Spurs battle past Birmingham

A Robbie Keane penalty and an injury time killer second from Jermaine Defoe ensured Spurs remained fourth and gained the all important three points with three Christmas fixtures remaining. If Spurs can take at least another six points from Newcastle, West Brom and Manchester City then we would have had an excellent Christmas.

Birmingham actually looked the better team for much of the game to be fair while we huffed and puffed through the midfield. Within the first couple of minutes Lennon used his blistering pace to break away only for the ball to bounce unfavorably for him. Sadly Spurs failed to use Lennon's pace and skill anymore in the game as we struggled to get it out wide right. Many of our attacks came down the left where Lee proved once again that he is not the answer to our left back problems as he can't tackle and his crossing is woeful. Ever heard of first time balls? Clearly this does not translate to Korean.

It took a clumsy challenge on Robbie Keane for us to take the lead. Keane slotted the penalty home before Izzet was sent off for diving - a second yellow. Sitting in the Paxton I had no idea if it was a dive or a penalty so I look forward to seeing Match of the Day tonight.

With every other top six team winning bar Bolton it was important Spurs won today. However performances right throughout the team will have to improve with tough fixtures coming thick and fast.

I'm now off to Cornwall but will drive up for the Newcastle game before going back down again for Old Year's night. Dedication or what!

Happy new Year,

Paxton Road.


COYS!

Kelly's desire to stay.

According to the Ham & High Stephen Kelly has spoken of his great desire to stay at Spurs.

"I want to stay at Tottenham," Kelly told Ham&High Sport. "I love it here, I don't really want to go and the team are on the up.

"I'm still in negotiations at the moment on a new contract. I think it is going to get done, things are going well hopefully. I am just waiting to see what happens."

This is in stark contrast to the rumors flying round from good sources and is pleasing news if true. I still hope Kelly does stay as he has a good future ahead of him. The thought of moving to "The Spammers" must also be a worrying thought for any professional footballer.

COYS!

Kelly off to West Ham?

There are now big rumors all over the message boards that Kelly is going to West Ham. He is not happy at having lost his place in the team to Stalteri but with Jol using him for his experience and his improving performances opportunities at Spurs now seem limited for Kelly. As his contract expires in the summer it is likely to be a knock down fee as well.

While I rate Kelly over Stalteri i can see why Jol has the Canadian playing. Experience is something we are still a little short off and it is something Paul brings to the back four. Also we have Phil Ifil in the wings, someone who will be better than Kelly long term.

COYS!

Merry Christmas!

The Shelf would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas for Sunday. I hope Santa brings everyone the gifts they want including lots of Mac related stuff to all you Windoze users out there!

Let's also hope for another three points on Boxing Day. Also, while I am here, how can a linesman see through a post, Paul Robinson and Lee to judge a ball has gone in? I hope Santa brings me some X-ray contact lenses like the lino has got!

COYS!

Pressure on.

After Saturday's results Spurs remain fourth but only on a goal difference that is superior to Bolton by one. It did not help that Everton were more than useless losing 4-0 at home. Happy Christmas Toffee fans.

Manchester United put away Villa 2-0 earlier in the day increasing their lead in second place over Liverpool to six points. The car thieves do have two games in hand though.

Wigan find themselves back into six spot after thrashing Charlton and are now only twelve points from the magic 40 points that usually spell Premiership safety.

Which all means, especially with the Bolton results, that the pressure is now mounting on Spurs to win at Middlesbrough tomorrow . With the news that Riggot is suspended the chances are the 'Boro defence will be seriously lacking in pace. Bring on Lennon or Routledge and Defoe and lets see if we can do the double over 'Boro.

COYS!

Middlesborough Vs. Spurs.

Spurs go up to 'Boro for a 1:30pm clash on Sunday. Who thinks of these great kick off times for one of the longest journey's you would have following Spurs around the country is beyond me but I assume it is Sky who have suddenly decided to show us.

Hopefully more than the pathetic 9,000 or so fans will turn up at 'Boro on Sunday - a completely useless attendance - European football is wasted on this lot and Spurs need to put in a good performance to further our own European aspirations. 'Boro will be tired from their European exploits on Thursday although they rested some key players.



