San Heroes- Oh What A Night

HERO!

Is it really 3 weeks until we play them at home? God, this is going to be torturous.

Oh Harry, you wiley old fox. Who else was taken in by his ‘What’s a defensive midfielder? We ain’t got none of them so we’re probably just going to attack’? Me, for one. While our often tactically maligned leader was pedalling out his perfectly manicured salt-of-the-earth, just f**kin run about a bit, Mike Bassett caricature, a tactical master plan had already been hatched. There would be no sentiment over Niko’s recent heroics in the league, with Peanut preferred down the left for his work rate and extra cover provided to Benny, while Wilson and Sandro were deployed as our immovable hit-houses. Rafa to hold, Lennon to break and Peter to fight for every high ball. Even the substitutions had the kind of consideration of a brilliantly executed scheme, not often associated with Harry and his gang of backroom rogues.

No need for player ratings on this one, pretty much faultless to a man. Only Flamini, who should have gone for the ‘challenge’ on Charlie, covered more pitch than the excellent Crouch. His positioning, movement and experience in winding up the opposition, most notably the little dog, was a joy to behold, and the winning goal was a worthy reward for a man who slogged away all night and epitomised the ethic of this special side. To quote @therealtomscott from twitter ‘did Palacios travel to the San Siro in a DeLorean? It’s like he’s gone back 2 years’. Can’t say it better than that, all fears about one of his ‘dog chasing a car’ performances were allayed early as the man-wall he built with the equally outstanding Sandro, was a thing of pure seasoned European campaigning beauty. Not a yellow card between them speaks volumes about their professionalism.

Gomes pulled another worldey out when many feared he’d crumble like a biscuit. The whole back 4 were magnificent, and the one time they were beaten, it was correctly ruled out for a push on Michael Awesome. Yes, we can call him that again. Not bad for a Champions League (proper) debut. Lennon, for so much of the game did not receive the ball at any point without Antonini, or Yepes, or both, being within 5 yards of him as they laboured to try and nullify his threat. The one and only time he received the ball with space to run into, he devastated them with sheer pace, riding the cynical attempted challenge of the tortoise-like Yepes, and squaring perfectly for Big Pete to find the bottom corner. You know those moments in big games when you get one big chance? Taken.

And what of our opponents? Watching experienced pro’s turned into confused wrecks by our discipline, work rate and quality was a joy to behold. Gattuso’s extraordinary reaction to his booking followed several physical digs from Crouch throughout, as well as Joe Jordans verbals from the touchline. One of the most experienced midfielders in the modern game turned into a petulant child before our eyes and epitomised the meltdown of the Milan side. Compared to Crouch, Ibra Robby and Pato were an embarrassment to their famous old shirt, while the impotence of Seedorf, Gattuso and Flamini led to the disgraceful scenes we all saw at the end of the game. UEFA will take action and probably ban him for 5 games, and at this rate, they will be carried over to next season. Shame, I’d quite enjoy seeing him in the home leg.

I’m not counting any chickens here, but even if we’d lost the game, looking at their performance, I saw no danger they could pose at our place, unless Pirlo miraculously recovered and the forwards deferred from their sloth like work rate… which they won’t. This was no fluke. Out played, out thought and massively out fought, and heading for the quarters with another performance of that ilk.

That result was the best thing to come out of Italy since Gino Ginnelli. I cannot WAIT for the home leg.

Stranger Than Fiction- AC Milan Away

A bite-size Sunderland reaction first, as it’s already been done to death elsewhere, but I’m still delighted about the nature of our hard-fought victory which bodes well for tonight. Other than Niko’s match winner, the game was rather bereft of quality so a grinder of a performance was needed, and we duly delivered. It was like getting done early by a spinning-bird kick, then bludgeoning your way back into the fight with a series of straight-forward punches… with the winner being a nicely timed upper cut or something, and just doing enough for the victory. The team sheet before the game had me a bit worried with it’s lack of pace, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to recognise that Harry was taking a big risk by saving Lennon for Milan. Gamble paid off and a thoroughly excellent 3 points. I also found out I could do a modest power slide in my living room. Brilliant.

And so to the big one. Yes, the Premier League is the priority, but my fellow yids, this kind of fixture is the reason we clench our fists and cheer so vociferously at our 0-1’s and 1-2’s oop north, to satisfy our greater purpose. AC Milan away in the last 16 of the Champions League. In the mishegoss of what we’re plotting to achieve, just take a moment and let that play on your palettes. AC Milan. Champions League. There are fewer sexier adventures in the world of footy and our club is embarking upon it, and it would be almost churlish of us not to pause momentarily and let this pass without recognition. As much as I dislike Sky, their ‘trailer’ for our encounter makes me so bloody proud of our lads I could burst like a marvellous cynic-smashing balloon.

