Views of Jim Duggan season ticket holder & White Hart Lane resident - last updated November 01, 2000 22:42:55 PM
(Oct 31st Spurs1-3Birmingham)
Tonight's performance was one of the worst I've ever seen in
my quarter
century and more at the club. Burnley 4-1 in 83 even was n't as
bad as this.
Graham must go and soon. I'd not even thought about relegation
until Sunday
afternoon, but it is looming ever larger as Spurs luck begins to
run out and
images of Blackburn two seasons ago come to mind
This was an injury ravaged team - missing Campbell, Rebrov,
Iversen, Armo,
Treacle and Freund, but even so, they could have done a lot
better than
this. Birmingham were nothing special, just waited for the
inevitable Spurs
mistakes and punished them
Birmingham had already gone close thro Burchill when Davies on
for hamstring
victim Freund gave the ball away on the halfway line. Birmingham
broke
swiftly down their left and Vega completely missed the cross
allowing
Adebola ages to control the ball, and place it passed Sully's
right hand
into the corner
The crowd who'd been quite before eventually broke out with a
short bit of
Graham out and then spent the rest of their abuse for Sugar (and
the hapless
Vega). I understand the frustrations, but we really needed "Come
on you
Spurs" rather than the barracking. Spurs had much of the
ball but never
looked like getting through the masses of yellow shirts. Their
passing was
poor and a lack of invention, width and movement up front meant
that it
never looked like we would score
Birmingham's second was a fine individual effort from Adebola who
received
the ball on the right wing, ran at the retreating bamboozled Vega.
Thatcher
again woefully out of position arrived when he;d reached the edge
of the box
and put in the most lame of challenges before he struck a decent
shot which
did not go in the corner and travelled from outside the box, but
Sullivan
did not manage to get a hand on it
Bad to worse followed before halftime when Vega let Burchill get
in front of
him to tap home simple chance from a left wing cross. This was
one of the
worst single pieces of defending I can remember and cements Vega
alongside
the "greats" such as Cundy, Nethercott and Lacy
The jumbotron did not show any repeats of the third goal and the
Rasta
steward was busy organising his troops around the touchline to
stop any
halftime pitch invasion. Halftime was also highlight free on the
jumbotron
and that idiot thing Chirpy was seen on his knees banging the
ground during
the interval.
To be fair, Spurs were not quite as inept in the second half, but
were still
along way below their modest standards of this season. Birmingham
seemed
content to defend their sizeable lead and hit on the break giving
Tottenham
a lot of the ball, which further exposed their embarrassment.
Graham had
decided to revert to three centre backs and push Carr and
Thatcher further
forward. This was a hopeless tactic from a man who sold Ginola
and only now
is realising that Tottenham are most dangerous when they attack
with width.
Carr tried his hardest and after a good series off passes
released Clemence
in the box, who was up ended for a penalty which Anderton
converted
Spurs had chances after this, notably a miss by Les which was
painful, but
it never looked like it was going to be our day and people were
streaming
out with about 20 minutes to go. A truly awful experience.
Sullivan 4/10 - no chance with 1 & 3, but wasn't very close
to the second
and his distribution was poor
Carr 8/10 - a grand effort from a grand player. Put
Clemence in to win the
penalty and was our best attacking threat for the whole match
having another
shot and heading just over when in the centre forward position.
11 Steve
Carr's would put us back where the club belong amongst the elite,
but only
one Carr coupled with one Vega and one Thatcher means we are in
dire shite.
Not only should Carr be given the money he is asking, but the
captains
armband would be more useful on him than Sherwood
Thatcher 5/10 - not his worst game, but still very lacking and
nowhere for
their second goal
Vega 0/10 - all your Vega nightmares arrived at once and he
was at fault
for all three City goals. He made ordinary Dele Adebola look like
a young
Ronaldo as he had no idea of how to get near him let alone get
the ball off
him.The crowd did not help him by barracking him, but when all
said and
done, he was truly shite and what else are the crowd expected to
do.Its not
as if this is the first time.
Perry 6/10 - had his usual game and also hit the bar with a
header. Not
brilliant, but not bad in comparison to the pony all around
Freund - pulled up early with a hamstring injury in similar
fashion to Leo
against Derby. The injury list just gets worse
Sherwood 4/10 - offered very little
Anderton 7/10 - I've been a harsh critic of Anderton, but he
knuckled down
and always wanted the ball and, along with Carr, was at the heart
of what
little decent stuff we did create
Clemence 6/10 - Never stopped trying and gave his all.
