http://www.makepovertyhistory.org

"It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory." Bill Nicholson. SPURS

Google

Monday, January 31, 2005

Forest accept bid.

The £8 million bid for Michael Dawson and Andy Ried has been accepted. Both players are at WHL now having a medical with a view to completing the transfer by midnight tonight, whent he window slams shut.

From the Forest site:

Nottingham Forest have accepted an £8million offer from Tottenham Hotspur for Andy Reid and Michael Dawson.

Republic of Ireland international Reid and former England Under 21 captain Dawson have travelled to
North London to discuss personal terms and undergo medicals with a view to completing their moves to White Hart Lane before the transfer window closes at midnight.

Forest's Chief Executive Mark Arthur said: We have reached an agreement with Tottenham with regard to the sales of Andy Reid and Michael Dawson and we expect the transfers to be completed later today.

"Both players are understandably ambitious young men and are keen to play in the Premiership as soon as possible.

"This represents a great opportunity for both of them and as a Club, we felt we could not stand in their
way."

Reid and Dawson are both graduates of Forest's highly-rated Academy system and Mr. Arthur added: "The contributions of Andy and Michael to Nottingham Forest in recent years has been immense.

"They have been with us since they were schoolboys and have developed into two of the finest young players in the country. We will watch their progress in the Premiership with both a great deal of interest and pride.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank them both for their efforts and wish them the very best of luck for the future."

Massive bid made.

Spurs have apparently made an £8 million bid for Nottingham Forest pair Andy Reid and Michael Dawson. This has not be confirmed by Spurs, as usual, but Forest have been mouthing off about it all afternoon.

I'm quite surprised if this is true because the money mentioned is a lot for two first division players with a club who sit one place off the bottom of the Championship. Also, do we need another central defender at Spurs? Anyway, I trust Frank as, Atouba aside, his buys have added more quality to the Spurs sqaud.

In other news Spurs have been drawn against Forest in the next round of the cup. We just need to beat WBA first....

Mido and new keeper Radek Cerny make the squad for the trip to Bolton. Cerney will almost certainly make the bench but what will happen with Mido is anyones guess. Maybe we will play with three front men? We will wait and see.

COYS!

Sunday, January 30, 2005

An unwelcomed draw shows Spurs weaknesses

WBA held Spurs to a 1-1 draw yesterday at the Hawthorns. In the end it was probably a fair result but WBA will look at hitting post and bar while Defoe, Keane and Davies all had chances they should of taken.

WBA started far brighter exposing Tony Gardner as the weak member in our back four. Spurs couldn't cope with the pressure after they had just hit the bar and a cross from the left let Earnshaw to nip in between Robinson and Gardner to knock home. Spurs rallied though and took the game to their hosts which led to a penalty when Defoe was taken down in the box. He stepped up to slot home the resulting penalty.

In the second half WBA were still strong. Kanu showed his trickery and bamboozled King a couple of times forcing Robinson into a fine save. Keane came on a did a lot in 15 minutes being very busy. He intercepted a back pass but was forced wide by the keeper. Atouba and Kanoute both headed into the box but Keane shot from a very tight angles and hit the side netting. Simon Davies also headed wide when it was easier to score so the replay looms on the 12th of February.

The match highlighted that the squad still needs work. Atouba, the worlds most skilful left back, is not good enough. His usual heart stopping party tricks were missing today and he failed to beat the WBA right back on any occasion that I can remember. Simon Davies is also not the answer on the right wing. He sees himself, much like Anderton, as a better central midfielder, a position he won't be taking anytime soon, especially with Sean Davis returning to the side soon. His main problem is that he drifts in too much. We broke forward quickly and width on either side would have stretched the home defense. However most of the time Atouba either got the ball and lost it or Davies was poncing around in the middle leaving no option on the right. His drifting also left Kelly hopelessly exposed at right back with the WBA right side winger and full back giving him a torrid time. If Simon had been where he was supposed to be then he could of helped to prevent many West Brom attacks down our right side.

Jol speaks often about playing to our strengths which he claims is our forward players. Kanoute offered height yesterday which we have lacked in recent weeks but a long ball game is not the answer. Wide players are needed to deliver balls into the box for Defoe, Keane, Mido and Kanoute. However, with Zielger injured and Davies not sure of his position on the pitch we will continue to struggle to supply the front men. Unfortunately the signings in the transfer window, while strengthening the squad, do not address the weakness in the side, especially on the right.

