|
Jim Duggan's TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR site |
|
The
thoughts and views on THFC from Jim Duggan – Born in the year of the Cockerel,
Shelfside season ticket holder & supporter since the early 1970s (last updated 01/11/03 19:48 PM) - Spurs
fans of the world Unite
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
THE
TOPSPURS COLUMNISTS
|
|
|||||||||||
ROSIE
|
Colin Ashby
|
Shelfer
|
Kosher Nostra
|
NW10
|
Crackers
|
Lynford
|
WLHatWHL
|
James Flinn
|
Guest
|
|
|||
|
31st October 2003 – Bolton Preview Whatever the year, whatever the
state of the world, Spurs at home to Bolton is a party time 3 points with a
few goals – and this year should be no different. No excuses this year, esp.
as it appears that some of the least worst of their crap players are out or
struggling with injury and professional Northerner Fat Sam can spent the
match working out which of the match officials to blame for the inevitable
defeat. For a full history of
matches between Spurs and Bolton – click here After a tantalising glimpse of the
future of Tottenham in midweek – Ledley in the middle, Blondel etc – you can
only hope and pray that it’s not the walking dead restored to the centre of
midfield. Even if it is, Anderton and Poyet we still should be able to labour
our way past Bolton – and on current form the first goal should be the one to
seal the three points and just to be safe, when the second one goes in we can
sit back and relax. (or Pleat’s luck runs out – chances for the opposition
that are currently being missed start to go in, and our post Kanoute injury
trouble scoring means we don’t score… hope not!) In terms of having a bet, Spurs can
be backed at 4/6 to win the match and
there will be plenty of worse 4/6 shots this season, esp. if we play a mobile
midfield with Ledley in it, although backing Spurs at odds on is not for me
just yet. Assuming we get a good start Spurs are 6/4 to be winning at
halftime and fulltime but of more appeal to me is the handicap
bet, where Spurs can be backed at 9/5 to
win by two goals or more Keane is a stingy 4/1 for the first goal, so looking elsewhere Poyet makes most appeal at 9/1 assuming he starts as he was having all of our chances last week against Boro and while he often disappears in the middle of midfield, he never goes missing in the box when there is a chance around. As for the score something like 2-0 6-1 or a repeat of the Everton 3-0 scoreline is 11/1 Combining these scores with Poyet for the first goal in the scorecast is 40/1 and 70/1 respectively. Just a pity you cannot back our old mate Anthony Barness for the first goal – as his tally of three in four matches is the envy of the likes of Postiga! |
|
|
|
|
||
29th October 2003 – Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 West Ham, job done
It was not easy, and we survived West Ham missing the most clear cut chances of the match but a moment of class from Bobby Zamora saw Spurs home and into the next round where we face Man Citeh. The result was all important today and Pleat’s record of 6 matches, 4 wins, 2 draws, with only the daft goal Keller let in at Leicester against, is an excellent return and just what Spurs needed after the slump we found ourselves in at the end of Hoddle’s reign. Pleat deserves a lot of credit for keeping Zamora on the pitch and dropping Keane deep when we made our third substitution and he was handsomely rewarded with his man scoring the winning goal.
Spurs were by no means the finished article but there were a number of noteworthy performances. Keller’s was at his best with a number of excellent saves and is the main reason we are in the last 16 – and all credit to him. Konchesky continues to impress and hopefully he will become a Spurs player full time in the next transfer window. It was a good day for the Senrab old boys – Zamora scored his goal but for me, it was great to see Ledley King patrolling that midfield, giving Spurs all the things we have been lacking with the previous recent incumbents.
In fact when you think that we had Zamora, King, Konchesky from Senrab and only Carr (a long time ago) coming directly from our youth team – and add in some of the other Senrab graduates like John Terry, Jlo Samuel and Cheatin Ashley Cole, the East London club has produced more Premiership players than the our yoof academy over the last 10 years. For me, taking over Senrab and getting the best of the East London Inner City kids would be an interesting alternative to spunkin a load of dough on a Bricks and Mortar academy to turn weedy kids from nice places in Herts. into third division players, which seems to be the primary achievement of the current youth set up.
Spurs had good periods at the start and end of the match but rather lost our way in the middle. Another injury to Ziege is not good news (as is the reported broken leg suffered by teenage sensation Owen Price recently), and along with Ricketts they both had quiet matches before being replaced.
Both Mabizela and Blondel did well when introduced during the second period and our midfield is gradually beginning to take shape – Ziege (Blondel) – King (Mabizela/Sharon) – Dalmat (Poyet) - Davies (Ricketts). An injury to either Gardner or Richards (forcing either Doherty in the team or King out of midfield) would not be good but when Kanoute returns, and the players have had time to settle with each other, we’ll have a reasonable team to possibly make a challenge for the 4th CL spot which appears wide open after the indifferent form of Liverpool and Newcastle, and the much of a muchness immediately behind. We live and hope…
28th October 2003 – West Ham Preview
As our friends from the Canning Town Bingo and Social club departed the big stage last May, not many could have envisaged such a quick return. Unfortunately for them, many of the semi decent players (ones who looked ok in a relegated side) have been moved on – Kanoute, Cole, Sinclair, Di Canio and er… although surprisingly they have managed to hang on to Defoe, and along with Connelly they have a decent front line. This was pretty much the case last season, but it was the other 9 players further back on the pitch that let them down, with Dailly and Repka trying to out-do each other for the Ramon Vega award for services to defensive comedy.
