The thoughts and views on THFC updated daily from Jim Duggan – Born in the year of the Cockerel, Shelfside season ticket holder & supporter since the early 1970s (last updated 01/01/03 20:00 PM) 2003 – HAPPY NEW YEAR TO SPURS FANS EVERYWHERE 31st December 2002 – Southampton Cup Tickets
on General Sale at Southampton If our club won’t sell up to us.. – Not only have our club insulted our supporters by not taking the full allocation, it has now set up a potentially dangerous situation of Spurs supporters amongst Saints in highly charged cup tie. You can phone the Southampton Ticket office on 0870 2200150 or click on Southampton Cup Tickets (please note: you may need to talk like you married your sister to convince them you are from round there and support them). Southampton big club – my arse – can’t even sell out a cup tie against what they consider to be their biggest rivals & have one FA Cup from an offside goal 25 years ago in their trophy cabinet. Sad, very sad new football mutton dressed as lamb! 30th December 2002 – Football’s missing Knight Renewed calls for Bill Nick to be Knighted – Double winner Terry Medwin has joined the call to get Bill Nick knighted in the forthcoming New Years Honours list. BBC article on Bill Nick. Lets hope at last Sir Bill gets his due reward and don’t for get to register your support at Harry Hotspur’s excellent site http://www.knightbillnick.co.uk/ Postscript - Yet again Sir Bill has missed out but we can take heart that Lt Col Digby Jeremie Willoughby (executive secretary of St Moritz toboganning club). got his gong. Come the revolution, they will be the first against the wall Stuff from Standard Sport (Morientes and Davies) – As ever, Standard Sport is as close as supporters get to know what is going on at Spurs and there were a couple of interesting things today. If ENIC can get their eye back on the ball and improve the first team with the likes of Morientes – they will have the approval of almost all of the supporters. A loan deal with option to buy would be best cos then we could assess whether he was going to be a success in England before spending the lolly. But they have to get him first & nearly ain’t good enough for the greatest football club in the world. Standard Sport understands, however, that any move to bring the forward to White Hart Lane will depend on their success in reducing their wage bill sufficiently to fund Morientes' salary. Veteran striker Les Ferdinand is set for a move to West Ham while defender Gary Doherty is interesting Second Division Cardiff and Sergei Rebrov remains consistently linked with a return to Dynamo Kiev at a cut-price £3m. Good news if true! And good news on Davies with Hoddle stating: "I have not seen those reports but it doesn't matter. Simon is not going anywhere." Well done for such a swift rebuttal And Finally – A visit to Geordie Land usually means the awful clichés of 'hotbed of football', 'know their stuff', 'knowledgeable', 'passionate support', 'love wor bobby', 'toon army' etc ad nauseam - just a couple of facts to spoil the Party. Click on this link for some Geordie Home Truths – where were you 1991? Average attendance of 16,879! If I had a penny for every Geordie who claims they used to stand on the Gallowgate… And lest we forget Sir Bobby (nice bloke that he is) was knighted despite England’s worst ever performance at a major championship (1988), who’s only domestic honour as a manager was the FA Cup. Shearer is some sort of hero despite habitual cheating costing England in 1998 against Argentina. The less said about Shearer’s tackle on Lennon the better – but he has, like Beckham, his own rules in the Premiership . Compare Shearer’s less than one in two international record of 30 in 62 with a proper goal scoring legend and World cup golden boot winner Lineker who had 48 in 57 in the same era. New football sentimentality gone mad. And while we’re at it – why do Sky have Gooners doing our games? Convicted Fraudster Goonersaurus has done lots this year, the dullest man alive Alan Smith shed no light on the Man City Game and yesterday we had crap winger Marwood as co commentator and Niall Quinn – a bloke hated by the Geordies as well – as summarizer. Surely Widdley would have been the man for yesterday’s match, and someone like Clive Allen for the City match. Anything but Gooners – show some respect! 30th December 2002 – Newcastle 2-1 Spurs Oh what happened to you whatever happened to Spurs – On one level we can take heart that Spurs played well against a top 6 side away from home, but yet again its “Nil point” when we play a good side and with Newcastle misfiring today we really should have taken something from the match. Before the match, against a team that had won 7 in 8 at home, we looked up against it with the players we had out but the way Newcastle played they were there for the taking. All credit to Hod for selecting an innovative 4-2-3-1 formation that gave us the edge but just a shame that we could not turn possession into goals. We have legitimate grounds for complaint after Bellamy fouled Perry for the decisive second goal but I suppose we should be thankful that wankpot Dabizas, the man who cheated THFC out of a cup final in 1999, scored a quality own goal to put us back in the match. Spurs were poor at the back but also lacked quality in the final ball into the box. It can be no surprise that missing Sharon and Ziege we struggled in this area that was the real difference between the sides. It’s disappointing but hey, we’re used to that. The fact
remains we have won 3 of our last 11 in the league and that ain’t gonna get
us shit. Ziege News - Ziege apparently had an emergency operation after the Charlton match after what was originally diagnosed by our “aspirin cures all” medical staff as a dead leg. Hoddle said "There is a medical term for it - decompartmentalisation of the muscle is the problem - and it grew to double the size, the leg, and he had to have this emergency operation. First and foremost was to get Christian in and dealt with because there were complications with the blood supply, and that can be very dangerous. That was always our first concern, and fortunately through Christian phoning our doctor and getting hold of it very quickly, it saved any sort of...well, I wouldn't like to go to the next part, but he's okay, he's had an operation and he'll be dealt with on Monday. Lets hope our enigmatic German makes a full recovery for our InterToto campaign that starts in July. And a postscript on his sending off against Man City. It appears that fatty Winder the ref is a big Boro fan and apparently he does not do their matches as a result. Therefore it comes as no surprise to see Smoggie enemy number one Ziege get his marching orders for two of the softest bookings of all time. Thought of the day – Money will not cure all the ills at Spurs – but it will be a start. If someone could explain where the money for Morientes has gone now that we have no money to buy without selling I’d be mighty glad. Where is the “we need extra funds to compete at the top level” when it comes to buying rather than taking the season ticket money? Some time ago in the late 1970’s, a Tot of the greatest integrity said this and it holds true today: "I thought the club were over the borders of thrift and into meanness. The club needs to regenerate itself. It must seek to turn its weaknesses into strengths at such a critical time in the history of football clubs. It is time the Board grew up to the real potential of the club." 29th December 2002 – Davies rumours The Davies for sale Story –There is nothing new in Davies being courted by Man U, Liverpool and two Italian clubs inc Juve. From what I can make out, several clubs have been politely asking and Spurs have informed Davies of what is going on. Again from what I can make out, Davies has recently signed a new 5-year deal and he says he wants to stay but the interest seems to have affected his form (first rumours around the middle of Oct). As his international reputation grows around the UK and Europe, why should he stay if Poyet is preferred to him when fit? I seem to remember when Davies scored the winner in Hoddle's first league game against Bradford in Apr 2001, the great man said he will be a £10m player one day - which I understand is what the club value him at. I don't think the NOTW story is up to much - NOTW and Man U both owned by the Dirty Digger - but there is a little fire behind the smoke. If ENIC sell him - I think it will be the moment when the whole of the supporters realise what they are about. Just what will be the point of wasting a load of money on a new academy if we are going to sell any decent young players? A swift rebuttal in the press from Pleaty would go along way. 28th December 2002 – Barcodes & Progress In a thin glass – The task to get a result in Newcastle looks formidable, despite our excellent record up there Click here for Full record against Newcastle, looks very tough this season. The equivalent of Wayne facing Dennis, Neville and Oz in a ruck (& its best not to think of our last two late December matches up there!). They have won 7 from 8 at home in the League and welcome back Bellamy to partner Shearer while we have serious problems with our main centre back, in midfield we will definitely be without Redknapp and possibly Sharon, with Ziege also on the iffy list. It is not beyond us to get a point or better but it will need to be one of the best performances of the season. Let the magic start here… COYS Progress – I appreciate that some of the stuff on here is not all happy/ jolly club PR nonsense - I’m just a fan who wants Spurs back at the top and will dig out anyone who is not pulling their weight for the cause. In saying that, with the end of the year approaching it is worth reflecting on where we’ve come from. Two years ago, the Goonersaurus took us to Ipswich and we were humiliated 3-0. Of the team that day