Friday, January 28, 2005

WBA vs. Spurs

Spurs welcome back Simon Davies who could slot straight into the side on the right. Atouba will continue left and I expect Mendes could be benched for Brown. Kanoute will come in for Keane to provide some height up front for Defoe to feed off. The back four will be the usual lot with Robbo in goal.

This won't be easy but Spurs need to get back on track after the second worst performance of the season after Fulham against Palarse. This will provide a confidence boost ahead of the tricky trip to Bolton on Tuesday.

COYS!

Sunday, January 23, 2005

The old Tottenham returns.

Thoughts of banishing the Tottenham of the last 10 years was dealt a cruel blow yesterday as Palace blew us away in 11 second half minutes to run out 3-0 winners. The inablitiy by Spurs to beat rubbish like Palce has haunted us for years and struck again with poor marking to blame for the first goal and a lousy offside trap for the second. The thrid was a penalty. I have no idea if it was but I'm not going to watch the replays. What good will it do?

To be fair to Spurs it is our first away defeat since November and needs to be put into context with the fine run of form we have been on recently. However our squad is still weak in places as demonstarted by yesteday's subs bench. Atouba was there along with Kelly, Yeates, Eyre and Gardner. We desperatly lacked any height up front and neither Defoe or Keane had a good game. Defoe recieved little service and while Keane dropped back to get the ball he did little with it. I noticed that he was so slow in getting forward and we must work on counter attacking much faster. Ziegler also limped off with a hamstring problem and could be out for upto 6 weeks. He also needs to learn to take a corner.

Arnesen and Jol cannot let the transfer window pass us by. Routledge was average and still hasn't impressed me but we did need more width on the right side. We also need to think about how we play teams who pack the midfield. Palace, Brighton and Chelsea all played 5 in the middle and we have struggled against all of them. Mendes and Carrick don't seem able to compete when hasseled by opponents and I was disappointed to see Carrick and Atouba "bottle" 50-50 challenges today. We need Sean Davis to return to break up the opposition's midfield, especially when they pack it out.

WBA is now even more important. The form needs picking up and a good win there will hopefully filter down to the league again so we can push on.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Crystal Palace Vs. Spurs

Spurs go into an important London Derby against Palace on Saturday. Defeat here could see Spurs slip to 10th so it is vital that Spurs take maximum points tomorrow to keep us in the hunt for a top six finish and improve our dismal derby record.

Kanoute has been declared unfit along with Atouba, Davis and the other bunch of usual crocked players we always seem to have. However Simon Davies may make the bench and Sean Davis is now only two weeks away from full training. Brown is suspended after picking up 5 yellow cards.

So, Spurs will line up something like this:
Robinson will be in goal, with Pamarot, King, Edman and Naybet along the back four. Brown's suspension will allow Mendes to play in the middle with Carrick with Marney on the right and Ziegler on the left. Keane and Defoe will be up front with Yeates as back up on the bench.

As we saw back in December Palace won't be an easy game. They will pack the midfield and will ping balls up diagonally across for Johnsen to chase. The key to victory will be the Carrick Mendes partnership. If they can take control of the midfield then Spurs should take all three points.

COYS!

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Spurs in discussions with Roma

The club has announced it is in discussions with Roma for the services of Ahmed Hossam Mido. It does not say whether this will be on a permanent or loan basis.

Mido is almost 22 and joined Roma last summer. From what I have been able to find out he has played 4 games for Roma and scored no goals. It appears all his appearences have been from the bench. According to the former coach at Marseille, Alain Perrin, he has "strength, skill and aerial prowess".

Looks like maybe one for the future and will be the fourth choice if he does come.

What I do hope though his Frank is working hard on bringing in the right winger we are desperate for.

COYS!

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Plenty of positives to take from defeat.

Ok we lost to Chelsea again but didn't deserve to. Only a hopeless decision by what is perceived as the top official in the country, Graham Poll, allowed Chelsea to take home all three points instead of the one they deserved.