The equation is simple, we have more quality in defence, midfield and I would not swap Keane and Zamora for the West Ham front players, so if we match them for effort, we should win. We have conceded just the Keller cock up goal at Leicester in 5 matches but without the prolific Kanoute and the walking dead in the middle of midfield, there have been long periods in many of the Pleat matches (and before, lets be honest) when we have not looked likely to dominate a game and create a lot of chances.
Also bearing in mind this is a big local Derby with one of the few opportunities for West Ham to have an impact on a big stage this season, and a bright new manager eager to get his first win after some below par efforts in the league, it will be a tough match, but hopefully we can prove too strong.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Bookies have priced Spurs up at 4/6 which is pretty reasonable value considering something similar to this was also on offer this time last year when we made hard work of overcoming a significantly stronger Wham side. That said, backing Spurs at odds on is the road to the soup kitchen at the mo imvho.
In terms of the first scorer, Keane has looked a bit off the
pace in recent matches, and it may be that Postiga’s bigger price tag seems him
get the nod over Zamora for the other striking position, but neither really
appeals at what will be cramped odds. Poyet, despite doing next to nothing in
the centre of the park last weekend, was by far our most likely goalscorer –
making great runs into the box and always being a threat and he’ll do for me
for the first goal at something like 15/2
Its hard to evaluate just how well West Ham’s defence will stand up to the likes of Keane and Dalmat charging at them, but something like 2-1 15/2 or 3-1 12/1 seems about right for me – we won’t always have the good fortune of weak attacks against us forever so I think we can expect them to score. (and don’t forget, a free £10 bet when you open an account with Blue Sq)
All that really matters is that we win, no injuries and get a soft home tie in the next round as all the good teams draw each other. COME ON YOU SPURS!
Keller’s Comments – Keller included the following phrase in a big brown-nosey bumlick to Pleat, which opens up all sorts of questions "We are working that much harder for him"
What does this mean? Does that mean that the players were not trying for Hoddle? When supporters forked out £49 to see us lose again at our bitter rivals Chelsea, were the players not trying 100% cos it was Hoddle? And all the other times?
I thought a lot of the goals went in cos Keller was a sub standard keeper but if it was cos him and others were not trying, I’m sure the club which have just reported a £7.1m loss will glad accept back unearned income, as you can’t have it both ways.
He went on: "It is impossible to win games if I have to make seven or eight saves every match.” Tell us about it, one shot is usually enough to mean we have to score two.
And Finally – just fancy that…
Wembley has rejected a £228m takeover approach
from Enic, and intends to continue
with plans to sell its London stadium to the English National Stadium Trust. (Dated
09-Jan-99 - with thanks to Steve for diggin it out).
They’ve always had a motive, and now perhaps they have a bit of form
27th October 2003 – Financial Statements reveal £7.1m loss
After much speculation over the last couple of days, the financial statements have been published revealing a headline loss of £7.1m for the period up to the end of June this year. As a failed accountant there is nothing I like less than trailing over a load of pony old numbers, so click here if you have bean counter tendencies: Preliminary THFC Financial Statements for y/e June 03
This gist of it is, last year was bad in terms of generating revenue from the performances on the pitch but we bit the bullet got rid of most of the old crap on bad contracts, and spent a few quid in a sellers market to try to get Spurs back to the top. This kind of spending can’t go on forever and it has to start delivering soon otherwise we are facing a bleak future. We did our bit, turnover was up and the operating profit before player write offs and interest payments actually increased to £11m. Its all there, all we need is to click on the pitch…
In general after a dickey start, the board led by Levy seem to have got it together and are doing ok by Spurs with the only caveat to that being the “capital projects” section where along with chasing white elephant training facilities, the uncertainty over the new stadium or staying at WHL remains.
Supporters have been reassured a number of times that we will not bail the goons out of their debt mountain at Piker Grove in the occupied territories, and I am not suggesting or have heard anything to suggest that something so abhorrent is being planned, but I keep thinking of Animal Farm when statements painted clearly for everyone to see on the barn door (such as “we will not share New Scumbury with Arsenal”, suddenly get bits added on the end like (“not as tenants” and “only if it was a commercially sensible decision”).
That is more my paranoia as a football fan being stiffed by people who run football for money over the years and the sooner something is sorted the better for everyone, but as attendances this season have proved, being a success on the pitch is the horse and the New Stadium is the cart.
Two tickets for Ascot on Saturday
If you can’t make it for Spurs vs. Bolton, or like the bloke on the lower shelf are likely to nod off during it, why not have a go at the following competition for two free tickets, courtesy of our friends at Blue Sq. Even if you can’t use em yourself, feel free to enter, just answer the following question:
Who won the Webmaster a wheelbarrow load of dough at the weekend when winning the Breeders cup Mile?
a. Six Perfections, b. Six Donkerties, c. Six Pack
Who lost it all, inc the wheelbarrow, when only 3rd in the Breeders Cup Turf and hour or so afterwards?
a. Falbrav, b. Princess Anne, c. Van Nistelrooy
Answers by weds evening to falbrav&sixperfectionscompetition@topspurs.com
And Finally… Peter Jackson the Midland Champion Boxer and Spurs season ticket holder has had his next fight confirmed & it’s the big one – English Middleweight Championship in Nottingham on 28th Nov against two time World title challenger & undefeated British Light Middle weight Ryan Rhodes from Sheffield. The show, which has Howard Eastman as the main event, is scheduled to be on BBC TV.