Sullivan; Thelwell, Perry, Campbell, Clemence; Anderton, Sherwood, King, Leonhardsen; Doherty, Korsten. Subs not used: - Walker; Gardner; Armstrong – only Perry King and possibly Sharon will start against Newcastle. Our squad does look much better, of that there is no doubt – but there still room for major improvement. The more cynical could point out the progress from this time last year to now – which has not been as dramatic. Some of the performances this season have not been as convincing as the first half of last season but we have more points this time round and hopefully will pick up another 31 points in the second half of this season rather than the 6 wins from our last 21 matches last season. It will be the difference between getting in Europe and another season of midtable disappointment. Surely now we should say we will take the InterToto as a means of further encouragement. We have spent all two matches of the season so far in the top 8 – briefly touching the top in September Click for the Manhattan Graph and the way the league is shaping up – ourselves, Southampton, Everton, Boro and even Blackburn have a chance to get into the top 6, even higher. This is a great chance for Spurs – I just hope we do it this time or if we don’t we are not looking back thinking if only we’d signed a proper partner for Keane or better central midfielders. Keane has been a wonderful signing – scoring 6 in his first 15 matches and promising to score many more but he needs a proper partner up front. Sheringham has been a great player for Spurs over the years and he can still manage good games every now and then but does not do or score enough these days – definitely not enough to justify a new contract. With Sir Les, another premiership legend who has seen better days and seemingly on his way and Rebrov not even making the squad these days, this leaves Iversen. The Log had his best match for ages against Charlton but after 170 appearances and 47 goals since signing around this time 6 years ago – I think we know what he can do and even his best is not good enough to see us challenging for the Championship. Young Slabber has been edging towards the first team squad with impressive performances in the Youth teams. He is still only a second year trainee and only 18 on New years Eve (being born one day before Spurs won 2-1 at Scumbury to go top of the League on New Years Day 1985 – if ever there was a good omen for a Spurs player!) and anything he does will be a bonus. The same applies to Michael Malcolm who is even younger. We need someone to partner Keane – and there is no reason why Spurs should not be banging on skint club’s doors and looking to poach their best players. No reason that is apart from lack of ambition or erroneously thinking Teddy is the man. At the other end – Spurs have shipped 28 goals in 20 matches at an average of 1.4 goals per game, keeping only 4 clean sheets. Keller has had a fine season in goal, Richards has blossomed as a commanding centre half, Carr has returned well and while Ledley’s return has seen us go 6 matches unbeaten after his return at Scumbury, we have not managed a shut out in these matches. Injuries have – as ever – disrupted the season. Gardner has not been seen since Sept, while Ledley & Ziege (if he counts as a defender) did not come back until November but you would expect us to have been more solid than we have been. When you think of Keller, Richards, Carr, King, Gardner and Ziege – we have top class players – so, injuries apart, why have we let in so many goals? Everyone has their own theories on this – notably many supporters preferring a 4-4-2 system – but for me the protection offered from the midfield seems to be a crucial area and it would be nice to sign some one with a bit of pace and bottle to protect the defensive line. Man U have Roy Keane, Arsenal have Vieira and we need an equivalent. Freund has done marvellously well to come back from a second serious knee injury at the age of 32 but we need someone a bit quicker and who can use the ball better in that position. When Anderton plays well as a central midfielder, he is worthy of his place in the team, but he is another who is the wrong side of 30 and struggles to find consistency and does not often play well away from WHL. Redknapp’s form has faded after a bright start but like Anderton too can cut it when on form. Poyet is a marvellous old campaigner but the years have caught up with his legs, although he remains an option from the bench. Davies remains a great hope but is best used as a right midfield in a 4-4-2 or the attacking midfielder in a 3-5-2. November spawned a monster (three defeats from 4 and out of the League Cup) but that apart, even with those horror shows – we have had one of our best seasons for a while so far and as the transfer window opens – the custodians of the club owe it to us to secure a top notch striking parker for Keane and hopefully a strong midfielder. Morientes – Nothing much on the grapevine about him – apart from Poyet being in regular contact with his old mate – but with no La Liga starts (only 7 sub appearances and no goals), Levy could do worse than getting on the blower to Spain to see if there is a cut price deal in the offing. It is no good for the player; the Real Madrid wage bill or our Champions League chances him wasting away on the bench. Surely there can be no harm trying again – can there? Even on loan. And Finally… Bosnich – It could not happen to a bigger wanker & lets hope his drug offences lead to his deportation. 26th December 2002 – Spurs 2-2 Charlton Typical Tottenham – If winning 3-2 away was a reminder of the old days – so was this. Typical Tottenham inconsistency. A shocking 60 minutes lacking ideas and passion (with the notable exceptions of Keane and Carr who were good for the whole 90), Sir Les and the thus far useless Iversen joined Davies who’d replaced Sharon at half time – and we were a different team. So were Charlton. They’d had a very decent match thus far – being on to every Spurs player when we had possession, being tight at the back and scoring two goals from two chances after a couple of errors but as soon as Spurs went for them they looked very weak and Curbishley changed both system and personnel as Spurs created chance after chance. Charlton are on a run of 4 wins and now 3 draws in their last 7 but you feel if Spurs would have started with the same team that finished so well against City we would not have conceded a head start and gone on to have won 4 wins in our unbeaten run of 6. With three of our next four away (and the home game against a team in the top 6 - no wins so far this season) this looked a game we had to win to keep tabs on the heels of the leaders. That said, the last 30 minutes was great entertainment – Carr back to bombing down the right, Ziege giving it to them from the left, and Bunje knitting things together in the middle. Hod chose to put Sir Les up the middle and he looked our most direct striker for a while (although he is best in short bursts as sub these days) and even the much-maligned Iversen had some good moments. It was his deft flick that set up Keane to smash home a brilliant goal into the roof of the Paxton net (6 from 16 in the league is a decent start) and then Ivo was on the end of the kind of cross Sharon (cannot do 2 games in 4 day) used to deliver, but which these days is delivered by Davies for the goal that got us the point, but his best moment was in the final minute after Kylie had saved brilliantly from Davies, he managed to a wonderful overhead kick which was somehow headed clear on the line by Rufus – an awesome bit of skill. Tough matches ahead – Newcastle and Southampton represent two of our most difficult away trips and remaining unbeaten will be a major achievement. Tough but not beyond us – COME ON YOU SPURS. 4-4-2 & Tactics – Hopefully lessons will start to be learnt about which system suits our best players. For me it is quite clear that while Deano, Carr and Ziege can all play the wing back 3-5-2 system, a 4 at the back seems to suit all of them in their own way. Hoddle’s tactical nous is often a curse as much as a blessing. We have started the last two matches all over the place after the compelling performance against the Goons. Sure enough he has changed things and Spurs have come back to claim 4 points which looked unlikely in the first third of either match for which Hoddle must take the credit, but a new set of tactics for each match does not seem to suit the players. And don’t start me on why Poyet gets the nod over Davies in the starting line up! Programme Notes – We are fortunate to have the best programme in the League and one of the best bits has to be old Pleaty’s comments, but this time his piece had a few half-truths, which need addressing. He softens everyone up with aggregate debt of clubs all over Europe before saying that we will not be signing anyone. When mentioning this debt, he does not make any reference to crack pot plans to put Spurs in a similar debt to build a new stadium and training ground. He further tries to justify this the fact that the Goons are signing no one. Bid deal – they are 4 points clear at the top, 10 points clear of us and £21m of “talent” scored for them to beat West Brom while the whole transfer cost of our starting line up was under £20 (Free, youth, £1.4m, £4m, youth, £4.5, £800k, £1.7m, £1.4, £6m, Free). They are not the ones playing catch up. And this was not the language used when justifying ticket rises and increased costs in all aspects of following Spurs over the last 18 months. Get out there, bust some balls and get the players Spurs need with NO excuses – all the hype over the stadium situation has not taken the supporters eye off the ball when it comes to promises made in April and August. If there is no money – where has all the Morientes money gone – or was that just nearly money? or some kind of cruel joke? The accounts show Spurs made a £10m profit, we have new sponsorship and kit deals; we