However, in the words of Winston Wolf: ‘let’s not start sucking each others dicks just yet’. There’s a job to get done, and quite a big one at that. AC Milan are a big draw because they’re quite good at football and have a few trophies to show for it, with a host of the worlds best ball kickers ready to parade around a few more this season. A glance at the Serie A table has our opponents 3 points clear at the top and fresh off the back of a 4-0 cake walk over struggling Parma, and they will be high on confidence. The puzzlingly maligned Ibrahimovic has settled back into his old home with his new employers quite nicely and has 13 goals to his name, with erstwhile Citeh whinge bag Robinho and Pato hot on his heels. There are weaknesses to be taken advantage of, not least with the ageing legs of their side. They are without their own metronome, Andrea Pirlo, with midfield raging bull Genaro Gattuso and former Totter KPB also crocked, leaving a potentially unterrifying prospect of Seedorf and Flamini for our lads to fight with in the middle.

Gareth Bale has become an almost Zorro like figure around European Football, his name being cautiously whispered by the powers that be after his exploits against AC’s city rivals Inter in the group stages, but unfortunately, their coach, whether just paying lip-service or not, recognises that our hopes did not rest on the young Welshman’s shoulders. While there is no understating young Gareth’s ability to change a game, our success has not been built around him, and his absence is a mere footnote to the news that Modric has been training and, despite Harrys attempted mind games, will almost certainly start alongside VdV and Wilson/Peanut (Jenas will be missed), with Lennon and Krankie to play wide and provide for our Lonesome Dove, Peter Crouch, who’s experience will be a key weapon (no foolies). I can’t see any other set up than this any more than I can see any of the back 5 from Sunderland changing.

Having played here already this season can only benefit us. No one will need to be reminded of the nightmare start we had in the group stages, when only a 2^nd half cruise control from Inter and a Bale finishing master class prevented us being on the end of a very embarrassing score line. Perhaps the absence of Bale might even aid our cause in shifting their focus to our depletion, while the stage is set for Lennon to have just as big an impact as the Welshman. Let’s hope all our lads saw what turning up for a big European night has done to rocket Gareth into the upper echelons of the game and give them the determination to emulate his achievements.

Apologies for the tired cliché, but our biggest opponents will be ourselves tonight. We’ve got the individual talent to match theirs, and a fair amount of experience gained this campaign already. A score draw would be a very good result, but a defeat by 1 would not be a disaster. Any more and you’d start to worry, but I fancy us against anyone at home. An away win would be incredible and not beyond the realms of possibility.

Arise, sons of Tottenham. Your time has come.

Sunderland Away And Final Thoughts On The Olympic Stadium

No sale, Daniel

Good day one and all, let’s start from the start shall we? So we’ve lost out to the Spammers in the race to occupy the Olympic Stadium in Stratters. I’ll be short on this one as I’m as bored of the rest of you of all the pro/anti brigades and their repetitive rhetoric on the matter, but neither outcome would have been greeted with either happiness or disappointment by moi. Just call me one big purgatorial shrug job if you like (go on, do it), but I could no more get on board with the ‘it’s Tottenham innit, clue’s in the f**kin’ name bruv’ lot, as I could wholly embrace moving to East London. Were there ever any fully paid up members of the pro-Stratford movement? Those who really wanted to go there more than anything, or just those, like me, who would have backed it because it seemed to be the most sensible option? More rhetoric? Let’s just hope we don’t embarrass ourselves with a lengthy appeal and just get back to the overworked drawing board.

Focussing on things closer to the realm of originality, there’s an away trip to Slumberland to talk about, and it’s not going to preview itself. The home fixture, as I’m sure you’ll remember, came a week after our infamous win over Inter Milan and gave a lot of those unable to make it for that game a chance to get a ticket to see the new European Champions elect. Sadly, like that kids party I was really excited about when I was at school because he had a pinball machine in his conservatory, I got my timing all wrong, turned up too late for the main event and left massively disappointed. Incredulous that they hadn’t seen another total football performance, the confused ticket holders booed as the final whistle sounded, prompting Redknapp to label all Tottenham fans ‘ungrateful ‘erberts’ (or something similar) and fell just short of rolling out his favourite points to games statistic. The 1-1 draw on the night was incredibly frustrating, especially as we’d spent over an hour trying to break them down, finally did so, only for them to equalise 3 minutes later and hold on.