For anyone that can make it, Tickets are available from Jacko himself and start at £25 for the 8 fight bill
26th October 2003 – Spurs 0-0 Boro – A shower of zhit
Some 0-0’s can be really good matches, like the Chelsea home match last season, but others are 0-0’s in name as well as nature and this was one of those. If Pleat has turned the corner for Spurs, it’s turned into a dead end. There cannot be many matches where a bloke nods off in the crowd, as he did on the lower shelf today.
Just where does he get off slagging off Hoddle then playing Poyet and Sharon in his midfield to see them get overrun for the 5th successive match. The gap between what he says and does is enormous for Pleat and he must be thankful for some luck and a run of fixtures against shit teams in and around the bottom three. I was horrified to see a Sky poll saying that 67% of Spurs fans want Pleat as manager full time – fortunately my inside informs me that this is someway down the list of options.
Today was dismal shit, no idea of how to break down a solid Boro side apart from some industry and effort from Dalmat and Konchesky. As well as trying to be the first club in England to successfully have a director of football, we also appear dead set on having the slowest and least aggressive central midfield in history. Midfield in a coma, I know I know it’s terrible.
Helen had a better game in goal (or at least he did not do a trademark fuck up), and fullbacks Carr and Treacle did ok, while our centre backs got away with some questionable decision-making against non-existent attack. Konchesky continues to impress on his loan from Charlton, lots of energy, skill and commitment although after all his good work, he could do better with his final ball. Word’s around that his loan period will continue to be extended until the next window, where all things being equal, we should be able to sign him full time which is good news for Spurs.
On the other side of midfield, Dalmat looking less chubby by the game, was generally impressive looking to take people on with the ball whenever he had the chance, and although the balance between holding the ball and passing it off and running with it was not always there, he had a decent enough match and will be of great benefit to Spurs throughout the season. He does however posses one “Leonhardsen” characteristic of getting the ball, before turning 270 degrees onto his favoured foot before laying it off, which scares me a little and slows down any semblance of pace we may have moving the ball forward.
The story of the central midfield is old but, despite all talking the talk, Pleat is still walking the lame. All that bollox in "opposition" and we have had 5 matches of Pleat’s “Polo” midfield – the one with the hole in the middle. Both Poyet and Anderton have had distinguished careers, but both are very much at the end.
Poyet has an extraordinary knack of arriving in the box at the right place and at the right time but he has neither the legs nor lungs to compete for 90minutes in the centre of a Premiership midfield (or at least in a Premiership midfield that is going to be a success) – something that is obvious to anyone and everyone who has watched Spurs over the last 12 months and more, Sharon has had one injury too many which has meant his pace has gone, and as aggression, heading and tackling have never really been his bag he would appear to be seriously lacking in viable attributes to run a midfield. The downward spiral in his abilities have also affected the passing side of his game and all in all it’s a shame to have to moan about an old favourite outstaying his welcome.
Its only a pedantic point, but Poyet was having a reasonable match in terms of his offensive play and had all of our limited chances while he was on the pitch – getting into fantastic positions which is something the ball watching Zamora could learn a hell of a lot from and while Sharon was just plain miserable, and when the long overdue change came in midfield, surely Poyet was the wrong one to go. Poyet certainly thought so and a midfield of Ledley sitting and Poyet roaming seemed a better option than Ledley sitting and Sharon squatting. As ever Rohan Ricketts was a breath of fresh air when he came on.
Up front, the lights were on but everyone was out. Keane had a disappointing match and seemed to concerned with nonsense events within the game rather than getting on with the job in hand. As ever his habit of running behind defenders rather than putting in a challenge is infuriating and lets down the overall game of our most skilful player. Like Ginola before him who only faced forwards, its difficult to be critical of the player who keeps the sunshine at WHL but someone should have a word and lets hope its not the curse of the current player of the year striking again after Davies, Sully, RSol etc.
Zamora as ever looked reasonable outside the box, but when the action came to the box, he was too often ball watching, something made all the more obvious by the excellent runs Poyet was making. Zamora will come good, its all there, its just a matter of him settling in and getting his rhythm but at this moment in time he is a little way off the pace. For all Zamora’s current weaknesses, he looks streets ahead of Postiga, but as a young lad in a foreign country may need more time to settle down. Bloody hope so.
This was better than watching Spurs get humbled by any of the sides which shamed Spurs earlier in 2003 but it is a choice of comparing shit with sick – neither is good enough for the greatest club in the history of Association Football. We are used to our managers saying some strange stuff and Pleat came out with the following old bollox:
Without the ball our back four were tremendous, they blocked and they tackled. We had rhythm and ascendancy in the first half but we lost that in the second - although quite frankly I thought it was an exciting game even if it wasn't the highest quality. “
Hang on a minute, this is Boro two 1-0 wins all season and in the bottom 3. Fuck good blocks, we should be battering crap like this and if we are not I want a reason why not some old pony. Why did we lose the so called “rhythm and ascendancy” – something to do with a half time team talk?
Fortunately there was plenty going on in the crowd, with the bloke falling asleep and one of theirs (Davies) looking like Paul Calf, and getting “sort yer mullet out” from Block 32. Norverners; funny haircuts & bad clothes – dontchajustloveem!! And when the announcer said, “would the owner of a black Saab…” you just knew that it was not for one of the half a dozen Boro fans who’d bothered to show up.
