Stand up for your right....to stand up at football matches

Spoken to a number of people since the Cup final on Sunday and I've heard various accounts of Spurs fans arguing and in some instances fighting amongst themselves. Ironic that before kick off I was chatting to the Old Bill and one officer in particular who has to police the Millwall home games. He spoke about how Millwall fans just fight each other if opposing fans don't offer a challenge.

"They just fight for the sake of it. It's like something from the 80's. We're hoping they don't get promoted this season"

He also said it was a welcome break to be surrounded by 'proper fans'. Obviously, he'd have changed his mind a little if he witnessed one or two of the scuffles that took place in the ground after kick-off. It’s nothing new. I've witnessed it at away games on several occasions.

Some people want to stand and watch the game. Others want to sit.

Obviously, you'll find fathers of kids protesting for obvious reasons if the people in front are standing up. And in some parts of the ground, making most of the seat you’ve paid for is the only reasonable thing to do simply because of the distance you are to the pitch. But down in the lower tiers and behind the goal, it’s altogether a different culture. It’s almost a necessity to stand. Singing when sitting on your bum is ridiculous. And let’s face it, when your team drives forward, everyone gets off their seats in anticipation of a goal anyway. Sitting down only ever seems to happen out of pure boredom if the game is inciting sleep.

I was 'sat' in block 134 and spent the entirety of the game standing up, with practically everyone around me doing the same thing, but then we're behind the goal so its almost expected to be the case much like it is at the Park Lane end at White Hart Lane and various other grounds across the country. Nobody asks anyone to sit down because its just the way it is.

It's a ridiculous situation to have fans turn on each other. No idea what the police and steward response time was for all the pockets of punch-ups that broke out. But I’ll come back to this in a moment.

So what about a resolution? Designated standing areas would work a treat for people who want to stand at games. Can't fathom why it’s such a major headache for clubs and stewards to cater for. We get the usual 'sit down or lose your seat' propaganda at Spurs with a little emotional blackmail thrown in about how the council could close down stands us punishment to the club for fans persistently standing.

Is it to do with fire hazard regulations? Health and Safety? If you're sat down, you'll have to bleeding well stand up to leave the stand anyway. The fact there are seats at games means over-crowding is impossible, so what's the problem? Not a single Wembley steward at any point in time walked over to ask us to sit down. Was it because we stood behind the goal near the pitch and not high up in the Gods? If so, is this admittance that’s its actually ok for fans to stand up at games and stewards and police don’t bother with a polite ‘sit down please’?

Elsewhere, if it’s not permitted (up in the Gods or upper tiers) I can understand why it would be a nuisance to the majority if a minority stand. Stewards should be enforcing the policy that in those areas, people must be sat down. Allowing people to stand will lead to other fans asking them to sit, which then leads to arguments and fights. So all the pockets of punch ups that occurred on Sunday could have been stopped if stewards and police acted more responsible by instructing people to sit.

Time for clubs to listen to the fans. Some of us want to stand. It makes for better atmosphere. And the best place for it is behind the goals. If its made known this is an official designated ‘standing area’ of the ground and a no-standing policy is policed in other areas of the ground, then people will respect that. Considering alcohol can no longer be consumed in view of the pitch (works fine in Germany) and at times supporters can be punished for colourful language and get charged a small fortune for the privilege, I think it’s time we had some slack cut for us.

Or maybe I should accept defeat and admit that going to the football is no longer the escapism it once was and is instead neatly packaged family oriented entertainment for the middle class that like their ribs and wine at half time.

Don't fret....there's always next year

Carling Cup? Never rated it anyway. Mickey Mouse competition.

Sigh.

So here we are, the day after a cup final defeat. Feels a little bit shitty, doesn't it? I despise penalty shoot-outs. Damn you Champions League and the death of cup replays. I guess technically speaking we didn't actually lose (DVD release imminent?). The 'reserve' edition of the best club in the world couldn't beat us in open play. Rejoice!