Tainio is the only doubt so I expect Routledge to come in for him. In theory this shall add some width to the midfield but he played very central on Monday night so I would prefer Lennon who will stick to the right wing like glue and should help to terrify the 'Boro back four. This will also allow Jenas to move back into the middle where he is far more effective. Jermaine Defoe showed us what he is capable of with a great strike against Portsmouth which would have also boosted his confidence. Keane dropped deep but didn't look fantastic so I would recall Defoe for this one. I expect the rest of the team to be unchanged.

Lawro Lawro Predicts has predicted a defeat for Spurs on Sunday as we are "soft" away from home. So "soft" in fact that we have lost one game away from home all season and only failed to score once away from home all season, where in fact we had a perfectly good goal ruled outside for "offside" so we could just as easily be unbeaten on our travels. What we need to do then to be called "good" away from home is beyond me but I hope we go and show Lawro that he is talking out of his arse.

'Boro have had some great results at home but some awful ones as well. With no clean sheets at The Riverside since August I hope that Spurs put on the performance necessary to take all three points and complete our second "double" this season.

COYS!

Spurs stuff Portsmouth

Spurs continued their rich vein of form to stuff Portsmouth 3-1. The most satisfying part of the result was to shut that annoying idiot with the bell. If I wanted to go to Spurs with a bell I would have it taken away in case I attacked someone with it!

Pompey took a surprise lead with their first attack of the game, Lua Lua hitting a good shot past Robinson, who I thought should have saved it myself. We found ourself losing just like last week to Sunderland. However our play was much better with us taking virtually 75% of all possession in the game. To their credit Portsmouth defended well but we broke through when King was able to head home a Carrick corner. It was 2-1 with only 5 minutes to go when Pompey handled an Andy Reid free kick in the box. In my opinion it was a clear penalty as his arm stopped the ball which was on target - I don't care if it was intentional or not - the fact remains that it stopped a goal bound shot and thus a penalty has to be awarded. Mido stepped up and put away the ball but it was almost saved by the Pompey Keeper. Defoe was now on and made the game completely safe in the 90th minute.

Although we had the vast majority of possession we did not create that many goal scoring opportunities as we were too narrow. The atrocious Routledge played far too central - the few times he did get out wide he was able to create. I know he was injured recently and it was his first game back but it is clear that Lennon will be a much better player.

What was most important though was that we took maximum points to consolidate our position in fourth spot and it is something we have done. We now face hot and cold 'Boro and should be looking for another maximum three points next weekend.

COYS!

Will the wheels fall off 'Arry's Dustcart at White Hart Lane?

‘Arry Redknapp arrives at White Hart Lane tomorrow night with his horse and cart for the start of his second spell in charge at Portsmouth. He has already been moaning about the poor state of the Pompey squad stating, “At least three players can’t speak English”. Considering ‘Arry was responsible for great players such as Tomas Repka and Marco Boogers, who went mad and lived in a caravan on Canvey Island I don’t think he should pass comment.

When the then Judas in Portsmouth arrived with the Premier big club on the south coast, he managed to lose 5-1 with a Defoe hat-trick being his main undoing. While I don’t expect Portsmouth to lose 5-1 tomorrow I don’t expect anything other than a Spurs win. Come season’s end I would expect that ‘Arry would have relegated both teams on the south coast and be a marked man so Spurs MUST consolidate fourth place. Once we play on Monday night most of the teams around us will still have a game in hand but results really went our way with Bolton only drawing and the scum keeping Sourness in a job for a couple more weeks.

The only doubt for Spurs is Defoe who I expect to be named fit but keep his place warm on the bench. I would also switch Jenas on to the bench and bring Lennon back into the team after his performance against Sunderland. Until Lennon came on we did not cause Sunderland too many problems and against an unorganised back four his inclusion would cause Pompey all sorts of problems. However I expect Jol to stick with his favoured midfield four of Carrick, Tainio, Davids and Jenas. Tainio looks very sharp at the minute but Jenas is looking a little lost on the right so it is a system we won’t be able to rely on for ages but it is getting results at the minute.

COYS!