In answer to Pleat’s constant sniping, Hoddle responded over the weekend with the following comments, and it looks like he is back talking common sense
"In order to get the success the fans crave, in my
opinion, there is only one solution - give David the job because the position
he holds at the club is making it enormously difficult for a manager to
succeed, He was so obstructive towards me, never working in harmony with me and
always working towards his own end.
If the Director of Football post is so important, why have we not got a “caretaker” Director of Football as surely the club will fall apart without one.
|
|
Lets Kick Racism out of Football Week This week has been lets kick racism out of football week with a number of initiatives up and down the country and the United Colours of Football (4) fanzine has been produced by the Lets Kick Racism out of Football organisation. Please check with the www.kickitout.org website or the Spurs representative on this is the MEHSTG fanzine (http://www.mehstg.co.uk/homepage.htm) for more details. |
Reports of the financial Trouble at Spurs
I was a little alarmed at the stories towards the end of last week suggesting Spurs were in the financial shit and it was sufficient to pick up the batphone for special emergencies but it appears these stories are wide of the mark and there is not a problem.
The financial geezer was given the bullet as he was not moving as fast as Levy wanted and they have introduced their own man who sings from the same hymn sheet (or at least jumps when he is barked at). Intriguingly there is a word around saying that all will become clear in a few months, and it will be big and good news for Spurs! We wait and hope…just as long as its not buying a new golf club to build a training ground.
|
Crackers TV debut Sky were well chuffed with Crackers TV debut, doing his level best to make the dross on the pitch interesting. Well done to him and the word is that he’ll be back on later in the season |
|
|
12 mins: The Rabbi is fooled by one of those 'Shots-that-from-a-certain-part-of-the-ground-look-like-they're-going-straight-in-but-are-actually-miles-off' type things. A squeel, unbecoming of his manly voice, is followed by him becoming the first man to say 'Man Alive'! on national TV since the 1978. 14mins: 'Chris Perry is no Ronaldo' admits the Rabster, a fact undeniable to all but dentists. 16 mins: After a brief complimentary discussion about Steve Gibson, Rabs points out to his co-commentator that the Middlesbrough supremo could have 'bought the whole town for a fiver'. 21 mins: Moment of absolute genius: BoroughBloke: This game is scratchy, scrappy, and bitty. Crackers: Aren't they Paula Yates' kids? 24 mins: Rabbi asks BoroughBloke where about’s in Newcastle Middlesbrough is. |
|
And Finally…Happy Birthday Glennda
The three wise men and the bright star gathered over Hayes on the 27th day of the 10th month, 46 years ago for the birth of the most naturally gifted English footballer. Gone but not forgotten.
23rd October 2003 – Smoggies Preview
On Sunday Spurs play host to Middlesboro in the first of three very winnable home matches in a week. Our friends from the land of the smoking boozer have had a similarly troubled start to the season and three 1-0 wins in the space of week apart would be down amongst the likes of Wolves and Leicester. Results would suggest that Spurs are very much on the up but this has partly been attributable to some long overdue luck and it was not too long ago that a side managed by caretaker Pleat were whacked 3-0 at WHL on a live Sunday match by Boro.
Even with the loss of Kanoute and some classy players in the Boro line up such as Mendieta, we should be too good for this lot although we will again have to win despite being over run in midfield should the partnership of Sharon and Poyet remain in central midfield. With Gardner coming back from suspension, King and poss. Ziege from injury and Dalmat and Mabizela advertising their claims for a place in the starting line up, we have a few more options for our weakest position and employing a bit of imagination, we should come up with a more competitive midfield. Check for team news updates later in the week.
Spurs are not playing well enough to be interested in taking a shade of odds on 10/11 about to win the match, and with Keller up to some new tricks last weekend, even the first goalscorer looks a bit low on value. Keane is the percentage play at 9/2 but looking further down the list Dalmat is at 12/1 and Sharon despite not having scored in nearly two years is 16/1. One day one of the centre backs is going to pop up at 33/1+ but I’ll be in the poor house long before.
Since registering our 1900th league win against WBA
last December, seven of the nine subsequent league wins since have been by the
odd goal and you can get 15/2
about a 2-1 which seems the most logical winning scoreline, although Keller’s
blooper last week was the only goal we have let in during the 4 Pleaty matches
and for the same price you can also get 2-0. A 2-1 scoreline with Dalmat
scoring the first goal pays 60/1.
Crackers on the TV
The match against Boro will be the TV event of the year for
viewers of Sky Sport’s FANZONE as our very own Rabbi Crackers will be the Spurs
commentator. With his own special brand of oratorical brilliance he is sure to
be a big hit and we wish him well
Check out the Crackers
Less good news…Kanoute & the financial situation
It has been revealed today that Kanoute is out for 2 months which is a terrible blow to him and the club, and something really should be done about Izzet, and not thinking about solicitors letter when it comes to his justice either.
