Jim Duggan's TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR site

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________01 Feb 2001 19:12:51 PM

(Jan 31st - West Ham 0-0 Spurs)

A good point at West Ham and a good debut for Andy Booth, but that three 0-0's in a row and we have only scored in one of our last seven league matches

(Jan 30th - And now he's got Shirt number 14)

Oh lord - I still have n't calmed down from yesterday and Booth's signing. The thing that really hit home after a while was that they got a big lumpering lump in the Les mould to partner Rebrov - so its going to be more of the same old long balls up to Booth, with Rebrov marginalised as usual.

And to make matters worse, they've given him number 14 - oh dear - its like they're playing a sick joke. And he's cup tied!! Just imagine what we could have had if Ginola was still there - given a free role with Rebrov up front........... - but there's no time for dwelling on the past as we contemplate the great future we have in front of us. Is that Marco Gabbiadini available???

(Jan 29th - Cometh the saviour - South Yorkshire's Ronaldo)

After threatening us all weekend with the return of the fat Ginger blob from Wimbledon, the club have managed to trump their previous striker stupidity be arranging a loan deal with Sheffield Wednesday's Andy Booth - a 27 goal in 130 league game man. Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackin 'ell

We were recently recognised as the 15th richest club in the world - one place beneath us are Roma, with Battistuta, Totti, Delvechio and Candela - and we're going after Andy Booth, a porky failure from a relegated club.

I'm close to despair, I really am. First they say there are no available players, and then after everyone else signs good players we end up with this one goal in five dodo.

I hope everything goes through cleanly and he enjoys his month here," said Pleat. "He's strong in the air, very wholehearted and very genuine, one of the best professionals I've ever worked with. (Read - He's a Donkey) "He's been stuck in the Sheffield Wednesday syndrome for the last three or four years, things haven't gone well and I think he has a contract situation as well. It's an opportunity for him to show himself and who knows, if he does exceptionally well, he may prove a real point," he added. "We're hoping it will go through and if it does it will give us a bit more power, no question about that. If everything goes according to plan we re hoping he'll be available for Wednesday s game at West Ham." (Read - We're desperate and both have nothing to lose!!) Lest we forget we let Peter Crouch go this autumn and he has scored more goals than Booth in same sort of Div 1 team - Great planning & what about Fenn, McEwen or Ferguson? Just don't sign him full time!!!!!!!!!

Are there no international strikers out of favour looking for a loan deal anywhere in Europe??? My Arse

I hope I'm left with egg on my face and Booth becomes a new Shevchenko for Rebrov, but, as Harry Hill says, "what are the chances of that happening".

Whatever happens, its done now and I think everyone should make him feel very welcome and get behind him if he makes he debut at the Boleyn Ground on Weds night. What has come through very strongly about Booth from Pleat and fans alike is that he is a 100%er and as long as he gives his best I'm sure he'll earn the respect of the fans.

(Jan 29th - Owls fans desperate to see him leave??)

I always find it a little saddening when players leave the club, specially ones that care for the fans/club. Booth is a prime example of this. He has tried(bless him!) but simply has failed to come up with the goods, but he is a good solid pro so good luck to him and all the best. Your comment on the decline post 95 were spot on Andy…Di Canio knew the crack and we should have stood by him…shame on Wilson. ( I also remember carbone being very committed to the club but Wilson again messed that up)….I now conceed….we are in big trouble. For what it is worth jewell/board out.

what the hell is going on? i have been following the owls home and away since 1973 and our current set of strikers are the worse i can recall.so what do we do?let 2 of them go weakening the forward line even more.now i`m not a fan of either booth or de billde but by letting them go out on loan is`nt going to swell the transfer kitty is it? whats next??? turn out the lights and lock the door??/

(Jan 28th - Stockport in the FA Cup)

Its Stockport at home in the 5th round - a great draw, made even better by West Ham's great win at Old Trafford. Lets hope the Hammers go on a three day bender and a knackered for our visit on Weds. Stockport, despite a recent win against Fulham, are languishing in the bottom 6 of division 1 and should not present too much of a problem on the way to the 6th Round when the winners of the Wycombe, Wimbledon/Boro tie would be very nice.

(Jan 28th - Bill Nicholson Knighthood petition)

I think every Spurs fan supports the idea of Bill Nicholson getting a belated Knighthood and to lend your support to the campaign, please click on the image & send Harry Hotspur the email

(Jan 28th - 4th Round opponants in the FA Cup)

Its another trip to 'orrible South London as Charlton have finally overcome the brave non League team Dagenham & Redbridge after an extra time goal in the replay. With a bit of luck they will still have injuries to their main players when we get to play them on the 7th Feb.

(Jan 27th - Micoud & the cup)

If, and I say this knowing that its not true, but if Micoud is available for £5 we should sign him asap as he is a fine player, and jus the sort of creative midfielder we need. Please let it be true, and it will be £5m better spent than on Ben Thatcher - maybe we could do a swap??

Lets hope Dagenham do us a favour by knocking out Charlton and that on loan Gavin Kelly has a good match for Kingstonian at Bristol City, who I hope we draw in the 5th round.

(Jan 24th - Daily Round up - Kachloul, Ferguson & Ledley)

It looks like we are now favourites to land Kachloul (unless he has a car factory fetish that would lead him to Coventry), and while he looks a reasonable player, I cannot help wondering why no one else wants him - as Groucho said, he would n't want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member. Why us, unless he's no good? - a mentality borne of too many transition seasons in the midtable wilderness

I don't like being harsh on a young player, but the praised recieved for McEwen in his recent displays are a bit wide of the mark. He ran hard and gave his all in both matches, and a bit of over praise now might be just what is required to make him feel he belongs at Tottenham, but even mitigating for the lack of service - he offered very little and looks very lightweight at the moment for the Premiership.

While I have not seen Steve Ferguson, I just have a feeling he is going to turn out to be a good player in the future, and hunch re-inforced by his goalscoring debut for the reserves at Chelsea last night, where another forgotton youngster Etherington was also on the scoresheet - I can see it now - Price, Etherington, King and Ferguson all on target as Spurs batter AC Milan in the Champions League final (at Ashburton Grove) - Don't forget, you heard it here first!!. - hand me the valium

A bit of Good news - a well deserved pay rise for Bow born Ledley, who has been excellent this season - lets hope he continues to blossom and stays injury free Spurs star Ledley King is reportedly on the verge of signing a new deal which would see him double his money at White Hart Lane. The 20-year-old midfielder has become a regular in the Tottenham first team this season and it's thought talks have opened to sort out a new contract. Spurs have put a four year deal on the table worth a reported £8000 per-week to the player.

(Jan 23rd - La Manga, the end of Sugar Jnr and other stuff)

The delayed cup replay has given the team an opportunity for a break and a bit of bonding and they are of to La Manga in Spain, the scene of Leicester's bad behaviour last season. Lets hope they enjoy the rest and come back fresh, batter West Ham before going on to win the Cup!!!

Other good news is that the Tim Nice But Dim Sugar's son has been got rid of - saving the club £200,000 a year - a scandalous waste. Being such a star in the his field I'm sure he'll have no trouble getting a job where his Dad ain't the owner.

Graham is at it again - trying to cover up his weaknesses by demonstrating a percieved strength

George revealed: "I would have expected to be further down the success route than I am at the present time. I can assure you I’m disappointed and I know the fans are. "They automatically said ‘you escaped relegation, won a trophy and made it into mid-table so now take it to the next stage’. Unfortunately we’ve not done that and I’m frustrated as them."

