4^th March 2010 - You can never keep a good man down. To have one player seemingly written off only to have a second coming just weeks later is fairly rare, to have three all at the same time is quite bizarre. When we beat Blackburn away on December 19^th, not only was it a good away performance, but it was without Bale, Pav and Bentley. At the time, as we still are, we were sitting in 4^th, but for these three outcasts, the only thing on their minds was probably the transfer window and how they could escape our great club. How things change. Bentley, has enjoyed his best spell at the club in the last couple of months. Until Boxing Day he had appeared in just seven matches this season, nearly all as sub, since then he has started in eight of the last nine matches, only missing the Everton match because of injury. Although I wouldn’t describe his form as brilliant, he has finally been a worthy member of the team, we lost just one of the those eight games he played in and although his long term Spurs future remains questionable, he has helped to repair his footballing career and finally justifying his ridiculous transfer fee. Super Pav, well I said he was enigma a few weeks ago and he still is. I was certain he would go in January, rumours of his imminent transfer to a host of Russian and English clubs were daily. But Redknapp and Levy turned down the bids and 6 goals in the last 4 is cementing is place as a cult Spurs hero. Again, his long term future is still unclear but I am delighted with his comeback and we now have someone who can take some of the pressure of Defoe and score regularly. As for Bale, I save the best to last. I was ecstatic when we signed him from Southampton three years ago. It was a major coup, with Man U also in the the running for his signature. He started well that season, but Spurs did not, Jol went, then Bale got injured. He missed the Carling Cup success and when he returned the following season, another manager was under pressure, we were again playing badly and Bale himself looked a shadow of his enthusiastic early Spurs self. In came Redknapp and despite us starting to win again under Redknapp, whenever Bale played in the league, we failed to win. “The Curse of Bale”, although almost definitely a coincidence and nothing more, was never-the-less strange. He appeared in almost the equivalent of an entire PL season, without tasting victory once. But when he finally came on in our fine win over Man City this season, that monkey was finally off his back. Still though, he was a bit part player then, and I questioned whether he would ever start living up to his potential. He is now. Still only 20, in the last month, he has shown he could be a Tottenham great. He has been sublime in the last three games and deservedly keeping last season’s most improved, Assou-Ekotto, out of the starting line up. Are all three former outcasts now good men? I have no idea, Bentley always seems a bit of a w@nker, Pav as dumb as an Ox and Bale is barely even a man. But they are all finally becoming good Spurs players and at a combined 39 Million pounds in transfer fees, that is what counts. Hopefully all three can play their part this weekend in our Wembley quest. And in May if we hold the FA Cup aloft, with perhaps all three involved, I doubt a single Spurs fan travelling home on December 19^th from Ewood Park would have even contemplated that prospect.

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19^th February 2010 – Cup Dreams

With Man City scrambling to a draw against Stoke the other night and what with Liverpool then meeting City this weekend thus taking points off each other, a good result for us in league will put us right back in the mix for 4^th.

However although I desperately want us to join the elite in the Champions League, my mind is already wandering to the replay with Bolton. The right result against them and we are then just one match from another visit to Wembley.

For me winning a trophy, especially the FA Cup will always take precedent over a decent league finish, unless it is actually finishing top of the league of course. But that is about as likely as Campbell not walking out on a club on a free.

The FA Cup has always been magical to most Spurs fans and rightly so, it was “our” competition until recent times. However ever since the semi in 99 when Paul Durkin failed to award us a blatant handball penalty which would have levelled the scores, instead consigning us to defeat – we have failed to even reach a final.

We were well beaten by Woolwich in the semi in 2001, when Campbell walked off injured, thus helping his future employees reach the final. Since then we have had a couple of near misses in the latter stages. In 2005 we outplayed Newcastle at St.James’s yet somehow we still came home the losers. And in 2007 it was even worse – I was in dreamland amongst the 6000 at Stamford Bridge as we coasted into a 3-1 lead, only to see Defoe miss a sitter for 4-1 and then Chelsea to inevitably get back into it and bring me back to reality.

However, really the Noughties were a barren time for us in the FA Cup, certainly compared to our previous FA Cup pedigree.

It mystifies me these days how the FA Cup is treated with such distain by some fans. I don’t just mean the “big 4” fans – I mean by the likes of the Bolton, Birmingham or even West Ham. Surely these fans realise that cup competitions are their only realistic hope of success? Even if you don’t win it – the FA’s ridiculous decision to stage every semi at Wembley means that every premier league team fan can surely dream of at the least a day out now at a Semi final? But they are seemingly caught up in just seeing their team survive another season in the Premier League. Eventually teams like these will go down, and their fans will be hard pushed to distinguish one season of premiership mediocrity from another – but you can bet your lives that all Coventry fans old enough can remember ’87 and it will be similar for Portsmouth fans when they look back on their 2008 success. And I know most of my best footballing memories are cup games. Bolton only had 13596 bother to turn up at the weekend, of which 3-4000 were Spurs fans. Birmingham had just 9399 for their recent match against Forest. Even West Ham had ten thousand empty seats – in their short lived cup run and that was when they played against Premier League London rivals! By contrast we had a sell out against Peterborough.

So maybe this is our year? It is definitely the best chance we have had in awhile – with Liverpool, Woolwich and Man U all out and Man City to play Chelsea if they get through, a door could be open for us.

Meanwhile over on Walcott watch – Yet another ineffective display from him, in the laughable defeat against Porto. Yet that does not stop Mark Lawrenson dedicating his most recent column extolling his supposed virtues. Lawrenson claimed he is still a great player who rose to the big occasion? When? Oh yes – he played well once against Croatia 18 months ago. He also repeated the outlandish claim that Walcott is better than Lennon. Walcott record at Arsenal : 121 appearances 15 assists. Lennon record at Spurs: 177 appearances 42 assists. Case closed.