Earlier in the year I was a little concerned about the spending at WHL since the end of the season, but had it all explained to be in terms of wages being a certain percentage of turnover, blah blah but with a financial director resigning days before the issue of the financial statements the press have begun to speculate that we are in some sort of financial trouble. With increased prices year on year, new sponsorship and kit deals and lotsa TV wonga from cup runs in 2001/02, we should not really have any cause for alarm, esp. with the “wonderful” £75m working overdraft facility. After spending close to fuck all for the previous 18 months and showing a profit in the previous financial year, surely they could not have cocked it all up in such a short space of time
The Grauniad amongst others has speculated that we are around £20m in debt and the club have notified the sleazebags in the city that we will make a loss for the year ended June 2003 of "not less than £5m" and after all the troubles of the late 80’s, supporters have every right to be anxious about how the club is being run. Some clarity from the board on this matter would be extremely useful.
The story is new and there has been no “inside” on it as yet – but early indications appear that it is related to re-financing a loan which would make dough available for the new manager & the yoof academy, with of course delays in getting the dosh sorted slowing down appointing a new manager and therefore slowing down our relentless march to the top. Hopefully that is all it is and the initial debt worries are proved unfounded.
Other News
There is a contract on the table for Ricketts and although he appears to want to sign, nothing has been sorted yet & Konchesky will have his loan extended at the end of this month, probably by another month again with the increasing likelihood of us having him full time in the window in January, all assuming our books are in order I suppose.
Also there is an interesting article on Mabizela in the Standard - click here
20th October 2003 – Pleaty’s out of order comments
The Spurs news today was dominated by the comments made by Pleat about Hoddle, and it seems with a couple of wins under his belt, his handlers have let him of the leash to make some comments about Hoddle which in my opinion were wholly inappropriate.
Yes Hoddle was his own worst enemy and results since his departure prove that the players were not playing for him (and by implication for the Club and the supporters) and that his influence was holding Spurs back. Hoddle made numerous poor decisions as manager and appeared to be regressing the first team, of that there is little doubt and he had to go, but the malicious nature of the attacks tell us as much about Pleaty and what he has been up to for his £350k a year behind the scenes as about Hoddle. Pleaty had a thinly veiled dig at Hoddle with the following:
“The man we want has to fit a certain profile. Would he represent Spurs well to the media? Is he a top coach? Would the players respect him? Is he a nutcase? Those are the boxes I’m talking about,”
I would add to that “….and finally, no tolerance for an interfering Director of Football” as we need to be looking at the best set up to benefit the club in the future.
The Director of Football position (and Pleat with it, as there can be no room for him elsewhere in the club as no matter what his official job he is just a manager in waiting) has to go when the new bloke is appointed, as we cannot afford to have someone with his own agenda, perhaps bitterly formed at getting the bullet back in 1987. I have yet to see the template for success that having an ex-manager as director of football undermining a current manager anywhere in world football. Like the much-maligned 3-5-2 it is a fancy “continental” thing that does not work over here (if at all).
For all the bollocks about Pleaty brings on the youngsters – we have seen 60 minutes of Blondel as a “feck you” to Hoddle and Poyet and Sharon in the midfield ever since, with Ricketts being the first for the door when a change is to be made. It’s like a shameless politician saying something popular when in opposition and then doing the same old mistakes when in power. As for Pleaty identifying young talent such as Davies et al, that all stopped (apart from Blondel) when Charlie Woods left the club and it is another positive image without any real substance.
Perhaps Levy should listen to the wise words of Bowen “…you get nothing in this game for two in a bed” and get rid now before we are back with Pleaty as caretaker in two years time as another manager struggles with the politics. Somehow Spurs managed to survive 117 years without such a position and perhaps a more specific definition of roles of Directors would not go amiss – as you would n’t see, say someone from accounts dealing with real estate issues and vice versa, in a regular company with an effective organisation structure.
The managerial candidates – Some hack has
mentioned the name of Jose Mourinho over the weekend – well don’t forget where
you heard it first, weeks ago!!! Also Blackburn’s UEFA cup exit and run of
defeats since Hoddle was sacked has forced the sour faced one into the
spotlight (again advised to be backed at 25/1 a few weeks ago! – whether he
gets it or not it was a great price in view of his current cramped odds).
Sourness issued another of those intriguing
so-called “denials”. Just as O’Neill spent ages in press conferences not saying
“no”, Sourness has contrived an answer that leaves the door firmly open
"I have not spoken to anyone from Tottenham, it is absolute nonsense. "I can categorically say I have had no contact from Spurs. I have not been offered the job at Tottenham. I have got my hands full here, I come to work here every day and the Ribble Valley is as good as it gets in this country at this time of the year.
Well, just supposing, (and don’t forget this is just for fun! J) someone who his close with both senior player and club officials at Spurs is asked to have a quiet word sounding out potential candidates for the job. Sourness is no doubt as honest as he was a clean player and would not want to lie, so he is correct to suggest that no one on the payroll at Spurs has spoken to him but that’s not to say no thoughts could have been exchanged on the matter from someone acting in an unofficial capacity. Also I wonder if he could pass a lie detector test when given the option of the Ribble Valley or a top London casino to waste double his current salary.
Kanoute’s injury – First reports
suggest that the injury is not a break but there is no news on how long he will
be out and just cos its not broken does not mean that it is less serious.
Whatever happens, someone with “no manners” should be assigned to Izzet in the
return match as an incident like that should not be forgotten.
19th October 2003 – Leicester 1-2 Tottenham: Kanoute breaks Leicester’s Bent Dickov (with thanks to Viramundo for the headline)
The last few years have not been full of heroic tales of coming from behind to win away matches, and even fewer last minute winners to send the long suffering faithful home happy (off the top of my head Leicester have provided the last two “away” last minute winners – Ginola in 2000 and more famously Nielsen in 1999). Happy days, we’re now 5 points off the champions League places with a couple of out of form and pony teams coming up next at WHL so things have a good chance of looking a lot brighter by the time we travel to Scumbury in early November.
