28^th August 2010 - Glory Nights at The Lane It’s been a very pleasing start to the season for us Spurs fans. A thumping opener against Man City showed the level of desire and the form that we need to have a successful campaign. So we didn’t get the 3 points we deserved, but we showed our intentions this season – to attack and play with flair. A bruising encounter against Stoke was another test, which the lads passed with fluttering rather than flying colours, but having been kicked off the park for most of the game, we deserved the little bit of luck that we got with Crouch’s ‘clearance’ off the line at the death. Shawcross was a disgrace. I’m not sure how he stayed on the pitch and it actually took the ref until the 72^nd minute to even book him, which was laughable. As bad as Spurs were in the first half against Young Boys, and as good as the comeback was in the first leg, the return at White Hart Lane was superb. The atmosphere looked amazing and the flags flying, superb vocal support and white noise roar are sure to stand us in good stead for the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite club competition. We’ve only lost 3 times in all European fixtures at home and that kind of record is something we should be proud and protective of. We rode our luck at times against Young Boys (especially with Jermain’s handball), and certainly they should have wrapped up the tie in the first half at their place. But one man has pretty much carried us along on the crest of a wave at the start of this season. Gareth Bale’s form has been nothing short of heroic. He had a hand in all of the goals in the CL match, pretty much tortured Man City’s defence and antagonised Stoke. His volley for his second was simply world class. He’s got a superb engine and pace, but he’s started to develop a real attacker’s brain, something that the left back position stilted whilst he was played in defence. Redknapp deserves a lot of praise for the way he’s man-managed Bale, but the lad himself deserves all his plaudits. After suffering some less than flattering reviews and copping a fair bit of abuse from Spurs fans early in his Tottenham career, he’s fast becoming the club’s totem. This weekend sees us host the battered and bruised Wigan boys and of course there’ll be no end of re-runs of last season’s demolition before the game. But a team can’t keep getting trounced. With all of the injuries we’re carrying at the moment, it’ll be interesting to see the line-up for the match. I imagine a few fringe players and those returning from injury will be given a start – good to see Krancjar get a little bit of match practice during the week. But this should really be a regulation win. Special mention goes to Defoe as well of course for his decision to sacrifice a potential England call up and the early part of the group stage of the CL by putting off surgery to ensure that we actually qualified, but the cult hero, the man the press seem to single-handedly be trying to destroy whilst at Spurs, is Peter Crouch. He may not be everyone’s idea of a target man, but he showed midweek that he has all the attributes to cause European defenders real problems. It’s a bit of a cliché to say these days that continental types don’t deal well with marking tall strikers, or cope with balls into the box, but I think our attacking formation will serve us well in the CL. Huddlestone (and Modric once he’s back from the strains of the plastic pitch) will be given more time to work their magic in the middle and Lennon is just a notch behind Bale in form, but menacing and looking strong at the moment. Our width and pace are key assets in our attempt to take on the bigger boys. I’d like to see Huntelaar join us though. He has CL experience and there’s no doubt he’s a quality striker. As AC Milan try to land Ibrahimovic (rather you than me Zlatan, crossing that divide – more of that later!), we stand a good chance of getting the Dutchman on loan. And Real Madrid are still keen to offload some of their surplus, so despite the party line being ‘no more transfers’, I think we’ll see Levy do some shrewd business before the transfer deadline. The group we’ve been drawn in is pretty tough, but it was always going to be for us in our first foray in the new format of the European Cup. Werder Bremen’s honcho seems to think that they have a divine right to beat us, saying, in effect that they are ranked so far above us it’s a gimme…?! FC Twente, coached by The-Man-With-That-Umbrella-McLaren, will be tough, a bit of an unknown quantity and of course the match up that will gladden the heart of every romantic Spurs fan across the globe, the defending champions, Inter. Benitez’s boys didn’t look all that against Atletico Madrid in today’s Super Cup. Madrid’s pace and touch caused them problems, and Inter’s defence lacked any real solidity – Aguero scoring the easiest goal he’ll get all campaign. (Er, on a bit of a tangent, someone needs to tell Chivu to do his bloody helmet up properly as well. How can it be legal for him to wear it with the straps flapping around? ) But whatever the outcome of the group stage, we have the insurance of third spot giving us an extended run in the Europa League. We just have to make sure we get fourth again in the EPL to continue the progress made…a tough task indeed, but one the manager and his staff should be up for. One slight worry this week has been the return of our old friend, Mr Jekyll & Hyde Gomes. Against Stoke he was pretty average and he looked like a fish out of water again trying to deal with pretty basic corners and aerial balls. I can never work out if he’s feigning injury or if he’s actually got an issue, but you could tell Harry was exasperated with him against Young Boys. Cudicini looked solid when he came on and good to see him back on the pitch after his terrible accident last year. Oh and just the small matter of a former Arsenal captain joining the better half of North London this week… Now, I’m not going to go into the obvious reasons why this is a bad idea. I just think Gallas is a sulking, money-grabbing agitator. He caused a massive problem with dressing room harmony at the Gooners and now he’s giving us fans something to really think about. Do we really need him? A 33 year old, who no one else seemingly wanted to sign? He’s had his injury problems too. I would have tried to sign someone younger, a prospect who could have shadowed Ledley and learnt his craft for when the inevitable happens for King. Taking the emotion out of this signing, I don’t really see how it benefits the team. Gallas has been well drilled in his media training saying that Spurs can win the league and that they should do well in Europe, but the real test of this one will be how both he and the crowd cope when he starts for us. A date to mark in your diaries – 20^th November…the first North London derby this season. Should be interesting!

