him before it all got sorted at Leeds & I can say without fear of him
signing that he is another nasty piece of work from Woolwich. Lets hope
justice is done with the Civil action. |
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19th
December 2001 – The Bowyer Question Dodgy South Londoners: The Trial verdict, the refusal to pay the club fine and subsequent transfer listing have brought the possibility that Bowyer could be a transfer target for Tottenham, and the issue has been hotly debated over the last 48 hours. The issue is not straightforward. In normal circumstances, a person is innocent until proven guilty, and a person acquitted of a crime by a jury deserves to be treated as an innocent person. But the thing that makes these non normal circumstances was that Bowyer was found not guilty, despite all the evidence presented at the trial, most of which suggested that he was guilty to some extent of a violent racist attack, and was not uncomfortable in the company of people who were indeed found guilty of the crime. It is these special considerations that mean that Bowyer should not be a target for Tottenham – as much as I would love someone like him playing for the club, personality aside he is a fine player and will be a star of the Premiership for many years to come - as the dignity of the club and its obligation to its supporters mean that people like Bowyer should not ever be associated with the club. It has been rumoured
that Spurs were one of the two clubs that had shown an interest in Bowyer. If
we do sign him, I will (as ever) trust in the great man’s judgement &
hope that Bowyer will be a reformed character, but would not be entirely
comfortable with the idea of him playing for us. |
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18th
December 2001 – Arsenal – my part in their downfall Attending a Christmas meal in Scumbury & Islington, I had the misfortune to be in the Cock Tavern with loads of rancid goons before the match. Luckily I spotted some Geordies and went out of my way to wish them luck & what an omen I proved to be! I’ve been winding the Gooner up at work saying that the
thieves who broke into Henry’s house stole his favourite Bra and his Superman
costume (re the Gooner calendar) and that he would be no good after this! – Well
done to the Newcastle & lets hope it’s another 29 games before they win
at Tottenham |
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17th December 2001 – Chas ‘n’ Dave
Chas Hodges even took
time out to make reference to our very own Danny Keene by saying "this
one is for the record company boss Danny who is here tonight" Whenever Chas n Dave come to your town (the world over) make sure you go and see them as they are quality blokes and Tottenham through and through. |
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16th December 2001 – Les Op & AGM report Sir Les Op – Back in the spotlight after a midweek hatrick and the 10,000th Premiership goal on Saturday, the great man has revealed that he will go in for a small op on his troublesome ankle on Monday, but the good news is, he should be at the Ipswich Turkey shoot next Saturday. The AGM – Bit of a non-event this year after the Gooner Cull and the end of Sugar. |
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15th December 2001 – Fulham Beaten Spurs 4-0 Fulham: Yesterday in the match preview I wrote “I expect this match to be a tight cautious match against a well organised Fulham” – I’ve already had Irish topspur 9lives taking the piss! We clinically took apart a team that had 4 clean sheets in their last 4 matches (inc Leeds and Liverpool) and it was great! F**king magic! – every goal had Tottenham quality stamped through the middle of it and it was a joy to behold – this is why we fought, moaned, kicked and screamed to get the evil curse of Sugar and Graham from our club. Sir Les, already with the third most Premiership goals ever got his 10th of the season and the 10,000th Premiership goal with a sweet move started by Freund and completed with perfect passes from Davies to Anderton. Les was provider for the second, when he collected a Sheringham flick and laid it back to Anderton who hit a perfect low swerving shot inside the post. A fantastic run by Davies was spotted by Anderton and although it was a good ball, Davies still had a lot to do, but controlled the ball perfectly and dispatched it into the net with his left foot for his 8th goal in 33 appearances for us. A quality player who had an outstanding match – Brevitt did not know what day it was. The last goal was made by one of those Sheringham passes that makes you purr. Rebrov made a great run and dinked a great finish to make it 4. It could have been more – Richards kneed the ball over the bar from a yard and Poyet was close with a couple of late efforts in a great day at the lane. Chelsea in the League cup Semi Draw: Bollocks! Its not the fact that we can’t beat Chelsea – its just that I’d have rather have faced them in the final (or not at all). Still Spurs are playing well enough to do them and lets hope everyone stays in form and injury free for the two matches. |