are never off the TV and have no tangible debt. We also have 32 points from just over half the season and a only a couple of points off the Champions League and only need another couple of players to give us that leg up to the big time. With plenty of skint clubs looking to get rid of good but expensive players I need a better excuse than “Arsenal are not doing anything so neither are we” He also discussed what would be happening to the pensioner’s contracts – suggesting that if deals are to be done, they will be done at the end of the season and on lower basic salaries and greater appearance money. You get the feeling that Ted is already on appearance money they way he stomps off when substituted. Rather than “appearance”, “appearance and performance” related lolly seems a better incentive, although better than both would be to actually sign someone commensurate with the aspirations of the supporters & Ted getting a new contract of any description seems a step backwards. He also confirmed that Carr has another 2.5 years left on his contract – which is good news for everyone – although why was this not mentioned at the height of the speculation in the summer! And Finally – When you read GHod’s comments “Once again your support has been terrific…All the players appreciate your efforts so please never underestimate the difference your support can make”. It does make you wonder how this tally’s with the club only asking for the minimum allocation at Southampton in the Cup. And as for £40 for a Chelsea ticket… 23rd December 2002 – City 2-3 Spurs Faackin’ Norvern Monkeys – This is what following Spurs is all about – magnificent, absolutely magnificent to see Spurs come from a goal down to score three away. Long time topspurs hero Mr Ed scored his first goal since Oct 2000 to set us on the way after surviving a rocky opening 30 minutes when to be fair City well deserved their lead (and if Freund was worth a booking for his first foul he was definitely worth another for his foul but fatty Winter bottled it). Freund used is extra life well & Special mention for Keller who responded brilliantly to the disappointment of letting the Goons back in it with series of fine saves when we were under the cosh early on. Carr was also good in the opening period when the rest of the team played poorly, notably Richards who was way below the excellent standards he has set this season when given the captaincy for the first time. Our opening goal – from a wonderful Ziege corner was bravely dive headed home by Perry from 8 yards and from that point we never looked back, and Ziege himself forced a great save from Rudolph in the dying minutes of the first half. Spurs started the second period well and when Davies headed home from close range after good work by Keane down the left the match was ours for the taking. Fatty Winter the ref let himself down by bringing play back when Tiatto clattered Sharon, who had put Davies in alone thro the middle with a great pass. A Keller clearance was scant reward with what looked a certain goal. The third goal was always coming and it took another Ziege special delivery and a special Poyet header to seal the win after Keane did brilliantly on his own to win the corner in the first place. Ziege got sent off first for telling Winter he was a wanker and then for side footing the ball away while back peddling after City had a free kick on the halfway line a few minutes later. A mad jobsworth decision, which we should be able to overturn. Ziege looked like the world cup finalist he is today – his quality and vision was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. City scored a lovely goal in the 92nd minute and although Fatty added an extra minute and a half on above the 3 minutes Spurs held on for what is the classic Spurs away score 3-2. I’d delighted – esp. for all those Tots who braved the norvern’ weather and the horrors of City fans and Moss Side – but at least they were rewarded with game that is the most memorable of the season – so far that is! Everybody did their bit – Richards who was poor in the first half was excellent in the second. Carr played with passion; Perry and Ledley did their bit, as did Freund and Anderton (although City had too much space it was just that sort of match). Keane wasted a couple of chances but was always a threat and did well for both the second and third goals. And big it up for the Boss. I’m sure Glennda must have wanted to get one over on the man who replaced him for England and his tactical change pushing Ziege further forward turned the match. All credit it to City and Keegan who made it a memorable match with their open tactics, but it is magic to watch Spurs win a game like that. Merry Christmas to all Spurs all over the world, “every body will be singing...” just like 1981 City 2-3 Spurs and a south American match winner! & A Merry Christmas for Santa Hotspur Diary of a Die Hard – part 2 – Just when you thought it was safe to venture back to Spurs monthly, our “Teletext Tot“ has re-emerged after a month off. This time at least he is claiming to go to some of the games (although with his patchy attendance record, he makes no reference to how he got a ticket for the visit of the Scum) but saved up a special one for me with dig about the “Morientes at the Airport” which although I acted in good faith but got it completely wrong, something I admitted I’d got wrong and apologised for at the time. He then went on to say that I think I have a disproportionate right to get my views (which is obviously not true) – and there he is in an official publication as a “Die Hard” without any sense of irony. Bottom line is - if you don’t like what I write on here, fuck off, no one is forcing you to read it. Naturally, he does fail to mention that I’d been the first person to tell the world that the Keane deal was done earlier that week, and going further back knew about Morientes without blowing Levy’s cover in Spain (birthday wrist), kept schtum about Rivaldo (apart from the “player on both sides of the final” quote), the yellow shirts in the League Cup final two weeks before anyone else, the Kappa kit deal, Redknapp signing notified in the December before etc. (see the editorial archive on the menu bar for full details) What I don’t understand is why he has been given space in an official publication to dig at another fan – any fan that is, and notably one that attended 47 of the 49 matches last season, 18 of the 21 this season and has over 135 loyalty points. I know a die hard when I see one – Fred Dowry, Man City was 601 consecutive matches not out since 1990 inc away friendlies in Europe, Mally from Cumbria Spurs – up at 3am last Boxing day after a sober Christmas day to drive to Southampton and back from Carlisle or any of the away season ticket holders, even Rosie – but not someone who drives to Cardiff when Spurs are playing Boro and then is too tired to drive to THFC when Spurs play Cardiff the following Tuesday. I am only to aware how you need a few quid to follow Spurs these days – my early 20 were spent in the poor house which meant I could not attend as many matches as I do not in the early 1990 – but then again, I never claim to be a “Die Hard”. Lets not forget anyone can do a website. I loved Bruce Lewis’s Legend site & Tony Tan’s Spurs2000 site and in Aug 2000 decided to start what has become topspurs with a load of free software from the www.thefreesite.com and MSOffice and a bit trial and error. Anyone can do it! Why is this person doing writing this column? (God forbid he is getting paid for it). Why not anyone of you reading this? I don’t remember the job being advertised. I emailed the character to ask how he was chosen for this position – I have not had a reply. Some Die Hard gems from this season (with thanks to Shaz & Logan) Thursday, 28th Feb - He watched the League Cup Final at his
mother's house. Sunday, 24th March - Watched Fulham match on Sky. Saturday, 20th April - Listened to Bolton match on the radio
& his brother's a Gooner. Saturday, 24th Aug – He had sun, sea and sand for the Bank
Holiday weekend and he 'could almost feel the 36,000 fans at WHL so many
miles away from where he was.' August 27th 2002 – Listens to the Charlton match on the Radio Wednesday 11th September – Again he describes how he listens to
the Fulham match on the radio with his friend! Tuesday, 17th Sept - Reflecting on game with Man Utd - he has only been to Old Trafford
once for the FA cup semi-final. Sunday 6th October: "When I saw on Teletext that Redknapp had struck to give us victory at Ewood Park..." I have never doubted that he bloke is a Spurs fan – but “Die Hard”? Worthy of space in an official magazine? Don’t think so. The idea is a good one – but should be shared around a number of supporters who can all have a go for a month as long as they got to the matches, which may actually give an interesting perspective on supporter’s matchdays. With this in mind – are Spurs supporters not within their rights to ask why they are being asked to pay £2.95 for this stuff? 