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12^th August 2010 - Spurs Season preview 2010/11

And so we enter a new era in the modern game for Tottenham. A quiet pre-season has seen little transfer activity (which is probably just as well), although the obvious targets are continually linked with us. A striker, it would seem is still top of the list for Redknapp, although he recently denied that any of this forwards would be leaving, bar perhaps the perennial want-away Irishman.

It would seem that the youngsters will get plenty of on-pitch time this season with the new 25 man squad and ‘home-grown rule’ coming into effect in the EPL this season. This bodes well for a club like ours which has plenty of young talent in the ranks. Bostock, Rose, and others have had fleeting glimpses of life on the big stage and now they are set to get their fifteen minutes of fame, as the squad will no doubt get stretched to breaking point if we are able to really make a go of it in every tournament we find ourselves in this year.

It would be kind of nice to think that we may have had to rest our England internationals after a prolonged presence in the recent World Cup, but alas, our pathetic performances there mean that Defoe (the only shining light of a torrid campaign), Crouch and the crocked Ledders et al are set to be as fresh as the others going into another 38 game battle for the remaining ‘big four’ birth.

Man City’s attempts to buy every player under the sun may well hinder our attempts to achieve CL football again next season, but it will be an interesting sub-plot to see if the money or the consistency win the day in the battle for fourth.

We face a fairly unknown quantity in Young Boys of Berne for the final qualification round of the CL. The Swiss outfit are already well into their own domestic season and beat Fenerbache in the last round, so this is no push-over! If we can put our lukewarm pre-season warm-up form behind us and get a strong team out to play, we should be OK. But to fall at this late hurdle would be a real kick in the teeth. The infighting across the Seven Sisters Road is a very amusing pre-season story and we can only hope that the Gooners’ implosion comes off this season. Things have been brewing there for some time and if Fabregas continues to throw out the toys, we could see their indifferent form of the past few seasons rear its head again, and aid us in our cause.

Liverpool look like they have made the best signing of the summer in landing Roy Hodgson. I think he’s a top manager and did a sterling job at Fulham. His tried and trusted management style will work well for the scousers and I think they’ll be right up there this season. I actually think this could be the closest EPL campaign for some time, with at least 8 teams gunning for the top 4 spots.

The stadium twists and turns continue to intrigue as well. Our recent enquiries about the Olympic Stadium are not altogether without their issues (since when have we been an east London team?), but it shows that not everything is 100% ticked off when it comes to this project. The transport issues it seems are the main stumbling block with the London Mayor unwilling to fund the tube extension. West Ham have put in a formal offer for the stadium to relieve any ‘legacy’ embarrassment for the former government, so I think it’s just a back-up idea by the club, but this issue in particular will have to be monitored. This season’s results will have a massive bearing on whether this project goes ahead in my opinion and if we can consolidate our league position, it will keep the pressure on the management not to worm out of their promises.

The global economic situation still doesn’t really lend itself to a project like this, but we’ll see how things go. The club have invested too much in design, planning and land purchasing to let it go by the way-side now.

So to matters on the pitch and I can see a settled line-up this season as to last. As I say, a striker of real pedigree seems top of the list, although it’s no secret that Harry wants Bellamy. We’ve got a great back-up keeper in Pletikosa on the books and Sandro will hopefully join us at some point. Harry hinted at loan deals and that we were still one or two players away from the line-up he wants. So expect us to continue to be linked to everyone under the sun until the circus that is the closing day of the transfer window arrives.

The team looks pretty solid to me and I can’t see that we need to panic buy. Harry hasn’t suggested that will happen with his actions either, so consistency and progress are the buzz-words for this season. I expect to see players like The Hudd improve still further and we have plenty of strength in depth in midfield and up front. The defence is still a bit of a concern, but as long as we can keep the rotation of the centre backs from destroying continuity, I think we’ll be fine. Ledley will be saved for Euro games and Bassong and Dawson would be my preferred line-up if we aren’t going to sign anyone else.

Our first two games will be a real marker for the season ahead and our condition and attitude. Our main rivals in the league in the swag-laden Citeh and then a trip to the bruising north with the direct style of Stoke after that. At least we can look forward to a guaranteed goal-fest at home to Wigan! All in all we’re all set and it’s still with a slight tinge of disappointment that I’m looking forward to a domestic season more than a World Cup but that’s the state of modern English football.

Oh and by the way, Mr Redknapp, if you happen to be reading this, please be more careful about what you say in the press. His recent statement along the lines of ‘the fans wouldn’t care if Saddam Hussein was in charge of the club as long as he was bank-rolling us with millions,’ was, even by his standards, pretty shoddy work. We may not have a rich Arab in charge, but I think the fans are all in agreement that maybe, just maybe, Levy and the board are alright. We’ve grown to respect them a bit more. Firm stewardship and wage control are sexy after all.

Come on you Spurs!!

Disclaimer: Please note the words on this page are the opinion of the topspurs columnist and are just that, opinions, not facts and are nothing to do with Tottenham Hotspur Football club PLC. Just a supporter having his say nothing more nothing less. Any commentary on betting is meant for discussion purposes only and does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation.