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1st
June 2007 - Standing up for Spurs A second fifth place finish, the signing of Gareth Bale with the
prospect of more to come, reports that Berbatov will soon sign a new contract
– there can’t have been a better close season since the
“Summer of Love”. Back then football had its Big Five and Spurs were fully paid up
members. The fact that it’s shrunk to a Big Four indicates a vacancy
and one that many pundits are now making us favourites
to fill. But if we are to make it back to the top table, a decision has to be
made about the ground - especially now that Wham have
announced they’re planning to join the 60,000 set. Maybe it’s time to stand up for Spurs? Certainly, the Football
Supporters’ Federation is cranking up the campaign to restore safe
standing areas at major football grounds. First of all, let’s be absolutely clear about this. No one
should go to a football match in fear of their well being for despite the
popular contention that the game is more important than life or death, we
know it is not. If you’re in any doubt, you only have to read the accounts of
survivors and relatives of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster
– as I did when researching this article – to correct any
misconception. That sick to the stomach feeling of defeat might seem like it at
times, but you get over that. As for the other state, well, there will be
those who believe otherwise but most would argue it’s
pretty final - which is why we should never forget those who lost their lives
at Hillsborough and Heysel. But we also know that terracing was not the sole reason for those and
other similar tragedies, for example, those who died at From a purely partisan perspective, it would not only transform the
Lane, but would be a much more cost-effective solution to our long-standing
capacity issue. Imagine part, or even all, of the Paxton and Not only would it raise our capacity to where we want it to be and
provide an alternative cheaper means of watching than currently available, it
would turn the Lane into a truly distinctive venue that would make us the
envy of every other club – and just think of the atmosphere! Even
without the spin, it would be a huge PR coup for the world famous home of the
Spurs. |
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Can we do it? Although converting to all-seater stadia was one of the main recommendations of the Standing is allowed at Rugby Union, Rugby League, horse
racing and further down the football pyramid. And if, say, Elton John played
the Lane, standing would be allowed - as it would be for all other rock/pop
concerts held in football grounds. When fans with tickets apparently tried to force entry to the
Champions League final after the gates had been locked, some newspapers
offered it as evidence against re-introducing standing. They argued that had
terracing still been in use, the chaos would have been greater and could have
resulted in a loss of life conveniently ignoring the fact that no one inside
the ground was involved or the even more fundamental issue that the
hopelessly inadequate ticket allocation was at the heart of the problem. Safe standing is permitted in the Bundesliga.
At the Veltins Arena in Both The Football Supporters Federation argues that as more spectators can
be safely accommodated in safe standing areas, it provides an opportunity for
clubs to lower ticket prices whilst maintaining income – though lower
prices in the Premiership would probably equate to anywhere between £15-30!
But then since the majority of supporters in the lower A poll of football fans conducted on behalf of the BBC recently found
that 92% wanted clubs to bring back safe standing areas and a number of high
profile politicians from all parties are starting to see the potential for
votes in at least advocating a rethink on the issue. Just as important, I believe, safe standing is also supported by some
survivors of the Hillsborough disaster. No one wants a return to the badly built terraces that were a feature
of football watching for most of the 20th century, but now the
expertise and experience is available to provide those fans that prefer to
stand with what they want. And even in an industry notorious for a blatant
disregard of its customer base, perhaps the notion that safe standing areas
could be a much cheaper solution to the problem of expansion and won’t
put the club in hock until the next millennium might appeal. |
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Columnist Profile – Graham Gardner
I have supported Spurs for 47 years. My
family and I have been regulars at the Lane for nearly 30 years and even
though a “home” game for us means a 200+ mile round trip from our
home in the West Country, we have been season ticket holders since 1991. I
have been a journalist and broadcaster for over 30 years and am the co-author
with John Bennett of the definitive book on the Fred West Inquiry “The
Cromwell Street Murders – the Detectives Story”, which is
available and reasonably priced in soft back and hardback in all good book
stores |
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10th
May 2007 - The Apprentice: “Do as I say, Not
As I do”
When it was first on BBC-2, I made it a point of principle
not to watch “The Apprentice”. Small-minded? Maybe. But even though it was ten years before, the memory of
our former chairman screwing up the shirt Jurgen Klinsmann had signed and given him as a leaving present,
flinging it at the TV camera that was recording the interview and proclaiming
it was only fit to wash his car, was still vivid. So, if Alan Sugar was desperately trying to re-invent
himself as the nation’s favourite capitalist, why should I give
credence to a man who had turned the football club I loved into a laughing
stock? That was until my mate Mick rang me up, explained the
programme’s format and told me the next challenge centred on the Lane.