23rd December 2002 – Man Shitty More of the same? – This is the question we have all been asking since the good performance against the Goons last week. Can Spurs build upon this good performance and play well away from WHL and come away with a result. I have to say I am hopeful – although not confident. Unfortunately we have seen all too often a good home win followed by a dismal away performance. Lets hope things are about to take a turn for the better. While I’d like to see Spurs go like the clappers and batter City, I assume that Glennda will want to out tactic the gormless Keegan (battle of the ex-England managers and all that) and should imagine Spurs will be playing it tight and think we would win it 1-0 or 2-0 if Santa is in a good mood and fancy Poyet to pop up with the first goal 12/1. But at the end of the day – just fucking win. We are in such a good position to push on in the second half of the season to finally break out of the midtable crap; we cannot afford to blow it against either City or Charlton while getting at least something from the other two away games. Southampton Cup Ticket fiasco – Loads of loyal tots have found out today that they have missed out on cup tickets for match at St Mary’s. This appears to include ALL members and some season ticket holders who have held books for only this season (even though they may have been one of the few at Turf Moor). And why have these supporters missed out? Because the club claim they received only 300 applications or something (which sounds like Bollox), leaving them with a potential deficit of £30k – big deal – a week and a half of Sherwood’s wage or even the fine that Sherwood was given at the start of the season which he has reportedly yet to pay. If the club are serious about finding out about numbers who plan to attend matches – why not have an email or phone service whereby people register their intent so that within days of a match being arranged the club have a fair idea of the level of demand? That is if they give a fuck, which is pretty much open to question as this practice of not taking up ticket allocations has been going on for years. The irony is that they are going round saying we need a 50,000+ stadium and yet do not have confidence that we can take 5000 to Southampton for a cup game (even though we have completely sold the league game). They appear to be having it both ways as ever. 22nd December 2002 – Stadium move The fight for Tottenham – This is serious shit now. I could not work out why even the most bollock brained person would chose to leak the most controversial story two days before the North London Derby but it has got worse. Last week it seemed as if they were just trying to wind the Government up to get them to move their arses, albeit before the big match, but now its looks as if some of the other schemes are real possibles. From what I can make out Spurs want the Government and LB Haringey to cough up some lolly for area improvements around WHL, inc an extension to the Victoria Line from Tottenham Hale while the Government want a permanent resident or two for new Wembley. As it stands the goons are well in over their heads with New Scumbury and despite the official line are keen to cut and run over a deal that could bankrupt the club, which already made a massive last financial year. Just what has been said between our very own Daniel “Look, I’m a Spurs fan” Levy and the goons and/or the Government is not clear and I am not privy to that kind of stuff. First things first - here are the links to the clubs unofficial PR site the Standard. Well worth a read if you have not already just see where the club are coming from http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/2548858 http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/2548483?source=Evening http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/2548565 http://www.itv.com/news/Sport224378.html Personally, I find these developments worrying for the short and long-term future of THFC. We will be given the usual “pay now for success later” line to justify it – the same one we have been fed since the early days of Sugar. It was not valid then and there is no special reason for it to be valid in the future. As it stands at the moment, Spurs have very little debt, a stadium that is packed out every match and planning permission to take the East Stand up to 44,000. This assumes the current design, which has two double rows of exec boxes rather than the current one row (obviously less boxes mean more seats for supporters). For me this, at last, is a healthy position for Spurs in the new era beyond transfer fees where the ability to pay wages at the end of Bosmans will be more useful than a big transfer wedge. This capacity would put is level with Liverpool and behind only Newcastle, Sunderland, ManU and possibly Arsenal when it comes to capacity, with scope to get it up to 50,000 doing up the old West Stand assuming that the 44,000 is paying its way. This could all be done without putting the club into serious debt. ENIC have made a big thing of the transportation issue, but this is where the day job comes in handy as a transportation consultant. To get the planning permission for the East Stand increase, a Traffic Impact Assessment (tia) would have needed to have been done and if this has got planning permission after the TIA, by definition there is not a problem in the eyes of the Council. The new station at Northumberland Park is a bit of a red herring. Sure a station there would improve non-car access to the ground BUT just how many people would it attract out of their cars? By definition, Spurs season ticket holders are people in higher income groups. Transport theory suggests that these are the least “cost” sensitive car users, i.e. it would take quite a lot to get them out of their cars. There is also the issue of the location of the majority of the support – Ilford, M11 corridor and Herts. Just how a branch line extension at Tottenham Hale would make any difference to these people is questionable. If anyone wants a full run down complete with logit curves and discrete choice analysis (inc club officials), please contact me usual rates apply, although to be honest I’d love to help the club on this. It can not have escaped anyone’s notice that the traffic congestion at matches has increased over the last few years but there are demand management measures to address this rather than just supply side solutions like building new infrastructure. The demand measures are also much cheaper. New Scumbury will have a parking free mile around the ground on match days as part of the deal with Islington, and incentivized schemes of car sharing and external park and ride venues could help reduce congestion in the immediate are around THFC. The bottom line is that even at 44,000 capacity, transportation will not be an issue as to why people will or will not go to see Spurs. It is also worth bearing in mind where we are in the economic cycle when planning for future demand at THFC. The last 10 years have been pretty good to many people in England and Western Europe in general, notably after the Black Wednesday devaluation on 1993. On the back of this increase of consumer spending, football has thrived. Analysts who do no understand that life is about cycles not unchecked growth or decline predicted massive increases in the ability of football clubs to attract revenue but as they downgrade their forecasts - can anyone believe that a £300 or even £757m stadium (even with Hotels and shit) can make a justifiable return? For the last 18 months, net debt has been above net savings in the UK as a whole, and with “Prudence” getting his numbers all wrong in the budget, there could be a major squeeze esp. if interest rates go up and house prices the other way, while inflation remains low. Whatever, the buy now pay later culture and economic bubbles do come to an end and to plan future demand on this basis is extremely risky. In 1992/3, we managed to pack in 32000 for some matches but there were many in the mid 20,000’s. I’m not suggesting that our support will dip this low or even fall below the regular 33000 that make up the 36000 in a crammed WHL, but just how many are beating down the doors to get in is open to debate. They did not even get rid of 230000 season tickets this season when they thought they would have to ratio it below the 23,000 cap. Yes this will increase if we again become a regularly successful side but for the sake of a bit of safe short termism lets cross that bridge if and hopefully when we come to it. Even with these reservations, is there a case for Spurs moving ground? Possibly, if the new money spent could generate sufficient revenues to make Spurs a bigger and stronger business fine, but I am having real problems seeing where the extra money will come from and how it will sustain the repayments on the debt let alone leave more money for players etc. There is a big difference between increased revenues and increased profits, as its no good for anyone if costs go up as well. Froma historical perspective, Spurs have moved ground three times so far. Initially at Tottenham marshes & in 1887 as crowds grew the club needed to rope off the playing area. With 4000 turning up to watch Spurs, the club considered moving to a new ground where they could charge spectators, and hopefully exclude all the rowdier elements that were causing trouble (a Victorian Taylor report). The Victorian equivalents of us current laggards thought there would not be enough money to make the venture pay, but the club moved to play their matches at Northumberland Park in Oct 1888. The move was a success and profits increased massively to enable Spurs to grow as a club. In April 1899, a game against the Scum saw a roof collapse and it was obvious to everyone that although Northumberland Park had helped Spurs to grow, we needed to move again to continue growing. A good bit of business by then chairman Charles Roberts saw the club acquire the land behind the White Hart Pub and the stands were moved and adapted from the old ground and just over a year and half later Spurs had over 20000 for the cup game against Bury on the way to our first major success. As this long-winded example from history shows – Spurs have moved ground in order to grow in the past. With this and bearing in mind how Spurs could compete better with the likes of the big money clubs in England and Europe, I am not totally against the idea but I don’t think we should do it until we have achieved a bit more on the pitch. I appreciate that there is a chicken and egg with regard funds to get players to get success to get funds to get players etc… and the virtuous cumulative causation circle upwards, but the fact remains we are still the 15th richest club in Europe despite the last 13 years and we should be able to make a start on the pitch