Korsten 3/10 - Is this man a footballer? All said and done, Leeds
have
really diddled us with this prick, Scales and Graham
Ferdinand 4/10 - Unrecognisable from the Premiership's golden
boot of a few
years ago. Finds new ways of missing vital chances. If he was a
horse they
would have shot him long ago
Davies 5/10 - came on for Freund and was at fault for the first
goal losing
possession on the halfway line (admittedly he did not get a call)
but played
a solid simple game after. Was subbed at half time, which unless
he was
injured would have done his confidence no good at all
Young 5/10 replaced Davies at halftime (Graham, ever attacking in
trying to
get 3 goals back, brings on three centre backs with similar
results to the
last time he did this at Charlton) and had a moderate game in
difficult
circumstances
Dominguez - 5/10 - showed some invention when running at the
Brummies, but
Ginola he ain't and his usual repertoire of runs, falls and
losing the ball
was never going to save the day.
Graham 0/10 - this man must go and go soon before more damage is
done. He
sat on his £2m a year arse for the whole of the first half as
the team were
woeful and fell apart. His removal of Davies (who did not appear
to be
limping) at the start of the second half for another bleedin
Centre half was
mad. Not only did another centre half hardly had Birmingham
worrying about
conceding goals and what must the poor lad be thinking after
being
responsible for the first goal
Tonight I'm very very despondent
(Oct 30th - Vote of confidence for Graham)
One win, one draw and four defeats and Sugar is moved to issue
the following statement on the official site. Our chairman
Sir Alan Sugar has given his full backing to manager George
Graham. In a brief statement, Sir Alan said: “George Graham’s
past history makes him one of the best managers in the Premier
League. “We have romanced with relegation too many times. We
are building for the future and must take a patient and cautious
approach. “There is no question of George Graham being asked
to leave Tottenham.”
Lets hope rather than being asked, he is told to leave ;-)
(Oct 30th - Anderton wants to stay)
Potentially more good news, although "does n't want to leave right now" and "will discuss after Christmas" are cause for concern. Also lets hope his salary requests are reasonable and that he signs for at least 4 years this time.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR midfielder Darren Anderton has revealed
that he wants to stay at White Hart Lane when his current deal
expires at the end of the season.
The 28-year-old England international has been plagued with
injury over the last couple of seasons and he signed a one-year
extension to stay with the club last summer when his previous
deal ran out.
He has now returned to full fitness and has regained his first
team spot with Spurs and his England place. And he has now asked
to sit down and discuss a new Spurs deal in January after telling
manager George Graham that he does not want to leave the club.
"I cannot see myself leaving Spurs and playing for another
club right now," said Anderton. "I hope to start
negotiating a new deal after Christmas."
(Oct 29th - Campbell is no Spurs fan, fumes Graham)
"'Sol says he's a Spurs fan, but I'd doubt that,'
said Graham. 'If he was, he'd listen to what the club had to
offer. >I think we could make him easily one of the best paid
players in the country - but we can't make him an offer if he won't
talk.'
'Sol won't speak to us until the end of the season,' reported
Graham. 'I want him to stay, he knows that and I >think we
could match anything he was offered by another Premiership club.
But I can't influence his attitude, I just have to get on with my
job and make provision for the future.'"
What a scum git
Sol has made no secret that he will not stay if the team are
shite, and with a helping hand from Graham they are still shite.
Sol has done his bit at Tottenham and should be given a hero's
send off (as long as he avoids Arsenal/Chelsea), while Graham
should concentrate getting us in the Champions league, a move
that might keep Sol rather than antagonising him
Hypocritical wanker, what was it he said - don't criticise the
players, get behind them - he's a faaaaaaaackin caaaaaaaaaaaaant
(Oct 28th - Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham)
Full report to follow - Spurs doing well before a Vega handball and the penalty. Still in with a good chance when Young was slow to react as Zola stooped in to head home before half time. Showboating Chelsea scored another near the end from JFH a "30 yard pass into the net". More woe and no sign of the end of the tunnel.
Its now official - Graham is worse than Gross
Christian Gross
Pts per game 1.31 p26 w9 d7 l10 f33 a40 pts34
Pts per game - Home 1.50 p12 w4 d6 l2
f16 a17 pts18
Pts per game - Away 1.14 p14 w5 d1 l8
f17 a23 pts16
George Graham
Pts per game 1.30 p79 w27 d22 l30 f109
a102 pts103
Pts per game - Home 1.79 p39 w20 d10 l9
f72 a46 pts70
Pts per game - Away 0.83 p40 w7 d12 l21
f37 a56 pts33
a gloomy cold wet night and the feeling we're still going nowhere
after all the years of transition seasons and bad mangers
(Oct 28th - Pre match - Chelsea away and its belting down)
I really detest Chelsea, not in the proper dislike of Arsenal, but Chelsea represent all that is bad about the modern game, too many foreigners, expensive and all show with no substance. The combination of shite view, £32 ticket and the prospect of another away defeat has made me give this one a miss - although as ever on the Saturday before the match, I wish I had a ticket.
