The best thing about yesterday was that when I took my seat in the East Stand the sun wasn’t in my eyes. No this isn’t another rant about a poor Spurs performance, because I was reasonably impressed with yesterday – especially all the pretty, deft, dare I say, sexy, one-two’s we witnessed in the first half.
No the reason for my joy was the pain I was suffering in my head. And in every muscle of my body for that matter. My Saturday night involved far too much alcohol, my Sunday morning was almost non-existent, and as the game kicked off yesterday I was pleased to realise that the time of year and time of day meant I had another hour before the sun would be staring me in the face and the alcohol would start to sweat out of every pore.
Whilst I was in this uncomfortable state before we kicked off against the Bar Codes, I was mesmerised by the pitch. We’re into the latter half of April and it still looks so green and full of life. With a brain only functioning at 50% of its capacity, I sat there transfixed with this superb ‘carpet’ in front of me. No-one ever seems to thank groundsmen, only criticise them, so I’d just like to thank the team at WHL who have done an impressive job this year… and not for the first time I should add.
So after overcoming the biggest team in next season’s Championship I ventured home to catch the end of the Everton-ManUre semi-final. Boy did the pitch look crap! And then this morning I see that both Wenger and Fergie have somewhat of a hangover themselves… it was “a disaster”, “laughable”, “really embarrassing”, “spongy and dead”, “poor playing surface”, etc. Need I go on?
Whatever, they’re just bad losers. I’m glad ManUre lost yesterday because they didn’t deserve to go through with the team they put out. On the subject of ManUre and the new Wembley Stadium, it might be interesting to note that Fergie’s team have now managed just a solitary goal in their five appearances there (Giggs scored in the 2007 Community Shield). And the fact that Berba missed a penalty crucial penalty? Well, there is some justice in this world it would seem.
Wembley’s pitch might not be up to scratch, but the FA is taking measures to address the issue. The fact that two managers are using it as an excuse after two poor semi finals is simply a way of deflecting blame from their own short-comings. But if anyone is truly worried about the state of the Wembley pitch, maybe they should seek the advice of the Tottenham grounds-staff.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Hangovers and pitches
Monday, March 16, 2009
No-one is ever going to be as good as I was
It's been a tough few months on and off the pitch for Spurs, but things are definitely looking up. Yesterday's win at Villa Park was arguably the best result of our season so far, and although we're not out of the relegation dogfight just yet, we are the highest we've been all season. And mathematically we're now closer to European qualification than relegation, although that's not a debate for right now.
Today's Spurs related news is something far more important than one result, however good that was. Former Tottenham legend, and a player who is regularly mentioned in this blog, is back in the news but in a more positive light than when we last saw him. Paul Gascoigne has given an exclusive interview to Sky News (shown below) in which he talks about some of the struggles of the last few years.
I don't intend to repeat all of the horror stories here, but the video (and elsewhere on the web) goes into plenty of detail. The important thing is that Gazza is getting better. He may have been through rehab countless times, but this time I sense something is different. That's easy for me to say from afar, but I'm really hopeful this time. It strikes me that he is more settled in a place he feels comfortable, with the family members that really care for him. The last time he was on TV, which was that horrific documentary about Sheryl and the kids, left me thinking Gazza might not be alive by his next birthday.
But all that has changed... my three favourite bits from the interview are:
- Gazza pretending to be Peter Beardsley whilst playing football on the beach.
- His Dad stating that Gazza's best goal was the free-kick against Arsenal in 1991.
- And Gazza's tongue in cheek comment that no-one will ever be as good as he was at football!
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Are things on the up?
Last season’s trip to Wembley signalled the beginning of the end for our previous management team. After our cup final victory over Chelsea we managed just three wins and a measly 15 points from our remaining 12 matches of the season and it obviously wasn’t long before we said, “Adiós,” to Senor Ramos and co.
A similarly miserable finish to this season and we could be staring relegation in the face. Now I for one don’t think that’s going to happen and after last night’s result we’re a little closer to surviving. In fact, following our 4-0 rout Lennon told the Evening Standard that, “Someone said after the game that we weren't far off seventh and it would be unbelievable if we could get that, especially after the start to the season when we had two points from eight games.” It would indeed be unbelievable and we should calm that sort of talk before we set ourselves up for another disappointment. As a reminder, we were probably thinking the same thing after we hammered West Ham 4-0 last March. We ended 2007-08 in eleventh place and a similar finish wouldn’t surprise me this season. Anything more than that and we're kidding ourselves.
The key point that Lennon made though is that we are playing better than we have done for a while. We weren’t amazing last night; we were just up against an extremely poor defence that made us look good. But individually, our boys did well. And on Sunday it was not just a number of good individual performances but a resolute team showing too. Manchester United may have been missing a few of their stars, but so were we (although that wasn’t our choice). I thought we played well, deserved to win the game and should reflect on it with pride. Let’s not forget that for the second time this season the reigning Premier League and Champions League holders failed to break us down.