before we consider the ground or even the training ground. When the suggestion of moving in with the Goons at New Scumbury or sharing Wembley I am very much against it – principally because we will be taking on someone else’s mess. Our best chance of overtaking the Goons in the next few years is as they suffer under their current loses and huge debt amassed from the stadium. I would like to think we could develop on the pitch but it is more likely that the Goons will be shedding players as they bid to control costs. Forgetting Easter Monday 1979, Spurs should be able to have the edge over a load of Gooner crap and reserves. So why then should we even consider doing anything with them to help them out of their mess? Even if we are to move stadium ourselves. And on the emotional level – fuck em, I don’t want my seat sat in by a Goon while I am away watching Spurs round the country & I don’t give a monkey’s how it works on the continent. It is true Spurs have ground shared with Goons in the past (from 1915-1919 while WHL was used as a gas mask factory), and them with us (WW2, as Scumbury was used to demoralise Germans as a prisoners of war) – but there was a war on both time and it was time to put down local difference for old Blighty. There are no such circumstances now – so no reason beyond a load of New Football nonsense and money. Wembley is equally unappealing. The £757m misfit is still struggling for money despite loads of Government bailouts and like the Millennium Dome is looking an expensive mistake of late 1990’s arrogance and greed. When the Goons used Wembley for champions league matches, even allowing for them being second rate against Batigol and Barca, it did not feel like home for them – and will be even worse for a normal league team with an average of 50,000 in a 70,000 stadium. Sure there will be more revenue potential from tickets and sponsors etc, but the FA are not doing it to help us and they will want a decent cut, so while revenue should go up, so will costs leaving us with similar profits, but greater risks and nowhere to call home. No thanks, somebody else can clear up that mess, and while we are at it – just how long did it take 78,000 people to leave old Wembley in 1999? There will be no magic wand to make transport congestion go away. And lest we forget what he FA did for us in 1995. The big cunty bollocked wankers gave us an unprecedented 12-point deduction and no FA cup for a year. They do not deserve anything from us. It is fair to say that I do not trust ENIC and have been given no reason to trust them – even beyond the normal supporter-board antagonism. At the back of my mind in all this is the big issue to come out of the AGM - Why is the club asking for shareholders’ consent almost to double the share capital of the club when it could wait until it has an investor and call an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) at that time when all the relevant facts will be known. So rounding up, we have a stadium, the oldest part of which is 23 years old, a “state of the art” training ground completed in the late 1990’s, but one trophy and a highest finish of 7th in the last 10 years. If the old football market of multi million pound transfers was still around the current set up would not let us cope, but that is not the case, and the current watch words are cutting costs and financial vigilance & lets hope for once the custodians of the club are at the forefront of the latest football thinking and not trying to work a project that seemed fashionable in the late 1990’s Fan Survey – In the Standard articles from last week, Levy informed everyone (inc the supporters trust who found out via the paper along with the rest of us) that there would be a Fan Survey to assess opinion on the stadium move. You would think that this would be a properly researched survey with regard to question bias – but no! http://www.spurs.co.uk/Fan_survey.asp The survey is open to repeat answers (and fans other clubs coming in to piss about) and suspicions that it was just a PR ruse anyway are confirmed when you read this on the ITV news website a day or so later: Spurs chairman Daniel Levy says he agrees in principle with a proposal for his club to share the new Wembley stadium with arch-rivals Arsenal. No quotes from Levy admittedly, but you get the feeling that the survey will not be used in executive policy decisions If they want to know what the supporters reaction to sharing with Arsenal, I suggest they drag their mouse over the top line of the swearotron.
The Goon game - It would not be an exaggeration to say Spurs battered Arsenal 1-1, but the tragedy of the best performance of a season where some decent results have not been match with good performances is that the Gooners have sneaked off back to Occupied N5 with a hugely underserved point. There may be some new foreign faces in the Goon (and indeed our line up) but the evil spirit of lucky Arsenal is still there to rob us, although we should take comfort that for the first time in 3 or 4 season we have matched or bettered the Goons, and have a goal from Ziege which already has its place in North London Derby folklore, such was its brilliance. As ever our undoing was failing to keep a clean sheet and or to score a second goal, but this should be regarded as a point gained – although if we fail to follow this up with a similar performance against Man City and Charlton we are back on the inconsistent midtable round about. Fulham - Fulham have bobbed their stadium rebuild with capital costs not meeting revenue streams and added this statement: "To saddle the club with this magnitude of debt in the current financial climate would be foolhardy in the extreme and could seriously jeopardise the long term future of the club." If the phoney pharaoh can see it… The Davies for sale story - This story has been around for a month or so now (a time when it is fair to say Davies form has flattened out) and from what I can gather while Davies is not on the market, offers of £10m or over will be listened to. Strangely, this happens to be the same figure Hoddle placed on Davies when he scored the winner in Hoddle’s first league match against Bradford. The same applies to Carr and I think its fair to say any player – even Ledley is in this category where a sizable offer will be listened to. With a money head on and the current financial problems within football it makes sense to the suit Chas N Dave - the real meaning of Christmas – Don’t forget the real meaning of Christmas when religion and consumerism threaten to debase it – it’s drinking too much and family rows and of course the Chas n Dave Christmas album “A Christmas knees up with Chas N Dave” available at Derek’s Records, Our Price Edmonton and all good record shops inc on their website And finally… - This is where I am coming from, coined quite nicely on the message board “The only thing that is wrong is to be satisfied with mediocrity, to not demand that we have a team that is a true heir to our glorious past.” Not quite Danny B but its where ethos behind the site. If you don’t like the crap I write on here, please feel not to read it or even better dig me out with an email as to where I’ve got it all wrong. I’m usually a patient listener and the more opinions I get in the better. RIP Joe Strummer – a hero to a generation of a certain age 14th December 2002 – Levy in the Standard New Stadium, New Training ground anything but a new first team – I’d made a point of putting the match preview before the story about the possible stadium move – it is after all the weekend of the North London derby and the football should come first, but after reading the garbage written in the Standard, things need to be said. Firstly – I appreciate this is just probably a dig at Haringey Council and the Government to do something about the transport at White Hart Lane…. BUT why only two days before the North London Derby? The timing is wrong and although they re-affirm that staying at WHL is still the premier option I think we have no reason to trust anything they say and there could be something we won’t like going on. Levy: "Look, I'm a Spurs fan," If there was a fans guide to chairmen, and you looked up this phrase it would probably be explained as “Chairman is lying or trying to pull the wool over your eyes”. It’s the equivalent of a talent less playing buying more time by kissing his badge making it look like he gives a shit. This quote came from the Standard article, which should set alarm bells ringing for all Spurs supporters. With so much bad press, it appears the Spurs have won themselves a sympathetic lughole from the Standard. Spurs seem to have leaked a number of stories to the Standard, inc the ludicrous “Rivaldo letter” fiasco and in return we have been given free publicity to do PR items dressed up as news. Today’s article written in a Sylvie Krin style featuring an unnecessarily large picture of Levy. There are no challenging questions – just set-ups for Levy. For the full text, The Full Story but these are the main points Levy: "I'm disappointed we're not at the same level as Arsenal. They're years ahead of us at the moment but we're trying to catch up." Explain? Just how are we trying to catch up? You’re disappointed, we’re heart broken. At least you have your Arsenal season ticket to compensate Levy "Arsenal have success on the pitch, are going to move to a large stadium and have great first-team and academy training facilities, well, now those are the areas we are focusing on." Notice the order of events. Champions League team, European profile and then do the stadium. It’s the order of events. Sort the team and create the demand. And as for publicly admitting that we are just copying Arsenal – it’s embarrassing. Levy: "This area (Tottenham) has gone downhill. There's been no central government intervention to stop the decline. I'm not confident, which is why we've decided we have to look at other options." Please feel free