Both sides cancelled themselves out for much of the first half with Drogba and Defoe both going close. Spurs were just starting to exert some pressure when Alexei Smertin took a cheating dive Pires would be proud of and Poll fell for it. Lampard dispatched the penalty and we went in 1-0 down. The second half consisted of Chelsea time wasting and catching us on the break with Robben running Pamarot ragged for much of the game. However for someone who is so talented he spent most of his time practicing for the Olympics diving team. Robben made at least four blatant dives and Poll should of booked him for them but as usual bottled the decision. Why someone with his pace and ability feels the need to do that is beyond me and if he's not careful will pick up a reputation for being a diving c*nt!

Chelsea's second goal came at the death after catching us on the break. What was really disappointing about Chelsea was their dull football. With so much attacking talent in the team they sat back and defended a 1-0 for the second half in a George Graham Arsenal special. If they do win the title they will be the most boring team since 1991 to do so. Moaninhio has obviously never heard of this quote by the great Bill Nic either: "It's no use just winning, we've got to win well." Oh, and don't get me started about the lousy Chelsea support either. Were they there?

However Spurs should take the positives from this game. We matched Chelsea generally but we need a pacy wide right midfielder with Mendes partnering Carrick in the middle. The right back position may need looking at as well as Robben bamboozled Pamarot for most of the game. We should also look at our fixtures for the rest of the season. Liverpool, Middlesborough and the Scum away are our trickiest fixtures but the rest are run of the mill stuff and Spurs should be able to pick up a lot more points between now and the end of the season. Fingers crossed!

COYS!

Friday, January 14, 2005


Jol wins Manager of the Month award. Posted by Hello

Response from the FA.

After the Pedro Mendes winner which was idsallowed I sent off a furious email to the FA. It appears the FA recieved lots of furious Emails as I have a set response back:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your enquiry concerning the above game.

As I am sure you can appreciate this incident has generated a huge amount
of interest from football fans across the country regardless of which team
they support. The ball crossed the line, the TV replays show this quite
clearly and fans are asking what can be done about it. Ultimately,
because of the huge number of enquiries we have had on this issue we are
not in a position to answer each question individually. Nevertheless
below are the key issues highlighted by supporters after the game.

Changing the Result

Whether a ball crosses a goal line or not is a decision of the referee
guided by assistance from the assistant Referee. On this occasion the
referee and assistant referee made a decision based on what they saw. The
FA is not in a position to change the decision of a referee and video
evidence can only be used in incidents of misconduct.

It would be impossible to introduce a system of post game analysis that
changed the results of games once they'd finished. Ultimately, football
is a tremendously popular and successful worldwide game, one of the
fundamental principles on which this success is based is 'the referee's
decision is final'.

Use of Video Evidence

To involve a video referee with other areas of play would clearly involve
regular stoppages to the game. As is the case with cricket and rugby, the
referee will "play safe" as they would not wish to be proved wrong by
video analysis. Subsequently, the excitement of the game would be reduced
and the opportunity for a counter attack when an appeal has been turned
down would be lost. If the video decision is "no offence, play on" it
would not be possible to play on because the game has been stopped for the
video decision. A dropped ball would result.

Currently, we have not been presented with technology which would transmit
an immediate decision to the referee thereby ensuring the game continues
without stopping the game to wait for a decision.

The International Football Association Board, the body that controls the
laws of the game worldwide, is considering a microchip in the ball which
will tell a referee immediately if the ball has crossed the goal line
between the posts and under the crossbar.

Roy Carroll

With regards to Roy Carroll, all decisions on the field of play are made
by the referee and regardless of the context it is not for the player to
influence or advise the referee on a decision. Roy Carroll made an
attempt to stop the ball the crossing line, television replays show us
this was an unsuccessful attempt. Ultimately, it's the referee's decision
that counts, not the TV replays or the players reaction. A game where
referees were to consult players on decisions or expect input would become
unworkable. Ultimately Roy Carroll did not do anything that contravened
the laws of the game.

Thank you again for your interest and I trust this clarifies our position.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Howells
Customer Relations Assistant
The Football Association


Thanks Alex for your response. I have to agree with the first two points. A result cannot be chnaged and having to stop the game every five minutes would spoil the flow of the game. Why they haven't mentioned a simple system, that they use in tennis, to see if the ball crosses the line though is beyond me. They also fail to condone the behaviour of cheat Roy Carroll and claim that even if he had put his hands up and said it was a goal the ref would have ignored the decision! Nor do they state why the linesman was not watching the game but looking down at his feet in a Ronny Rozenthal style run?