Unable to resist a peak behind the scenes of the world famous home of the
Spurs I tuned in and have been hooked ever since. Fast forward a couple of years – the programme is
currently into its fourth series – and Sir Alan is berating the latest
crew of would-be Sugarettes who have failed in
their latest quest based on hawking prime British produce at a French market. In that unmistakable tone, it goes something like this:
“You wuz bloody well supposed to be showcasin’ the best of bleedin’
British and you bought a load of bloody mass produced cheese from a bleedin’ cash and carry!
“Wat wuz yuh bloody well thinkin’
of?” And if they knew their history they could have said,
“Well, we wuz only doing what you dun”. Kevin Scott, David Kerslake, Andy
Booth ring any bells? Hardly big cheeses any of them when we could have had Zidane, Djourkaeff and Berkamp - and there were plenty more where they came
from. A case of minimum outlay for maximum profit when the real lesson of the
Klinsmann year was speculate to accumulate for even
if three points for a win was beyond him, surely the man with an £800 million
business portfolio who began flogging from the back of a van, must have
noticed the increase in shirt sales and in particular those with a No.18 on
the back? Given their tendency towards spin and appetite for
exploiting fans, it’s hard to view the board with anything but disdain
– as Jim does better than anyone – though someone has to take the
credit for developing a transfer policy which has provided a squad which is
now just two wins away from a guaranteed fifth place finish for the second
season in a row. Finishing best of the rest again might pale alongside
past achievements but in the age of the Premiership and new football, it
represents unparalleled consistency and the very real promise of sustained
improvement. Now, though, the addition of Berbatov has added a sprinkling of
stardust and ratcheted up our hopes and expectations still further. So, the big question now is whether Levy really is a fan
with the desire and determination to break the top four monopoly
or is he Sugar in disguise who’s just waiting for the right buyer? Is
the board happy with guaranteed sell-outs every week or are they prepared to
tackle the stadium issue once and for all? And are we going to add a little
more stardust this summer or will Berbatov go the same way as Klinsmann either this year or next? Another European tour should mean a relaxing summer full
of expectation, but that’s not really the 4th
May 2007 - Is It Time To Take A Dabble On The Dark Side? It used to be called the close season,
but now the void is filled with fevered speculation as to who’ll be
appearing in the lilywhite of Spurs next season. In fact, just like Christmas, it’s
already begun. (Honestly, I called a theatre booking office today and one of
the options was “Press 7 for details of this year’s
pantomime”). Yet even though we know much of it is
made up – for example, why, when we already have
England’s number one, a more than adequate number two and on paper the
best English goalkeeper of his generation, would we want to blow a stash on Annti Niemi? – it’s still a fantasy fix we can’t ignore. Some of the stories seem to have more substance
than others simply because they won’t go away - like Curtis Davies who
we thought we had two summers ago before he did a last minute u-turn and
opted for West Brom instead; or Gareth Bale –
presumably, the £10 million offer that SCBC accepted in the last window is
still on the table and Giles Barnes for whom Derby apparently wanted to
pocket £3 million but couldn’t get the paperwork done in time.