I still can’t figure out whether things are on the up or not at Spurs as we seem to have been pretty inconsistent since Harry’s honeymoon ended. But after the last two games I feel more optimistic than I have done for three or four months. We have exciting players like Modric and Lennon (the latter who is playing the best we’ve ever seen him), an improving defence, and some new talent like Palacios to add some bite to our midfield. Perhaps this season’s trip to Wembley is also a turning point, but unlike like last year this time it’s the start of a more positive era.
Harry now needs to ensure we survive this season, have a productive summer in the transfer market (as he did do in the January window) and then start next season much better than his two predecessors. If he can do that who knows, maybe we can have another cup run next season or a decent push for European qualification (assuming Harry actually wants to play in Europe again). For the first time in ages, I actually think the answer might be, in the words of the new US president, “Yes we can!”
Friday, February 20, 2009
Please can I have my money back?
After last night’s setback in Ukraine, I felt compelled to write to our beloved club:Dear Mr Levy,
I am writing to you in my capacity as season ticket holder, shareholder and most importantly, lifelong supporter. Along with all other Spurs fans I am troubled by our league position, but am confident that we have what it takes to stay up this season. We have a good manager, good players, a large squad, and a fixture list that should enable us to pick up enough points to retain our Premier League status. We can then build on the above and move forward in a, hopefully, more positive way next season.
What concerns me though is the disregard shown by our manager to the UEFA Cup. Not only is this a trophy that is reasonably prestigious (it might not be the Champions League, but it helps attracts quality players, gets plenty of TV coverage, and is a wonderful opportunity for fans to participate in football beyond these shores), but it is a trophy held dear to the hearts of Tottenham fans. We were the inaugural winners of the competition back in 1972 and it also proved to be our last taste of European success 25 years ago this season. We have a proud tradition in cup competitions and with our league troubles this season, the cup competitions have proved a pleasant distraction from the ‘bread and butter.’
Last night our team selection was disrespectful to Tottenham fans the world over, not to mention the 190 that actually travelled all the way to Ukraine. Yes we had players that were cup tied and injured, but to rest other first team players was unnecessary. We have one of the larger playing squads in the Premier League and should be able to cope with midweek cup games. Yes we have plenty of fixtures coming up, but not an unreasonable amount. We have a game virtually each weekend and one midweek for the next few weeks. What’s unusual about that? We all saw the fixture list at the beginning of the season. If things are that scary why didn’t we bring in additional players in the recent transfer window?
I purchased tickets for next week’s return leg in good faith. However, I’ve now been told that we’ll be playing more youngsters than we did last night. It seems to me that the club has given up on the UEFA Cup and to me that’s a travesty. Why not take the competition seriously? We talked about qualifying for Europe enough, then when we finally achieved that aim again we act like it’s a nuisance and something we could do without. If the club are happy to write it off, why should the fans spend their hard earned money on attending the games?
All this talk about preserving our squad for crucial league matches is all very well, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that right now we need players to play with confidence. A win last night would have been the perfect springboard for a busy few weeks ahead. Instead, we’re on the back foot again and will no doubt head off to another away game on Monday worrying that if we’re not at least two goals clear going into the last ten minutes or so there’s a pretty high risk we’ll throw the game away again by conceding late goals.
Other than a couple of big setbacks (namely the way you treated Martin Jol and the fact that you allowed Damien Comolli to keep his job for as long as you did), I’ve been a fan of the way you have run the club. But now is the time, when things are difficult, that you need to stand up and do what is expected of someone in your position. You are considerably fortunate to run one of the biggest and best supported clubs in the world. Please pull rank, have a word, and sort out our manager’s approach to such an important competition. And if you’re not going to do that, I’d like to get a refund for the two tickets I’ve purchased for next Thursday’s second leg. Whether we’re in a recession or not, I think paying £70 for two tickets to a youth match is way over the odds.
Yours sincerely,
N7teen
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Blame Brown not Levy for Spurs' decline!
A lot is blamed on Gordon Brown and my latest criticism is that his poor management of the economy and the banking industry has led to numerous cuts in interest rates which in turn have caused the value of sterling to plummet. So what? This is a football blog not an economics one. However, the falling pound has reduced the strength of English clubs within Deloitte’s latest Football Money League.
Many of my Spurs-related observations are similar to last year (you can read my analysis here). However, despite our revenues rising by 11% in absolute terms, when converted to Euro (which is how the boffins at Deloitte measure Europe’s richest clubs) our revenue actually dropped by 5% in 2007-08 compared to the previous season.
Rather than reading the full report, here are a few Spurs highlights for those of you who are interested:
So to reiterate my sentiments from last year, well done Daniel Levy for your clever management of our finances (and for backing all your managers in the transfer market, even though that particular aspect is excluded from the Deloitte study).
And to end on a more sombre thought, we should enjoy being in the top 15 clubs while it lasts. We’re unlikely to climb up the list until we either become a Champions League team and/or our new ground is built… both are possibilities that are pretty distant right now. And although we’re a UEFA Cup team this season, next year could be somewhat bleaker unless we beat ManUre at Wembley next month (or the players behave themselves impeccably and we win the Fair Play League).