Anyway, the matter is done and dusted, I just thought that people would be interested in the FA's response.

As always, COYS!

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Spurs Vs. Chelsea

On Saturday the Burberry wearing Chavs of West London will make their way to the home of football WHL. Most will come carrying on about our unenviable record against the Blues with our last home win back in 1987. Considering most of the Chelsea fans have only started supporting the team in the last 5 years means we should ignore the jibes. "Where were you when you were shit?" should be our response.

Anyhow, Spurs go into this game with one of our best chances of beating Chelsea since the 5-1 drubbing a few years back. It won't be easy and is probably our hardest home fixture of the whole season but if we can go to Old Trafford and win and get a credible 0-0 at Stamford Bridge why can't we turn them over at White Hart Lane.

The back line will have the excellent Robinson in goal with Naybet recalled to partner King. Pamarot and Edman will be the full backs. These four will be key to success against Chelsea. With one up front and Lampard, Duff and Robben pushing on they will need to make sure they are well organized. Naybet may lack pace but his organizational skills win him a place on Saturday. Any slight slip up from these four will leave us wide open.

I expect Brown and Carrick to be the middle pairing. Ziegler will be on the left and will need to get forward whenever he gets the chance to pressurise the Chelsea back four. Mendes will probably play right side. Although he is far better in the middle he will need to support the middle two against Lampard and Makeleli as well as protecting Pamarot. Up front will be Defoe and one other. Kanoute may be fit and if he is I would start with him. It provides as with a bit of a target man who can hold up the ball and challenge Terry in the air.

Whatever team plays it is going to be a tough game. Chelsea have a world class squad and I expect them to have bought, sorry, won the Premier League come May. However we are a greatly improved side even since we took a well earned point at The Bridge in September. We have every chance of taking at least a point and even all three if we can frustrate the service to the wide men and the lone striker. It would also shut up that smug Moaninhio. Whatever happens get behind the lads on Saturday.

COYS!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Outplayed, Out sung but the right result.

Spurs crashed into the fourth round of The FA Cup yesterday after a difficult 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at WHL.

Brighton started much quicker than Spurs and obviously had a game plan that involed allowing Spurs no time on the ball and getting the ball up to striker Leon Knight as often as possible to exploit his pace. This caused some problems but King handled most of what was thrown at him.

However Spurs were being really beaten in the middle of the park, Brown couldn't get hold of the ball, Carrick was looking a little lost and Mendes didn't get involved as much as he usually did. He drifted in a lot from the right wing, where he is wasted really, allowing Brighton much free space down our right flank. Kelly pushed forward an awful lot which left us wide open at the back for balls over the top stretching Edman, King and Gardner more than necessary. This game highlighted more than any in recent times that we need a right winger and quick or teams better than Brighton will really cause us serious problems defensivly. Later on Marney came on for Kelly in a bizzare move by Jol which I still don't get. Personally I would of taken Brown off, put Mendes in the middle and Marney wide right. It would of given our team a much better shape.

Nevertheless we huffed and puffed to the win. King scored first with a good looping header. Brighton hit back after the break with a great free kick. Robinson was not at fault as he was unsighted. After that Brighton surged on and looked much better, Spurs still struggling to get hold of the ball. However Keane won the game with a supurb volley 8 minutes from time. He collected the ball on the edge of the box, swivled and hit it into the top corner. A classic Keane goal and one he was clearly deleighted with.

Brighton and their fans should be proud of their performance yesterday. Lets hope for an easier game in the fourth round.

COYS!

Friday, January 07, 2005

Spurs Vs. Brighton.

I'm looking forward to this game. Brighton are bringing 6,000 fans with them so the game should have a proper cup tie atmosphere about it.