Wrong - Graham has the same (ok then, slightly worse) record than Gross - and it was Gross who saved us from a Mulletheaded relegation and not Graham - Graham has just made us solid midtable - what we were under Francis before the luck ran out

(Jan 22nd - the case for GG)

I thought the time had come for one of the Pro GG spurs supporters to put their case for giving Graham more time and was delighted when Spurs supporter Daniel Wynne offered to put his thoughts into a well thought out argument www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jmdcon/thfc-article12.htm .

While I cannot agree that we Graham should be given more time, we both share the same desire to see Tottenham return to the top and I would like to thank Daniel for taking the time to pen this piece. For more stuff on Daniel, he's never far away from the official Spurs chat room and often provides the official site with articles.

(Jan 21st - What's it all about, Georgie?)

The answer given by Danny B would be about doing it in style, and not trying to bore the other team to death, but I suspect that like a hunted animal, Graham has gone back into his shell and is dictating tactics that ensure that we minimise the chances of conceding a goal.

The usual rumours of new signings have started to surface after a disppointing display, but such is our fall from grace that the Newcastle 6-1 defeat last year saw us linked with David Treseguet, today we are linked with Luca Toni (at 24 if he was any good he would be owned by a top italian club, even if he was playing at Venezia) and recent James Beattie.

In the same way as the Everton fans used to sing who needs Cantona when we've got Barry Horne, what about "Who needs Lineker when we've got ToniBell"

(Jan 20th - Spurs 0-0 Southampton)

One header on the bar from King after good skill from Rebrov was all we had to show from this painfully dull encounter. Wake me up when the Goons are gone.

On a bitterly cold afternoon in N17, another poor showing from the team did little to raise the spirits of the White Hart Lane faithful. Spurs were without the suspended pair Sherwood and Sullivan but welcomed back Walker and Freund to replace these two as well as the Sol man and Ferdinand (briefly), who missed the trip to Everton through injury. Young was also in the side ahead of the out of form Leo, and there was no place in the 16 for the awful Korsten. At 2.45 I received a text message on my phone from the Giveusthescore info service informing me that the result of the match was 0-0 – I should have taken this as an omen and headed home there and then.

Although the game did not have a goal, this cannot be put down to any defensive tactics employed by Southampton – who had a fluid 3-5-2 system with everyone knowing their job and working for each other. The Saints had the first chance of the match when El Khalej got in behind Clemence on the Southampton right forcing Walker to make the first of a number of good saves before Perry, who was initially at fault for playing El Khalej on, blocked a goal bound shot from the rebound.

After the dismal display last week, it was nice to see us register a shot near the target within the first five minutes when a Rebrov snap shot from just outside the area after a Ferdinand knock down which dipped and faded wide of Jones’ left hand post as Spurs resumed their usual tactic of attacking the Park Lane in the first half. As well as a shot near the target, we were also treated to a corner within the first 10 minutes and Campbell got highest, but his downward header went straight at the Saints keeper.

Freund also announced his return to the first team with a stretching “effort” from just outside the left-hand edge of the box, which just made it inside the corner flag on the otherside of the pitch. Davies had the best chance of the opening exchanges, but he headed straight at Walker after a cross from supposed Spurs target Kachloul.

Much of the blame for today’s disappointment must rest with the dull tactics employed by the Goons. From my position on the halfway line in the lower shelfside, I had the constant arm waving and shouting of Euston in my vision for most of the match. This man is an arsehole and the joint architect of the dumb tactics we employed for much of this match, which I have previously described as “pass and no move”. This involves someone receiving the ball, and everyone else stopping and standing still while the player who received the ball, seemingly wherever they are, turning to face their own goal and play a square or backward ball to a teammate. This process is repeated until usually Perry is left with no option but to oooof the ball for Rebrov to contest in the air. At least we were spared the constant hospital balls played by Sherwood.

Much of the “success” of this tactic revolves around the hold up play of Ferdinand, but he pulled up lame after about 10 minutes to be replaced by McEwen. As much as McEwen ran hard in a lost cause last week, he is possibly the worst header of a ball I have ever seen in a forward position at Tottenham – he makes Anderton look like Bobby Smith. Unfortunately, the Goons did not possess the awareness to realise that without Les they needed to change their tactics.

The next chance that fell to the Saints was presented to them by a weak back header by Doherty, but Walker, who presumably did not call to initialize the error, redeemed himself with a good block from the inform Beattie. The game settled into a predictable pattern after the opening exchanges as Southampton had little trouble in breaking up the feeble attacking ambitions of Tottenham who were sorely missing the attacking drive of Carr (and Ginola). Before halftime, Clemence ran on to the ball and hit a low dipping shot, which Jones did well to turn behind for a Corner.

At halftime, Spurs were a little fortunate to be level, but the old boy selected as the Spurs representative in the hit the bar competition gave everyone some much needed cheer by hitting his attempt about three yards. He was a lifelong fan and seemed to enjoy his moment of glory in front of the crowd who gave him a great reception.

The second half continued in much the same fashion as McEwen and Rebrov being beaten in the air by Richards and Lundekvam at the heart of the Southampton defence. The best Spurs chance of the match was created by an all to rare piece of Rebrov magic when he twisted and turned on the left hand edge of the pitch before delivering a whipped cross which King did well to meet with a looping header that agonizingly hit the bar with the Southampton defenders able to clear.

Tactical genius Graham decided Leo for Freund as the best he could offer to win the game – at least he did n’t bring a defender on to make sure we did n’t lose, especially as that defender would have been Fatcha.

This was not the performance of a team at ease with tactics of a manager who has been at the Club two and a half years. The optimists will say we’re unbeaten in 2001 while the miseries (who know better) will counter with the fact that we have only won one of our previous nine league games. George seen celebrating in traditional manner after another sqaure aimless ball is played to ensure he gets his 0-0

Walker (7/10) – a good match by the floppy haired smiler with several important saves, but with the brilliant form shown by Sully, Walker’s chances will be limited, although it is nice to know we have a couple of decent players for the goalkeeping position.

Campbell (6/10) – a solid if unspectacular match from the great man.

Doherty (6/10) – looks a regular first teamer and apart from his bad back header had a good match defensively

Perry (6/10) – made a very important block in the first half when the goal beckoned after Walker’s save fell to a Southampton player and was generally ok.

Young (5/10) – was given the impossible task of replacing Carr at Right half and although he tried hard and generally played ok, did not offer enough

Freund (5/10) – a quiet return where he did his usual closing down and tackling but offered nothing offensively

Anderton (6/10) – always seems slightly more motivated for matches against his home town side who give his a little stick in their inoffensive way. ran hard but ultimately created little and had few outlets for his passes. Hardly justifies his star billing (and wages) these days.

King (6/10) – the mark of a class player is to always look like they have time on the ball, and this is Ledley personified. he plays the midfield link role well but with Freund doing a similar job, the midfield did not offer enough creatively. With his place in the team guaranteed, he could express himself on the ball a bit more.

Clemence (5/10) – offered virtually nothing wide on the left in a midfield that offered little overall

Rebrov (6/10) – Unfortunately does not get in the game enough as a result of the way we play, but when he does, he looks class. Graham’s next challenge should be to build the offensive tactics around Rebrov rather than expecting him to be another Ferdinand.

McEwen (4/10) – I hate to be harsh on the young lad, but he looks really out of his depth at this level.

(Leo & Leo – not on the pitch long enough to warrant a rating)

(Jan 18th - Cheatin Segers)

With the Grobelaar case being overturned to return a guilty verdict, our "friend" Segers must also be in trouble with the FA if they re-open the case. If I were them, I'd look very closely at the role of the whole Wimbledon team in their 3-2 defeat in May 1994 at Everton which ensured Everton's Premiership survival - especially the last goal of which Segers looks very dodgy. This might also end the obsession with Wimbledon once and for all at the Lane.