Finally congratulations to the Bell Family, with two more Spurs fans born to the world Calum and Rocky. Hopefully in the year of their births we will all be off to Wembley (well not Calum and Rocky – they’re too young!)

1^st February 2010 - Robbie gets another dream. We get Monaco’s nightmare.

Robbie Keane who has more dreams than Martin Luther King has joined Celtic on a loan in a “dream” move until the end of the season. Meanwhile, in what is looking now more like a direct replacement we have Eidur Gudjohnsen on loan from Monaco, the club where he failed to score a single goal. Now originally I thought it was amusing that we nabbed Gudjohnsen from West Ham, when he had already undergone a medical for the Irons, however with Keane’s departure I realise the joke is on us.

When Keane left Spurs the first time for one of his many favourite boyhood clubs 18 months ago I was bitterly disappointed both with Spurs and Keane. However he came back and unlike many Spurs supporters I chose to forgive him. I cannot pretend his return has been brilliant, but he has still had his movements. He played a significant part in our climb up the table last season and he started the current campaign as first choice along side Defoe and again his role in helping us to the top of the table was worthy. His goal return since re-joining, although not dazzling, is still a credible 14 in 39 or 11 in 34 in the league. Compare this to Pav at 16 in 44 (5 in 32 in league) or Crouch 10 in 28 (5 in 24 league) and he stands up, particular in terms of league goals.

However really we should be comparing him to Gudjohnsen as it is Gudjohnsen who has replaced him and quite frankly it is no contest in terms of goals – Gudjohnsen has incredibly not scored a league goal since the 8^th November 2008! And has only scored 7 goals in all competitions since 2007, Keane scored 44 in that same time period. I know the argument will be that Gudjohnsen can play as an attacking midfielder – but I have seen these sort of ex-strikers, who drop back into midfield because they do not score enough goals – look at Alan Smith, Dirk Kuyt, Paul Stewart, or even young Theo down at Woolwich Arsenal. For me, when this happens it shows they are neither good enough to play as striker or midfielder.

I of course wish Gudjohnsen well, hopefully he will prove me wrong. More likely he will simply be a fringe player, with Defoe and Crouch now seemingly cementing their partnership with Keane’s departure. Or maybe it is the chance for the second coming of Pav, who looked certain to leave during the transfer window.

This time I wish Keane well on his move. Forgetting his boyhood club, fan, dream b@llshit apart, the fact he is not getting played enough and although I wish he would have fought for his place instead of leaving, I guess after the disappointment of his Liverpool move and of then being benched at Spurs, he just has not got the stomach for it.

All in all I think the transfer window has been disappointing for Tottenham. Although I am no fan of Hutton and have barely seen Naughton play, I find it bizarre that we have allowed both to go, leaving us with no cover for Corluka (who has been a bit shaky himself recently) . I hope Kaboul has improved dramatically since his last spell with us and is no longer the liability he was at times then. And we failed to sign cover for Gomes, despite seemingly trying and failing with numerous goal keeping targets.

Still our squad is still strong, we are still in 4^th, but if we are to finish in the Champions League places this year it will be without our Captain Keane. Does this mean Ledley is our captain again Harry?

28^th January 2010 - The Magical Bentley

Out of the cold into the freezing cold winter air against Fulham came David Bentley. He was the surprise inclusion on the night but he put in a pretty good shift. Although he was given a massive slice of luck with his goal, he can be happy with his contribution and perhaps after the match he drove home with a clear head and avoided the lamp posts of Cuffley for once.

Will this one match change his long term future at Spurs? I doubt it, if we are given a decent offer before the transfer window ends, I’m sure Redknapp will take it. However if it passes and he is still with until the summer, then at least it means we might have another option, rather than have him languishing in the footballing wilderness.

It was a good win against Fulham, even if it was not a classic match. We hardly needed to get out of first gear and I can barely remember a Fulham chance in the entire game. We needed it, after the disappointment of last week and what with Liverpool and Villa dropping points we can go into the Birmingham game full of confidence.

With the transfer window closing in a few games, it looks like we have finally concluded out first bit of business with Gudjohnsen seemingly joining us on loan. It seems fairly low risk to us and I assume he is more for cover purposes and I like the fact that we nabbed him once he had already gone through a medical at West Ham. However it must surely mean Super Pav is off before the window closes. It has been hard enough juggling 4 strikers, let alone 5, as it currently stands.

Pav has been an enigma. At £13.8 million he was meant to be the replacement for Berbatov, but it never quite worked out that way. Just 5 in 32 league appearances is poor, but by contrast 11 in 12 cup games is more than impressive, he played a major part in firing us to Wembley last year and if was not carrying an injury that day, perhaps he could have been the hero. If he goes, it will be with a sense of melancholy on my part, but at the same time I wouldn’t currently start him above Defoe, Keane or Crouch, so I guess that says it all.

The other strong rumour is that Kaboul will return. We need another centre back as cover for the injury prone King and Woodgate. Thinking back to Kaboul’s brief stint at the Lane back in 2007’08 , I remember his 94^th minute equalizer in the classic 125 anniversary match, but just as I smile at the memory , the mind shoves the it out of the way as it overrides it with his series of his errors West Ham away, Birmingham at home….

However it is nice for a change not to have to panic buy in the winter transfer window as we have done in the last two, and generally it seems we are just tweaking the squad, which is all it needs at this stage.

So we go to Birmingham, I am looking for three points and believe we can do it, maybe the magic of Bentley will light up St Andrews. Unlikely? It is much more likely than Walcott lighting up The Emirates against Man U at the weekend. I said earlier in the season he is the most overrated player of his generation and that was before he embarked on what has been a truly woeful season, even by his standards. Just one goal and one assist in all competitions and hauled off as his team was humiliated by Stoke in the FA Cup (nice debut Sol!), it is all going wrong for former Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Anyway Good Luck Pav, at your new club (unless it happens to be West Ham, Goons or Chelsea) and Up the Spurs!

16^th January 2010 - 4^th Place On Merit.

Leaving White Hart Lane on Saturday I kicked the proverbial cat (an empty drinks carton I think it was) at the thought of us missing another opportunity to get some distance between us and the other teams desperate for the Champions League place. After we failed to score against Hull in 100 minutes of football – one of my good friend’s reminded me of his unscientific theory about wishing players would “save up their goals” i.e. if we hadn’t beaten Hull by so many last time – we would have won yesterday – as the goals would have been spread out - I know it doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny – but it certainly felt like it on Saturday – the ball just would not go in.

However my mood has mellowed in the cold light of Sunday. The reality was we were desperately unlucky not to win. Hull failed to have a single shot on target and Myhill, in goal for City, had one of those games, when everything went his way. He was given performance of the day by the Match of the Day team and both managers eulogized over him. On another day we would have hammered them.

Fortunately all the other claimants for the fourth place spot (third and above is looking but a dream now) failed to win and having started the day in 5^th, we actually climbed into the Champions placings. And for the first time in awhile, no one of any significance has a game in hand on us. So we are a genuine 4^th at the moment.

One thing that is really getting on my nerves is the Keane baiting. There is a sizeable, loud minority (including some of my pals) who are constantly on his back, and seemingly blaming him for everything. There is no doubt he left in acrimonious circumstances I admit. But he has been back for a year now, yes his form is not what it was, but he can still play a big part for us. He played pretty well for the 60 or so minutes he was on yesterday (better than Defoe actually). He was desperately unlucky not to score. His first big chance was only denied, by what most pundits are describing, as a world class save. His second one, looked a bad miss at first, but on viewing the replay, the goalie knew nothing of the save, the ball smashing him on the head, before bouncing away. Keane’s hold up play was generally good. Both Defoe and Crouch were guilty of wasting gilt edge chances and we did not, as we should not, get on their backs. Let’s not forget Keane has scored 121 goals for our club. There is a term which is splashed around far too often, but Keane actually is a modern Spurs Legend. His form is not quite there at the moment – but he is not 35, he is still only 29, so his legs have not gone yet. Class is permanent, form is temporary.

Meanwhile down at the refugees from Woolwich, another player has also returned to his former club. Yes, the Newham Nutter, fresh from running out on Notts County, has washed up at the Goons. A friend of mine pointed out Campbell has now successfully made 5 career moves – and no one has ever had to pay a transfer fee for him. He really has milked the Bosman ruling for all its worth. I really hope he plays against us in the derby later in the season. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction that to for us to finally beat them in the league and for him to be playing.

But for now we have a massive game on Wednesday, and we will never have a better opportunity to beat the Scousers. Without, Gerrard, Torres and Benayoun (two of the three goal scorers from the corresponding match last season, and with Rafa seemingly losing the plot week by week – surely it is our time to beat them?

Then again, most of us in the pub, were still not confident. Spurs beat a “top 4” club away in the league? Not since 1993. But records are to be broken – So let’s do it Spurs and keep our hard earnt 4th place a little bit longer.

3^rd January 2010 - New Decade, New Tottenham?

Reading Sean Morley’s “Noughties” article is a depressing read for a Spurs fan. Although a lot of it is true, I feel it dwells on the negative aspects of football and our great club. But before I discuss his article – just a quick mention about the graffiti scrawled into a table at the Gilpins Bell pub in Edmonton. It was written by a goon and is testament to brainless nature your typical goon has – hacked into this table was the name of that team from South London – but spelt as Arseneel! You couldn’t make it up.

Anyway back to Sean’s article. The Noughties were undoubtedly a fairly barren time for Tottenham fans. But we have had worse periods in our history. Pre-war we were dreadful and in the late 70s we of course went down – for our only relegation since 1935. Yes, we have had more false dawns than I care to remember in the last decade, but actually I feel things have improved since the depressing Sugar regime and the second half of the noughties were actually much better than the first half – and as for 2009 – it was actually a decent year for the club.

In the second half of the decade we finished 5^th twice with 60+ points twice, qualified for Europe three times, missed out on Europe on last day of the season twice, missed out on the Champions League on last day of season once, had two FA Cup quarter finals (losing by odd goal in one, having dominated, and losing by odd goal in a replay in the other) a European quarter final (losing out by the odd goal to holders and eventual winners) three league cup semi finals, two Wembley finals, with a glorious victory in one and denied by penalties in another. And in 2009 we have averaged 1.76 points a match, equating to 67 points – and we have got better as the year progressed.

Compare that the previous five years, when we didn’t qualify for Europe once, flirted with relegation more than once and didn’t finish above 9^th at all.

We also started to spend big in the transfer market in the second half of the decade. With nine of our top ten signings being transacted since 2006. Sean talks of our club being a player exchange – better than putting up with Iverson for 9 years, Sir Les for nearly 6 years and a host of other players in the 90s and early 00s who couldn’t be moved on for love nor money. The truth be told, if you look at our squad now – we actually have a lot of stability, with many of our players, well into the 100s in Spurs league appearances (King 227, Keane 225, Defoe 163, Lennon 135, Jenas 130, Dawson 129)

Sean compares ENIC to the Sugar regime but quite honestly things have moved on. In the near decade of Sugar’s regime we failed to finish in top 7 once, failed to gain qualification into Europe through the league once and indeed we played just four games in Europe in the his final eight years as chairman. He appointed an ex-Arsenal, bung taking non football loving manager as boss. He allowed the purchase of Armstrong when we could have had Bergkamp. Complained about foreign “Carlos Kickaball’s” then signed a foreign striker for 11 million. Publicly threw Klinsmann’s shirt saying he wouldn’t wash his car with it –then signed him back two years later. And re-hired David Pleat, a man who I have nothing but contempt for. Alan Sugar was a disaster for the club and he is the man who put us on the road of mediocrity which we are trying to get out of.

ENIC are of course chums of Sugar and I am fully aware that ENIC are in it for the share price, dividend and ultimately the sale of the club. But in all honesty there are a lot worse owners out there. They clearly want us in the Champions League. If the reason for this is that share price will increase, I have no problem with that. They are building a new training ground, and advancing a state of the art stadium. Again, if that is to increase the share price so that they can gain more money when they sell up so be it. Owners are always temporary – but if ENIC sell the club, once we are in the Champions League with 56,000 fans watching us at the lane, then that is fine by me.

I take Sean’s point, at one time, not so long ago, finishing 4^th did not mean a lot. Since the 70s it probably meant UEFA qualification and would have been thought of as a half decent season. Yes, the Champions League is a horrendous bloated corporate event. It is entirely conceived to generate money and lots of it. But the fact is I want to be part of it – as it does mean something now. It is the premier competition after all and despite my hatred for the concept I want to be part of this elite. I want to turn my nose up at those outsiders and pretenders (like us) desperate to get their snout into the competition. Because that is what football for me is all about. It is tribal. It is Spurs and f@ck all the rest.

Why do we go? Why do I care? Are we idiots as Sean suggests? Spending vast amounts of money on a “product” that neither cares for me, nor can even guarantee me a good time. The answer of course is yes I am an idiot – the Mrs tells me that every time I go the Lane or every time I scream at the TV! But aren’t most hobbies and past times actually idiotic when you think about them? It is just that as sports go, football is enjoyable, the best in fact. What are we going to do instead?

Hey we could be West Ham fans – now that would be pointless!

It is a shame for Sean that he has given up his season ticket this year – because I am certainly enjoy things at the moment, and with our team already scoring only three less than we did in the whole of last season with 18 games to go – we are being entertained.

Yes, we could be embarking on yet another false dawn, But our squad looks good. We are playing attractive football and scoring lots of goals – and now we are not conceding. I think things look very promising for 2010 and beyond.

Time will tell of course, but that is what being a football fan is about, hoping and dreaming. Am I idiot for this? Guilty as charged.

6^th December 2009 - The Tottenham Away Disease.

This was a big week for us and unfortunately we blew it. Three away games, a chance to define our season and instead we got the same old Tottenham-on-the-road type performances.

Firstly Villa, we gave away a sloppy goal, but then for the remaining 80 minutes, bar a late Heskey header it was all Spurs. Although I would have probably taken a point before the game it still felt slightly disappointing – a missed opportunity to put daylight between us and some of the other Champion League claimants.

Then Man U in the Carling Cup. Now at quarter final level you can begin to taste Wembley, but clearly our boys didn’t like the taste this year. After a very bright opening 15 minutes, a goal against the run of play rocked us. We still had chances to get back in the match at this point, but when fringe Man U player Gibson scored his second it was game over. The second half was a disgrace to the 5000 or so Spurs fan that had made the trip up north paying £40 or so (myself included) and for the fourth time in the last five domestic cups we have played in, we were beaten by Man U. Next time put us all out of our misery and simply hand the tie to Man U, it will save us all a lot of time and trouble. As for Bentley this match surely brought the curtain down on his Tottenham career – if there are any takers in January, we need to shuffle him on quickly.

I mentioned earlier that the Villa game was perhaps a missed opportunity – it does not compare however to the Everton match. This was Tottenham away in a nutshell. If ever someone who had never seen a Tottenham match wanted to know how we often play are on the road then this is it. In a scrappy first half, we still missed a host of chances. However we started the second in perfect fashion and Defoe who had been among one of the guiltiest of missed chances in the first half, managed to finally get us going. We then played some really good football and when Dawson headed home a deserved second, surely there was only going to be one winner? Nope. In the 76^th minute the game turned, Crouch who had a shocking afternoon in front of goal, missed an absolute sitter. Two minutes later Everton pulled one back. What should have been 3-0 was suddenly 2-1. We went from being in absolute cruise control, to blind panic in a matter of two minutes. The Tottenham away disease had set in. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and Everton equalized. We were then given an early Christmas present by the ref. However déjà vu occurred. Two years ago in a December away fixture we were also given a last minute pen when the scores were level. Just like then, up stepped Defoe, and just like then he bottled it and the goalie saved.

So in a week which had promised much, we have come out of it with only 2 points and have been dumped out of the cup.

We are still fourth so it is not all doom and gloom and the optimist in me says we didn’t actually lose in the league and bar the second half at Man U and final fifteen mins at Everton we have played pretty well. I guess in seasons gone past a full blown case of Tottenham away disease would have seen us actually contrive to lose the Everton match.

However Man City beat Chelsea, Villa and the Goons won and I can’t help feeling we really missed a trick this week. With the Christmas period coming, and five league games from December 12th to 28th we have a chance to quickly move on. Let us hope however that as we enter this period and into the New Year, Harry can give us a little medicine (Modric maybe?) to help us with our bouts of away day sickness and get us to stop bottling matches and finally get us the rewards we so crave.

26^th November 2009 - Tottenham Re-Births.

9-1 to the Spurs, an incredible day, superlative result. I jokingly said to my son on the morning of the match that if we won 15-0 we would go above the Goons – without a great display by Kirkland we could have done!

Like all good Spurs fans am I getting carried away by the result? Of course I am! After our amazing start, we have had a wobble or two. However if you are to assume that we are not going to win the league (and I hate to assume that – even in dark dark days of the past under the likes of Pleat, Graham and Francis – and despite not winning the league since 17 years before my birth – I still work out until it is mathematically impossible for us to do so - how many wins we need in a row to catch the league leaders) and that champions league qualification is our main ambition then it is very much on. In fact for the first time this season, things have started to open up for us and we have a little breathing space. Even if we lose against Villa, we should still stay in the top 4. If we win on the other hand, blimey perhaps – my dreams of catching the league leaders, become less ridiculous.

Of course the 9-1 was great for every Spurs player involved, but the headlines deserve ably went to Defoe. It is just under a year ago, that Defoe became the first of the born-again Tottenham players. I think it would be safe to say that he was the most popular amongst the fans to re-join Spurs. He was given a hero’s welcome when he was paraded against Burnley. Indeed unlike Keano, Chimbonda and Crouch (Crouch is a tenuous re-birth anyway) Defoe remained popular when he left us for his holiday in Portsmouth. Indeed in the ill fated “Tottenham 16” match – when 16 unlucky Spurs fans – 2 subsequently acquitted (very little column inches about that I might add) - were charged with abuse to Campbell, Defoe was continually cheered. Even when he scored against us – he refused to celebrate (long before Tevez did the same) and Spurs fans applauded him. In fact it must be a first for Defoe, despised by all his former clubs and subsequently booed by Charlton, West Ham and Portsmouth fans, whenever he plays against them – to actually be loved by a club so much.

However I believe he is not only the most popular of the four “re-births” but the most successful. He now has 16 in 22 appearances since he came back. And with 12 in 12 this season – things are looking very bright for him. It is shame he was injured so soon after he re-signed for us, otherwise he would have been at Wembley and in place of Bent – he may have even won it for us.

Chimbonda was a very strange signing. But I certainly would not want to put two and two together and think that the fact that Willie McKay is Chimbonda’s agent and Redknapp has a very close association with McKay, that that would have had anything to do with it.

Crouch another of the re-births, has started to show what he can do in recent weeks and is a looking a good signing. A nice fella too – he was very chatty to my boys when they saw him recently – which made their day.

Anyone who has read me before, knows I think Keane has been a success since he came back, not as good as his first spell yet, but still doing the business. But I fully acknowledge he divides opinion, just as he divided opinion when he left us.

But back to star of the show, Jermain Defoe. His fifth goal against Wigan, brought up his 80^th goal for club – which is now the same number as Gary Lineker scored for us. What is incredible about this is that he has scored his 80 in ten less starts than the great Lineker. Defoe has also had a number of substitute appearances (69 in fact!) and because of this large number they cannot be simply ignored – however it is still an impressive tally of goals to starts.

Defoe has also started banging in goals for England and is surely on the plane to South Africa – for what will be his long awaited debut World Cup.

All in all Defoe’s re-birth has been tremendous – all except his regular references to Ian Wright whenever he is interviewed – and still only 27 – Defoe has a huge claim to becoming a true Tottenham Legend.

Quickly back to this season, of course there is a long way to go. We have been here before, all the way to the last day of the season and ultimately failed – but if we beat Villa – for the time being I look forward to hearing the nut jobs on the football phone ins – calling for Harry to be made a Knight. And maybe even in four years time, when we have won the title again, they will be clambering for Sir Jermain Defoe. It has a nice ring to it I think, a lot nicer than Sir Alan Sugar that is for sure.

15^th November 2009 - Huddlestone England Legend

When Huddlestone came off the bench in against Brazil, for me it was the only highlight of a particularly dull affair. He becomes Tottenham seventh England international in the current squad and the 64^th Spurs player to represent England. This is a proud record, bettered only by Aston Villa who are on 69. When you consider Aston Villa players were a prominent feature in very early England games, especially in the 1890s. Yet we only joined the football league in 1908 and had only one representative prior to this, it is even more remarkable.

I find watching England a chore these days, and looking out for Spurs players is my main enjoyment in the whole process. It wasn’t always like this. Although I have always been of the-Tottenham-over-England variety, at one time supporting and watching England ran Spurs pretty close. I remember as a boy following Italia 90 with my Dad and it was great. By the time Euro 96 came along watching England, by now normally in the pub, took on an almost spiritual quality. The scenes in the street during Euro 96 when we beat Scotland, Holland and Spain were truly memorable. I was even able to put my club allegiances to one side when watching England in the 90s. In fact many a time I stood side by side with my Gooner cousin and I was able to forget that Seaman and Adams where the enemy for 90 minutes or so when they wore the three lions.

This gradually changed. First Hoddle was sacked for non footballing reasons. He may have strange views, but they are effectively his religious views and he should be free to believe these and carry on with his job without the witch hunt which subsequently ensued. Then we had Keegan’s short bumbling regime, which was one calamity after another.

However there was one event which really changed how I feel about England. And that is Sol Campbell. Now Campbell everyone’s favourite football mentalist, is by far my most disliked player. I don’t have to go into those reasons in this article as I am sure many of you feel the same. However it is because of my disliking for him, that watching England changed.

Where I had been able to suspend my club allegiances in the past, I found I could not do this with Campbell. How could I boo and jeer a player with such venom one week and then cheer him the next?

I watched England’s first match of the 2002 World Cup in a pub in Canterbury. As Sol Campbell headed England in front, I just stood and stared as everyone went potty around me. It was a horrible moment. I realized I would rather England lose than Sol Campbell score. I felt a fraud.

Indeed two years later, this event basically occurred. Against Portugal in the Euro 2004 quarters Campbell had a goal ruled out. Ultimately it meant England going out as his “goal” would have made the difference. However the fact is I didn’t ever want to see Campbell as a hero, and that is exactly what would have happened if it had counted.

Ok, there are no other players who have played for England who have run close to my disliking for Campbell, however during this “Campbell period” I also found myself questioning other players. People like Frank Lampard – the kind of bloke who cannot even be bothered to park his car (witnessed by a friend of mine the other week) and who sues a Chelsea supporting market stall holders for infringing his image rights. Or we have John Terry, a thug, alleged racist and son of a drug dealer and shop lifter, lovely bloke I’m sure though. Or Rio Ferdinand, the one with the incredibly bad memory, who even forgets to turn up to his own training ground, when the drug testers are in town. In fact I realized that I disliked virtually all of the egotistical, money grabbers who make up the England squad.