Add to that the odd French name on the grounds that the lot down the road
have done pretty well by shopping exclusively on the continent, and
that’s us done and dusted. Or is it? While the three mentioned are
fresh-faced, talented and no doubt a credit to their mums, are they what we
need? Or is it time to dabble on the dark side? What if it were Joey Barton, Nicolas Anelka and Arjen Robben who kept cropping up? All three
have something to offer – and something we don’t have at the
moment - but if, because of who they and where they come from, they inherited
the sort of support Rasiak endured, what would be the point? You can set aside the notion that even
if they were available at least two of those names would expect offers from
the champions’ league so would be unlikely to entertain us, because
speculation isn’t real anyway. The point of the exercise is to
consider whether we would be prepared to ditch some of our prejudices to
progress. I know, we tried it once and the move
failed miserably so for the purpose of this discussion, it’s only right
I make a confession. At the time, and having seen the way he
seemed to be revitalising another “sleeping
giant”, I was quite excited at the prospect of the man in the raincoat
doing the same for us. I even wrote a piece suggesting that although
the inevitable loss of the divine Daveed was
regrettable, it would be worth it in the long run for his nemesis was a man
whose teams won trophies and who would restore our credibility. Whether we
might have won the cup that year or not didn’t matter in the end. For
me the nightmare finally became unbearable during that club record run of
goalless draws when midway through the second half at home to Charlton
and the score at 0-0, Spurs “broke” from a corner with
Steffen Fraud in possession – our most advanced player! The point is I was prepared then to do a
deal with the devil believing it would be to our greater glory, but it never
worked out and never could because we just never took to him. So would there
be any point in doing something like it again? Take Anelka,
another occasional link. Providing he’s now grown-up enough to accept
he would not be the centre of attention and may not play every week, would he
not be an improvement on Mido? And don’t just view him as a stand-in
for Berbatov because I reckon our player of the year is clever enough to
double as the support striker meaning the two could easily compliment one
another if required which would open up a whole new range of
combinations. Or would we simply dismiss Anelka as Arse and because of that refuse to support him come what
may? The Dutch connection seems enough to put
Robben in the frame and he would certainly resolve our left wing
problem, but could we ever take to him? He’s a match winner for
sure but what about the baggage he brings. There was a huge outcry following
the dive by Zokora that won the penalty against Pompey. If we
multiplied that Robbenfold – would
we even want to? And then there’s Joey Barton. When fans criticise
Ledley’s laid-back style and say great player,
poor captain, what they really mean is he’s not the sort of wild-eyed,
fist-clenching, takes-no-prisoners leader we really need. Ledley, they
concede, is more softly-spoken, lead-by-example, the kind of guy
you’d be happy for your sister or daughter to bring home. When what
they really want is someone out of the Sourness/Roy Keane mould that will
scatter our enemies before us. Could Joey Barton be that player? £5-6
mill would probably get him, the recent outbursts
and infighting have seen to that and perhaps his temperament would benefit
from being surrounded by better players. But whilst we
might glow at the prospect of him sorting out Fabregas
et al, could we cock a deaf ‘un to the
rest of it – the cigar stubbed in the eye of a junior team mate at a
Christmas party; the fight with a 15 year old Everton fan; the assault and
criminal damage to a taxi charges still unresolved. Personally, I would prefer Scotty Parker
but he’s already turned us down twice so I can’t see it
happening. And though I will probably get it off my wife for even
contemplating it, if you check out some of the other posts, you’ll see
Barton already has a measure of support. So, how about this as a line-up to kick
off the new season: Robinson; Chimbonda, King, Obviously, it’ll cost a few bob
but don’t worry if it fills you with dread. As my mate Mick says,
“Don’t believe it until you see them on the pitch in the
shirt!” 27th April 2007 - GENIUS* OR FRAUD? –
You Decide
What do Jermaine
Jenas, Michael Carrick, Terry Venables – the player that is not the coach
- and, for those who can remember, Alan Mullery,
all have in common? Not too difficult
really. They all, at one time in their careers, divided opinions at the Lane
– and in JJ’s case still does. So, if we added
Steffen Freund to that list, who would be the odd
one out? – Though perhaps a more difficult poser would by why? Why does Steffen
Freund appear to be so universally loved? What is his
attraction? What did he ever do
for us? And was anyone else
irritated that when he was paraded during the interval against the Arse, he
just had to wear that scarf? He was a guest of honour for f*cks sake! It was the hottest day of the year! Everybody
already loves him! What was the point? I just don’t get
this apparent unconditional adoration because to me Freund represents just
how far we slipped during the lost decade. The half time
“entertainment” during our last two home league games illustrates
my point. Against Reading, we
had three of our Double winners and who wouldn’t want to acknowledge
the achievements of Les Allen, Peter Baker and Bobby Smith – in fact, a
welcome surprise that as I, and many of my contemporaries, feared old
“Smudge” had long since slipped off the coil. On other occasions,
we’ve had Big Chiv, Ten Years Ahead of his
Time, GHod and Ricky V whenever he’s over here. Pride of place against
the Arse though went to our League Cup Winner of 1999, Sir Les and a Euro
Nations Cup winner from the Car Boot end of the market with a scarf draped
around his neck as proof of his undying affeck-shun
for us all. How superficial. Now, if he’d
come out with John Jensen we could have all enjoyed the joke. What irritates me is not the personnel concerned as all of them have a place in our club's history and as such deserve our respect. It’s just the totally out of proportion reception accorded to a man who had no pace, couldn’t shoooooooot, never scored, had a long throw that barely reached the penalty area and for a so-called midfield destroyer, as his type of player used to be called, didn’t even tackle that well. Who, for instance, could forget that half arsed attack from behind on Roy K |