Onto the away trip and, for a change, there are more injuries than you can shake a stick at for our mob. Bale and Modric will be given every chance of flying to Milan by being oxygen tented and butterfly kissed back to health from now until then so don’t even dream about seeing them make an appearance. VdV pulled out of the Holland squad as his wonky calf went ‘ping’ again last weekend, so our hero from last Saturday, Niko Kranjcar might just get that start he’s been hankering after. If Crouch is fit, be prepared to see him playing up on his tod with a midfield 5 of Peanut-Krankie-Wilson-JJ-Lennon. If he doesn’t make it, the Pav-Defoe combo will be unleashed to massive or zero effect. There is no middle ground with these scallywags.

After the gloom of our transfer non-activity and before our recent couple of victories, Sunderland were being mooted as a threat to our position in the upper reaches of the table, and despite the disappointing home defeat to Chelski, they are having a very good season. They’ve been un-Bent, but such has been the impact of Gyan, the cries of a wounded Steve Bruce after Dazza’s surprise move to Villa, fell largely on deaf ears as they continued their ascension. The flip-flopping Keiran Richardson has been scoring for fun recently, so both our full backs had better be on their game, while we can only hope ol’ Steed doesn’t come back to haunt us.

So predictions then? I’m on quite the roll at the moment with no less than TWO correct score line predictions in a row. Observe:

Blackburn Away: More in hope than expectation, let’s go for a 0-1. Back to basics and one of our forwards to soften the blow of missing out on deadline day with a beaut’ of a goal.

Bolton Home: Following my one-in-a-row correct score prediction, sell your houses and get all your money on a 2-1 victory for the Totters.

Not quite as confident about this one so I’m going to go for a 2-2, but will happily break my run for 3 points.

A Dog Danglin’ Afternoon

Not much to get our Tottenham pulses racing at the moment, just the numbing inevitability of watching Ingerlands finest bumble their way through another 90 minutes of football on the horizon, all the while hoping that none of our troops come back broken, Dawson being the most likely to start from our contingent of two. Apparently Nationwide decided against renewing their sponsorship of the England team. Quite why a respected financial institution in the current economic climate no longer wishes to be associated with a group of adulterers, brass magnets and those with a financial profligacy that would make Snoop Dog blush, is beyond me. A big welcome to Vauxhall who will no doubt offer a few Corsa’s up to the players as a win bonus. Ya know, just to ensure they really put the effort in.

Interesting off-field news revolves around our OS bidding partners AEG. Apparently this won’t be the only project we’ll be working on, as a potential partnership with the AEG-owned L.A.Galaxy is another one for the future. Full article HERE

So for those of you who think Beckham’s too old now, imagine the prospect of signing him on a permanent basis from the Galaxy in November… with Bale going in the opposite direction. Only joking… I hope.

The Olympic Stadium debate rages on, with Daniel Levy having his say in the Evening Standard last night. I’ve already made my feelings known on the matter and haven’t seen or heard anything in the intervening time to change my opinion.

Pav’s having a moan up about how he’s being treated at Tottenham for a change. If that lad put half as much effort into speaking to the Russian press… you see what I’m driving at here. You’re supposed to do your moaning just before a window’s opened, not straight after one’s just shut you silly banana! It’s pretty obvious that he was going to leave in the summer anyway, so keep schtum and make yourself a sexier proposition by getting a few goals until such time as you’re able to leave. Honestly, doesn’t he pay through the nose for this kind of advice from his agent? Sheesh.

Friday will be a full-arsed effort on my part, as opposed to this one-cheeked blog I’ve hastily compiled. After correctly predicting the score lines of the last TWO Tottenham games, I’m sure you’re all dieing to find out where you should be putting all that money you’ve obviously won from the last time you listened to me. No? Well it might be worth a read anyway*

*may very well not be worth reading

Bolton Beaten- Hug-A-Stranger Time

Having just torn myself away from the stranger I've been hugging and 'yessing' at since Niko's pearler, thought it was about time to compose and do my bit to honour a quite bonkers Saturday afternoon of footy.

A game that could and should have been sewn up within 10 minutes turned into another oscar worthy piece of drama, penned by the joint talents of Redknapp and Kranjcar, the latter suffering from a touch of stage fright (hate that) in previous outings, but enunciating perfectly when we needed him the most. Moments previously, with the scores still at 1-1, the jumbotron delivered the news that our friends in the North had done what no other team in Premier League history had done before and come from 0-4 down to make it 4-4. The fact that it was against our friends from the South lifted it from the status of quirky stat to potential  afternoon saver, were we to come up short in our quest for 3 points. In the gloom of watching us trying and failing however, it got no more than a smile from yours truly, and would have been scant consolation. But then the 2 substitutes Pav and Krankie, both linked with moves away from the club in January, conspired an absolute beaut' of a winner. From where I was sitting at the other end of the stadium, I initially thought it was Charlie doing the twinkle toes routine on the edge of their box, so when the ball was switched to the left foot, my heart sank a bit as I waited for the inevitable scuff... so imagine my surprise when... Hang on that's N... Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees *jumps around like a f**kin mentalist  hugging all in my slightly terrifying path*. That goal was greeted as loudly as any scored against the arse, Chelski or Inter Milan, and it will live long in the memory.

Special mentions for Jenas who was excellent, as was Crouch who deserved his standing ovation when he was replaced by Pav. Lennon, clearly carrying a knock in the last 10 after we'd made our 3 subs also fought bravely and Gallas put in another contract-extender of a performance. Gomes was perhaps the most relieved man on the pitch after the winner, having poorly judged the useful-looking Sturridge's shot that almost earned the Wanderers a point.

Watching yanited lose at Wolves over a few celebratory/nerve-calming jars in a pub that smelt like latrines was yet another cherry on an already fruity football cake.

Horribly dull news sees the return of Ingerland to our tellyboxes as we take on the Danes in midweek, meaning there's bound to be a bit of overtime on offer to the Tottenham physio's in the next few weeks. No sooner has he returned from Ingerlanditis but Daws has been recalled, while just the mere writing of Peter Crouch's name on the squad list has caused him to drop out with some sort of wonky fitness issue. Apparently, if Capello writes his name 3 times in a row he will own his soul. Most contentious of the lot seems to be young Kyle Walker being somewhat of a surprise inclusion, and despite what the drones on SSN will have you believe, he's actually still a Tottenham player. I'm not sure why this is such a surprise in a world where Glen Johnson is currently considered the best available option in the position, as long as he remembers his name and can tie his own bootlaces, I'd have him starting there. There are a few bleatings about how Lennon has been overlooked in favour of Walnut. No complaints here, keep him at the Lodge and let the SAL get injured instead.

The World Is Not So Cold and Dark- An Away Win

‘’ More in hope than expectation, let’s go for a 0-1. Back to basics and one of our forwards to soften the blow of missing out on deadline day with a beaut’ of a goal.’’ (Me, yesterday)

Prophetic! At least I think that’s what she said.

I did also say that Pete should probably have been left on the bench if all we were going to do was knock it long and hope he could out-muscle Nelson and Samba. Can’t win ‘em all. Not quite a ‘beaut’ of a goal (although all Spurs goals are things of beauty to us) but it wasn’t a bad shout. In a reversal of roles, Van der Vaart’s cross for big Pete to knock in was nice to see. Midfielders creating chances for strikers? Whatever next!

After losing patience with the dodgy free streams, I bit the bullet and laid out a massive six pounds (for 60 days) for a service with actual channel buttons and a consistently decent picture. I believe the first win was free, so I might have to pay more if I want to see us win again next time. Lording it up with my paid-for service, it wasn’t the most comfortable viewing experience as Blackburn deserved at least a draw from the game, only for the patchy-of-late Gomes to pull off several excellent stops. Highlights from the rest of the side? Lennon (left) and VdV (right) playing as inverted wingers, while not an overwhelming tactical success, saw both men perform admirably, particularly Lennon whose mazy run in the second half laid a stonker of a chance on for Defoe, only for the Faces rep to stutter when he should have put us out of sight. VdV is struggling with a bit of form but his class is ever present, exemplified by his cross for Crouch’s goal. The big man himself worked tirelessly, won his fair share of battles, laid it off nicely and scored. The best Crouch performance you’re ever going to get. Thought Jenas had a very good game as well.

A job well done then. Nothing spectacular, but in a perverse kind of way, I get more satisfaction when we grind these sort of results out away from home. Just like the FA Cup defeat, let’s take these 3 points and roll on Saturday, and Bolton.