(Jan 18th - Foreign Fans)

First of all I'd like to say a big thank you to Oystein Haugen for providing me with a Norwegian greeting that now adorns the front page and would welcome contribution from any other non English speaking Spurs supporters for the front page. Norwegian and other Scandinavian fans have been a common site at every home match for many years now, often adding much needed atmosphere at the Lane and in the pubs before and after the match. Lets hope we're having a multi-cultural cup celebration come May 12th.

(Jan 18th - Ferdinand and other news)

If someone offered you £3m for a 34year old injury prone disappointment, I think the clever thing to do would be to bite their hand off and not let them out of the room until they'd completed the deal. Apparantly this is not the case and we're stuck with "Sir" Les as, despite his age and injury record, he is central to our plans. Hmmmmmmmmm.

(Jan 18th - Mabbs)

Check out an interview with Mabbs www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jmdcon/thfc-article11.htm - top geezer

(Jan 17th - Ferdinand uncertainty)

The injury prone 34 year old who has not scored since a few long overdue goals in November is after another fat contract with the club with his agent mixing it in the press with stories about Brescia etc. Les ain't short of a few bob and I reckon he owes the club something for putting up with his injuries and lack of goals over the last few years, and should shut up and get on with repaying something of what he owes.

(Jan 17th - Fixture mess)

As I wandered home from another day of wage slavery (if work was so good, the rich would monopolise it like everything else) and tried my best not to fall on the already icey pavements on White Hart Lane I thanked Doherty for his injury time winner from saving me from another Brentford-style performance sitting in the freezing cold at WHL watching the Orient replay, but then it I realised that Dagenham's replay would be off and the scheduled 4th round game would be put back. Groan.

A poxy trip to poxy South East London was bad enough on a balmy September saturday, but a similarly freezing midweek game (7/2/01) will be a nightmare to get back from, especially if the delay allows their top striker Johansson to recover his fitness - although it could give extra time for their excellent keeper to get sent off and miss the game and also means that Sully will not miss the match.

(Jan 16th - The year of the serpent)

I might come accoss as a miserable old git who can only slag off Gooner Graham with a host of sad stats - but believe me there is nothing I would like more than for Graham to live up to his winner reputation and make us contenders once more - I have no gripe about his Gooner past (well not if he was making us a decent side I would n't, its just another stick to beat him with when he cocks up).

Lets hope the year of the Chinese new year of the serpent has as much going for Graham as the year of the Cockerel did in 1981.

(Jan 15th - Graham slagging Tottenham off yet again to save his own skin)

Before I repeat what Graham has said to defend the performance on Saturday, lest we forget - in the 40 years since we've won the championship - Spurs have finished in the top three six times and been runners up once - ie 17.5% chance of being in contention with a further seven appearances in the top 6 (35% chance) - ie one on every three season we've been in the top six and playing good football for the majority of it. Add to this winning the cup in five of the 40 years 12.5% win ratio and a 15% final appearance. Also within that time, Spurs have won the second most European Trophies for an English club - three plus a runners up and only Liverpool and Villa have won more than our three League cup's out of four finals. So in the two out of three season we were not in the top 6, we were pretty likely to be chasing a cup.

Even forgetting all that - lets not forget that he has THE SAME POINTS PER GAME RECORD IN THE LEAGUE AS GROSS and IS RANKED 18TH OF OUR 22 LEAGUE MANAGERS.

Read what this cunt has to say and decide for yourself if he is the best man for the job

Graham hit back at perceived criticism of his side and the style of football they play. Graham said: "I keep being reminded about this club's tradition for winning things in style but it's a myth. "It's something that's thrown at me all the time but just look at the facts."

"It's 40 years since we last won the League and, even then, it was only the second time in our history. There have been a few lean times as well, so I don't see how anyone can argue that I'm somehow failing to maintain the club's standards. "In the meantime, I will continue to live in the real world, where a run of injuries like we've had leaves us with outfield substitutes who have barely a dozen first-team appearances between them."

1989/1990 Division 1 3rd 38 19 6 13 59 47 63
1986/1987 Division 1 3rd 42 21 8 13 68 43 71
1984/1985 Division 1 3rd 42 23 8 11 78 51 77
1970/1971 Division 1 3rd 42 19 14 9 54 33 52
1966/1967 Division 1 3rd 42 24 8 10 71 48 56
1962/1963 Division 1 RunnersUp 42 23 9 10 111 62 55
1961/1962 Division 1 3rd 42 21 10 11 88 69 52

1988/1989 Division 1 6th 38 15 12 11 60 46 57
1982/1983 Division 1 4th 42 20 9 13 65 50 69
1981/1982 Division 1 4th 42 20 11 11 67 48 71
1971/1972 Division 1 6th 42 19 13 10 63 42 51
1968/1969 Division 1 6th 42 14 17 11 61 51 45
1964/1965 Division 1 6th 42 19 7 16 87 71 45
1963/1964 Division 1 4th 42 22 7 13 87 81 51

And just think of the percentages without the Sugar years!

(Jan 15th - At last a journo that can see past Graham's lies?)

BY DAVID MCVAY (Times online)http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,27-67889,00.html

"IN THE year of a general election, George Graham certainly captured the spirit of things at Goodison Park on Saturday. There have been many dispiriting games in the history of the FA Carling Premiership but few can compete with this one for its blandness, bordering on incompetence. Yet, having seen his side fail to muster a decent shot on goal, George Graham, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, was “delighted”. Should they win a corner playing Southampton next week (they also failed in that task against Everton), prepare for a lap of honour from the Tottenham dugout, followed by joyous celebration.

Graham even had the impertinence to mock a question put to him. “How refreshing to find a journalist with an opinion,” he said. Even with their injuries, Tottenham should not be “digging in” to grind out draws with the likes of Tim Sherwood, Darren Anderton and Sergei Rebrov available. The latter had been ill all week, although, had he retired to his sickbed in the first minute and not returned, no one would have noticed.

In 65 encounters between these two clubs, only one has been staged outside the top flight. On this showing, apart from the class of Sherwood, the promise of Ledley King in the Tottenham midfield and the industry of Thomas Gravesen opposing them, they may secure a second next season

(Jan 13th - Everton 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur)

Boring crap - only Sully, King & Doherty looked like they were bothered while Rebrov was given no service and Korsten to deal with - the Evertonians said we were the worst team they had played all season - Graham is a big wanker and he has got to be removed asap.

On a crisp afternoon in Merseyside, both teams fielded patched up teams with injuries to key players. In fact the missing players Gerard, Carr, Tarrico, Xavier, Gough, Sol, Gazza, Freund, Ferdinand, Iversen, Ferguson – with Jeffers Pistone and oh go on then Fatcha on the bench could have actually put together a fairly decent team. The loss of Sol and Ferdinand put Graham into ‘backs against the wall’ panic mode where we seemed intent on coming away with a clean sheet from the start – not that we defended that brilliantly – we just offered nothing in attack which combined with Everton’s ineffectiveness to produce an away point.

Being Victorian Dad, the Goonersaurus continued on his idiotic punishment for Armo’s late arrival against Newcastle, by naming Korsten up with Rebrov. Chatting to Evertonian’s before the match, they were very downcast about everything to do with Everton – from the quality of players, lack of funds and general direction of the club – they were here for the taking if only Spurs had the sufficient desire to go at them. There was a big cheer at from the Everton fans at Watford last week when the final score at Orient was announced, as they were convinced that they were going to be our first away win of the season. We of course knew different. So with the lack of players, morale and will to win on our side – the game and the result was no big surprise.

