A Trip To Toon Town

Alright etcetera

*insert moan about the international break*

Now that’s out of the way, we’ve got a game involving the Totters on Sunday, and I for one am not overcome with optimism. Maybe it’s the increasingly chilly Autumn days, or the fact my local High Street has become over run with pet retail projects for the #TOWIE gang that’s got me in a bad mood, but Sundays coach trip worries. It’s probably neither of those reasons as it goes, my reluctance to predict a positive outcome probably stems more from Hotspur related factoids than the inclement weather or vanity employment.

My tempered words upon conclusion of our summer business were as follows:

‘’Adebayor…pretty much walks in as being the first name on the team sheet. Picture this though…he’s on the end of a crunching challenge and he gets his leg broken. What are we going to do now? Defoe and Pavlyuchenko to carry the responsibility of getting our goals? Verdict (on our forward positions): Improvement, as long as Adebayor stays fit.’’

Tool-ey quoting of myself aside, he may not have had his leg broken, but it certainly looks as if the hammy he picked up against the Wanderers will keep him out against the Toon, and even if he does play, his mobility is bound to be tempered and is a risk for a full on tear… leaving us to ponder Defoe and/or the Russian to perform different shades of uselessness in lilywhite, especially as VdV also looks a doubt. There is no plan B. We can’t even call upon Crouchy. Either Adebayor is fit or we’re unlikely to pose much of a threat, and it’s games like this where the gloss of the flashy goal bagging toy boy quickly disappears, and where unbeaten stretches are thrown into far more forensic arenas.

The news that Sandro will miss out as well doesn’t do us any favours, as our plans away from home, formed around Parker, a man we seem determined to run into the ground, seem to be to stay ‘gritty’ and provide shielding for the CB’s in the middle, whilst relying on a flash of magic from one of Adebayor, VdV or Bale to win the day. At least there aren’t any question marks over Gareth’s involvement.

Newcastle have been on something of a roll themselves this season. Despite not playing any of the likely ‘top 4’ (yes, I know they played the Wanderers on match day 1), a seven game undefeated run in the league is not be sniffed at. We all smiled wryly, as their game at Villa Park was billed as (possibly the least convincing) 2 undefeated sides going head to head, but far from fading from that potential high, they’ve got some good wins and looked to have strengthened to the point of not being relegation fodder. Our own 4 game winning run probably holds the same level of fear for them, but aside from a very good showing against Liverpool and excellent first half at Wigan, we’ve spluttered rather than sparkled through the other 2.5 games in that winning sequence, with the NLD being a triumph based on better playing staff and greater belief, rather than the tactical out-foxing bamboozlement we all hoped for.

Assuming all the doubts don’t make it, and assuming we’ll go with Defoe on his own up front, I’m going to guess a 4 (Walker, King, Kaboul, BAE)- 2 (Parker, Livermore)- 1 (Modders)- 2 (Bale, Kranjcar?/Townsend?) and said offside flag botherer.

Given what we’re missing, I’d be happy with a point.