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Mon 19th
BUT NOT LAST, AT LEAST
Published by: Dublin Yid on Monday 19th January 2009 04:01pm
Spurs-1 Pompey-1


Two words, “at” and “least” are getting me through the process dealing with this result.
They can go before any of these sentences:
…we didn’t lose.
…we’re no longer bottom of the table.
…we’re out of the bottom three.
…we scored our first Premiership goal in four games.
…Defoe got his first goal since his return.
…the goal we conceded was a fluke.
…overall we had the better of the play.
When I read that lot over and over it does actually serve as consolation.
And in some ways, it helps me forget Darren Bent’s miss of the season which could sadly be the last thing Spurs fans remember of the player if he is transferred away in the coming weeks.
I do have one particular query for Mr Redknapp, by the way.
Just HOW BAD are Cesar Sanchez and Ben Alnwick in goal that he felt forced to play a half-crocked Gomes who can’t even kick a dead ball?
I don’t think he could have blamed the players this time if, as seemed likely, the Brazilian’s disability actually led to a goal for the visitors![
If that’s the case, our squad is indeed in dire straits and I’m not sure how much we can do to rectify all our problems in this particular transfer window.
With King out long term, no creativity to speak of coming from the midfield and Bent seemingly on the way out, that means we need at least one new player in every area of the park, and expecting the signings to gel with the existing players in time to pull us up to mid-table in the next 16 games is quite a big ask.
It would be hard to pinpoint poor individual performances on the day here. Fans around the web seem to be singling out Gareth Bale, but I reckon that’s a bit harsh. We actually created more chances than usual on the day, and in the most part we were tidy at the back.
It was just the finishing that was lacking.
At least we have a couple of cup games, one of them which could see us return to Wembley, to take our minds off it.
  (taken from my blog, ...and STILL Ricky Villa!!!)
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Thu 15th
The Way Forward
Published by: Dublin Yid on Thursday 15th January 2009 10:01pm
I think my Spurs have reached a crucial point in their season so comment is necessary.

Our next three matches read thus; Portsmouth at home in the Premiership on Sunday, Burnley away in the Carling Cup semifinal on Wednesday, and Manchester United away in the FA Cup the following Saturday. Here is how I would approach that series of matches…

First, I would of course have to acknowledge that the Premiership is a priority. Eleven defeats in twentyone matches is absolutely awful for a club like Tottenham. Sure, it can be argued that just three points could send us as high as 11th, but the fact remains that we’ve had matches with Stoke, Hull, Fulham, West Brom, Middlesbrough, Sunderland to name but a few and we haven’t been able to take three points.

So I guess it’s not a case of “all we have to do”. It needs to be worked at.

And so I'd try to put out what I consider to be my best available team for the Portsmouth clash. At the moment that reads like this.

Gomes

Corluka Woodgate King(capt) Assou-Ekottu

Lennon Zokora Modrić O’Hara

Pavlyuchenko Defoe

Before the match I would say this to the players…

“Right lads, you’re what I consider to be my best team, but that doesn’t mean any of you are irreplacable. There’s still a couple of weeks left in the transfer window, so get out there on Sunday and play like you want to help me get this club back up the table to where it’s fans demand we be.”

Meanwhile, in another room, I would assemble this team…

Cesar

Gunter Rocha Dawson (capt) Bale

Bentley Tarrabt Huddlestone Ghaly

dos Santos Campbell

…and I would tell them this…

“You lot are what I consider right now to be my Second XI. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance to make it at this club. To prove it, I’m picking you for BOTH the Carling Cup semifinal 2nd leg at Burnley AND the trip to Old Trafford. You will have 180 minutes to show me and the Spurs faithful what you can do. We have a reasonably comfortable 3-goal cushion against Burnley and with UEFA Cup matches around the corner we’re literally on a hiding to nothing against United. Let’s see which one of ye are up for it.”

You may notice that I have left out both Jenas and Bent. The reason is I’ve heard rumours they’re being lined up for transfer out of White Hart lane and to be honest I think we could do without the pair of them.

When the final whistle blows at Old Trafford, there will be eight full days left in the transfer window (it is extended to midnight Feb 1st). Following my plan should give us enough info as to what areas we need to sign players together with enough time to do it.

But then again I’m not Harry, so it will be interesting to see what he actually does. We all said that it was Damien Commolli that put us where we are; now is Redknapp’s time to prove us right.

This was taken from my blog ...and STILL Ricky Villa!!! 
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Fri 5th
How we can get knocked out of the Wafer Cup
Published by: Dublin Yid on Friday 5th December 2008 05:12pm
We don’t play again until Monday night at Upton Park so I got out my slide rule to see how our Wafer Cup Group D could turn out.
On the night of December 18, the following two matches will be played at the same time…
NEC v Udinese

Tottenham v Spartak Moscow


The way things stand in our group, it is still possible for us to finish first and get a good seeding in the Last 32.
The ONLY way that can happen is if we win and Udinese lose. Doesn’t matter about goal difference in this case. If we win AND they lose, we finish first.
If we draw with Spartak, we at least clinch second spot, though that has its downside in that we must then face one of the “parachute” teams from the Champions League.
Now…to the interesting part. Well, some may find it interesting, others may get a splitting headache!!!
There are circumstances by which we can finish fourth in the group and thus be eliminated from the competition.
They involve both us losing AND NEC beating the Italians, but only in certain ways.
• First of all, if Spartak beat us by just the one goal, then they can’t overtake us and we’re through no matter what happens in the other match. 
• If we lose by 2 goals, NEC must win by at least 2 to eliminate us.
• If we lose by 3 goals, a one-goal win for NEC is enough to eliminate us but ONLY if they score at least one more goal on the night than we do (for example if we lose 1-4, their one-goal win must be 2-1 or better). Obviously, in this case, an NEC win by 2 goals or more will also eliminate us.
• If we lose by 4 goals or more, any win for NEC is enough to eliminate us.
So as you can see, although it is possible for us to get knocked out, it is highly unlikely, so here’s hoping Spurs fans WON'T have to revert back to this post close to full time on the night!!!
taken from my blog "...and STILL Ricky Villa!!!"
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