After too much Anti Graham singing at Orient (while I want the bastard out, it seem counter productive to sing this sort of stuff during the match), its was great to hear non stop support for the whole of the match. I was very fortunate to be in the middle of the group who led much of the singing and even led a couple of “Yid army” chants. The players also came over to applaud the fans which they did n’t at Brisbane Road, which rather frustratingly shows some devotion to Graham.

The game started as it continued – dull periods of play punctuated by either team giving the ball away as soon as they tried to pass it forward in the opposition half. Ex-goon Campbell had the ball in the net – very much similar to Newcastle’s first goal in that another crap pass from Sherwood was intercepted but this time fortunately as Pembridge passed to Campbell he was offside. I was under the impression that shooting after the whistle had gone was bookable – but like many things during the game, the ref erred on the side of Everton – not that we deserved anything for our woeful lack of ambition.

Everton’s injury worries went from bad to worse, as one of the few successes of their season David Weir had to be replaced by Cleland inside 10 minutes. Sullivan was forced to make a couple of saves as Everton seized upon Spurs’ lack of ambition. The first was a run of the mill save from a Max Moore effort after Young was guilty of not getting the ball away, but the second was an excellent save from Graveson. Graveson is their equivalent of Freund and it sums up the day when he looked the best player on the Everton side. Sullivan also saved from Alexandersson when the Swede should have done better than shoot straight at Sully from about 10 yards, but reserved his best save of the match by pushing a Campbell header round the post from a right wing cross.

This certainly flatters Everton who were a poor side, but I am unable to punctuate it with action from the other end as apart from a couple of long range efforts that never looked dangerous and an ordinary free kick from Anderton, any Spurs attacks broke down as we entered the last third. It was as if Clem and Anderton were given specific instructions not to go down their respective wings and just chip balls in for Rebrov (or Korsten if he could be bothered) to contest in the air. Sherwood’s passing was as bad as ever but managed to get a few tackles in playing in a much deeper midfield role, Anderton offered very little and played like a fairy, Leo still seems well below his usual level of reasonable consistent performances and Clem could not get into the game enough from his position on the left handside. The only person who kept the team going was Ledley King who was my outfield player of the match for Tottenham – strong in the tackle and simple but decent distribution.

If its not bad enough being conned into coming to Tottenham from the Champions League anyway, Rebrov is double cursed by having to try and get the ball by winning headers from aimless oofs forward. On the rare occasions he got the ball on the ground, Everton defenders descended upon him and he was usually isolated with the midfield under strict orders not to get in the Everton box.

The normal “Burt and Ernie” teamtalk at halftime inspired even more ineptitude from Tottenham, as Everton realised there was plenty of space to exploit behind the Spurs wingbacks. We were lucky to get away with the best chance of the match, when a Campbell header came back off the post and needed a very alert piece of defending from Luke Young to clear the ball off the line as a goal looked inevitable.

The Goonersaurus – who usually reserves his substitutions until right at the end when they can have no effect – (or brings on defenders when we are losing like at Charlton) – actually made a tactical switch just after the hour mark – removing the struggling Leo and the abysmal Korsten for Davies and McEwen. I notice that Graham has made no comment on Korsten or tried to justify his inclusion in the team – the gooner twat.

From a long way out, this had 0-0 all over it, unless one of the defenders made a bad mistake. Spurs looked marginally better with Davies, who will hopefully get a run in the team now and McEwen who’s effort put Korsten to shame (although I think he is a bit light weight for the Premiership)

Spurs had their best period of the match as the final whistle approached and Everton started to worry that their bad luck would rob them of a point. The term “best spell” is a relative term – they showed some initiative going forward, and even managed a shot on target from King. A good example of the poverty of our tactics was a free kick awarded about ten yards inside the Everton half with only minutes remaining. Rather than get the ball in the box – something that had hardly happened all afternoon – captain marvel Sherwood squared the ball to Young who was not expecting it and was forced into challenging for the ball as it arrived as the pass was so poor. Young managed to get the ball to Clemence, but the move broke down without the ball getting in the box. Dire.

The referee put us out of our misery soon after. After the match, Evertonians to a man said that we were the worst side they’d seen this season by far and could not understand why we did not go to win the game. What was it the great man said “its about going out there and doing it in style, not boring the other team to death”. Joe Hulme, Terry Neill and Gooner Graham – we’ll never be any good with a Goon in charge, they just don’t understand.

Sullivan (8/10) – Did n’t have a great deal to do, but made some good saves where necessary and always looked in command.

Doherty (7/10) – Continues to impress now he has switched back to right half and did his job well for the team

Perry (6/10) – Generally played well in his defensive duties, but failed to use the ball well.

Young (6/10) – Given a chance because of the Sol Man’s absence and played well out of position and made a very important goal line clearance in the second half to keep us in the match

Clemence (6/10) – Did what he was asked to do adequately, but was not allowed to express himself in the game               

Sherwood (5/10) – As much as people laugh at Carlton Palmer and Lee Sharpe as Graham Taylor’s England men, they will laugh at Sherwood as a Keegan selection. He had his usual repertoire of bad passes but redeemed himself by battling on when things were n’t going for him and making some fair tackles.

Leo (5/10) – Anonymous, and probably still feeling the effects of his recent injury. Can and will do better

King (7/10) – Another good show from Ledley – if only he could be the Paul Stewart to someone else’s Gazza we might just have a midfield

Anderton (5/10) – Not given much licence to get forward and offered very little – if he’s one of our star we’re in the shite. Maybe its time for him to clear off and give someone else a go

Korsten (1/10) – If its not bad enough being shite, to add to that being Lazy makes it criminal. And lets not forget – this is the man Graham purchased to replace Ginola.

Rebrov (5/10) – Was given no service and was hardly in the game at all

Sub Davies (6/10) – Tried hard in the mire of the Tottenham midfield, and should be given a run in the team at the expense of Leo or Sherwood to see if he’s good enough for the Premiership

Sub McEwen (6/10) – Get a fair mark for the effort he demonstrated, although never looked like being the hero.

(Jan 11th - Everton away)

Off to Everton a day early - and flying up there as well - lets hope its a good weekend and we come away with the right result - preferably a win. Match report and trip details on Sunday evening

(Jan 10th - Jesse's football linkages - Today we will be mostly linked with...............)

Samuel Eto'o

More nonsence as the random name generator at Teamtalk has come up with Real Madrid's Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o. Eto's , who is currently on loan to Real Mallorca,'s main claim to fame is that he scored the winning goal in the final of the Sydney Olympics earlier in the season. According to the Spanish media, Spurs have made a £9m bid for the 19-year-old who has been a full international for the past couple of seasons, although who within the club would be in a position to authorise this sort of payment is not mentioned.

(Jan 10th - Carr out for another 2 weeks - but no op)

Tottenham fullback Stephen Carr will be out of action for at least two more weeks and may need surgery to correct a nagging groin injury. Medical staff are hoping further a two week lay off may allow the problem to clear up - otherwise Carr may have to undergo an operation.

A similar situation to last season where Sherwood played on, and eventually was forced to have the op anyway - why did n't they have the operation after the Southampton game (Carr said the injury had been around for a while before that) and then the number of games lost would have been minimised. The good news regarding our right sided defenders is that Luke Young, recovering from a broken foot, came through a reserve match to add to his sub appearance against Newcastle.

(Jan 10th - White Hart Lane for England match)

The England - Holland match scheduled for 15th August 2001 will be played at White Hart Lane - the 5th International match played at the famous stadium - the last one was a friendly against Italy in November 1949 in which I think England won 2-0.

