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24th April
2008 - Oh dear, Juande “I’m not
going to discover now anything new about a group of players I have been with
for a long time and know perfectly well” - J. Ramos, 18/4/08
(source: bbc.co.uk/sport) Oh dear, Juande.
Suddenly the reason for Tottenham’s abysmal performances in recent
weeks has become a lot clearer. We all thought the Spurs players were
fighting for their places in next season’s squad; that is why the lack
of motivation and desire on show seemed strange in the extreme, and why the
embarrassingly heavy defeats to the likes of But Ramos’
statement here reveals that they are not playing for their places at all - he
suggests that he already knows exactly who is staying and who is going. And
the players probably have a pretty good idea of this themselves. Those that are secure
have nothing to worry about, and can coast through to the end of the season
safe in the knowledge that they will still be at the club come August; while
those on the way out will be confident that there will be a Premier League
somewhere willing to take them on. Their wages and the lifestyle are unlikely
to suffer too much from having to move on. Of course, we fans
know that there is still something to play for this season - pride, dignity,
and not least the entertainment and satisfaction of paying customers. But
that is not how the mind of the Premier League footballer works, evidently. Ramos must shoulder
some of the blame for this. Motivation comes from the management, and the
Spaniard and his coaching staff obviously haven’t been getting this
right. Making it clear to the team that nothing they can do will alter his plans
for next season is a tactic that has backfired spectacularly. The quote, in case
you were wondering, comes from the same interview in which Ramos tells us
that Ledley King’s future is uncertain. Or at least, that’s the
way it has been presented to us in the media. The manager has since moved to quell speculation
surrounding King’s departure, and Spurs fans shouldn’t read too
much into what is clearly an exaggeration of the Spaniard’s comments.
Nevertheless, there are question marks over our captain’s fitness, and
if the club were to lose both him and Berbatov for next season, we would be
severely lacking. The top four get stronger every year, and the likes
of Villa, Everton,
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TOPSPURS
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THE LATEST TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR NEWS
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30th March 2008 – Looking to the future
With six
weeks still to go before the end of the season, but with Spurs’
campaign ostensibly wrapped up, predictions for next year have begun in
earnest. One thing
us Spurs fans can never be accused of is pessimism. Despite the harsh reality
check this season’s league form has provided us with, many supporters
are convinced once again that next year we will make the breakthrough into
the Premier League’s top four, finishing in one of those coveted
Champions League spots. It was the same last summer, before a dreadful start
to the campaign forced us into a dramatic reassessment. As it
stands, we still need another six points to avoid this season being our worst
ever in the Premiership, in terms of points accrued. The truth is, a
Champions League place next May is a long way off. Our away
form, for a start, is a particular concern. Spurs have won just twice away
from home in the Premier League in 2007/8, one of those victories coming
against whipping boys It is one
thing to play free flowing, attacking, winning football at home, but if the
club seriously hopes to compete at the highest level, a significant
improvement in results away from White Hart Lane is a priority. There are
other areas in need of improvement. Recent months have seen the side claim
impressive victories over both Arsenal and The way
to achieve this, however, is not to radically overhaul the squad. How short
the memory span of the football fan is – Spurs’ current set of
players are essentially those who achieved successive fifth place league
finishes, not to mention winning the League Cup little over a month ago. It
is no coincidence that, in each of the last two campaigns, we have started
slowly as we struggled to integrate a whole crop of new players into the
first team. Major
surgery is not required. A little tinkering, and some good coaching over the
summer and throughout the season, is the way to achieve success. For years we
have been crying out for some top quality midfielders. A couple of signings
in this key area, and the addition of a new goalkeeper, should give us a
squad capable of attaining European qualification through the league next
season. That is to say, a UEFA Cup place. The Champions League is in our
present situation an unrealistic goal. But that is not to say that it can
never be achieved. In
defence, Michael Dawson is a more than adequate replacement for Ledley King
or Jonathan Woodgate. His troubles this season have come for the most part
when he has been thrust into the role of the senior defender –
alongside either of these There is
plenty to be optimistic about at Spurs. This has been a very good season,
with a cup victory and some cracking games at the Lane that will live long in
the memory. But let’s not get carried away quite yet, not least because
the ribbing we would undoubtedly receive from fans of opposing teams if we
don’t make the Champions League would be even worse a second time
around. 22nd February 2008 - Cup Final Thoughts If we play our