to insult the residents of N17. Did this decline start in March 2001 when some dodgy characters moved to the area with false promises. If you need to make a point to the Government, get on to David Lammy and put pressure on where it can work rather than bellyaching in the press. Levy: "We'd be open-minded about ground-sharing, We're not discussing it with anybody but clearly all clubs are going to have to manage themselves in a better way than before. If you can get more use out of your stadium, that makes a lot of sense. Clearly, the idea of utilising an existing stadium or one which has already been planned to be built obviously has some appeal," Levy on Ground sharing with Arsenal: "There's no conversation taking place with Arsenal. We have no plans to ground-share with Arsenal or anyone else, but clearly if someone approached us and it was in the club's interests and the fans' interests, we're not dogmatic. We'd look at it." FUCK OFF. This would be a case for forming AFC Tottenham Hotspur or more likely just giving up. There is no way that Spurs should consider coming in and bailing out the Goons are who are going in over their heads. They are in the shit, why should we help? If we’d have been in with them at the start of the Ashburton Grove project – it would have still been something I would not have felt easy with (although we have ground shared in times of need in the past), but it would be something to consider if it could generate revenues to justify the expenditure. But in today’s footballing environment, it can’t. New Scumbury is a white elephant, which has seen the Goons pay for a load of local redevelopment, which has left them with a serious hole in their money. Good, fuck em. In the new footballing era of no money (despite ever rising prices for the mug supporters) they are heavily in debt, which will weaken them in the future. At present this seems our only chance of ever finishing above them again. The one thing Sugar did for Spurs was not to saddle us with a load of debt – even when it was fashionable and everyone else was doing it. Now that debts are crippling clubs all over the country, ENIC seem intent on getting us £75m over our heads to buy assets we already have. I’m not an economist, but that don’t sound to clever, esp. in a low inflation environment where debt retains its real value. Levy on "But my view is that if it were a neutral venue, then it's something we would consider - it's something you'd have thought both clubs would at least consider. But on something as emotive as that, we would have to get a real feel from our fans as to whether that would be something they'd be prepared to accept." Just how neutral would Red seats be? Or is that ok now we have a red logo? If ENIC help the Goons out of the shite, the supporters should never forgive them. End of. Levy: "All the fans I've spoken to think that if we have the right location, the right facilities and it meant the club going forward, they would be very supportive of us moving." On first reading you would suspect this is the feedback from the Supporters Trust, but I get the impression that they have been taken by surprise by today’s announcement and did not know anything about the survey in the Charlton programme. THST are doing their level best, but it appears the club only uses them when it suits. Softly softly does not appear to have worked. Check the webpoll (top of the page). Sure no one is backward looking in terms of seeing Spurs move on – whether it be a new Stadium or a new training ground – but I cannot think of anyone who thinks either of these two things are more important than getting a proper Spurs team who are capable of playing in Europe and competing for the League once again. The Standard (inc quote from Levy) “He's not one for making a noise but, two years into ENIC's reign, has the confidence to quietly assert that, "the majority of fans would say this club has improved a lot on and off the pitch in that time". “ The thin line between journalism and PR. What fans? What progress? Most fans are fucked off at watching lazy old players who don’t give a toss, going thro the motions. How we are 7th baffles most people although the goal difference does not lie. The Standard: ”Yet he offers no short cuts to the patient, yet always seemingly impatient crew of his fellow fans who are forever waiting to be reacquainted with football's promised land. Spurs' path to catching Arsenal, he accepts, could be littered with as many false starts as a journey through the traffic lights down the Tottenham High Road.“ Don’t patronise us. Some people have suggested that it is in ENIC’s interest to make Spurs successful on the field and that is beyond question, but why is it not the PRIORITY? Did Arsenal think lets build new Scumbury fit for 60,000 cunts and then start to build a champions league team? Did they bollocks. And they have done it all with a capacity only 2000 greater than ours. It can be done, by the right people. Having travelled around the country watching THFC, I can confirm that WHL is one of the best grounds. Sure it’s on the small side and the transportation is an issue, but it’s a good ground, and most importantly in this time of tight money, it’s ours and paid for. Around 1999, the Training facility at Spurs Lodge was opened by Tony Blair and described as “state of the art”. Did this have a two year depreciation making it a hindrance to our progress such a short time later? Don’t think so. Also in 1999 (like 1997/98/99 &2000/01/02), Spurs were ordinary at best and three years later pretty much the same can be said. Levy and the rest of his chums on the board at THFC have made their money in property deals – and in control of Spurs they have reverted to what they know with all emphasis on property related schemes while Spurs paddle in midtable circles. It’s simply not acceptable. I’ve had it with ENIC and wonder just how long it will take for the majority of supporters to realise we are being worked over again. When they removed both our (what they call “free”) cup games from the season ticket? When they increase seat prices again so Spurs can compete without actually spending any money? When Sheringham gets another year on his contract rather than taking a chance with the £3m that will cost us with Zamora? On the one hand, chopping and changing at board or managerial level is not good for anyone, but neither is endlessly going down dead ends. ENIC have to address the problems within the footballing side of Tottenham. Everything else comes afterwards. HoddleBalls – I love Hod, but am increasingly concerned that he does not appear – at the moment at least – up to the task of taking poundstretcher Spurs back to the top in terms of team selection, 1001 tactics per game and some of the players he is reportedly interested in. So when I read the following I was even more pissed off with him: "I would like to ask all our fans if we were to lose twice to Arsenal and finish fourth in the league which would they prefer. It's always a big game and you always want to beat your rivals, I'm not saying that we don't. But there's got to be some realism about it." I’ll tell you what – we finish 4th and I’ll tell you then. Spurs finished 9th last season – more that 30 points off the Champions. And if we are to finish 4th, surely we should not be giving away 6 points to the goons, and why is it “realism” goes out of the window when the ticket prices are raised year on year despite the same old crap. If this lily livered crap is the kind of thing that makes up the pre match team talk, god help us. …and as for what Richards said about Rsol – best not comment on what you don’t know or understand. What Rsol did was wrong from the moment it was announced till hell freezes over and he will get the stick he deserves on Sunday. Pleaty & Sharon News – While everyone from GHod to Levy and the players are on my not good enough for the mighty Spurs list at the mo, I think special word needs to be reserved for old Pleaty. Pleaty is well worth his lolly and should be given a greater role within the club in introducing new talent. His knowledge of the game is excellent and he has appointed one of the most respected scouts in the country who is currently in Brazil searching out talent and word is he is due to come back with three Brazilians in the new year. Also, the latest on Sharon is she/isn’t she move to Leeds is that it is most likely to be off, with Shazza preferring to stay in London and not wanting to link up with El Tel when his job is not looking safe and Leeds in the merde. Which is good news for all you Anderton fans. I’ll get the bunting. Topspurs men of last weekend – Nutty Naylor on Talkssport. He started off saying that that Billy Nick should be knighted to which Rob McCaffrey agreed, and then with him lulled into a false sense of security with his Brummie accent went on to say that Rsol was @ WHL with Dale Winton and Graham Le Saux. Top man, as are all the Haverhill regulars who delight the radio phone ins every weekend. And Finally – Click here to win an audience with Teddy Sheringham. Teddy Sheringham Thursday Night Competition. All you have to do is turn up on any Thursday evening/Friday morning, and even if you cannot get in to Faces, just hang about to 3am in the morning and you’ll get to meet the formerly great man (and maybe some of the other £25k+ a week players who don’t give a fuck Spurs team). I hope Teddy rams these words down my throat with a captain’s display against the Arse, but I’m not overly worried as even if he does, he’ll be shit at Maine Road, St James etc. 13th December 2002 – Round upGoons – A month ago, we were battered at Scumbury and were fortunate to come away with only a 3-0 defeat after a bottle and talent less performance, not helped by playing with 10 men after Davies scandalous sending off. This was the latest in a long line of matches stretching back for around 4/5 years against the Goons where we have been