(Oct 26th - Financial results)
The PLC announced the financial statements for the year ended 99/00. There was a headline loss of £757,000 which is not too bad considering the money the likes of Chelsea have managed to fritter away over the same period. I just wonder how much better the figures would have looked without the purchase of Thatcher and the sale of Ginola - £1.25m profit! I'm in the process of putting some comments about these figures, notably the increase in wages and these will be found at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jmdcon/thfc-article03.htm
(Oct 25th - SOS save our Spurs, another bedroom revoution)
With TAG reperesenting the Judean People's front we now really
do have our very own People's front for Judea (SOS - same old
sods [as TAG that is) Farce on and off the pitch, all good
intentions but its just another revolution planned in a teenager's
bedroom or in this case a meeting of 50 or so in a pub in the
City.
Check the TAG website no link for achievements, but one for press
coverage - I think that says it all on an organisation that has
been around since 1996 (while it has to be said that I would have
much rather Sugar and Graham had not come to Tottenham)
I hope the unrest off the pitch does not filter thro to the
players as a couple of JFH goals as Vega becomes a lost figure, a
lack of believe coupled with a lack of confidence could get us a
similar hiding ot Coventry, but then again, I'm well know for my
optimism........ I can only hope that Spurs, as many times in the
past, raise their game against the better sides
(Oct 24th - Treacle to be sold)
From THE DAILY MIRROR Tuesday 24th October 2000.TARICCO FOR
SALE.
Tottenhamhave put their Argentinian left back Mauricio Taricco up
for sale for £1.5 million. He cost £1.8 million from
Ipswich two years ago.Manager George Graham is convinced Ben
Thatcher will be his long term left-back and is cutting his
losses on Taricco, 27.
My first reaction was that "Is there any one left who cannot see what a big wanker George Graham is?" and then after reading Pleat's denial and checking the source of this story, please substitute Harry Harris for George Graham
(Oct 23rd - Injuries)
More bad news on the injury front, with Campbell suggesting that he may be out until the new year and Iversen's injury doubling form three to six weeks to add to the injury Leo picked up on Saturday. Not the prep we need to beat Chelsea for the first time since 1990!!
(Oct 19th - Gooner George's reaction to the win)
Just seen Gooner George on MOTD saying (and I paraphrase)
"Just seen the terrific support given by the Derby fans despite their team's position and its funny how despite our respective positions, I will probably get more stick than Jim Smith"
Derby's great fans numbered about 1000 and could n't even fill the lower bit of their stand, which was reallocated to Spurs fans and were seen on TV last week with Smith out banners. The chants were "Graham out" which were not directed at the team, but at the hopless goon at the helm. All in all, there can be no room for anti Tottenham chanting during a match.
(Oct 19th - Spurs 3-1 Derby)
Spurs (4-4-2):- Sullivan; Carr, Perry,
Vega, Thatcher; Anderton (sub Davies, 89), Clemence, Sherwood (Capt.),
Leonhardsen (sub Dominguez, 70); Rebrov (sub Korsten, 89),
Ferdinand
Subs not used:- Walker; Thelwell
Booked:- Thatcher, Anderton
Derby (4-3-3):- Poom; Delap, Riggott,
Bragstad, Higginbottom (sub Schnoor, 61); Burley, Johnson (sub
Bohinen, 83), Powell (capt); Sturridge, Christie (sub Morris, 61),
Burton
Subs not used:- Grant (GK); Elliott
Booked:- Riggott, Johnson
Things did not look good when I saw that Ladbrokes had rushed out emergency odds without Rebrov and I feared a Ferdinand only forward line. Luckily Rebrov played, but the subs bench lacked Young or King and a recognised forward (discounting the circus midget) which seemed a bit risky with an injury prone Les and a non 100% Rebrov - but I guess the goon knows best.......
Spurs played the usual 4-4-2 with Clemence coming in for Freund - so much for the non stop Spurs news of the information age as no-one reported his likely absence beforehand. Derby had an assortment of decent players, although were missing the crucial Carbonari (and Strupar) and played, but looked uncomfortable with 4-3-3 as opposed to their usual sweeper system that has frustrated Spurs at the Lane in recent seasons
Spurs started very brightly and an early period of pressure was rewarded with a “Galvin” special from Leo. Anderton and Clemence worked a short corner while Derby dozed and as Anderton stretched to reach a return pass from Clem, the ball broke to Leo who passed a curling shot into the top right-hand corner. A great start against a shaky Derby side who should have been at least three down after about 10minutes. Leo broke into the box and forced a good save from Poom and as the ball broke to Rebrov he could not adjust his feet quick enough and forced the ball wide. Anderton had a couple of shots and Les again made you wonder if he’d ever headed a ball before 3pm with a header that would have hit the corner flag
We can batter these I said to the Mrs after this early period of dominance, and she just gave me one of those looks. Spurs had other chances in the half, notably a couple of efforts from Anderton, but gradually became lazy, forgetting all the good pass and move that characterised the first 15minutes and gradually began to let Derby into the game. After several chances, it came as no surprise when Riggott was unmarked to flick head a Johnson free into the corner
With a midfield of Leo, Clem, Sherwood and
Anderton, Leo could have been give his favoured role on the right-hand
side, Clem on the left with Anderton and Sherwood as the central
pair. This would possibly have avoided many the incidences where
players drifted to their favoured positions leaving defensive
gaps. Anderton distinguished himself by playing for much of the
match with a head bandage from a clash with Powell, but still
managed to flick his hair in his own inimitable effeminate way
The terrace mongs decided conceding a goal was the right time to sing Graham out, and I can understand why this is getting to piss the players off. Singing to oust the goon should have been the order of the last 10 minutes when we were comfortably in front, not when we needed a boost on what was another quiet White Hart Lane
Fortunately for Spurs in first half stoppage time, another good interchange of passes on the left presented the ball to Clem who sent a crossfield ball to Carr, who took the ball on a few paces before beating Poom with a low shot that bounced just in front of him. Christie did manage to get the ball in the net further into stoppage time, but the whistle had long gone. Carr had another excellent match and why the idiots at the club are doing by not giving him a pay rise in line with his status within the team escapes me? Saving up to extent the awful Thatcher’s contract no doubt
Spurs again started the half brightly and a good move down the right culminated in an ordinary cross which was headed out, only for Clem to win a brave header in the direction of Sherwood who dummied/missed it and it ran on to Leo who calmly slotted home. Although Derby have staged some marvellous comebacks this season, this goal looked to have settled the match
Soon after it was again Leo who found himself with a scoring chance, but this time smashing the ball into the side netting which initially fooled most of the Shelfside. Leo had another chance for a hat-trick when receiving the ball on the edge of the box, but unselfishly squared the ball to Rebrov who muffed his shot
Derby used all of their subs in a desperate push to get back into the match and were unlucky not to score when Sturridge stepped inside Thatcher for Sullivan to pull off an excellent save and the same player later chipping the ball into Sully’s hands when he should have scored after getting on the end of a long pass
Leo was looking to set up a Spurs attacked when he crumpled to the ground clutching his hamstring and looks to be out for at least three weeks to ensure a miserable end to a frustrating 2000 for him. Dominguez was preffered to Korsten as his replacement and went thro his full routine of runs and falls to a hearty reception
Anderton’s deflected free kick fell to Rebrov in the inside right position, but he scuffed his shot to complete a frustrating day in front of goal. The last ten minutes or so were characterised by a more and more desperate Derby and Spurs could and should have added to their lead. Sherwood, who played much better although not brilliant on his 400th league appearance was put through only to see his fierce shot well stopped by Poom. Ramon also had a header and blocked shot near the end
Davies(Anderton) and Korsten (Rebrov) got 2 minutes at the end - which I’m sure they’ll be thanking almighty George for – for what its worth I thought that either of these two should have replaced Leo and especially Korsten could have showed why he was considered such a desirable player when he signed. Despite being a perpetually miserable c*nt, I’m still willing to see the so far dreadful Korsten get some time in his favoured position to show us if he is any good
Sullivan 7/10 - did a very good save in the second half which ensured a panic free last 20 minutes
Carr 7/10 - another good goal and an all round better performance than the slightly below par ones Thatcher - 5/10 - like every Spurs left back, has little support from midfield, but again looked poor defending and poor going forward. Treacle must walk straight back into the team when fit Perry - 6/10 - solid defencifly but not in the beckenbauer class when looking to start Spurs attacks Vega - 6/10 - generally solid without the obvious mad Ramon moment
Anderton - 6/10 - another decent game, cut head and all, and for all his injury problems, we’ll miss him Sherwood - 6/10 better but still below his very best Clemence - 7/10 earned himself a run in the team irrespective of Leo (and possibly Freund’s injury) with some good passing and competative tackling. On this performance, he would get in the team in front of Freund everytime, but its stringing these performances together and improving Leo - 7/10 - two goals and a good display. His running into attacking positions is excellent al
Rebrov - 6/10 - Some good stuff but not at his best today, probably related to the injury that made him a doubtful starter Ferdinand - 5/10 - better than the shite display at Coventry, but it has to be remembered that Les is the man we require to score goal and he never looks like doing this
(Oct 19th - Iversen out)
It looks as if prolific goalscorer Steffen Iversen will be out for about 3 weeks with an injury. Double bad news is that with Armo still injured, Ferdinand will again be lumpering about up front against Derby. This enforced rest might do Steff a bit of good as after rushing back from the knock he got against Chelsea in Feb, he has not looked as good as he did in the first half of the previous season and has not had a rest as a result of his involvement in Euro2000.