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14th December 2001 – Thoughts on the weekend Fulham: I expect this match to be a tight cautious match against a well organised Fulham. On the back of our 6 goal extravaganza, expectation will be high for a win and while I think we will be good enough ot win over the 90 minutes - it should be noted that Fulham have only let in one goal in their last 6 matches, and are on an 8 match (3 wins, 5 draws) match unbeaten run in the league. In saying that, they have also failed to score at the other end in 3 of the last 4 and an early goal by Spurs should see us on our way. Spurs have only lost 4 of the 44 league matches between the sides and have a record of played 11, won 8, drew 3 against Fulham at WHL in the top flight, with Fulham only ever having one win at the Lane back in the dark days of the late 40’s when we were being managed by An Ex-Goon. Full details www.topspurs.com/thfc-fulham.htm Spurs have Ziege suspended and have fitness doubts over Ferdinand and Bunjevcevic – but welcome back Richards and with a team of Sully – King, Richards, Gardner – Davies, Anderton, Poyet, Freund, Taricco – Sheringham, Ferdinand – with Iversen and Rebrov ready to come off the bench we should be ok, 1-0 or possibly 2-0. And finally, good luck to Daniel Wynne, who is doing his first commentary for the Club on this match. The Semi Draw: The draw for the semi final will be made on UK commercial television between 12-2pm UK time. Of the teams left, it would be so so so so so so good to get the winner of the Sheff Weds/Watford match as this should get us to the final (a final is a final, and after so much semi heartache since 1992 – losing 5 semi finals out of 6 – it would be horrible to fail again at the last hurdle). Of the other teams – Chelsea and Blackburn – both will be difficult. Chelsea have a great recent record against us, but for the first time in a few years it looked as though we might be coming close to beating them last September before a bad penalty decision and a last minute winner cost us the points. I would prefer Chelsea in the final if we have to meet them as I think our chances would be better over 90 rather than the 180 minutes of the semi. Blackburn, although not as gifted as Chelsea as a side, will still present difficult and determined opposition and in Dunn and Jansen have a couple of players who can turn a match with a bit of skill. While it will be great to avoid Chelsea as long as possible (and cups are not always won by the team who knocks all the best teams out). In terms of preference it has to be 1.Watford/Sheff Weds, 2. Blackburn, 3. Chelsea The story of Ant’s haircut: When I saw Gardner warming up, I thought he’d radically changed his hair and I read today that it was that long becos he got a late call and did not have time to go the barbers! Anthony Garnder was a happy man after coming through his first
senior start since the end of last season, but discovered he was playing too
late to get a haircut. The promising defender usually sports a close-cropped
hair style, but emerged at the Lane with a wavy look a good couple of inches
longer than he likes to be seen in the public eye. The fact is that Tony was unaware of his starting role until lunchtime and didn't have time to hit the salon, but plans a trim very soon. "Next week," he laughed. "I wasn't expecting to be playing so I wasn't worried about it being a bit longer. After I found out I didn't have time to get to the barbers before the game! "I found out about 12 o'clock, Goran got an injury doing set pieces, the gaffer called me in after training and said I would be playing." |
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13th December 2001 – Daily thoughts & views 10 goals between the sides! It has happened twice before: Coming out of the ground it was great to know we were plus 6 and the Scum were –4 and it got me thinking if there has been any other occasions this has happened & I am delighted to announce that on two occasions at the very least this has been the case before: 25-Dec-11 Division 1 47,109 H Woolwich Arsenal W
5-0 Dartnall, J McTavish, Minter 2,
Middlemiss 04-Apr-83Division 1 43,642H Arsenal W 5-0