When I watch England at cricket, rugby, athletics or even ten pin bowling (It’s on Sky Sports you know) I don’t get these feelings. I get the patriotic feelings I used to have when I watched the England Football team in the 90s.

Coupled with this watching England is actually dull. Sven’s football although competent (until the latter stages of a major tournament) was generally boring on the eye. And Capello who seems a decent enough manager himself, again hardly produces scintillating stuff.

However South Africa 2010 will be upon us soon, fortunately Campbell, has now long been in the international wilderness, although he actually has not retired, surely he cannot make a comeback? So for the first time in a long time I can enjoy a Campbell free tournament. Hopefully we will have a couple of Spurs boys in the squad and maybe I can put aside my disliking for some of the other w@nkers in the team and get back those feelings of Euro 96.

Or maybe I will stick to watching ten pin bowling.

9th November 2009 - When Benty Missed!

When Benty missed was a moment of pure gold. Although he looked pretty sheepish about winning the penalty (replays showed he went down very easily) I was certain he would score and I then have to witness, the self proclaimed Gooner, giving Spurs fans the wanker sign just like when he when he scored against us, playing for Charlton a few years ago. However it was the Spurs fans giving him the bird as Gomes, pulled off a good save to further his claim, despite his deficiencies, as a cult hero. It was also amusing (to me and my friend anyway) that two of our friends who sit next to us decided to finish their half time bottles, so missed Bent’s moment of shame, for me well worth the ticket price alone.

This was not a classic, Bent’s miss apart, and Sunderland will feel they deserved a point, but once Huddlestone hammered home, we knew we could rest easy and when Burnley equalized against City, the cheer around the ground, said it all. After a shaky spell over the last couple of weeks we are back in the top 4 going into the international break.

The good news is that our two best players of last season Modric and Lennon, and who were on such fine form this season before they were injured, should be back in two weeks for out next match. With those two playing, I would like us then to revert to our attacking team as per the start of the season with Keane and Defoe up front and leave Crouchy to come off the bench.

There is a lot of debate about Keane in the Park Lane. He may not quite be hitting the form of the 2007’08 season. But the fact is he is our top scorer this season, with 8. And his return since his return, is 11 in 26 in the league and 13 in 28 in all competitions. Very respectable. Even more astonishing is our win rate since he came home. In the 26 league games he has played in following his re-signing we have won 15 or just under 58%. In the 24 league games we had after he left but before he came back, we won just six or just 25%. As for Crouchy, I like the guy and he is definitely a useful addition, but he has scored only once in 12 league appearances, however he puts himself about and creates assists, but there is still a tendency to hoof the ball to him, rather than playing to feet, as opposed to when Defoe and Keane are up front. He should be “Plan B”.

You could look at things today in a half empty or half full way. We are clearly not playing as were in that hazy August period, however we have certainly not collapsed. We have are still very much in the mix, despite injuries to key players and with those players shortly to return, we could push on again. I am definitely seeing things half full.

Before I sign off, I just want to say congratulations to John Bell, another Park Laner, who after a pretty long and agonizing period has managed to get Mrs Bell pregnant. I look forward to seeing his new addition next year, and down the New White Hart Lane, or www.Bentisawanker.com@WhiteHartLane as it might be called in 2013.

26th October 2009 - The Noughties – A one sided derby, about time we put it right.

We face Everton in the Carling Cup of course before facing the MK Dons of north London next Saturday.

Everton should actually be a good game, a sell out crowd and a home win would see us all start dreaming of a third Wembley final in three years.

But the match is still overshadowed by the derby game a few days later.

It will actually be the first goon match I will miss in some years, due to one of best mates choosing that day to get married. So a lucky friend has got my ticket.

Although I saw my first game as a 9 year old twenty one years ago and saw a fair few games throughout the 90s it was only once I left university in 99 that I finally got a season ticket and was able to watch Spurs regularly. During this time there has been many ups and downs (mainly downs), but the goon match, with a couple of exceptions has been very much down.

In fact the time when I bought my first season ticket, also seems to be time when the Arsenal domination in this fixture was truly beginning. In the 90s we got the better of the goons on a few occasions as they did over us, our wins were mainly at home, but all competitions record 90-99, shows six wins a piece, with both teams winning 5 in the league each. However on 7^th November 1999 I was to witness our last league victory over the goon. Previous to this without a season ticket it had been harder for me to obtain tickets for the derby match plus a quirk of fate in the derbies I had been too meant I had only seen draws or defeats and so it remains the only league win I have witnessed over the Arsenal, despite having now been to 25 Spurs/Goon clashes. A pathetic record.

Indeed we are now only two weeks from the ten year anniversary of this victory. If I remember rightly, we raced into a two goal lead, only for the goons to hit back, before half time. They then ended up with 9 men, but we hung on for dear life as we ground out the win. Never would I have believed as I left the White Hart Lane that afternoon that my entire 20s would pass, I would get married have three children, move home on numerous occasions, commence and leave jobs and see Tottenham favourites (and not so favourites) come and go, Tottenham managers come and go (six since that day) and still not enjoy another league win over the south London nomads.

We have beaten all of the other “top 4” teams in this time, not many times I unfortunately have to add, but we have had wins all the same. Yet we seem to have a physiological barrier about beating the Woolwich travellers in the league. Last season as Modric, poured forward with just goalie to beat, I thought we might do it. A couple of years ago, as Keane stepped up for the penalty to make it two one at the Emirates I thought we might do it. When we took the lead against them in the last derby at Highbury, I thought we might do it. In fact the amount of leads we have given away against them is truly astounding.

Do I think we will finally end this ten year hoodoo when we play them on Saturday? In my heart of hearts. No. We were unlucky against Stoke 19 shots, 9 on target, to their one shot, tells its own story. But ultimately we failed a big test which would have guaranteed us being above the goons, for another week at least. Teams around us a closing in and have games in hand. Bad result next week, we may even drop out of top six.