(Oct 18th - Les and the Blue Peter garden)
Trying to avoid the useless tag - SOCCER star Les Ferdinand has confessed he was in a gang that wrecked the Blue Peter garden 17 years ago. The Spurs striker - 15 at the time - said he gave pals a leg-up over a wall before the notorious trashing of the cherished garden. His admission solved one of the great TV "crime" riddles as the culprits were never found.
Ferdinand replied: "I wouldn't say we used to run things. We got into a bit of bother around here." Ferdinand admitted: "What I will say is I helped a few people over the wall but I'm not at liberty to say whether Dennis Wise was one of them."
Talking at his plush home in Arkley, Herts, the ex-England player said: "It was years ago and we were just kids. I didn't do anything other than help a few people over a wall. "There's nothing more to it. It was just a bit of fun."Dennis Wise - still an England star - denied any knowledge of the vandalism. A spokesman said: "Dennis was certainly not involved and had nothing whatsoever to do with it. He told me he didn't even know where the Blue Peter garden was."
(Oct 16th)
Sugar Backs Venables headline - I saw the first two words "Sugar backs..." on the back of someone's paper this morning and for 25 blissful minutes I thought that it was a vote of confidence in the hopeless goon - alas to my great disappointment it was the Venables story, that appeared in yesterdays News of the Screws. Bastards. Sugar is trying to look like he knows what he's saying about Football by picking Venables, if he knew anything he would rid us of the evil goons
(Oct 15th -another away defeat under clueless George)
Just to update Gooner George's shameful away record - P39 W7 D12 L20 F37 A53
Pts per game 0.8462 Win ratio 17.95%
Lucky he's a proven winner cos otherwise this sounds like the
record of a shite manager
(Oct 15th -Coventry 2-1 Tottenham)
The "demo" was pretty quiet - with a few anti Graham
chants early on met with some resistance. although there was much
more anti GG stuff at half time. When it was obvious that the
protest was organised by TAG it was only ever going to be a
publicity stunt without any substance. George will be out pretty
soon because he is making us shite, Francis style and this inept
performance will be another does of bad medicine that eventually
cures the patient of the Goon cancer.
Coventry scored out of the blue after 12 minutes when, Aloisi
cut inside and as Roberto Carlos declined to make a challenge, he
smashed a great shot passed Walker. Spurs again attacked without
any width and only down the right. Spurs possession consisted of
ooooofs from Thatcher in the vicinity of Ferdinand who to give
him credit won one of the 25 or so aerial challenges, hospital
balls from Sherwood, any number of backward or square passes,
with only Anderton and an increasingly deep Rebrov getting
anywhere. Coventry scored again after 25 minutes thro a bloke
called Useless, which should mean Graham will snap him up
After the second goal Coventry conceded much of the ball to
Tottenham and resorted to counter attacks. This cruelly exposed
Spurs lack of ideas and the young keeper replacing Hedman dealt
with most things pretty easily
Spurs managed to pull one back with another 37minutes left on the
clock. Leo found Rebrov in space on the left hand edge of the box
and the little fella belted the ball home. With this amount of
time remaining, we should have managed to at least get level
against a shite team like Coventry. On a rare Coventry counter
attack, Walker saved well and Perry cleared the danger from the
rebound. Perry had a good near post flick from a corner and we
created a few other half chances before Sherwood got the ball in
the net, but probably fouled the keeper in doing so. Iversen
replaced Freund and Little Jo came on for a late cameo,
Palmer got sent off for kicking out at Perry, who the bloke
behind me saw belt Palmer a little earlier as they chased back
after a Spurs attack. Whatever the justice of the situation,
Palmer is an arsehole and deserved his sending off for crimes
against the English football team in the early 90s. There was
still time for Sherwood to hit the bar with a late header from a
Carr cross, but like the game at Leeds Spurs did not get the
equaliser they probably deserved
I was dismayed at the end of the match that only Perry and Carr
gave half hearted thanks to the 4000 or so of us who travelled up
and sung our hearts out for 90minutes. They might not like our
"fickle - not putting up with second rate shite"
attitude but its up to them to prove us wrong like Armo did to
great effect last season. Did Graham put them up to this to
generate "team spirit"
Things are going from bad to worse and Graham has no idea how to
reverse this - press statements have gone from "trying to
get a top 6 team" to "when I took over it was
relegation threat season after season so be happy with this crap".