Hughton (2), Brazil, Falco (2) Wanger is a twat (part 158): Arsenal Wanker has come out and said that the European place should be scrapped for the League Cup, the night after his multi million pound flops were hammered at Blackburn. He has made himself look a twat – why did he not say this before the match? Perhaps Wanker should try and win something with the ponces at Scumbury, as come the end of Feb we will have won TWO trophies since their last one. And as for his weakened team? England International Monkey Keown, French International and worth £11m of Wenger’s money, record signing!!!! Sylvain Wilturd, Giovanni Van Carthorst- another £8.5 million wasted this summer then? Emu, add to that another £6m and a dodgy passport, Gilles Grimandi – a figure of fun, but a first teamer nonetheless, ooops another £4m waster on Inamoto & Kanu is the 5th player in the team Wanger has spent over£4m on. And if Wanker is such a stickler for the rules – it is the CHAMPIONS league after all! Update on Carr: As reported “Carr is making steady progress following surgery on the knee injury, which has kept him out of action for club and country this season. He expects to resume full training early in the New Year and should be available for Ireland's first World Cup warm-up game against Russia in Dublin on February 15” Surely this should read in time for his employers home match against Leicester City on 9th March! |
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12th December 2001 – Nice and Easy does it! Spurs 6-0 Bolton: Well that was easy! I cannot believe how easy. Who do Bolton think they are – dropping key players for a match of this importance so they can be fit for a league game. Football has gone fucking mad! Bolton have not WON anything apart from the Second Division title since the FA Cup in the 50’s – generations of fans denied the great feeling of a cup final win – all for the sake of 3 points on Saturday. Its bollox. I feel very sorry for the half a dozen or so Bolton fans who travelled down for the match Its lovely to see Spurs win by a few goals. It took Ferdinand nearly 4 years to get his first cup goals for Spurs, but he now has 4 in 3 matches this season and a hatrick to commemorate his 35th Birthday last Saturday. The win was sweet revenge for one of the worst nights under the Mullet of Francis when we slumped 6-1 at Burnden Park a few years back. It was also great to be reminded in what a star we have in young Anthony Gardner. Come in Mr Ed, you number is up! |
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11th
December 2001 – Six Up Six in a match: Spurs have scored 6 or more in a competitive match for the 71st time when we scored the 6th goal against Bolton this evening. This was the 43rd time we have scored 6 goals and the 6 goal margin represents the biggest winning margin we have ever had in the league cup (although we did manage 7 goals against Doncaster Rovers in the 1970’s) For full details of all the times we have scored 6 or more go to: |
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11th December 2001 – Thoughts on Bolton Quarter Final: All in all it’s not been a good couple of days for Spurs. A disappointing defeat at Charlton, a miserable cup draw and a couple of injury worries that could threaten our progress in the League Cup. Ziege is definitely out but while Ferdinand and Freund will return to the first team – an important member of the first team has suffered a knock at Charlton and is doubtful for the match. The official site has chosen not to mention who this is – so I will not reveal it as I don’t want to jeopardise anything with the preparations for the match but all I can say is that I hope he recovers and is 100% as we are going to need him (I’m sure you all understand). A week ago things looked good for a repeat win against Bolton, but the last week has not gone smoothly and Spurs will need a major recovery from the form they showed at the Valley to get through against a Bolton side who despite looking good against us, got turned over at Derby on Saturday. Here’s hoping a bit of Hoddle magic sees us through tomorrow and we get the winners of the Watford/Sheff Wed game in the semi. COME ON YOU SPURS! |
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10th December 2001 – TOPSPURS EXCLUSIVE TOPSPURS EXCLUSIVE: Word has reached me that Jamie Redknapp along with Louise was at the training ground on Thursday. Quite what they were doing in Glennda’s office is not known, but perhaps Hod is looking for someone to keep Anderton company in the treatment room next season with the World Cup safely out of the way. |
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9th December 2001 – Coventry away in the FA Cup Sky Blues: To complete a miserable weekend - Spurs have been drawn away at Coventry in the Cup. While we still should win, we could have done with someone a bit easier than a Div 1 team away and a visit to Highfield road was always one of the least attractive away fixtures, where there always seems to be lots of trouble, and they have a disproportionately good record against us considering who and what they are. It is also a missed opportunity to go to a new ground! We have only met Coventry twice before in the FA Cup – with the winners of both matches going on to win the Cup!
Charlton: The worst performance of the season by a mile and we have to hope it was a one off. Charlton played with more passion and were worthy winners after Spurs errors gifted them a 2-0 lead. In chasing the game Spurs had plenty of chances but never looked like we were going to get back in it – and its all very well not playing at our best and winning like we have done a couple of times recently – but losing and playing badly is a reminder of the bad old days. The result was disappointing as it could have moved us up to second, but should be taken in context only our second defeat in ten matches, 7 of which we have won and Spurs still remain well placed for a good season as long as we can recover the form that has propelled us up the league. The result should be a wake up call for the THFC board who need to finance a new striker and a proper central midfielder as we remain weak in these areas, while Hoddle, Gorman and Hughton need to do some work on the defence as we are looking vulnerable in recent matches |
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8th December 2001 – Daily Round up & Team news On the precipice: Today is one of those situations – a win would put us second and deep inside the top 6 – where we have tended to slip up in the past. The last few years have been devoid of such occasions but my mind goes back to the Bolton/Nayim game in Dec 1995 where we went into a 2-0 lead well into the second half against a team that had lost all of their away matches – only for Justin Edinburgh to inspire a Bolton comeback to get a 2-2 after the Jumbotron had shown Nayim in the crowd at the match. Injuries and suspensions to Ziege, Les and Nutter mean we are missing key players and allied to Charlton’s decent record against the other London clubs makes me a little nervous. In the context of the season a draw would not be too disastrous, but with three of the eight visiting teams to the Valley having won, we must be amongst them if we are to regard ourselves as Top6. In saying that – Sully, Mr Ed, Richards, King, Treacle, Davies, Anderton, Bunje, Poyet, Sheringham & Rebrov is a good enough team to win the match and with a bit of magic from the sidelines from the three wise men we should be ok – COME ON YOU SPURS! |
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7th December 2001 – TOPSPURS man of the Day – Oystein Haugen Totty: From Trondheim in Norway, Oystein has been using the expression “Totty” for other Norwegian Spurs fans with statement “went to a spurs supporters club meeting, and there was 70/80 Totty there” and it took me a while to realise that he was not commenting on the amount of young ladies at the meetings! but commenting the great numbers of Norwegian Spurs! I put this up in the spirit of good humour it was taken by Oystein (and not as an English wanker laughing at Foreign people having problems with our over complicated language) |
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6th December 2001 – Daily Round up & Team news Charlton Team News Les is out, but Treacle is back! So this will mean a start for Rebrov up front and Treacle coming in at Wing back with Davies dropping to the bench. Despite being out of this match, Sir Les has an excellent chance of being ready for the cup match on Tuesday night. Charlton, as with most matches in the Premiership will not be a pushover – as Chelsea found out the other day. That result may have been just one of those things as Charlton did the double over Chelsea last season and may be just “one of those teams” like Chelsea are to us. Spurs go into the match chasing their second run of three consecutive league wins in a row this season (we’ve had only one in the last 5 years before this season) and have an impressive 7 wins and a draw in the nine matches since the mad Man United match at the end of September. With a fully fit Poyet, classy Sheringham and a hungry Rebrov we should manage to come up with a few goals and all being well with a similar attitude to recent weeks we should not slip up and further consolidate our position in the top 5. Great News! After what seems weeks of dithering, the FA have decided not to press charges against us for the bottle, poncho and lighter throwing incidents of recent weeks. Spurs fans must use this good fortune to not repeat the stupidity in the future and we must take collective responsibility to make sure it does not happen again. The only way we will get off a ban in the future is by the fans themselves getting the culprits – although I hope it does n’t come to this and we just use common sense and go back to being normal members of Glenn Hoddle’s Blue and White Army. |
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5th December 2001 – Daily Round up Loss of Bottle! A great deal is being made of the bottle throwing incidents at recent games – and it is up to the fans to make sure that this does not happen again. The 100’s of old Bill at the games with their video cameras and sophisticated techniques cannot find the culprits – so its up to the fans to stop this – personal responsibility. Buchler did well to stand up for us as decent supporters after the goon match, but we have let him down a little at Fulham and Bolton. I’m sure the people who have chucked the stuff are only doing it out of high spirits, but it has to stop for the good of the club. The team under Hoddle is going places and while the fans have been excellent since he took over – we have to cut out these acts of stupidity for the good of our names and the good of the club. Fixture Changes! The fans are to be messed around for TV audiences again with three more Spurs matches being shown live on TV. Derby on 2nd Feb is now a 12pm kick off – which means the supporters miss out on the best pre-match away pub! The glamour tie of Middlesbrough away is now on Good Friday – 250 miles from London on a public holiday with no public transport = fuck the fans. Charlton at home is also on the TV and I’m not sure what mad time they are planning for that one. The two up sides of the matches being shown on TV is that Spurs will continue to grow the worldwide supporter base and so far we have won all of our Live TV matches this season apart from Elleray’s madness at Goodison, which gave Everton a point. |