As for those pesky pens. Not sure why O'Hara took the first one. He got it on target at least. Foster and his ipod will haunt him for a while yet I'm sure. He wears his heart on his sleeve does Jamie, so no doubting the reception he'll get on Wednesday will lift him. As for David Bentley, his scoffed shot sums up his season perfectly. An embarrassment of a mis-hit. But top drawer players as well as the ones lacking form are equally likely to miss or score on such an occasion. Well, discounting the ones in red. It's just so bloody typical a player with a decent shot on him completely mis-kicks the ball in the manner he did. And doubly typical that given a chance for a little redemption he cocks it up. I blame those star jumps. Penalty aside, he made little impact on the pitch when he did come on.

Harry looking good in the suit Ramos left behind

Think it was pretty obvious we'd lose this after extra-time ended. Pessimism gave me a tap on the shoulder and wink of despair. Shame though, because on the day neither side deserved to go home empty handed based on effort and opportunities. Someone obviously does. Obviously. And alas it was us.

Never thought the game would go the full distance based on the opening 15 minutes. United took us apart, but we got into the game and after that possession was shared fairly equally with both sides creating chances. Not the best Cup final, but it gave us plenty of gasps.

United might have launched one or two screamers towards goal, but we had our moments too. Mostly from the lickle boy Lennon who had an outstanding day out. Yes, the end product isn't perfect, but the mazzy runs are. Modric also superb - and both players could have had a Wembley moment to saviour. Shame we had to sub Aaron. Adel would have had a lot of fun out there with his tricks and clever feet and it's a shame he didn't get a cameo.

View from my seat

The much maligned Bent had an effort on goal. Run around a lot, usually in the wrong direction. Spiffing stuff. Pav ballsed up a couple of chances including one that come from a sweet pass from a locomotive Zokora bursting down the middle of the pitch. Zoko was mightily impressive. Where is this version of the player 95% of the time when required in the bread and butter games? As for Pav - he should not have been subbed. 4-5-1 grates me. And although he spooned a couple of efforts, we looked more structured with two up front. Harry might have got this wrong.

Ronaldo entertained with his usual dramatics, falling over whenever he was 'touched' by a Lilywhite. Chris Foy, our esteemed referee, made up for various inconsistencies by yellow-carding the winker. Penalty? Nope. Was already heading for the ground when King clipped him. Talking of cards, O'Shea should have walked but Mr Foy decided otherwise. Seems certain fouls at certain points in the game are worthy of a yellow but punishment for a similar foul to a player already on a yellow - wearing red - is not. Bah, who cares. Happens all the time. Fergie was obviously worried thus replacing him for Vidic. Who was superb. Talking of defenders, so was King and Ferdinand. And Dawson who has made a miraculous return to consistent form (his distribution is crap but I still love him).

Neither side had that cutting edge or bit of luck to claim glory inside 120 minutes. Anyone surprised that Utd won the toss to have the pens in front of their own fans? And the toss to select who takes the first pen? Footballing Gods, damn you.

Get the pen on target and you can't really complain that much if it fails to go in. If the keeper guesses right, he has a chance of saving it. If the pen taker strikes it with power or places it, then the keeper has no chance. I guess, if you practise them and have the confidence (and don't lose your bottle) you have a chance. More than a chance. At the purest simplistic level, penalty taking should be easy. Aim for the part of the goal that the keeper has no chance of getting to. If only it was that simple. It's 99% about mentality. That's where it's won.

Don't think we stood a chance to be perfectly honest. Don't quite grasp why Bent wasn't taking the first kick. I guess it's fairly evident we don't have many penalty takers in the side. Bentley continues to scapegoat himself towards public enemy number one. Take a bow son. Jenas must be smiling. Although no frowning for JJ yesterday. He too impressed making it a WTF double with him and Didier doing the biz. Although one or two fans in the stands seemed to nitpick a little too much on Jenas. I thought he showed spirit, if lacking in box-2-box creative enterprise.