A good start would be to never pick Ferdinand, Vega or Fatcha
ever again - all £15m of talent that they undoubtedly are
Walker 6/10 - In what could prove to be his last game for the club, Walker played fairly well, notably with a good save in the second half from Bellamy and had no chance with either goal
Carr 6/10 - Played well and was the only width we had on the pitch in attack, setting up Sherwood with a header that hit the top of the bar at the end Thatcher 1/10 - Useless - I heard all the "he's nervous & give him time crap", but this geezer is just shit. When Graham continues to slag premiership defending, look no further than this twat. He has bad positional sense, easily turned and cannot do anything other than ooof the ball to somewhere near Ferdinand. In the Opta stats published in the Times passing success rate was 54% compared to everybody else in the mid 70%'s (apart from Mad Ramon at 65%). This man should never represent Tottenham again, steel or no steel Perry 6/10 another decent display from Perry with Mad Ramon and Shite Thatcher alongside. nearly scored from a near post flick in the second half Vega 5/10 - not a good match for Ramon and the injured pair of Luke Young and Ledley King, along with Alton Thelwell must be going up the wall at missing out at this opportunity for first team experience. Surely Graham could give Thelwell a run out, cos he could n't any worse than Vega
Anderton 7/10 - not as effective as at Elland Road but still had a good match and was involved in all the few good things we managed as an attacking force Freund 5/10 - not the best match for the Space Invader but still managed a shot that cleared the bar by at least 15ft in the second half Sherwood 5/10 has not played well for a while (since coming back from that injury he was carrying for most of last season)and continues to disappoint with bad passing and not being able to dominate a poor midfield.Did he really score 10 goals from midfield last season? Nearly redeemed himself with a late header that hit the bar and a disallowed goal but the main question with Sherwood revolves around Davies.Is Davies ready ? Leonhardsen 5/10 - Leo worked hard and made some good runs into the box - as ever but is much better on the right - as ever
Ferdinand 0.5/10 - fucking disgrace. He
failed to win any headers throughout the game, was lazy in not
getting back from offside positions and missed a sitter at the
end. A big fat arsed useless twat. Even GG must have seen that
Spurs were a much better team when Ferdinand was off the pitch at
Leeds and he did not have the nous to drop the great useless
puddin for this gameRebrov 7/10 along with
Shaggy was the only player to show any class and took his goals
tally to a very respectable 5 from 9. Would benefit from having
Clive Allen rather than humpty dumpty as his striking partner and
being given non hospital balls by Sherwood
(Oct 12th)
Not much on in terms of Spurs news this week. As ever a Spurs-less England team struggled and we were saved the misery of a goon winner, when Charlie Dimmock's shot came back off the bar. Read the Coventry match preview at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jmdcon/thfc-matchpredictions.htm
(Oct 9th - more on the Coventry demo)
After recieving an email from "we want our Tottenham back" I suspect that TAG realised how unpopular they are with the majority of the fans (despite the correctness of their aims to remove Sugar) and have relaunched under a new site.
I've never got involved in this sort of thing before (singing "we're shite and we're sick of it" at Anfield in Francis last game was more of a statement of fact than a protest) and will not be doing so this time. There are many things not right at Tottenham, two goons and a goon plant of a chairman, but protesting in this manner during a game is not on. Graham, like the mullethead replica he is mutating into, will be forced from the job by results and poor performances, and while I will voice disapproval where appropriate in his direction I will not be part of an organised protest during a match. In short, this website supports the aims of the protestors, but not their methods.
(Oct 8th - Coventry demo & Sol request to Sugar)
On the www.theyids.co.uk website I have spotted a demo planned for Saturday's away match with Coventry. I fully support this demo (although I hope its not overtaken by those muppets at TAG) as long as its confined to peaceful protest and not during the match, but Graham has to go.
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.
Sol - we're all with you mate
(Oct 7th England 0-1Germany)
More crap from England, at least the manager is noble and self aware enough to resign when it is obvious that they ar not good enough - George please take note. And just think how good Anderton would be rated if he'd have moved to the football team owned by the media company that controls England's largest selling daily paper - Beckham 35ish caps 1 set piece goal - Anderton 28ish caps and 7 goals
(Oct 5th)
Its looks like a story from Carr's agent to get him a better deal, but Carr has revealed that he wants to get paid as much as the "top stars" at the club - and quite rightly so. Fancy wasting over £20,000 a week on Soppy Bollocks Iversen if there is not more available for the player of the year.
In a further bout of pessimism, In 6 months time, Sol and Anderton
could be committed elsewhere on Bosman's - Carr might be on his
way and having also got rid of Ginola (and possibly out of the
cups to make it the first time since 1931 that we have failed to
win something with the year ending in 1) - Graham's work done at
the club - he will be off to watch his Arsenal shares grow
(Oct 3rd - Graham's 2 year anniversary)
Graham's two year anniversary and just to prove how far we have come under the awful goon, check out his record compared to Gross and reflect on the hamster wheel of mid-table win lose draw cycle that we seemed trapped on
Gooner Graham
P75 W26 D22 L27 F80 A76 PTS100
Points Per match 1.333
Goals Per match 1.067
Win ratio 0.347
Gross
P26 W9 D7 L10 F35 A40 PTS34
Points Per match 1.308
Goals Per match 1.346
Win ratio 0.346
Same shite, different PR
(Oct 2nd )
Graham confirms the interest in Ugo Ehiogu - read a full account of my views on this daft transfer at click here
He's at it again - Relegation candidates! faaaaaaaaaaaack off. We were 11th and going along win draw lose just as we are now when George took us to Leicester for what was to become one of many defeats on the road. It was Gross who took over when we were relegation candidates and saved us from the drop, These bleating sound pretty defeatist and of a man who realising he's failing and has no answer to it
George Graham enters his third year in charge of Tottenham admitting: "I would have liked things to have moved along quicker." and added "I think the playing side of club has improved in those two years, we've gone from relegation candidates to middle of the table at the present time. "I would have liked to have moved along quicker, to have been competing to get into the top six. There is still a chance of that."
"But it is a lot easier to say it and a lot more difficult to carry it through because trying to acquire quality players is difficult from the amount of quality players available. It is not easy these days." It was easier when we were in Europe last summer you no good gooner git.
(Oct 1st - Leeds 4 - 3 Tottenham)
A top trip and an away game to remember (for a change) despite not coming away with anything The day began on the 8.10 from Kings Cross and after giving Scumbury the wanker sign as we passed (to the bemusement of an old woman) we descended into a foggy gloom as soon as we left London. I even managed to win at Pool before having the usual run from the Armley gyratory to the ground.
A good view for a change, and I always love looking around at away games to see all the usual faces - the bloke who looks like Dylan from the Magic Roundabout, the bloke with the golden mullet, the Gary Flitcroft look-alikes and of course the NASA cap. The spurs crowd, as ever filling every seat, was excellent giving almost non-stop support.
The game started cautiously. Spurs played the same team and formation as recent weeks with Les at the helm of a three-man attack, which included Iversen on the right, and Rebrov on the left, which I'm sure is not to Rebrov's liking. Leeds had a couple of long range efforts including a deflected free kick while Spurs first chance fell to Leo who's shot was blocked at the back post.
Ferdinand was playing poorly - not competing very well and generally looking out of sorts and a collision with Radabe led to him being stretchered off. Anderton replaced and Spurs switched back to 4-4-2 and immediately looked a better side with some lovely pass and move stuff, especially involving Anderton and Rebrov. I have always thought Anderton's great strength was the way he involves other players in the game. There seemed to be a lot of stoppages for injuries with Radebe following Dacourt off the pitch.
Spurs took the lead after 37 minutes with a good passing move involving Anderton, Carr, Rebrov and Iversen culminating in Iversen setting Carr free on the right. As two Spurs forward attacked the 6yard box, Rebrov hung back unmarked and swept home Carr's intelligent pull back. Spurs continued to play well for the rest of the half and at half time I was confident we could increase our lead and go on and win the game.
Leeds equalizer was a disaster for Sullivan, who suddenly seemed to be struggling for a chipped cross on his goal line and in attempting to palm it behind, knocked it on to the post for former Spurs target Viduka to beat Smith and Vega to the rebound and smash it home. While I was annoyed we'd conceded such a soft goal, I still thought the game was still there for us to win. The second arrived soon after. A messy bit of play just outside the right-hand side of our box where Vega was at fault in not getting the ball clear (a point Carr in particular made very strongly after the goal - I get the impression he's not too chuffed about having Mr. Cockup in his defensive unit) eventually found its way to Kelly who hit a weak shot which was going nowhere until Viduka deflected it in the other corner, leaving Sullivan stranded. A balls of a goal - and from my loft perch I could see what was about to happen before it did, which was very frustrating - but all credit to Viduka for some quick thinking.