embarrassingly outplayed. We have not shown any signs of improvement in the meantime (7 points from 9 against crap does not reflect the poor level of performance) and as we are playing the rematch under the same rules with pretty much the same players, its difficult to give us much of a chance (and no one mention the last home game before Christmas 1978), but … maybe its because we have been so ordinary all season, maybe because the expectation is pretty low I’ve just got a feeling that we are going to do them this time. Full history of matches against the goons going back to our 2-1 win in the first match in 1887 I cannot really justify it with logic, and come Sunday evening it could be more no surprises & broken hearted whine on the turntable but I just have a feeling & hope for once that it comes true. The team virtually picks itself but Hod and Sheringham need to get an emotional response as well as a footballing improvement as while there is little we can do with the gulf in talent in some areas, there can never be an excuse for coming second best in terms of commitment. Let's go out and batter these Goons back to Plumstead and if we can’t lets go down with a fight, with the board and Hoddle making sure that new signings arrive to lessen the gulf in ability between the sides ASAP so one day we can approach a match with these fucks with a little bit of confidence based upon logic. Give Judas plenty & Come on you Spurs – for Lord Percy and the rest of us. New Stadium debate – Earlier in the week, Levy has been quoted in the Grauniad as saying “We can't sit here forever and a day waiting for the government to take action. We have made it clear to a number of agents that we are willing to look at appropriate sites. There is no point having a larger stadium if fans can't get to and from the ground," …And there is no point getting a bigger stadium if it does not have a quality team to fill it. New Ground? New training ground? New first team? We have a training ground. We have a stadium and although the transportation is not wonderful, everyone can get there and back but we have won one trophy in 11 years (12 by the end of this season) It appears to be quite obvious that ENIC are only here to manage our mediocrity and tap our hopes and dreams for money while doing very little to help Spurs close the gap on those at the top of the League. I’ve had my say, now you have yours…Vote on the most important priority for THFC Them and Us – If you read Hoddle’s comments in the programme, the great man often makes reference to the great support Spurs receive both at WHL and on our travels, filling out away ends wherever we go (match timings permitting). But he appears to be alone at the club when it comes to helping Spurs have a good following away from the Lane as the club have decided to take up only part of the allocation we could claim in the Cup at Southampton. If that was not bad enough, the justification for it relies upon the Newcastle cup replay at St James in 1999. Sure both games are going to be live on TV, but Southampton is 1 rather than 5 hours from London and not two days before Christmas as was the Newcastle match. Which side are they on? New Signings – Still no real news about new signings. Phillips – the player the manager really wants – appeared to be doing the footballing equivalent of clearing his desk at Sunderland on Monday, which may give us someone to partner Keane. While many Spurs fans are not leaping about with joy over this, believe me he is a million miles better than another name that got thrown in the ring this week – too scary even to mention (even on loan) and there will be burning season ticket books if that happens. The Venables situation at Leeds is not helping anyone. I get the impression that we are eager to get rid of Sharon up there and may be into getting Bowyer coming the other way, but all this depends on El Tel keeping his job as no other fucker will pay money for a 31 year old £35k a week Sharon. Even if we get Bowyer (and no one has explained how Leeds will force him to go with a summer Bosman coming up), it still leaves us short of what we really need in the team – ball wining pacy midfielders. And it appears no one believes we have a problem at full back – so we are not even looking which is fine(ish) when Carr and Lazy are fit, but gives us precious little option if Carr gets injured and when Ziege goes missing. Please Read – This come from a gooner who asked me to pop this on the site. Shane was a 9 year old boy at my
daughter's school (which also happens to be Les Ferdinand's daughter's
school), who succumbed to leukemia earlier this week. He was a massive Spurs
fan, and Les arranged for the Tottenham team to sign a shirt and present it
to Shane just before he passed away. I am trying to encourage as many
Arsenal and Spurs fans as possible to make a donation to Great Ormond Street
in Shane's memory. How about making a promise to yourself to donate £5 to
Great Ormond Street for every goal Spurs score this weekend? Or £10 for every
goal Spurs win by?! Every penny makes a difference. Check the Great Ormond
Street website for details on how to make a donation this time. Shane will still be watching his
team this weekend, and it would be great if both sets of fans could remember
his life by making joint donations at every future derby fixture, to Great
Ormond Street, in his memory. This is sent in haste, and is not
a cordinated fund raising exercise, but, in the spirit of cooperation.
Otherwise, please donate something, anything, this weekend, for Shane. I have this crazy wish that a
Spurs fan and an Arsenal fan could jointly present a cheque to Great Ormond
Street on the pitch before every future Spurs/Arsenal game, home and away, so
that something positive may come out of our rivalry. Cheers, friends - I'm crossing my fingers and wishing you good luck on Sunday! Redknapp – Shame about Jamie’s injury – esp. after being rested for a couple of games but lets hope he makes a swift and full recovery and that we are still in the cup when he does return. In the meantime, lets hope Stiffen Fraud plays the game of his life against the Goons and gives that midfield some bite. InterToto – Just how serious are the club about getting Spurs back to Europe and back to the top? Give the supporters a clear message of intent and confirm that we will be seeking to enter the InterToto cup next season or provide a bloody good reason why we are not. Just how much time off in July do the players who lost at Burnley and Leicester at the end of last season deserve while Spurs languish. And finally – It appears that UEFA have found a reward for bankrolling Nazi’s and electing modern day fascist politicians – Hosting Euro2008. 8th December 2002 – Spurs 3-1 WBA1900 Not out – Topspurs sets itself apart for a load of nerdy stats (as well as an almost constant bellyache about what has happened to the mighty Spurs) and this win was our 1900th win in all our leagues dating back to a 2-1 away win at Polytechnic [now presumably University] back in Sept 1892 season (144 Prem, 964 Div 1, 311 Div 2 and 481 in the various leagues before 1908, not including war time matches, but it was another almost instantly forgettable spectacle. Glad we won, well pleased with the team selection (in terms of who we had available in the squad) and the substitutions although it remains a worry that we don’t seem able to dominate or play that well anymore (despite picking up the points on a regular basis). All we can do is win and well done to the team for making it 6 wins from 8 at home. Topspurs match report - West Brom This match and the performance has no real bearing on the Goons next week. That will be an entirely different occasion and I expect a much better Spurs performance, although am still very concerned that we are not good enough to beat them at the moment and will be praying to all the Tottenham gods this week to see us alright next week. Just hope that tosser Riley (who even Pleaty was digging out in the Programme) is no the ref. Saints in the Cup – Would you just know it! Two visits to Wupert poxy hole in 4 days. The third round is about getting a crap team at home and having a nice easy at the Lane to get the new year off in style and it never seems fair getting another top level team (esp. when the Goons get Oxford!). This will not be easy and it means almost certainly that the League match will be a cagey draw. No one needs reminding of Rocket Ron’s greatest day – which incredibly are coming up for 8 years ago the last time we me em in the cup. Of the other 4 times we have met them, we have twice been the cup holders and we have won two each