(Jan 9th - No Murdoch Bokker)

With the remaining sky fixtures being annouced, it was a great relief to find we were not on them - our record on Sky is relegation form and with a bit of luck we can make our way quietly up the table - the Goonersaurus great tactics permitting

(Jan 9th - Joy of joys)

Fookin great - problems over - BEN THATCHER will make his comeback from injury in a reserve match this afternoon. Thatcher hasn't played a competitive game since November when he injured his groin in the 3-0 win over Leicester. - dropping another bollock, its arguable that Fatcha has played a competative game since he arrived.

(Jan 8th - Victorian Dad)

A few years ago, one of the characters in Viz was based upon a person stuck in the Victorian age - Victorian Dad - who amongst other things ruled his children with brutal discipline without regard to common sence. The laugh for Viz was showing how these old fashioned methods looked stupid in the modern world.

Well we have our own Victorian Dad, in the Goonersaurus, who has dropped Armo for turning up late for the Newcastle match - cutting off his nose to Korsten his, and our faces! What a twat - why not fine Armo and give him one of his bollockings, but to replace his with a far inferior player just cos he was late once - is stupid. Reason 313.758 to want Graham away from the club.

(Jan 8th - Jansen & Kickaball)

The story about interest in Matt Jansen as resurrfaced a couple of times over the last week or so, and rather than in the former "Leeds, Villa, Everton and Tottenham are linked" we're now joined by Leicester apparantly. While Jansen looked a decent prospect a few years ago, he does not seem to have progressed and has hardly been banging them in for Blackburn or earning rave reviews. He was fortunate to look a good player in bad sides as he went from frying pan to fire from Carlisle to Blackburn via Palace and apart from cover for Iversen, there seems little point in signing him now, especially as he's cup tied.

Another day - another mysterious South American linked and although Pleaty has not gone on record yet to deny it, we know that it is as certain as light replacing dark tommorrow morning that he will. The bloke in quesiton this time is - Claudio Husain - who is a defensive midfielder. Apparantly he was sold to Parma at the start of the season, but immediately loaned out to struggling Napoli - who do not have a great record in clean sheets at the start of the season. Sounds like crap - and no mention of international caps.

(Jan 7th - Previous cup meetings - Charlton or Dagenham & Redbridge)

We've never met Dagenham & Redbridge before, but have met Charlton twice before in the Cup, both in the third round. The first time Charlton were beaten 3-2 at the Lane on the way to lifting the Cup (and the League) in the double season in 1961. The other time was in 1985 when we needed a replay before goals from Falco and Galvin saw us 2-1 winners at the Valley. Lets hope for a similar result this time round

(Jan 7th - 4th Round Cup draw - Charlton or Dagenham & Redbridge away)

We have even more reason to rue the late deflected goal that rescued Charlton from cup humiliation at the hands of Non - League Dagenham & Redbridge. It would be a dream come true for Dagenham & Redbridge to beat Charlton at the second attempt, so we have to prepare ourselves for a return to the Valley where we lost 1-0 in September after an inspired display by Charlton keeper Kiely. Like ourselves, Charlton have an excellent home record suffering only one defeat this season, but as long as we play well there is no reason why we cannot get at least a draw at the Valley before progressing to the next round.

We've never met Dagenham & Redbridge before, but have met Charlton twice before in the Cup, both in the third round. The first time Charlton were beaten 3-2 at the Lane on the way to lifting the Cup (and the League) in the double season in 1961. The other time was in 1985 when we needed a replay before goals from Falco and Galvin saw us 2-1 winners at the Valley. Lets hope for a similar result this time round

Although we could have got an easier draw, I was relieved that we got placed with these two as Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Leeds all remained in the hat with only six of the sixteen ties to go, with the latter two getting paired together and Man U getting premiership opposition in the shape of West Ham. All in all, I'm sure everyone is pleased with the draw as many all Premier ties could ensure there are plenty of lower league teams left in the cup. Only 4 more wins and we're at Cardiff, 5 and we're cup holders again - so come on you Spurs

Sunderland or C Palace v Ipswich
Gillingham v Chelsea
Bradford or Middlesbrough v Wimbledon or Notts County
Bristol City v Kingstonian
Bolton v Burnley or Scunthorpe
Blackburn v Derby
Man City v Coventry
Cardiff or Crewe v Stockport
Southampton v Sheffield Wednesday
Wycombe or Grimsby v Wolves
Charlton or Dag & Red v Tottenham
Leeds v Liverpool
Man Utd v West Ham
Everton v Tranmere
Luton or QPR v Arsenal
Newcastle or Aston Villa v Leicester

Ties are to be played between January 27th-30th

(Jan 6th - The road to Cardiff starts here - Orient 0-1 Spurs)

We’re on our way,  perhaps not in the fashion we expect, but we’re there nonetheless and have another success emerging from the ranks in Doherty. On a crisp sunny afternoon in North East London, it was great to see mixed groups of fans going to the game and there seemed more than the official attendance in the ground. Inside the ground things were not so good – no seat number on the seats and only one entrance and one toilet for around 5,000 people in the Spurs stand. Half time brought memories of Hillsborough 1981 when people were involved in a massive crush attempting to move within the stand.

It was good to see many of the usual traveling faces within the crowd and a massive “yids” banner was hung on the northern end of the Spurs enclosure. As expected, Spurs started with the same team as against Newcastle, with Krapston unbelievable keeping Armo off the bench, on a decent quality pitch for a lower league team. Spurs started fairly brightly in a frenetic opening. Rebrov had the first clear-cut chance when he controlled the ball perfectly on the left hand edge of the box, before coming inside and hitting albeit a modest shot at the keeper. I had a terrible view of the goal to my right as the TV gantry and associated posts were in the way, but managed to see Sully pull off a good save from a smart snap shot from Lockwood after Campbell had headed out a corner.

An Anderton free kick was smartly flicked on by the ever impressive King and Campbell stole in at the far post to force the ball home at the second attempt after the keeper made a brave stop from his first effort, only to see the lino had his flag up for offside – which looked very dodgy. The crowd sung “he’s done his country proud” as he went back to the halfway line and Campbell remains a firm favourite amongst the real yiddo’s whatever the spin the likes of Sugar and the Goonersaurus try to put on his contract negotiations.

As the first half wore on and Orient battled their way into the games, the only way to tell the Premiership side was by the fact that they did n’t seem to be trying as hard. Despite Orient’s best efforts, they never really threatened Sully’s goal and it was Ledley King who had the next meaningful chance after 20 minutes when his powerful header from Leo’s right wing cross was well held by the Orient keeper.

This was probably Tottenham’s best spell of the match and soon after this, it was King again with another similar header which this time smacked the Orient post before Clem slid in only to see his effort from a couple of yards hit the bar before going behind. The only other chance for Tottenham in the first half was a 30-yard Anderton shot, which was well saved towards the end of the half.

Tactically, Spurs (apart from possibly Sherwood) have managed to perfect the art of pass, but have not managed to add the “move” element to make all the passing worthwhile. As soon as someone receives the ball, there is no movement from anyone else in front of them in the pitch. The team often flatter to deceive by making sure everyone in the defence and midfield has a touch of the ball before Sherwood provides someone with a hospital ball and we lose it. Its like Graham has heard of progressive tactics, but does n't really understand them – and until this is sorted, we will not see the best of Rebrov.

Orient, in the shape of the mulletheaded Harris managed to hit the post towards the end of the first half but the ref had already blown for offside. The very vocal Spurs following wasted no time in letting their regard for Graham be known with intermittent singing of “we want Graham out” and “there’s only one Glenn Hoddle” (although it should be added most of the these short burst were followed by “we love you Tottenham”. While I can never condone any form of anti Tottenham singing, I have every sympathy with these songs and after numerous away disappointments, the lack of tactics and the sale of Ginola, I also want the Goonersaurus out but think singing it during a cup match is counter productive.