Do not buy from MyDV.co.uk

This has nothing to do with Spurs but I thought I better warn you about a scam website called:

www.mydv.co.uk

This site claims it is from the UK but is in fact based in the US. I ordered a new camcorder from them a few weeks ago for £274.99 However they charged by credit card for over £280 for no explanation. They have not shipped the goods nor replied to emails or phone calls.Luckilyly I paid with a VISA card so I should be able to get my money back. However, I am warning everyone else to stay well away from this rip off company.

Further internet research shows I am not alone!

COYS!

Spurs take fourth.

Spurs brushed aside Sunderland yesterday but had to endure a few scares before we made the three points safe.

Sunderland, in fact, took the lead from an excellent free kick. It was their first shot of the match and you could just sense it was going in straight from the soft free kick we conceded. White hart Lane was stunned and it looked like it could be tough from then on. Luckily, Sunderland have the worst organised back four in the country, not helped by Hoyte, the on loan reject from the Nomads. It was all Spurs and we finally got our breakthrough in the 37-minute, Stalteri putting the ball into space for Keane to slide the ball across goal. Mido rammed it home.

Spurs took the lead soon after the break. A flick on from Mido and Robbie Keane charging forward caused all sorts of panic in the Sunderland defence and the ball trickled over the line. Sunderland hit back though and were level on the hour mark or so, poor defending letting in Le Tallic to equalise. The ref then awarded a penalty that never was. Up stood Mr Reliable, Robbie Keane, who promptly missed for the first time in his career. It looked like it was not going to be our day.

By then Lennon had been introduced and was scaring the life out of the back four. It was great to see him mug Hoyte time after time. Tainio was also becoming better and better and looked excellent in the white of Spurs. He played a great ball out wide for Carrick to run onto. No one was near him and he strode deep in the Sunderland box before passing the ball into the far corner – a great goal.

So Spurs move into fourth but it was not easy. The defence was not fantastic again but Stalteri impressed putting in his best performance of the season. It was worrying how we continued to sit back on one goal leads – the team still needs to learn from the 1-1 draw with the Spammers a couple of weeks back. We were also very narrow with Jenas looking lost out wide, in a position he said himself that he does not enjoy. Lennon, on the other hand, looked excellent.

COYS!

How Lucky We Are.

How Lucky we are.

Reading the Spurs message boards over the last few weeks could lead you to believe that Spurs had Christian Gross or David Pleat still in charge. There are continuing rumours about Jol – has he done this right, why has he dropped Defoe (er, no goals for ages), why is Keane playing (he is scoring), why don’t we play this formation or that formation. Some posters have even stated that maybe it is time Jol should go. HOW RIDICULOUS! It is no wonder that the press sometimes jump on Spurs fans for being fickle! It is not an accusation I agree with but these few fans with dumb views continue to fan the flames of the media scum who usually have it in for us.

Look at the facts – Jol has only be in charge for just over a year but his average is not that far off 2 points a game, he is refreshing, honest, the football is generally good and we have had our best Premiership start for six years. If you take Jol’s first 38 league games his points total would have seen Spurs qualify for fourth spot during the last two seasons. He is clearly a quality manager who has built the strongest squad for ages. He has made a couple of mistakes but who doesn’t. Grimsby was a balls up and resting players against Blackburn wasn’t too clever but generally he has made the right choices all along. Wenger made mistakes at the scum – it wasn’t that long ago they were stuffed 6-0 at old Trafford (clearly a big mistake that day) but look what he has achieved through time. Rushing through managers is what Spurs have done for ages and it has got us nowhere. In fact we have only won one trophy in 14 years. Another club that chops and changes managers on an almost daily basis is the south coast “Premier” club, Southampton. Relegated by their archrivals manager, who then failed to get them back up and is now about to jump ship back to where he came from. Fantastic. Football clubs need continuity so get off Jol’s back some of you and continue to support him.

Moving on to Sunderland – three points a must and it really should be a home banker. I expect an unchanged line-up with Keane preferred over Defoe because he scores. Maybe if Defoe concentrated on his football than turning up on MTV he would be in the team. I also expect Routledge to make the bench.

COYS!