All that really matters is the three points and getting a win, but by all accounts it was the same old miserable away performance with Poyet again starting to the disbelief of the majority of supporters (sure he has a role, but not as 75-90 minutes central midfielder thesedays), Pleat appears to have the luck that deserted his predecessor but in some respects he has earned the luck by doing the simple things well. I hope that Levy is assessing the performances and not just the results of Pleaty, as it is a matter of conjecture as to whether he can turn Spurs into real challengers if he were appointed full time. Yes there are plenty of worse candidates, and yes I’m sure he could do a decent job (and getting three wins and a draw from four is decent enough), but we need someone special and I’m not sure old Pleaty can be a part of that.
Kanoute continues to be a revelation but the story of the day has to be Mabizela who scored a spectacular equaliser within minutes of making his debut. Hopefully this will give him confidence in his game and life in London in general which appeared to be getting him down a week or so ago.
Overall, things looking up (although lets hope that Kanoute injury is not too bad) but that managerial appointment is still crucial to the long term recovery of THFC as a major player and we cannot afford it to be got wrong.
16th October 2003 – Leicester Preview
Leicester has to be one of the least pleasant away trips of the season, where you are ambushed at the station by local old bill and marched to and from the ground by these swine in a quasi Police state where normal freedoms exists only beyond the station gates if you don’t end every sentence with “me duck”. At least the non-league Filbert street has gone for this season but so has the desire to go through all that hassle with the old bill and locals, on top of paying £65 for a train ticket & match ticket (not including beer money, and as any regular watcher of Spurs away over the last few years knows, you needs yer beer money), to watch a midtable football match which I can watch on TV down the local “Chas n Dave” boozer.
I had a timely reminder of what football used to be like last weekend when I finished a meeting early giving me an hour and a half before the Hungary vs. Poland game kicked off in the Puskas Stadium in Budapest. Walking to the ground, seeing the floodlights in the distance, buying a ticket for £15 on the gate, being able to walk around the stadium, a seat sized for a human being not a baked bean, people smoking, standing up, sitting down, mixed fans doing plenty of singing with no hassle – just how did we end up with having to book premiership games a month in advance, paying nearly 50p a minute with hardly room to move, no doing this that or the other, old bill everywhere?
Anyway enough of this ramble, Leicester away is one of those typical Spurs away games where we all think we should win cos its Tottenham Hotspur, the finest club in the history of the game, but the not so glorious reality of our current “teams” in recent years has more often than not led to disappointment in games such as these. The last time we were up there, we needed to beat an already relegated Leicester team to equal our highest Premiership finish of 7th. Not a great deal, but something, esp. after the League cup final disappointment earlier in the season, but even after taking the lead with less than half an hour to go we could not manage it, and along with the antics of the old bill, this was one of the most disappointing away experiences I have had in recent seasons. Whatever happened to that Clemence boy who played well that match, we could do with someone like him now!
Pleaty has a great chance to show that he has what it takes to take the managers role permanently by preparing a Spurs team to match Leicester for commitment and then to do them with our superior class. Player for player we are better (Dickoff and Benjamin vs. Keane and Kanoute) and now it’s just a matter of organising it to see off the old pony.
While Leicester itself may be a stain on the underpants of the Premiership, it does contain two of our most favoured old boys in Ian Walker and Sir Les. In the aforementioned defeat at the end of the season before last, Walker gave a sly thumbs up to the supporters singing “you’re Spurs and you know you are” at him & is a quality geezer. Sir Les may not have been the resounding success everyone hoped he would be at Spurs, but he is a player respected all over the country & I should imagine these two will get a good reception from the travelling fans. The less said about Bent Fatcha and the £5m the evil and still unemployable Goonersaurus paid for him the better.
In terms of a prediction, I’m going for the Pleat side we saw against Coventry and Everton (as opposed to the one that mugged a point in Manchester) and a 2-1 win for Spurs which should be around an 8/1 chance and am finally dumping my “centre backs from set pieces” policy of Richards and Gardner for the first goal now that we have two high class strikers who are be the best pairing since JK and Ted, and nominate Keane from the two for the first goal as he should be a slightly better price at around 6/1, with a scorecast of the two of em (2-1 and Keanaldo) at 33/1.
Avoid a Coupon Buster with Sporting Odds! Place an accumulator (5 legs or more) on this weekend's Domestic English matches with SportingOdds and if only one leg lets you down, they will refund your stake.
|
For those who want a bet on something a bit more reliable than Spurs away, This weekend Sporting Odds are offering a Free £20 bet on Champions Day (Saturday's Racing from Newmarket). |
|
My money is on Sindapour Currently 11/1 for the big race at Newmarket (trained by Martin Pipe, brother to a Derby winner, won at Royal Ascot and been specifically targeted for the race). Each year I have a cunning plan, one year I’ll get it right!
15th October 2003 – New columnists
International weeks now appear to last two weeks (who remembers and years for the days when England played at less than half full Wembley on a Wednesday night with proper Spurs matches either side and none of this fuss!) and are a real killer when it comes to writing stuff about Spurs – all the players are away and nothing usually goes on, but in this current break, two people of the highest calibre have come forward to be regular columnists at TOPSPURS.
The first was Shelfer who has posted a couple of excellent pieces already and the other was 703 club & home and away regular James Flinn who submitted his first quality piece tonight.
Click here for Shelfer http://www.topspurs.com/thfccol-shelfer.htm
Click here for James Flinn http://www.topspurs.com/thfccol-jamesflinn.htm
And don’t forget, while all the vacancies for regular
columnists now seem to be full, feel free to pen your thoughts on Spurs in the
guest column.
14th October 2003 – Cousin Clive
With Balsawood on his way, Spurs have again appointed someone
they had in the phone book rather than selecting the best candidate from a
range of applications (something that sometimes happens in the real world
outside football) but at least goalscoring hero Clive Allen has the experience
of his time with England U17’s and has a Tottenham pedigree going back to the
double year, and hopefully he can do well at Spurs.
13th October 2003 – Cobblers to Balsawood
Another bit of good news along with England’s E2K4 qualification
was the news that Calderwood has gone to Northampton. The only regret being
that it was 10 years too late for someone of his abilities & we don’t wish
him well.
|
9th October 2003 – Jacko’s Charity Fight – Spurs season ticket holder and professional boxer (Midlands Champion) Peter Jackson is doing a charity boxing match up in the second city for the Birmingham Children’s hospital on 17th October. Jacko who made the Spurs programme last season for raising £3000 for sick children is at it again doing 2-minute rounds against 30 opponents who donate enough. Afterwards its all off to Jacko’s local where there will be a buffet to watch Spurs batter Leicester on Sky. All donations, whether you want to get in the ring with Jacko or not, are welcome and the Club are donating something which will be raffled off. To make a donation – contact Jacko directly on the following email - Click here to make a donation to Jacko's charity fight or if you know the squashed nose pugilist, see him in the Northumberland Arms before any match. |
|
Goon Ticket application – Just in case you don’t know – the price of £24 per Goon ticket quoted in the programme on Saturday was wrong apparently and it is now £31. If you are as sad as me and have already sent them off, the TO will return your stuff with a free envelope (no stamp) to re-post with a new cheque. Check the official site, ticket office or the person with a ticket office insider that usually fences you a ticket for Scumbury for details.
Two new TOPSPURS columnists on the way – Two new supporters have signed up to do regular columns at TOPSPURS “Shelfer” has his first instalment given a temporary home on the guest column til I have time to set things up and both should be up and running by this time next week. Read Shelfer’s first piece at the TOPSPURS Guest Column
I think we have enough regular columnists for the time being but don’t forget – if ever you fancy penning something for the guest column, please do so and send it off to the usual address.
8th October 2003 – Joke of the day – It was going to be “what do you call a mountain in Liverpool” (Killamanforagiro) but the news that terminally lame Anderton has risen off his death bed to ask for talks about a new contract just edges it out. The Standard suggest that Spurs and Sharon talked over the summer about this, but this is not what filtered back to topspurs where it was widely rumoured from a range of sources that Spurs were willing to pay Harry’s dustcart around £700k to take him away (pound for pound more expensive than removal of nuclear waste).
Sharon’s contract ends at the end of the season and it looks like, after narrowly missing flogging him to Leeds for £2m in 2002 and giving him away last summer to Pompey he will walk away on a free…surely he won’t be offered another contract. Not in the “New Tottenham” being cultivated by Levy and pals which we all endorse. Anderton has been a favourite over the years but everything for him is behind him and we will not be a force in any form of Football if we have him labouring around the pitch next season. I’m not questioning his effort, and I agree he had a decent match against Everton but even his best these days is not good enough, even if he produced it week in week out, and against the better sides, which he has n’t in recent years.
Shaggy had this to say today and the two key words are the “if’s” which litter the second and third sentences
"It is up to the club to come and talk to me about a
new contract. It is difficult for them at the moment with the caretaker manager
in charge. But I am enjoying my football and if I continue to play well then a
contract will follow.
Clash of the Titans – Not England Turkey (or even Spurs U19 against Saints U19 where Yeates apparently played a blinder and possibly looks set for a first team look in soon) but the power struggle, which will develop between ManUre and the FA over Rio Ferdinand. Will the FA uphold the law and ban the most powerful club’s £28m player for two years. Like in any industry, the regulatory framework is riddled with people sympathetic to the most powerful interests and it will be interesting to see if the rules count for anything when it comes to potentially unscrewing the wheels of the gravy train. ManUre success both on and off the pitch have had by a long way the greatest effect upon the FA coffers which have risen significantly in recent years and while it appears they are granted all sorts of favours from referees and other instances of rule bending for ManUre, will they be able to get away with something so large (and with European wide consequences)? Can the FA apply the law or the rule of money when the multi million pound PLC put the squeeze on as they undoubtedly will over such a large asset?
5th October 2003 – Ricketts & Burch in the England U21 squad – It’s been a good weekend all round: The players have pulled their collective fingers out to allow us to be looking up the league rather than over our shoulders, Kanoute’s goal, Pleaty charming the media to write mostly decent stuff about Spurs and both Rohan Ricketts and Rob Burch have made it into the England U21 squad put the smile back on all Spurs faces.
Ricketts has made tremendous strides this season and hopefully the International call up and proposed new deal he will be getting from Tottenham will give him the confidence to know he is worthy of his place in the team and make him determined to convert the promise into achievement in the years to come.