game and go at them from the start we will be in with a chance. What we
cannot do is get drawn in to tight, cat-and-mouse exchange – They are in a great run of form, and have Terry, Lampard and Drogba back to bolster an already formidable line-up. But they have been unconvincing when up against the top sides this season, and with our performances against Arsenal in the semi-final and Man Utd in the league fresh in the memory, there is great cause for optimism. We must play an attacking game though – it’s the Spurs way, and the only way this team knows how. Prediction:
Spurs 2 31st January 2008 – The Woodgate issue The much-heralded arrival of Jonathan Woodgate at Spurs
has raised more than a few eyebrows, but these seem to have more to do with
his questionable injury record than what is perhaps the more pertinent issue
of his criminal past. Let me refresh your memory. In 2000 Woodgate along with Leeds
teammates Lee Bowyer and Michael Duberry were arrested on suspicion of
assaulting an Asian student on a night out in Is this the type of player we want at Spurs? In an era
where players’ antics regularly grace the front pages of the tabloids
as well as the back, Spurs have managed to remain relatively free of
controversy, Mr Defoe’s sex life excluded. I’m sure our players
are not whiter than white, but at least none of them have got into any Joey
Barton-like scrapes. Until now, that is. I’m all for the rehabilitation of criminals
accepting them back into society, and I’m not condemning Woodgate. He
has served his sentence and managed to stay out of trouble since, and as I
have said there is no proof that the attack had anything to do with the race
of the victim. But the spectre of racism has always hung over the incident,
and I am astonished at how few remarks this has generated on the Spurs
messageboards and fansites. Does the fact that someone is a good footballer
prohibit them from questions about their personal suitability to represent
our club? It’s certainly a debate we should be having, rather than
shying away from. It’s a sorry state of affairs if it does. Now he is a Spurs player, I will support Woodgate like I
would any other that dons the Lilywhite shirt. But his signing provides us,
at the very least, with food for thought. Stewart Downing would a typical Tottenham signing –
young, British, over-hyped and over-priced. The premium that is placed on the value of all British
players is something that is well documented, and true to form the quoted
price of £8-12m for the Middlesbrough winger is well over the odds for a player
of his calibre, especially when you consider that the superior Martin Petrov
cost just £4.7m when he signed for Manchester City last summer. Downing has a decent left foot, admittedly, but
doesn’t beat his man often enough or deliver enough quality balls into
the box to merit this overblown fee. Something seems to have gone strangely awry with
Spurs’ transfer policy. Whether or not you agree with the system of
signing young players with a high resale value, it does not seem like this
transfer target even fits that bill – is there anybody out there who
thinks Downing has the potential to be a £20m player in a few seasons time?
Darren Bent is a similar case; it is very unlikely that Spurs will ever be
able to recoup their £16.5m outlay on the striker if and when they decide to
cash-in. Second-rate players for huge amounts of money is a recipe
for disaster. Just because Downing, and Bent for that matter, have played for
Is Downing really someone Ramos has identified as a target
that will improve the standard of the team? It seems more likely that this is
the work of Comolli. The Frenchman’s record in the transfer market is
patchy at best; surely it’s time Levy et al realised where the real
problems at Tottenham Hotspur lie. And what of Steed Malbranque? He has been in great form
this season, along with Robbie Keane the shining light in an otherwise
disappointing campaign, who works tirelessly for the team and has never been
found lacking in terms of quality. It is true that he is not a natural
left-winger, but surely his performances merit at the very least a stay of
execution in that position until someone of the necessary quality can be persuaded
to join? And given that Malbranque is playing so well, is this area
of the team the priority in terms of strengthening right now? Surely a centre
back and a holding midfielder are more pressing concerns. So why have we
chased two right-backs this transfer window? And why are we being linked with
Fred? Scoring goals has not been a problem for the side. Spurs’ transfer strategy has gone to pot, and this
target, if it is to be believed, smacks of incompetence on the part of those
responsible. Please Spurs, don’t do it. Not Downing. And please Levy,
get shot of Comolli. Only then will we have a genuine chance of success. 4th January 2008
- Where next for Berbatov? Ambitious clubs do not sell
their best players - or so the story goes. I am confident that Berbatov
will not be leaving this month - the club have said as much - but ultimately
it is impossible for a team to keep a want-away player in the long-term. The
player stops trying, or becomes a disruptive influence in the dressing room,
generally having some negative impact on the team. Unprofessional, yes, but
we see it time and time again. The power is with the players. If Berbatov
really wants to leave, there is little that Tottenham Hotspur can do to stop
him. But what the club can control
is where he goes next. It would be criminal for our most naturally gifted
player to end up plying his trade for another team in the English Premier