Wembley mocks me with its sad smile

Oh well, there is always next season. We gave it some. Played like a team, some decent approach play and some almost moments that had my heart sat firmly in my mouth.

Other random highlights:

• Man Utd fans leaving after the winning penalty. I find that quite hilarious. Witnessing the lifting of a two-bob cup not as vital as that train back to Surrey, hey?
  
• Had a conversation with a police officer inside the stadium prior to the game. Pleasant chap, not into football. He usually has to settle for Millwall home games every other week the poor sod. "Nice to see some proper fans" he said to me. I told him that's not usually what others would call us, but I accepted the compliment.
• The Fanometer. Football dies a little more.
  

Onwards we go to our third successive Cup final, following on from yesterday and the Hull win the week before.

Boro at home. My knees and Harry's face still trembling.

Encore? Not likely - Phantom UEFA dream is over

I didn't watch the game on Thursday evening. Instead, I found myself sat at Her Majesty's Theatre in row B (there is no row A by the way, the orchestra is sandwiched between us and the stage). The Phantom of the Opera (two and a half hours including the interval) was endured by my good self and my partner thanks largely to, well me, after purchasing tickets for her as a present at Xmas. I didn't consider checking the fixture list prior to the booking. A lapse that didn't bother me as much as I would have hoped.

As I watched the tragic tale of the opera ghost unfold I couldn't help draw parallels between his existence and Tottenham's.

The Phantom is a genius composer. A magician, who hides behind a white mask.
Spurs have had their moments of genius. And a magician or two. But we too are always hiding. Behind past glories.

I'm pushing it a little with this parallel angle, aren't I? Work with me. I'm low on creative juice at the minute.

In Act II there's a jolly old sing-a-long by the name of Masquerade.

Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you!

I half expected David Bentley to swan across the stage floor with a can of Red Bull in his hand.

The Phantom himself is a grim, depressive and manic nut-job, which best describes most of our fans. I'm joking guys, just joking. Apart from you-lot-in-the-you-know-what stand. You guys kill me.

His (the Phantom) erraticness does interestingly enough have some rather Jenasesque qualities (our very own phantom of the Lane), especially some of the shrugs and head in hand holding towards the end of the show. I almost stood up and yelled 'believe in yourself lad', but thankfully this played out only in my head.

One of the set-pieces during the show involved a chandelier that comes crashing down to earth. A nice visual analogy for our hopes and ambitions which sit high up in the rafters, illuminating, before sabotage makes gravity's life easy. Waiting for it to be restored it to its original grandeur has been the bane of our lives.

No phone reception inside the theatre so it wasn't until the conclusion of Act II and a swift exit outside into the cold London night that I got the chance to browse to the final scores on my trusted Nokia.

1-1 FT. Not the most exciting scoreline.

Wasn't disappointed because my expectations were never high. But this morning, having now regained a rather nifty 8Mb connection at my new residence, I had a gander at one or two write-up's and from the sounds of it the cello-taped together side fielded by our chief in command came pretty close to causing an upset.

Gio scored a belter. O'Hara industrious. Obika a rugged force up-front. Apparently Gilberto was very good (although I'll need more than 5 people to confirm this before I believe it). Huddlestone spaying balls about. Bale a revelation in midfield. The referee a git all over the field. The man with the whistle disallowing a penalty that would have surely inspired the young side to push on.

But you know this already, as you've seen the game/highlights whilst as I'm still humming The Music of the Night and skipping around the flat on my toes.

However other reports suggest that the performance was far from great. Huddlestone, pedestrian. Bale not looking out of place alongside academy players. Chimbonda, a bit rubbish. All a bit low key apparently.

So was the game worth the effort for the fans who did attend? Please do share your insight. The Sun seemed to like our performance, so who am I to question their integrity? Rhetorical, don't answer.