It is not that I think their team or even squad is any better than ours, I think man for man it is very close, but on paper at least, injuries permitting, perhaps we even shade it.

But we need to believe we can do it, not get rattled when the ref invariably favours them and not crumble if we do take the lead.

If we do this then just maybe, just maybe we can move on from November 99 and take back our rightful place as the Kings of North London.

I truly hope so.

4^th October 2009 - Harry Redknapp’s Blue and White Army

Well after the events of last Friday when the rumour mill and betting markets went into overdrive with Harry apparently being sacked only for it to be “a load of old rubbish” in the words of Redknapp himself, we have a chance to reflect on what he has achieved so far at Tottenham. Would we have missed him if he had been sacked?

By coincidence the Bolton match was also his 38^th league game in charge, so he now has the equivalent of a full league season under his belt. The stats make pretty good reading, 19 wins, 8 draws and 11 defeats in the Premier League, give him 65 points, which is borderline 4^th/5^th place season (not nearly good enough in last two season for the elusive 4^th spot, but more than enough in many other Premier league seasons).

I fully admit that when he took over just under a year ago, I was none to happy. Although it appeared that Ramos had lost the dressing room towards the end of his reign, so perhaps had to go. He did land us our first trophy in 9 years, and was at the helm when we destroyed the goons 5-1, one of the best nights in our recent history. Also Ramos was dealt a dodgy hand in that fateful summer, with the protracted sale of Berbatov and the unexpected but equally damaging sale of Keane. We were still only eight games into the season. So to turn on Setanta Sports News (thankfully no more) after a late call from a friend on that October Saturday night last year, to see Sir Les talking about Ramos sacking and Redknapp taking over was shocking to say the least.

I had disliked old “one eye” twitchy Redknapp since his West Ham days. Thinking of him as nothing more than a dodgy eastender wheeler dealer, who couldn’t be trusted as far as he could be thrown (actually the not trusting him as far as he could be thrown opinion has not changed). Indeed allegedly (I better say that as Redknapp apparently has more injunctions against newspapers and magazines than anyone else in Football) when Redknapp was at West Ham as assistant manager, he was involved in his best friend and his best man Billy Bonds, the then manager, getting the sack, so he could take his job. Billy Bonds and Redknapp have never spoken again.

Harry had of course his fair share a of other controversies before he joined Spurs, down on the south coast, he also referred to Spurs fans as morons just weeks before joining us, after a Portsmouth v Spurs match. So maybe not quite on par as when the nemesis George Graham took over, I still had a heavy heart when I saw him in the Spurs dug out for the first time.

It certainly would not have taken much for me to get on his back that it is for sure. He got a bit lucky in his first week, the win over Bolton at home was fine, but we then had the classic but unbelievable 4-4 Arsenal and then the smash and grab win over Liverpool just a few days later. But sure enough he had collected 7 points in his first week and although our form was then up and down until January, as he experimented (even Bentley was given minutes then), we got stronger and stronger as the season went on to finish 8^th. And so far this season even better. He has defied all my expectations.

He just seems to just do the basics right. If players are not playing well, he takes them off or drops them and his signings on the whole have been excellent. There is genuine optimism around the club and I look forward to matches now and expect to win, especially at home.

Perhaps some of the season for his success is that for the first time in his career, Redknapp is at a club which matches his ambition. We are able to back him in the transfer market, where so far he has excelled. Unlike at Portsmouth, West Ham and his other clubs, his does not have to “wheel and deal” for players. We may not be able to sign the Ronaldos of the world but we can sign eight figure players without much fuss and subsequently he has been able to improve all areas of our squad.

Although I may still struggle to sing his name, I hope he is at the club for many more years and admit when I first heard the gossip on Friday that he had been sacked, I was filled with dread and it was with great relief that it subsequently turned out to be nonsense.

His next match will be the return to Portsmouth, which I will be attending, sure to be interesting. Once the boos from the Portsmouth fans reign down on him, just maybe I will even go full circle and take on the role of the typical fickle football fan just a year after cursing him and sing “Harry Redknapp’s Blue and White Army!”.

22^nd September 2009 - The Man City Problem

Spurs for the title anyone? Unfortunately not it would seem after the results from the last week. It has been awhile since I have written, partly because of pressures from the real world, partly because like many Spurs fans I have been in disbelief at how good our start was and didn’t quite know what to say, I guess I was hoping it would carry on and on until we won the league. It wasn’t just Spurs at club level either with both Defoe and Lennon winning the praise from the red tops, for their England performances. Tottenham were back…for a month at least! Man U was certainly a reality check for us. And then this was followed by another “Webb” moment at the Chelsea match, when every Spurs fans favourite ref, decided to give a “top 4” team a helping hand again.

Against Man U we were not awful for the first sixty minutes, but we collapsed at the end and it could have been worse. I also had to witness my friend get accosted and then shadowed by a policeman including when he visited the toilet for stating the factually correct statement that Berbatov is the “son of a rapist” and I quote from the PC “because if might hurt his feelings” while simultaneously ignoring Nazi salutes from the Mancs just a few seats from us. Perhaps that might have hurt our feelings Mr Policeman? Anyway I digress. We were also not bad against Chelsea, three nil was harsh, the penalty aside we were unlucky not to score, just as Chelsea’s second and third had a fair amount of fortune.

The depressing thing I think which is unfolding however I mentioned in my pre season review and is worse than I thought, which is “The Man City problem”. I thoroughly enjoyed them beating the goons last week of course and much as I dislike Adebayor it was great to see the goons going potty when he scored. What goes around comes around they say. Henry did the same to us seven years ago. This has been conveniently forgotten by the goons over the last week. What was also funny was seeing the fans pretending to try and go on the pitch to get at Adebayor, just go round the steward lads, there was only one of them and he was in shock, literally as it turns out, poor fella.