Leeds continued to press and my mind flashed back to our recent 4-0 and 3-2 defeats at Anfield where a combination of poor defending and the other team scoring everytime they attacked in the second wiped out good first half performances. These fears were confirmed when a third Leeds goal followed soon after. Nightmarish marking allowed Smith to steal in and head home from a debatable free kick given against Carr Spurs replied soon after with Anderton sending over a brilliant free kick from the left which Perry bravely headed home at the far post. In between the first and second Leeds goals Spurs were all at sea, but returned to playing well going forward after the second goal and at 3-2 a point looked very much on the cards as long as we did n't do anything stupid at the back - which is exactly what we did as Carr was trailing behind Smith as he directed his free header in the corner
The two-goal deficit looked too much to overcome, and could easily have been three as Smith slid in challenged by Vega and hit the bar from close range. We were all given some hope soon after when Iversen won an important header from a corner and Rebrov acrobatically hooked the ball goalwards for a Leeds player to head to the ball off the line. A vigilant lino started waving his flag and in the confusion that followed, Spurs emerged with a goal. Leeds looked to hang on and after what looked a blatant push on Leo in the area; our last two chances were created by good work on the right. The first released Carr who set up a good chance for Sherwood who could n't force the ball home from close range and with virtually the last kick, Leo could n't reach an Anderton cross - an equalizer would have been a fitting and deserved climax to a memorable match.
While the scoreline accurately reflected our defending, our overall play deserved more and it was an encouraging performance against one of the better teams in the league - although as our beloved Goon is at pains to point out when we scrape wins with poor performances, its the winning that matters. Lets not turn this game into somekind of a Dunkirk -making a triumph of a defeat - we played better but still lost another away game
Sullivan 5/10 - I thought we would stop shipping soft goals like the first Leeds goal with the arrival of Sully, but the fact is that he has produced two errors (Newcastle was the other) that have made a significant contribution to a Tottenham away defeat. If Walker has a good game at Coventry when Sullivan is banned, the decision (based upon GG's assertion that he pick the best goalkeeper whether it be Sully or Walker) will be a difficult one for Gooner George, but I have a feeling that Sullivan will return for the Derby match no matter what as he was signed by Graham, and I must admit despite his variable start, I would prefer Sullivan to be our permanent keeper
Carr 6/10 - like a few games in recent weeks, Carr has played well but below the outstanding almost faultless level of previous season, with misplaced passes and was at fault for one of Smith's headers - although he did provide the cross at the end of the move that culminated in Rebrov's first goal. Thatcher 5/10 - again, someway off what is expected of a competent fullback defensively and offers little in attack. Taricco must return when fully fit Vega - 6/10 - played a reasonable game but must take some of the blame for the defensive awfulness of the second period and was at fault for not getting the ball away for the second goal Perry - 6/10 played fairly well and scored a good header from an excellent Anderton cross, but must take some of the blame for the poor performance of the defence Leo - 6/10 - had his usual decent game giving 100% as ever Sherwood 6/10 - a much improved performance from Sherwood, especially after the introduction of Anderton and had a late chance that could have squared the game 4-4 Freund - 6/10 - another solid and competitive performance Rebrov 7/10 - capped another good display with a couple of goals - a sweeping half volley for the first and an overhead kick - looked very much at home with Anderton's pass and move game and hopefully they will develop the same sort of partnership as Anderton did with Barmby (all we need now is a Sheringham up front to finish it all off !!) Ferdinand 5/10 - was having a very poor match before getting a head injury. His removal was the catalyst for Tottenham to step up their performance, and while I have nothing against Les, he is looking less and less able to be effective in the premiership, which is n't aided by the new tactics Iversen - 6/10 - played a better match and set Carr up for Rebrov's first before winning a header for Rebrov's second, but one away goal in 23 games away from the Lane this season and last is not good enough Anderton 8/10 - back to his best with the best display he has put on for a while. Excellent passing, esp. with Rebrov and had a hand in the move for the first goal and provided the crosses for the other goals. More please!! - I hope this was not a reaction to not getting in the England squad, but with Dyer's injury, Keegan should be giving him a bell for the Germany game
George - He is still has very little Idea in terms of tactics
- how many thought that the 4-3-3 was effective and would be used
in this fixture. Luckily his hand was forced and we played much
better at 4-4-2 - and I'm sure Rebrov has not taken a corner
before he came to Tottenham and proved his worth on the other end
of corners for the third goal. His away record is abysmal P38 W7 D12 L19 F36 A51 PTS33
Points Per match 0.868
Goals Per match 0.947
Win ratio 0.184
This the worst ever away record of ANY Spurs manager
Previous Months
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