Don’t got there… – With my misery guts hat firmly on, what if Spurs lose to the goons next week, have a similar Christmas to last year, get dumped out of the cup by the Saints without the Season ticket holders getting the cup game they paid for (the one the club calls the “free game”) and we don’t sign no one decent in the Transfer window. Wonder what response ENIC will get when they come round with the begging bowl in April with the rest of the cup games gone and the season ticket prices up further to “compete” in the financially strapped football environment. Sure enough lets pray to god that it does not happen but… 7th December 2002 – Tottenham SupporterenInfo from our Friends in the North – While we have to make do with questions as to whether players prefer Kylie or Britney in Spurs monthly, our Norwegian friends actually get some interesting stuff in their “Tottenham Supporteren” magazine, produced by the 2000 strong THFC supporters club in Norway. Oystein Haugen from the leading Norwegian Spurs website "Down at the Lane" has translated some of the content from the latest issue which includes interviews with both Hoddle and old Pleaty, with interesting questions getting interesting answers. From the Pleat interview · The squad is too big and we are trying to sell players to have more money to salaries and to give the youth players more chances. But it’s difficult in today’s market. A lot of players are coming to the end of their contracts in the summer and some of them won’t get a new one. · Jonathan Blondel is a bit homesick, but he’s doing all right and he’ll stay here. Jonathan needs time, and Glenn knows that. He is a great talent. · Pleaty has faith in Dean Marney, Ronnie Henry, Stephen Kelly and Paul O’Donoghue. Johnnie Jackson who is on loan to Swindon is another good talent. But: "you never know, even if you are good when you are 17-18 years it doesn’t mean that you will succeed in the PL. Pleat also says: We have developed keepers, defenders and midfielders so it would be nice to developed a striker like Owen and Rooney. Michael Malcolm and Jamie Slabber are great great talents, but who knows? · We have been linked with players like Wayne Routledge (Crystal Palace) and Michael Tonge (Sheff. Utd) but Pleat doesn’t think they’ll end up in Spurs. "Routledge is good but way to expensive. Tonge is a talent too, but he is a bit to slow". But a player he thinks we’ll get, if we want, is Wimbledon’s Lionel Morgan as Pleat has strong connections with the staff at Wimbledon. · Pleaty thinks the Rebrov situation is very very sad. "It’s sad and difficult. Sergei seems like he has accepted that he isn’t in Hoddle’s plans. It looks like we’ve accepted to write him off at a loss ". · The rumours concerning Stephen Carr really concern Pleaty. "It’s natural that such rumours take place as Steve have agents that have strong connections with the Goons. But I hope and thinks that it does n’t affect him. His contract runs out the summer after next season, so we have to be very aware of that. We don’t want a replay of what happened to Rsol. We understood after a while that he wasn’t going to sign a new contract. We were willing to sell him, and give a large piece of the transfer fee to him, but he refused. Whatever we offered, he refused. Generally, if a player doesn’t sign a new contract, and also doesn’t want to be sold, he should be relegated to the reserves. The value will be reduced, and he’ll be less attractive. Maybe then he’ll accept to be sold, but luckily that isn’t my decision,” said Pleat. · It’s no secret that the club is seeking a new striker, even after Keano came to the club. "First of all I’m very happy to have Robbie here. I wanted to sign him since he was 18, but “Goonersaurus” did n’t want him. No matter what, we always are looking at strengthening the squad, even up front. But I don’t think there will be much happening when the transfer window opens in January, not here or other places. Almost every club does n’t have money", says Pleat, although he does have one name up his sleeve. "Personally I like Jason Roberts, who plays at WBA. But he’s old, so that isn’t my decision" says Pleat. Interview with Hoddle: · Hoddle on the Carr situation: "It’s only rumours and we can’t care about things that is been said outside the club. Stephen has worked hard to get back and that is the club very happy about". Hoddle doesn’t understand why Carr would be interested in changing clubs. "Everybody in Spurs thinks alike and everybody has the same ambitions. There is no reason to something else that the ambitions won’t be fulfilled here", said Glenn. · "Football has changed, but we are in a healthy position, both in terms of finance and squad,” says Hoddle. But he was quick to underline that it didn’t mean that we could expect too many buys in January. "Even though we are in a healthy position it doesn’t mean that we have lot of millions to use on new players. But of course we are busy to build an even stronger squad". · There is also news that Spurs own a third of Slavia Prague striker Stepan Vachousek (born: 26.07.1979). Former clubs FK Teplice, FK Chmel Blsany. National games: 3 A, 20 U21. THFC have an option to buy, and already teams like Ajax and AC Milan have shown their interest in him. He played the last two qualifying games for his country at the expense of Champions League regulars Jan Koller and Milan Baros. We have n’t signed the rest of him yet because he is not currently eligible for a work permit, but in 2004 his country will probably be a member of EU (this time next year Rodders…). Again, big thanks to Oystein for sorting this stuff in English. Interesting stuff which, internal politics of THFC aside, makes you think that Pleaty is pretty much on the ball and would do a good job for us if given a proper budget (and if course if the manager played players introduced to Spurs by the old fella) Where’s all the fookin money gone? – Increases in season tickets and matchday ticket prices, £10m profit last financial year, new shirt deals, new sponsorship & never off the TV. So where the fuck is the money to improve the squad? The arguments for putting THFC into potentially £75m of debt to replace perfectly good assets that we already have – the is not the issue here (although what is this £10m of short term borrowings that we are paying off?). I appreciate the transfer market has deflated and the club have to be careful but we must be in a strong financial position to broker deals – so there can be no excuse for more failure in bringing new players to Spurs this Transfer window. The whole truth and nothing but…? Part 1 – I was surprised to see the Heskey story appear in the national press on Friday (note, TOPSPURS had the link up a day before!) but I was even more surprised to hear the club deny any contact between the two clubs over the “Rich man’s Devon White” © Lynford as this does not appear to be the case. The statement on the official site read "There hasn't been any contact between us and Liverpool and there won't be, not because I think he's a poor player, but because the economics of it won't happen. They won't sell him and we're not looking to buy him. They could have picked any name to go with the story really." This is not what the jungle drums both down here and up in Murkeyside are beating. Huggy Bear’s word on the street is that there has been contact, and Spurs have told them to do one after pricing the big lump too high. As it stands there does not seem to be much chance of a deal, but things can change. Whether these misleading comments can be justified for the transfer negotiations is another matter but the "you hear it here first website" is not strictly playing with a straight bat to its main audience of Spurs supporters. http://www.spurs.co.uk/article.asp?article=122607 The whole truth and nothing but… Part 2 – This first appeared on topspurs on 19 Apr 2002 and was taken again by Oystein (where would I be without him) from a Norwegian message board. Looks quality info now dunnit! (Something we also knew at the time!) · "I've got a client who attended an analysts briefing with Daniel Levy about ENIC, by client is a Spurs fan and got a bit of Spurs news out of him, if you're interested read below. Apparently wages will never be more than 55% of turnover, and contracts are made up of 25% of bonuses. The aim at this stage is to get into the Uefa cup most years and the Champions League 1 year out of 4. The briefing took place on 10th April and Levy was pleased with the Kappa deal and the impending Thomson deal (apparently it's more lucrative than Arsenal's new deal.) · The West Stand is going to be made all season-ticket, whereas prices in the Paxton will rise by 20%. They've set a limit of 23,000 season tickets, because ST holders turn up late and don't go to the shop. Next season games will be classified as A, B and C, to get a ticket for an A class game you have to have been to 2 class C games (I don't know how it will work if we have A class games near the start of the season). · Levy admitted that we paid too much for Richards, but at the time they had to, he thinks that Richards has done 'just about ok'. Apparently Hoddle decided during pre-season that Rebrov wasn't good enough for the job he had in mind for him, and the board aren't too happy with Hod's 2 minute sub usage of Rebrov cos it's knocked his value down so much, but they think they might make some money out of Keller as he was on a free. The Spurs doctor thinks that Carr will be better than ever next season. · The board have 3 priorities, first team, youth set-up and ground, however in order of importance they are youth set-up, ground and 1st team (sorry), Hod knows this and is 'happy' with it. The club is £15m in debt, but ENIC have a £25m cash shell and £20m locked up in Autonomy. · As for transfers they've identified 4 or 5 players they're confident of getting, he also talked about a Bosman free transfer which was practically signed and sealed, my client asked if it was another slow injury prone midfielder, to which Levy replied 'No comment', but I think it's safe to assume he meant Redknapp. They also think that the new golf course could help swing a few signings their way. Ted on the Goons – From a quote from one of the tabloids: "Let's be honest, I don't like Arsenal. It all comes down to the Tottenham-Arsenal thing. I don't want them to win anything." Then to the official Site "I never said I hated Arsenal. I would never say that about any opposition team or player. It is too strong a word. I was asked who I wanted to win between United and Arsenal and naturally I said United. That's hardly surprising considering I used to play for United and I'm now at Spurs." No prizes for guessing which of these statements he gave without one hand tied behind his back – but the real issue – if you dislike them like the majority of Spurs supporters (and I’m not doubting that) – do something about it next week. As captain, get that team fired up and lets have another Chelsea 5-1 WHL experience. And Finally…Part 1 – While I hope he does not score against us today, I’d like to wish Jason Roberts well this season and in the future as he is a true Tot who even attended the League Cup final in Cardiff last season. I hope the Spurs supporters give |