The usual suspects are still injured and it looks like Kanoute will miss out with his hamstring strain. Jermaine Defoe also has knee trouble so may also miss out. Robbie Keane is fully fit. The 4-5-1 formation against United was all about containment and worked well. However against Brighton, who haven't won away since September, Spurs should be going all out for a convincing victory. If Defoe doesn't make it I think Yeates should get his chance to line up with Keane allowing us to revert to our preferred 4-4-2 formation. Marney will switch back to right wing with the excellent Mendes in the middle. Carrick is doubtful and it may be a good time to rest him with Chelsea coming up next week. If he is rested then Marney will switch into the middle with Mendes, Ricketts will go right wing with Ziegler on the left. Expect maybe the odd change at the back. Pamarot could be rested for Kelly with King and either Naybet or Gardner next to him. Edman will take his place on the left and Robinson will be in goal.

Even with a weakened side Spurs should see off Brighton fairly comfortably. However, we must never take things for granted and expect any rested players to be on the bench just in case.

In other news Barcelona apparently want Kanoute. Four months ago I would have snapped their hand off but he is much improved under Jol. We must not let any of our strikers go if we are to continue to make progress.

COYS!

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Pamarot interest confirmed by Jol

Southampton's interest in Noe Pamarot has been confirmed by Martin Jol.

"They have made an enquiry," he said. "I will leave it at that. "Maybe something will happen in the next couple of days, I don't know."
Pamarot has said that he does not want to leave. If he does go it will be because he was a Santini signing and Jol obviously does not fancy him. After a couple of shocking performances earlier on in the season he has improved recently and can still do a job for Spurs. We must ensure we have a replacement lined up before any more can be sanctioned. Kelly and Ifil have lots of potential but I'm not sure if they are ready for the Premiership week in and week out yet.
To replace Pamarot Spurs have been linked with Glenn Johnsen of Chelsea. However I feel he will be too expensive as they paid £6 million for him and would want to recoup at least that amount I would of thought. Chelsea may also mention Defoe in some sort of swap deal with cash. If they do try this Frank should tell them where to stick it.

COYS!

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Robbed by the worst ref decision EVER!

After a hard battling performance by the Spurs team with the clock ticking down Mendes saw Carroll off his line and hit a hopeful shot from almost the half way line. Carroll had it covered but fumbled the ball THREE, YES THREE YARDS, over his line. (See picture below if you don't believe me). Cue much jumping up and down and screaming in my living room. But wait, what's this I hear you cry! The goal has not counted. What? Why? The ref made his decision clear as he walked off the pitch at the end.

Quote: "The ball did not cross the line"

MUPPET!

An incredibly bad, atrocious decision has stolen two points off Spurs and I just hope that those two points don't prove crucial in qualifying for Europe come the end of the season.

Spurs started the game brightly but United were always dangerous even with Giggs limping off after 30 minutes or so. However the defense was well organised by King and Naybet and the off side trap was working well. As the game wore on Smith got less and less of the ball. The start of the second half saw United take the game by the scruff of the neck and Tottenham couldn't get hold of the ball. When they did the passing was sloppy putting pressure back on us resulting in what was almost an awful own goal by Pamarot but we got away with it. Confidence is high in the team though and we worked our way back into the game with Carrick in excellent form. I take all my criticism of him from earlier in the season back after today's performance and another performance like that against Chelsea will be needed in two weeks time. And then came the moment above before Robinson made the save of the match from an excellent free kick from Heinze.

Before the game I would of taken a point but on tonight's showing we were the winners - even Fergie said so and the question now must be asked about Rob Lewis, the linesman who made the worst decision of his life. If I made such a bad decision in my career I would probably be picking up my P45 tomorrow. The same should happen to Lewis, who is not fit to be linesman for my school under 11's team, let alone in the Premiership.

However, we now have 4 points from the last two games against 4th and 3rd in the Premiership. I don't want to get over excited still and strengthening of the team is still necessary during this transfer window plus we must say no to offers for King and Defoe but could this actually be Spurs turning the corner......

COYS!


Ooops. Comments please. Posted by Hello

Monday, January 03, 2005

United Vs. Spurs

This is our best chance of getting a result on Tuesday up at old Trafford and taking anything away from there will show that we are definetly on the up.

After our crushing win against Everton, Spurs can only go from strength to strength but we should be under no illusions, yet. United are still a better team than us and are on a rich vein of form. However injuries to the United front line mean they have Smith up front with Giggs in support. If we can keep these two quiet then we have a great chance.

I personally would probably stick with the team who beat Everton. Keane and Kanoute were both supurb and Defoe is struggling with a knock so maybe he won't make it.

COYS!