Latest on the next manager – No more real news on the managerial situation except that O’Neill is still number one written in big letters, circled and highlighted with exclamation marks. A few other names such as Sourness, Antic and Mourinho are written in pencil at the bottom of the list, although I’m sure the club would want to get away from paying millions for both the old manager to go and a new one to arrive everytime we change managers, which has to count against any manager in a current contract (unless the resigned and there was no compensation). Along with the names at the bottom of the page is old Pleaty. Pleaty’s case rests upon a long series of “No’s” from the vicinity Parkhead, something like 7 points from our next 9, progression in the cup and then doing something special at Scumbury on the 8th - Just how could they not appoint him full time if we turned the Goons over?
One of the main issues with Pleaty, and there is no easy way of putting this, is the level of respect given to him by the players after the misdemeanours which got him the elbow last time in 88. Things are going well in the “just glad we are rid of Hoddle” honeymoon period with the players but it remains to be seen if this is still the case if he was the full time manager and things were not going well. Pleaty would not be a disaster for Spurs, I’d much prefer him to many of the names we are being linked with notably Curbishley, but the real question is can we do better? as there can be no room for sentimentality for a “Spurs” man when the club appoint the next man.
I think the board are doing a decent job at the moment
(putting up sensible candidates and not panicing) but there is only so much
they can do to tempt O’Neill or indeed anyone else to Tottenham and for all the
good intentions and hard work, there is not much they can do if he keeps saying
“no”. If we fail to land O’Neill, and are not prepared to pay compensation for
lure a currently employed manager alternatives become a bit more scarce so we
have to hope and pray firstly that O’Neill has the good judgement to defy logic
and join Spurs and when he is here, he is inspired and Spurs are successful.
Topspurs Column update from Logan - Click here
4th October 2003 – Tottenham 3-0 Everton, business as usual against the Toffeemen – After five defeats in our last six home matches stretching over nearly 5 months including the summer break, it was a great relief to see Spurs put Everton to the sword and record our most convincing victory for ages against what all said and done was a decent enough Everton side with no excuses. Happy days at White Hart Lane again.
First and foremost, I think David Pleat deserves the grateful thanks of every Spurs supporter. After the Saints disaster two weeks ago things looked really really bad for Spurs. As much as we all love Hoddle, he had to go and the board did the right thing acting quickly. Pleaty’s initial aims of getting thro to the next round of the cup and taking at least 4 points from our two fixtures against Citeh and Everton. Mission accomplished, and today in some style. I still have major reservations about the long-term viability of a “director of football”, esp. Pleaty as he is an ex-manager and did allow disappointment that Hoddle was not going to succeed at Spurs to cloud my judgement over the merits of Pleaty over the last two weeks (despite being a long time champion of his for most of the last couple of years) but his common sense and good leadership was just what Spurs needed.
Knowing the team before the match, I have to admit that I was seriously concerned that we would be overrun in midfield but the boiled egg heads Everton offered against Poyet and Anderton did not possess either the pace or guile to take the game away from Spurs. It was surely no coincidence that the restoration of Silver booted Ricketts to the starting line up helped Spurs look the part and hopefully he will have a meeting in Levy’s office to bang out a proper contract very soon. Another who impressed was Konchesky and if he continues like this, he should be a full timer come the next transfer window.
Spurs started well enough and got better before Kanoute once again lit up the stadium with a truly wondrous goal from all of 30 yards just before the break. Six goals in six starts and a couple as sub is good by anyone’s standards and that he should do it in a struggling team after just signing makes it all the more commendable. His partnership and understanding with Keane is also very promising for the future.
The five minutes before and after halftime were the best for a long long time for Spurs with chances galore. Anderton peeled back the years with a quality ball into the box and Poyet did what he does best, deftly heading the ball into the far corner quite soon after the break, so soon in fact that I missed it while putting my phone away after checking a text message!
We’d not had time to get used to it being 2-0 before Keane was sent through the middle, using a bit of luck against a defenders leg, before dinking it past Martin and sealing the win. Keane is still not the finished article in front of goal (and sometimes holds onto the ball too long), but his level of ability is up there with the best I have seen in our famous shirt in the 29 years I have been attending matches at Spurs.
3-0 up and instead of winding up my Everton mate with another text, I just called him and held the phone up so he could hear the crowd without saying a word – you can’t buy moments of magic like that. It seems churlish to complain but it would have been nice to see Spurs continue to carving up Everton but the consequences of no points today would have seen Spurs slip to 19th and a point off the bottom so it was understandable that we eased off to conserve the win, although in easing off we played quite sloppily at times and probably would have been better off keeping on going forward.
It was party time in the crowd & Rooney got the “he’s got a monkey’s head” chant and while some compare him to a young Gazza, he’s more a young Dean Windass to the topspurs collective. The best chant of the match has to be “leave our fucking cars alone” sung by the Park Lane to the Evertonians as the left in their droves with 15 minutes and more to go, with the obligatory “calm down” gestures.
We are still nearer the bottom than the top and there is still a long long way to go, but today was a good day at the Lane, and god knows, we ain’t had too many of those recently so its time to enjoy it, raising a glass of thanks to Pleaty and dreaming of better times ahead.
Perhaps those of us who saw the 1-0 defeat up at Goodison in 1997 should get the t-shirt “I was there when Everton beat Spurs” cos at this rate it’