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4th December 2001 – 200,000 up 200,000 visitors at topspurs! Many thanks to you all |
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3rd December 2001 – Spurs 3-2 Bolton – 5th in the league! Happy Hotspurs!: A well deserved win which again was ground out against determined and well organised opposition which sends us 5th in the league and rising on the back of 7 wins and a draw in our last 9 matches. Hoddle’s Tottenham – its great & made all the better for having to go thro the lean Sugarlump years - Come on you Spurs PS – Top marks to my snout who correctly gave us the starting line up 24 hours in advance! |
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2nd December 2001 – Thoughts on Bolton Bolton – Part 1: While I’m pleased we got a home draw and also avoided Arsenal and Chelsea, having two games against the same opposition in such a short space of time often makes the first match a bit of an anti-climax – with both teams playing cautiously. We cannot afford this, as Bolton at home is a game we must win to keep dreams of the championship alive. A win should take us to within 5 points of the leaders and well into the top 6 – and we cannot afford to slip up. Bolton have an excellent away record and defend well with a 4-5-1 system which will mean Spurs having a lot of the ball but facing a wall of defenders. This should suit the style of Sheringham and Anderton, both of whom have been a little below form during November – and we need these two to be on the top of their game. It looks like we will have a full squad to pick from so Richards will most probably come in for Bunjevcevic, or possibly Perry. Poyet should be ok to come back for Leo and the return of Treacle means Davies will drop to the bench. The big talking point is what happens if Ferdinand is fit! Both have scored a goal in their last match and both are desperate to play – a great situation for Spurs to be in after and I’m not fussed either way as long as who ever plays does well and we win. PS – word form the snout! – The training ground is buzzing and everyone is up for the match. He reckons Poyet and Richards will return, but Ferdinand and Taricco will not make it for Bolton but will be available for Charlton. So he thinks Rebrov will play! The likely team is Sully - King, Perry, Richards – Davies Ziege – Anderton, Freund, Poyet – Rebrov, Sheringham. |
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1st December 2001 – Fulham 1-2 Spurs & Ricky Villa Message From Buchler regarding the Fulham crowd
Incidents: I think Buchler has done well here – striking the right
balance between having a go at the a idiots who got carried away, while still
feeling like he is on our, Tottenham’s side. That statement: David Buchler appeal to some fans to be more responsible.
- "I would urge our
supporters to become ever more diligent in their behaviour so as not to
provide anybody with the ammunition to criticise the club. Let there be no
mis-understanding that this club does not, under any circumstances, condone
any inappropriate behaviour by our supporters. Our reputation for
fairness and tolerance stands before us and this club will use all its power
to keep this reputation intact. We currently enjoy tremendous support and it
would be a shame if the minority spoiled it for the majority whose positive
efforts we and our players greatly appreciate. Thank you for your continued
support. Looks like we are in the shite with respect to FA action
as the ref was at great pains to log every detail of the incident, and coming
on top of the Arsenal stuff could mean a fine and a bollocking for the club –
but you never know with these bastards at the FA what sort of punishment they
will make up on our behalf. Bolton Cup date set
- The
League Cup quarter-final clash against Bolton Wanderers at the Lane has been
scheduled for Tuesday December 11, kick-off 7.45pm Effenberg - The word
from my snout is that the Effenberg deal is all done and that he will be
joining us – at the latest at the start of next season. Moves are underway to
get him before this - which
would be a massive boost for our championship push and a great Christmas present. While the
source of this story is 100% - I
will still remain a little sceptical as Effenberg does seem a bit of a law unto himself, but
great news should it all go to plan. No info on the Washington rumours though. Ziege suspension – Fuck me its Fatcha for Fulham in the league as Ziege apparently got booked last night and has got his bookings up. With Nutter missing the Charlton match and a few injuries cropping up – it is now we have to rely upon some of the players who have not featured so far to come good for Spurs and help us win the softish matches we have up to Christmas. |