League. Contrary to the statement at the top of this article, ambitious clubs
sometimes HAVE to sell their best players - but this does not mean they must
release their stars to clubs in direct competition with themselves. Emil Dantchev,
Berbatov’s agent, says his client is hankering after a move to a big
club. Real Even if Manchester United
were to offer, say, £25m, and Bayern Munich £20m, it is clear that the bid
from the German club is preferable. Of course, the board have a duty to their
shareholders, but their first duty is to the fans - and football club
shareholders must realise this. It’s part of the deal. To repeat, ambitious clubs
sometimes have to sell their best players. But it needn’t be to their
detriment. Everton have flourished since Rooney departed, while we
don’t need to look very far down the In any line of work, you want
to be successful, to be the best. The same is true in football. To the
players, it is a job. Some have emotional ties to the clubs they represent,
but to most it is work. I don’t begrudge Berbatov wanting to win a
league championship, or the Champions League. But I do ask that he try his
best for the remainder of his Spurs career. We go into 2008 once again
competing on four fronts. There are not many clubs that can say that; perhaps
the Bulgarian should count his blessings. 19th October
2007 – What has gone wrong with Paul Robinson? I don’t blame Paul Robinson for Having said that, Robbo must shoulder at least
some of the responsibility for the result; an international-class goalkeeper
really should have done better with the initial shot that led to the second
Russian goal. Although he is an easy target for criticism at the moment,
which means that he is perhaps maligned to a greater extent than his
performances warrant, there is no escaping that he is a footballer in a
terrible run of form and with his confidence at an all-time low. We now discover that he is out of the game at Either way, the time is certainly right for that
decision to be made. Many thought he should be dropped after the Aston Villa
match; sticking with him did not have the desired effect, with another
spillage leading to another goal against at Anfield. How does a goalkeeper go from being so good to so
poor? In his first two seasons at Problems began at the World Cup last year where,
despite not conceding many goals, his indecision on whether to come for
crosses caused confusion in the Is it just a question of confidence? Possibly, but
I think it’s more than that. Even so, you’d have thought a
Premiership football club would be able to shell out for a top-notch sports
psychologist exactly for this type of situation. Is it because of a lack of competition for his
place, at both club and international level? Again, possibly. But Radek Cerny
has proved himself a very competent keeper, at the very least, who surely
deserves more chances to impress given his patience and loyal attitude. With Surely though, given his recent error-strewn run,
he must have realised his place was under threat? Maybe it’s just a Tottenham thing. Over the
years many a previously good footballer has arrived at the club, only for any
semblance of the talent they once had to ebb away from them the moment they
stepped out on to the hallowed turf in N17. We have had a goalkeeping example
in the last few years, in the shape of Neil Sullivan, who had an awesome
first season in the club, in which he almost single-handedly won us a point
in the A combination of these factors must have played a
role in Robbo’s demise. Other elements are undoubtedly at play; who
knows what they might be. All we can do is hope that this is malaise is only
temporary, not least because in a footballing world inhabited by prima-donnas
with more money than sense, Paul Robinson is one of the good ones. 27th September 2007 - Spurs on course to repeat success of last year Spurs have exactly the same amount of points from the
Premier League games played so far as they took from the corresponding
fixtures last season. Fixtures against newly promoted teams take the place of
the teams relegated at the end of the previous campaign, so, for example,
Sunderland (1st in Championship) replace the highest-placed
relegated side (Sheffield United, who finished 18th in
Premiership), and so on. Take a look at the table below:
This would indicate that Spurs are on track to
repeat their 60-point haul of last season, a figure that in most seasons
since the inception of the Premier League has been sufficient to claim 5th
place (which, at this stage, I think a great many Spurs fans would be
delighted with). All that is necessary is to repeat the results of last
season against the same opposition, a feat not as difficult or far-fetched as
you might imagine: is it not possible that footballing performance is, to a
certain extent, place-orientated? This might explain why some clubs have
appalling, or conversely brilliant, records at certain grounds – the
psychological factors induced by playing in a particular stadium have an
effect on a team’s performance, and this state of mind is transmitted
and passed on to each new generation of players due to their always being
some degree of continuity among the playing staff. The above is a theory that has been put to me this
week, and from it I conclude that, firstly, you really can prove anything
with statistics, and, secondly, that the optimism of some fans knows no
bounds. Make of it what you will, it’s something to
think about at least, and even if you don’t agree with the sentiment,
it might still bring a smile to your face as you realise that the spirit of
some football fans simply cannot be broken! |