Our last match up saw us taking the coach trip north and put in an archetypal ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ performance following a midweek Bale-inspired home win over Inter Milan. We started sloppier than a fat Jeremy Kyle mum heading to the offy in a dressing gown and novelty slippers, and were 3 goals down before we put up any sort of fight. A couple of top quality goals for Hutt and Pav weren’t enough in the end and we surrendered meekly, finally going down 4-2. The score line flattered us.

Bolton roar into the weekend after a last-minute winner against a sorry looking, championship bound Wolves with loanee Chelski striker Sturridge getting the goal. The Coyle revolution has stalled somewhat of late, coinciding with Davies and Elmander losing their shooting boots, which sources say were sent to Kris Boyd at Boro as part of the David Wheater transfer. Stats compiled by someone far less lazy than myself, put Bolton’s Stuart Holden as the most consistent performer in the whole league before Christmas, our Mods, VdV and the tranny nodding-dog Nasri making up the rest of the performance-related midfield. He’ll be one to watch, along with Sturridge and the lad Lee, whole ran us ragged last time out.

As for us, a similar shape to Blackburn I’d have thought, with Dawson back from his ban to replace Bassong. Availability pending, Bale or Steven Peanut back in for Palacios. Following my one-in-a-row correct score prediction, sell your houses and get all your money on a 2-1 victory for the Totters.

In other news:

Honest Bob throws a leg at a loose ball, and despite the toblerone foot, manages to find the back of the net, therefore becoming West Ham’s player of the season.

Birmingham sent out Gardner, Ferguson and Bowyer against, De Jong, Barry and Vieira of City and they eventually bored each other into a draw to leave us just 5 points and a game in hand behind the Middle-Eastlanders.

Gary Neville retires from football after realising he’s embarrassingly rubbish since his injury being omitted from the Manure Champions League squad. Rumours circulating put him firmly in the bum print left by Andy Gray at Sky, and with it, leaving a nation stating they would LITERALLY prefer watching Jamie Redknapp over their Sunday roast.

Ledley King was all set to go under the knife in Germany, until. Wait for it. He’d realised he’d lost his passport, putting the operation back another week while he got a replacement. Reports say his ‘do you know who I am’ speech had little effect on passport control officers.

Luis Suarez has a giblet ear.

Blackburning Up- Another Dog Day?

We know how you feel matey...

Let’s face it, the past 3 days have been a bit of a dog. One of those dogs that was wheezing a bit anyway, and then got hit by a bus, kicked in the nads, had puddle water splashed all over it and then been forced to watch ‘Come Fly With Me’ on loop. A stinker in the cup, a poor finish in the window, an impending sense of doom emanating from the faithful, and now Modders, if internet chatter is to be believed, is out for anything up to a month after a rumbling appendix needed surgical attention. Timing, as they say, is everything.

So thin on the ground are we that Harry has spoken of throwing Jonathan Woodgate, 14 months since his last Premier League start, in at the deep end tonight against the human shed of Chris Samba, while the rest of the available troops read like a list of a who’s who in the ‘out-of-form’ guide. On the positive side, our last visit to Ew-Pa saw us collect 3 points, with Peter Crouch grabbing 2 goals.

So what of our opponents? The new owners immediately set about steering the good ship Blackburn into sexier waters by tinning Sam Allardyce, much to the disgust of the media but not too many Blackburn fans it would appear, and promoting a footballing man from within. After a rocky start for Steve Kean, they are approaching something approximating to form, especially at home where they’ve won 5 out of the last 7. Talk of the chicken men bringing in Ronaldinho, Maradona and Jesus has died down, and the young Canadian lad Hoilett is the one that’s caught the eye and the back of the net in recent weeks, so our appointed DM and full backs will have to be razor sharp to keep this kid in check. He’s quite good. Only 2 defeats in 14 for us in our recent match ups, and even better, with Blackburn playing in blue and white at home, we’ll be spared another outing of the smurf-diarrhoea coloured away kit. Reason’s to be cheerful

We’re in need of some cheer tonight, no doubt about it. How Harry will turn these dog days around will be interesting to watch, but I have an awful feeling he’ll start Peter who will inevitably get beaten every time by Samba and Nelson. It’s got to be a JD and Pav cocktail with extra Lennon tonic from this Spursers point of view, the rest of the personnel pick themselves given availability. More in hope than expectation, let’s go for a 0-1. Back to basics and one of our forwards to soften the blow of missing out on deadline day with a beaut’ of a goal.