Half time arrived to the somewhat bizarre sounds of the banana splits, and in true yiddo fashion we all had a good moan.

Soon into the second half, Rebrov got on to the end of an Anderton cross, but saw his header saved by the competent Orient keeper. Spurs failed to build on this and regressed in the match. Ferdinand, for all his recent good performances was very poor, eventually being substituted for the even worse Korsten, while Sherwood even found a third division midfield to alert for him, and Leo had another modest game as right wing back, offering little going forward and leaving Doherty exposed too often. A monotonous period of play in the second half brought ironic singing of “its just like watching Brazil”

As the game wore on, many Spurs fans got annoyed at the team’s lack of ability to put any sustained pressure on the Orient goal, let alone look like scoring. With ten minutes to go, Leo broke into the space behind the Orient defence, but his cross/shot evaded both the far post and Anderton who had made a spirited effort to get in the box. Anderton managed another shot from the edge of the area, but this was blocked for a corner, as Anderton brushed his hair away in disappointment.

In the final five minutes of normal time, Orient had their best spell of the match, as the crowd’s realisation that one goal could knock us out seemed to galvanize their players and Spurs had to clear a couple of times under pressure, but nothing actually troubled Sully.

The fourth official held up the board signaling three extra minutes (from where only he knows). Campbell got forward and sent over an innocuous looking lofted cross, but Rebrov used all his spring and managed to get a good firm header which the keeper did well to turn for a corner. Anderton took the resultant corner and as everybody moved to the near post Doherty stole in behind and placed a downward header in the corner. The crowd went wild – we were through, and those of us that had done over 1600 miles following Spurs away this season had finally seen an away win.

The ref blew the whistle shortly after, and while Orient may feel slightly hard done by as the goal was so late and they had held Spurs off so spiritedly, they cannot complain that Spurs had the better chances. Lets all sing together “its lucky for Spurs when the year ends in one, we’ll next win the cup when the centaury begins”

The only downer of the last few minutes was the refusal, bar Sully of the players to acknowledge the fans at the end of the match. This is obviously related to the Anti-Graham chanting as the same thing happened at Coventry amongst others this season.

Sullivan – 7/10 – another solid display. He never looked like conceding a goal

Doherty – 7/10 – the second excellent performance in a week. Doherty looks much happier at the back coming forward and is a strong tackler. He will be even better with Carr at right wing back, and scored another vital goal. A great week for the young man, so it was.

Perry – 6/10 – generally played ok

Campbell – 7/10 – another good display from Sol who looked unlucky to have his goal chalked off

Leo – 5/10 – I like Leo, but he has struggled for form since his return to the side and does not look a natural wing back

Sherwood – 5/10 – better than recent efforts but still looks well off his best

Anderton – 6/10 – Shaggy might not be the player he was but he kept plugging away and sent in a fine corner for the winning goal

King 7/10 – an accomplished performance in the middle from Led who was unlucky not to score. Would benefit from having someone better than Sherwood as an outlet.

Clemence 6/10 – played ok without doing anything special

Ferdinand 5/10 – had a rare off day

Rebrov 7/10 – looked busy up front and was at the heart of the best things we created. Looks a better player now that he shoots more often

(Jan 5th - The Campbell and Anderton contact Saga - and another undignified outburst from Sugarlump)

Oh dear!! - Contract negotiations that seem to be being conducted solely in the media - which is good for no-one, especially the reputation of the club. I have to say - a god knows it does n't happen often - that Sugar and the Club have come out with more credibility than Sol on this latest media comment. I have been behing Sol 100% and will not begrudge him a move to somewhere more successful if the club do not invest in trying to build a top team - and all of his comments seem to be along the lines of I want to stay, but only if the club invest for a better future - but unless this was just a dig at Sugar - from which it seems obvious that Sol loathes - it does not add to his credibility. Anyway - make up yer own mind - all comments to follow:

First Sol's view

Sol Campbell claims he is hurt that Tottenham have not made him an improved contract offer during the last 18 months and is angry that the club have not made him another offer since he rejected their last one two summers ago. "Of course it hurts. In a way I am not selfish in that I want the club to do well rather than worrying about a contract and money," he told Sky Sports.
"I have been here over 10 years and it means so much to me to do well for Tottenham, rather than go somewhere else. I'm happy here but there's a lot of things to sort out off the field."The main thing is to get the club in good order and moving in the right direction. "The ball's in their court now and we have got to now move on and see what they do. "I have put my cards down and now they have to make their move. I am happy, I'm willing and I'm here to do business."

Then Graham

Spurs boss Graham said he would have been happier if Campbell had made his statement "person to person", and wants to see some progress on any new deals sooner rather than later with both players seen as crucial to the club's future success. "My attitude is let's get them round the table and get some serious talking done," "But so far it's nearly all paper talk. I haven't spoken to them and David Pleat is the first port of call as our director of football. It will all be done through official channels."

and then - oh shite motormouth is back from Holiday - Sugar (in one of his old fashioned outbursts).

Sir (sic) Alan said: “I am absolutely astounded at Sol’s comments. They imply that the club has not been trying to get him to stay. “This is so far from the truth that I am at a loss to understand what motivated him to say these things. “We have had endless meetings with him and his agent, all of which were fruitless; each time the clear message coming across was ‘Sol does not want to discuss a new deal’. “His latest comments make me, David Pleat and George Graham come across as idiots or even worse, liars. [no comment - I think the three unwise men do a good job of that without Sol]

“We have publicly stated many times that we are ready to sit down and discuss a new deal but we have been unable to get him to the table. Why on earth would we refuse to make him an offer? There’s no point making offers to someone who refuses to talk. “We turned down £15m for him, this showed our commitment to keep him at the club.

“With the ongoing saga of Campbell’s future with rumours of him going to Manchester, then abroad on a Bosman, does Sol think anyone is going to believe what he is saying? Everyone in football knows we have been desperately trying to keep him. “The fans are not stupid and he should not try to make fools of them. “I am disappointed he has chosen the media to pass messages to the club. If he wants us to make him an offer we are delighted to do so but the fans must not be misled by his recent comments. “They are hurtful and, for the life of me, I can’t understand why he has said them.”

(Jan 5th - Police are investigating a hate campaign that threatens to drive manager George Graham out of Spurs)

The following article is doing the rounds - it was even mentioned on the official site - talk about preventative policeing!! - when has Graham suffered any abuse like Sugar? Are we not allowed to sing we want Graham out without getting a visit from the Old Bill. Graham deserves to be critisised for his poor managerial reign at Tottenham and nothing else - and as far as I am aware, there has been nothing else - so what's the big deal. This looks like a straight investigation into TAG/SOS and their anti Sugar campaign so where the Goon fits into this I have no idea. Just to reiterate - Graham should be sacked because of his poor tactics and results - but, just to make it perfectly clear, any physical or verbal agression against him is not supported by this website.

(Jan 4th - Doherty)

As expected the Goonersaurus was quick to praise Doherty for his excellent show on Tuesday against the Geordies - as its an indirect way of blowing his own trumpet - needless to say, he had much less to say about the Doherty and Korsten partnership that kept Rebrov and Armo on the bench at Ipswich!! Doherty deserves all the plaudits and for the first time showed why Spurs speculated on him (he had in truth looked a bit of a donkey before) - I just hope it does n't go to his head and he tries twice as hard from now on. The Goon said "I thought Doherty was outstanding, it was a lovely run (for Rebrov’s goal), he shaped up to shoot and everybody went for the shot and it was a beautiful little reverse ball into Rebrov who took it first-time on the outside of his foot, Real, real quality both from the youngster and Rebrov." Doherty Celebrates his goal that everyone missed watching the Jumbotron replay

(Jan 4th - Iversen - not as bad as expected)

Despite all the gloom yesterday, it looks like our Non Scoring Norwegian will resume training in six week - which is good news for everyone expect Armo.