So, I enjoyed Man City winning against the goons, but in the scheme of things it may not be good for Spurs. It is looking more and more like Man City as a major force is here to stay. With the start they have had and their depth in squad, they are looking very strong. They may have now lost to Man U, but only to a 96^th minute goal. This now means that qualifying for the champions league place is now much much harder. One of the premier league’s traditional “big 4” may drop out this year – but it does not look like it will be Spurs who will take their place but bloody Man City.

Man City a team who have not won a trophy in over 30 years, Man City who had just 7334 turn up for a European game last season, Man City who have never finished higher than 8^th in the Premier League, Man City who have been relegated 5 times in the last twenty six years, Man City the second team of a provincial city, could well prevent the famous Tottenham Hotspur from finally joining the elite.

We undoubtedly miss Modric, but overall I still think this is a decent Spurs side. Watching Ledley punch the ground as he knees went again was heart breaking and with Bassong carried off we may now have an issue in defence over the next few weeks, but we have a good run of fixtures coming up and chance to get this season back on track.

But how sickening would it be if after all these years of trying to break the glass ceiling, and then if we finally finish above the goons or the scousers and still finish 5^th!

If this happens is that the end for us? Do we finally except our fate as also rans? I guess if we did manage to finish above the goons, that would do for me this season. But next season or the season after that? At some point I fear the game will be up for Spurs even hoping to rejoin the major powers of footballing Europe. Still, August 2009 was nice while it lasted!

13^th August 2009 – Season Preview

I am probably the clichéd Spurs fan living by the TopSpurs motto "Hui tempori proximo anno, Roddere, erimus millionari!" at this time of year I get fully sucked in by the Spurs propaganda machine and I am normally predicting Champions League qualification, cup glory and world domination.

So perhaps I am not the best person to provide a pre season prediction. However this year I am going to be slightly more reserved. For me, Man City could become another barrier to prevent us from that elusive top 4 position.

Overall though I think we have a good squad. We strengthened well in January and Crouch and Bassong could also be useful additions. Almost just as importantly we have not lost two of our most important players for another year at least in Modric and Lennon. Indeed the players we have sold I am pleased have gone. I never took to Bent and Zokora, well was Zokora.

I am hoping for our first strong start in four seasons, and come end of season I think we will finish in the top 6 and enjoy a good cup run (maybe the FA Cup this year – as it is awhile since we progressed to the latter stages). With a prevailing wind, a bit of luck, who knows we could even finish above the goons, who are looking worse than last season.

Anyway I am looking forward to it, let’s beat the scousers at the weekend and keep the early season optimism going for a little longer! Up the Spurs!

2^nd July 2009 - Theo Walcott as good as Mark Yeates

A couple of days ago England U21s lost dismally in the final of the European Championships against a far superior German side. Fair enough we were without a number of key players through suspensions and also injuries, many of them Spurs (Lennon, O’Hara and the Hud) but according to Pearce and the press England were also forced to play without a recognized striker.

Except forgive me a second, let me roll back a few years – because a member of the starting line up in the final was once touted as a recognized striker – in fact not just a run of the mill striker – he was the new Michael Owen according too many in the press at the time. Indeed before the last World Cup he kept out our very own Jemain Defoe, a player who had scored 76 league goals up to that date, at an average of one every 2.7 games, many of which were from the bench and who was still only 23. Yet no wonder the player in question along with his management, board and anyone else who has a vested interest him is trying to reinvent his position, and whitewash history, because to date he has scored just 10 league goals in 84 games or one every 8.4 games – and this includes 21 appearances in The Championship! This player is of course the most over rated player of his generation….step forward…Theo Walcott.

Now, Theo Walcott is not instantly unlikable like some of his predecessors at the goons, such as the unintelligible, flem machine Ian Wright, the mad-as-a-hatter Tony Adams, the thug Patrick Viera or the egomaniac Thierry Henry. In fact he is rather bland – seemingly he has a bit of a personality by-pass (perhaps this is what they meant by the new Michael Owen?) but the column inches he generates (this article included now I guess), the build up he is given and the hype machine he is part of, is quite nauseating. Indeed this is a player who won the young Sports Personality of the year a few years ago, despite having never scored for Arsenal at the time and having played just one friendly for England – Walcottmania it ain’t!

He quite simply is a very average player, the only above average trait being his speed. He clearly cannot shoot very well as his record testifies, he cannot play as the big supporting striker for obvious reasons, so now he has been reinvented as a darting winger. However, even here in his “new” position, the position where he is meant to create chances he has just three assists to his name for the 08’09 season, behind Dean Marney, but just ahead of a player who appeared in only 16 matches last season, including just one start in the second half of the season…Pascal Chimbonda!

I can think of two games where Walcott has shone – one was in the Champions League clash with Liverpool, the season before last (the Goons of course still lost!) and the England V Croatia game, a game where he finally had some shooting boots on and scored 3. However to put that into context he has played 114 senior games and he scored 1/7th of his goals in that one game. Well done Theo. Yes, he had a very good game for England once but blimey, even Rocket Ronnie Rosenthal scored a hat trick once!

So the reason I compare him to that household name Mark Yeates, of three game Tottenham fame. Both Yeates and Walcott are now described on Wikipedia as “operating as a striker or winger”, yet Mark Yeates has scored a goal every 5.6 games, indeed last season Yeates was top scorer for his team with 12 goals and created most assists with 11. So I think he can justify the “operating as a striker or winger” tag unlike Walcott who doesn’t score or set up goals. However perhaps Walcott edges it over Yeates, as his honours list is exhaustive, he did win the Amsterdam Trophy in 2008 with the goons and he was runner up in the Southampton Schools District Egg and Spoon Race 2004* (*Please note I cannot verify this honour.)

No doubt Walcott will be undeservedly taking up someone else’s place in next years World Cup squad, perhaps even at the expense of Defoe (again) or Lennon. I for one though am looking forward to his next hat trick, which I predict will be the London Masters in 2026.

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.