(Jan 3rd - More comment from the Newcastle game)

Bobby Robson has let himself down hy going on one about the ref yesterday and how they should have had a penalty. Yawn. The facts are that King did not foul there bloke in the box, but Solano did handball a certain goal away and Newcastle got the advantage of not going 3-1 down, which would have been 4-1 minutes later and 5-1 if Rebrov's shot not hit the bar. He also forgot to mention that Sully got the ball for their penalty but made ludicrous claims that they were on the verge of winning the game when they were 3-2 down. Crap. A lot has been made of the ref, but for my money he refereed the game well - it was just one of those games - all the sendings off were obvious at the time and as were all the penalties. So although its worth giving credit to Newcastle for putting on a bold and attacking show, the sour grapes are a little sad

On a separate note - it looks like Sully did get the ball and George is going to appeal about Sully's sending off so with a bit of luck he'll get his ban lifted and we won't have any heart stopping Walker moments, although to be fair to the floppy haired one, he played well last night.

(Jan 3rd - Anderton - part of the furniture for years to come)

In a mixed day of news with regard to Iversen's injury news, it was great to hear Anderton come out and say he wants to stay at Tottenham. While Anderton is not as good as he once was (or should I say less effective than he used to be), he is still a classy player we can ill afford to lose. He will get a deal above what he probably deserves but its great to see that he wants to stay, although hopefully he will sign for longer than a year this time.

He said: "I know that because my contract is up in the summer I could talk to foreign clubs now, but I would rather stay at Spurs. "I'm not just saying I want to stay, I really do want to. I feel I am part of the family here." "My agent had a meeting with David Pleat, the club's director of football, just before Christmas. Although no offer was made at the meeting, Spurs asked if I wanted to stay at the club and I made it clear to them through my agent that I did. "I will wait and see what offer they come up with and I imagine they will do that soon now that we have finished with the Christmas and new year fixture programme. If a European club came in for me tomorrow I would wait to see what Spurs had to offer me first before I made any decision."

Jan 3rd - Player not linked non story?)

Despite not hearing the rumour before, Pleaty has come out to deny that we are about to sign £1.3m Argentine midfielder Juan Fernandez di Alessio who currently plays for Lanus in Argentina. Although Pleaty denyed that we were about to sign the geezer, he did add "No-one from our scouting staff has been to Argentina in the last two months. Although we are aware of this club, and a couple of their players have come under scrutiny, we have not looked at this player. This story is false."

So who knows - but with Argentina feeling returning to the lane last night with the appearance of Ricky Villa and a cup run about to start, it would be a great time to arrive.

Jan 3rd - ENIC - backing for the Goonersaurus?)

It has been widely reported that ENIC have come out and said that they are behind Gooner George and the muppet Euston

Graham has been coming under pressure from both fans and the media on the back of a run of poor results over the Christmas period, but speaking to Radio 5 Live before the game ENIC's John Bick said : "There is a great deal of support for the current management team at Spurs. We are not wavering from that and are keen to ensure the existing management gets as much support as it can."

This is nothing new and just confirms that these two mugs are here to the end of the season. After hearing Glennda duck Crooksie's questions and not rule himself out of the Tottenham manager's job on a MOTD interview on Monday, I think we'll start next season with Glennda and Gorman - after all, we kept getting assurances about Ginola not being sold!!

I just hope Graham does n't get a huge payout for the mess he has made and then go bleating to the press slagging Tottenham off and blaming the club and fans for his lack of success.

(Jan 3rd - Iversen out for the season)

Some bad news - but news we all expected - Iversen has ruled himself out for the season after the successful second operation on his knee. Lets hope he gets a decent rest and comes back fully fired up to be our leading scorer next year - and Graham buys a cover striker for Les, Rebrov and Armo - and does n't persist with the myth of Korsten. Lets hope the rumours about Matt Janson prove correct

Iversen said: “It is difficult to predict exactly when I will play again. “I am looking towards getting myself ready for the start of next season. “Hopefully I will be able to start walking again in a fortnight and be totally recovered a couple of months after that.“I’m confident the injury problems are finally behind me.”

(Jan 2nd - Spurs 4-2 Newcastle - what a game!!)

A great game and one that will live long in the memory - Three sendings off, Three penalties, one of which was saved and six goals - all this despite the Goonersaurus being in charge.

The Goonersaurus restored Rebrov to the starting line up after the baffling decision to drop him at Ipswich and just as importantly welcomed back Ferdinand to lead the attack. Spurs reverted back to the 3-5-2 formation with Doherty fitting in very well as the right-hand centre back with Sol on the left and Perry in the middle. Sherwood somehow retained his place in a balanced midfield. It was also good to see Young on the bench, but Graham proved he is the only person on earth who could prefer Krapston to Armo on the bench.

Spurs started well, if a little cautiously and dominated much of the early play without coming too close to scoring attacking the Paxton in the first half for a change (Sol must have lost the toss). Sherwood contrived to gift Ameobi (a ringer for Paulo Wanchope) and he advanced toward to Tottenham goal before cleverly squaring for Solano who shot past the helpless Sullivan. The bad pass by Sherwood left the defence completely exposed and it was one of a number of bad passes Sherwood has given this season and he looks a shadow of the player who led Blackburn to the Championship. Davies must be close to getting the nod in the midfield

Les was encouraging everyone on at the kick off and it was re-assuring to see the team react in a positive fashion after conceding a goal against the run of play. We did n’t have long to wait for the equalizer – although most of the crowd seemed to miss it!! A right-hand side corner was headed out to Rebrov on the edge of the box and his low shot was deflected goalwards by Ferdinand for Harper to pull off an excellent reflex save. While everyone watched the replay on the Jumbotron (including the cameraman) – Clemence I think swung in a cross from the left and Doherty rose unchallenged to head powerfully into the corner from 15 yards out. After missing the goal in real time – it was even more annoying to realise that the cameraman missed it as well and we were treated to home video standard glimpses of the goal. Poor Doherty – it was his first Premiership goal.

Spurs were in front soon after Clemence and King worked the ball to Anderton who was barged off the ball by Speed in a crude challenge which gave the referee little alternative that to point to the spot. Anderton grabbed the ball and smashed home a powerful shot to the right of the keeper (similar to the one he got at Villa 98/99).

Spurs were on the crest of a wave and Newcastle had no answer. From the kick off Spurs won a corner, and another great cross from the educated left foot of Clemence was met by the impressive Doherty who headed powerfully goalwards, and with the keeper nowhere goalscorer Solano stuck out his arm to stop the ball. Campbell had his shot from the rebound blocked but the referee was already reaching for his red card and Solano was off.

Anderton again took the penalty, but this time blasted it down the middle and it rebounded off Harper’s knees to safety for Newcastle – scant justice for Tottenham – although they were battering Newcastle with 11 vs. 11 – what would they do with an extra man? Batter them even more – this was one of Tottenham’s best spells of the season and a joy to watch, especially after the crap of the last week on the road.

Doherty, who had a fine match at right half again galloped forward and his run took him past a couple of Newcastle defenders, and just as the goal opened up for him on the right hand edge of the box, he slipped a little pass to Rebrov. Rather than doing something simple, Rebrov chose to hit the ball first time with the outside of his right boot (in similar fashion to the attempt that hit the bar on the opening day of the season) from a difficult angle and the ball curled into the right-hand side of the goal for a truly fantastic goal.

The crowd sung “Walking in a Rebrov Wonderland” and the little fellow responded by cracking another powerful shot from the edge of the area, which Harper did brilliantly to tip on to the bar. Spurs were unstoppable and we just did n't want half time to come and stop the fun.

Half time had its own treat as Ricardo Villa was introduced to the crowd to a tremendous reception – everyone singing his name before breaking out into Spurs are on their way to Wembley. Ricky, slightly balding and graying, looked genuinely chuffed and made his way to the centre of the pitch to bow to the crowd.

Things were going really well and I wanted us to batter Newcastle for six or seven (or more if possible) to make up for the 6-1 and 7-1 defeats we have suffered up there in recent years, and despite Leo going close at the start of the second half, things took a turn for the worse as Newcastle broke quickly from a Tottenham corner. With Perry caught out by Dyer’s pace, Sullivan came from his goal and as he dived at Dyer’s feet – Dyer went over – lots of people around me said they thought Sully got the ball, although I knew as soon as he went over it was a penalty and the only debate about the sending off was whether Perry had got beyond Sully, therefore being the last man. The ref probably got it right in giving the penalty and the sending off.

Leo was sacrificed for Walker. I can’t remember Walker ever saving a penalty, and this was no exception as Dyer blasted the ball home. Spurs, as only Spurs can, went from looking like Brazil to the Keystone Cops and things looked very close at 3-2 with 10-10. Soon after Dyer again got into the box and went down although it looked a bit dodgy the ref waved play on and as Spurs cleared their lines, the lower shelf started having a go at Dyer who took a long time to get up and then raced over to the Linesman and fired a verbal volley. The lino raised his flag and the ref was summoned and offered no alternative but to award Dyer a straight red for foul and abusive language. The curse of the Newcastle scorers – both sent off. A bit of a shame as Dyer looks a fine prospect for both Newcastle and England and was their most impressive player.

With the man advantage restored things looked better for Tottenham, but Newcastle played with great spirit, committing many players forward and playing a very risky one-on-one offside defense – which Tottenham and in particular Ferdinand lacked the guile to beat, much to the crowd’s frustration.

All uncertainty was ended in the 77^th minute. A Campbell gallop forward was brutally upended about 40 yards from goal. Anderton took an excellent free kick, and it what looked a well-rehearsed manoeuvre Ferdinand was in at the far post to head home from about six yards.

A great game – which Newcastle played their full part.

Sullivan 6/10 – no chance with the goal and did all he could with the one-on-one with Dyer, especially if he did  get his hand to the ball. I hope he’s not suspended for a crucial match.(Walker – did a couple of good saves and its nice to know we have someone like him in reserve)

Doherty – 8/10 – a fine match for Doherty making his full home debut – strong in the tackle (although with a slight tendency to dive in), some fine runs with the ball and after scoring his first ever premiership goal, had another “goal” saved by Solano to win a penalty and then set up Rebrov

Perry – 5/10 – not at his best again, but still a decent player who gets more stick than he deserves

Campbell – 7/10 – Excellent in defence and offered plenty of powerful runs down the left

Clemence – 7/10 – Provided some quality crosses for the goals and again played well wide on the left

Anderton – 7/10 – Had a spirited match in the middle and was at the centre of much of the excellent creative stuff we played in the first half

Sherwood – 4/10 – piss poor – again it was the usual ensemble of hospital balls, arm waving, pointing and loss of possession. He needs a rest to rediscover the player he once was. Maybe a sports psychiatrist?

King 6/10 – another solid game from Ledley, who continues to delight me in the middle

Leo – 5/10 – not much came off for Leo, but in typical fashion he battled on before he was sacrificed for Walker.

Rebrov – 7/10 – You still feel he has so much more to offer, but he still managed a good match, plenty of shot hitting the bar after scoring a great goal

Ferdinand – 7/10 – A goal capped another fine match for Les who led the line really well and its almost like having a new player the way he has rediscovered his goalscoring touch to go with his good all round play

(Jan 2nd - Newcastle preview)

With a home record of seven wins and three draws - Spurs should be looking forward to improving upon this tonight against bad travelling and Shearer-less Newcastle, but the demoralising effect of the two recent away defeats have left their mark on everyone. The Graham myth of has been cruely exposed on National TV and now that we are 6pts points off relegation we really need to start putting some wins together - its not a crisis yet - 5 wins in 17 matches will see us safe - but one win at the moment looks fanciful.

Lets hope the team respond in positive fashion and go at Newcastle from the start - an early goal would be a help, preferably from a restored Armo or Rebrov - although Leo at 16/1 looks a good betting proposition

(New Year 2001 - A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY VISITORS)

(Jan 1st - The Sol man's statement)

A great bit of news to greet the new year as the Sol man states that he wants to stay at Tottenham - but reading it all - it sounds very much like his "steady eddies" statement of Oct 2000, where he said that the club management need to take a chance to get some good players around him to make Tottenham a great team again

Sol - as reported on 8th Oct 2000 - Sol, the top man that he is, has again laid down the conditions for him to remain a Yiddo next season. 'We're a big club and, sometimes, you have to take a chance in life. "It's no good being a Steady Eddie and standing still, you've got to move on and take a gamble, if necessary.  We didn't really progress last season after winning the Worthington Cup which was a shame - but that was down to picking up a lot of injuries. "We need to acquire some quality players, big signings.  Most of the other big clubs take a chance now and then and it doesn't normally go against them. See JMDview - October 2000

So in effect there is no change - although the statement could be due to mounting pressure in the media or an assurance from the new owners. Its one of those situations where we get two good things - Sol and an ambitious management set up willing to buy good players or a double nightmare of another "Sugarlump" and Sol leaving,

I'd love Sol to stay at Tottenham & Its not over yet - pen to paper will be when I believe it - but I trust Sol to do the right thing - if its not right at the Lane - he owes no-one and deserves a chance to better himself, but if they buy the right players and show ambition, we know we'll have the Sol man at the heart of them - which is excellent news

That statement in full: "Sol Campbell has indicated he wants to stay at Spurs. Our super skipper’s contract runs out this summer and he is free to talk to clubs under the terms of the Bosman ruling as from now. His availability sparked stories on Sunday that he was the subject of a huge contract offer from Spanish outfit Valencia.

But big Sol has finally come out and said what the fans want to hear. He said: “I’m not going anywhere – now or in the summer. I’m here, why would I want to move? Tottenham are a fantastic club. “I have been here all my career and for me to do well at this club means everything. “Just because I have been here for so long doesn’t mean I have to move for the sake of it.

“When you look at Tottenham and the following, it is unbelievable. The stadium is fantastic – all the ingredients are there. “Sometimes you have to take a gamble and go for it. The new owners are in so let’s see what they can do. “I don’t think about what contract I’ll be offered. The first thing is to get Tottenham back on track from top to bottom.”"

Previous Months

December 2000 - Sugar annouces he's off and ENIC are to buy the club, Spurs draw 1-1 at home against the Arse but fail to win in the month. Two live games reveal all of Graham's lies and pressure mounts on the hopeless goon

November 2000 - TAG re-emerge under a different name, the crisis fails to materialise as we win three home matches against decent sides which covers the fact we were knocked out of the League Cup and failed to win away

October 2000 - loss upon loss, injury upin injury as the club go into free fall with one win, one draw and four defeats in our last 6 matches

September 2000 - Scrambled home wins see us rise to 5th, away defeats in the premiership and failure to beat promoted sides see us return to our level at 10th. A shambles against Brentford in the League cup & Thatcher challenges Phil Neville as England