I'm still relatively busy with unpacking boxes and at the minute patiently waiting for the Sky engineer to come round and do his thing, so I'm still part-time blogging. Sunday is now in everyone's mind and I'm looking forward to dislocating myself from the shoulder of league football as we (hope) to do our bestest against the Man Utd reserves with special guest appearances from a few superstar first teamers, I'm sure . I'll pop it back in after the final whistle. Hopefully won't be too painful.

Fingers crossed Spurs can remove their mask to reveal no disfigurement. Just a pure unmarked face of beauty. What I mean is, I hope we turn up, turn it on and dick 'em. A bit like last time out against Chelsea. No disappearing into nothingness thank you very much.

Berbatov is not in the squad for the final. But Vidic, Ferdinand, Nani, Ronaldo, Giggs, Carrick, Scholes, Tevez and Rooney all are. Along with one or two other first team players.

No Keane or Wilson for us and Frazier Campbell can't play due to the loan agreement. Bet you're gutted about that last one. Darren Bent is available and in the squad. If he scores the winner, I'll stick him in my good books until the next league game where, believe me, I'll go back to slating him. The good for nothing no spark no creative juice one dimensional Raziak clone. I hate you Darren Bent.....do ya hear me? I hate you and your self-satisfying goal ratio!

Predictions? It's a one off, so the game is likely to be far closer than most might expect. Then again, depends on the team Fergie starts with and how our lot react to it. We do love these types of occasions. Players find it more comfortable to raise their game and perform in a Cup final than let's say a six-pointer at the depths of the Premier League.

So COYS, up the Spurs, let's do it again etc etc. Write us up another glorious page for the next revision of the Opus.

Spurs overhull City to claim Cup final victory

Woodgate header, 2-1, winning goal. We've been here before haven't we? No fireworks at the final whistle this time round, but the importance of claiming the three points practically pushes this result into open bus parade territory.

Spurs have been to Hull and back. No glory football here. First half performance was gash, only highlight a rather deliciously curled opening goal from Lennon who had all the time in the world to blast it in, but preferred instead to add a little gloss to proceedings and show off some of that end product he has plucked from the frustrating realm of eternal potential. He remains our one bright spark in the dark gloomy basement that the past year has been. Hull's equaliser was assisted by Calamity Cudicini (Gomes must be jealous) who fumbled the ball, allowing for an easy slot to make it 1 a piece.

Dodgy at set pieces, less than confident goal-keeping. Here we go again, right? No, wrong. Rather than losing the game in the final moments, Woody planted his head on the ball to give us one of those rare moments. An away win. Fantasy football. School boys own stuff. Jumpers for goalposts.

Thoughts and prayers for Hull City who haven't won for 10 league games. Their dizzying holiday towards the top of the table nothing more than a distant memory. They can now consider themselves invited to the relegation party down at the bottom.

Thankfully as Hull walk through the front door with a bottle of cheap wine, we've managed to escape from the prank that saw us locked in the downstairs toilet to standing a little easier in the kitchen, which everyone knows is the best place to be at a party....even a party as depressing as this one. We need to focus now and try to flirt with the attractive lass giving us the eye. She's leaning up against the middle of the table, showing us a bit of leg. Boy would we like to climb up that leg. She's no babe, not like some of those top class European birds at the party up the road, but she'll do. Beggars can't be choosers. Aim to impress her with a little charm and slick moves and we'll be out the front door, into a taxi, and back at hers for a coffee leaving this party of losers behind. Now and again, it's ok to play ugly if it gets the right result.

We've now got the interference of the second leg of the UEFA Cup game on Thursday to look forward to. Which is a bit like going on a blind date and finding out your 'date' at the bar with the bow in her dress is your sister. It's inconvenient.

To be fair to Harry, it is a tad ludicrous the way the fixture list scoffs at us. And it's a crying shame the UEFA Cup has been relegated to insignificance thanks to our Premiership predicament. There's been much talk of how Harry has disgraced this clubs great traditions in Europe and how ironic it is that Spurs strive to get into Europe, something taken very seriously a couple of seasons back, to complete dismissiveness this term. Fact is, we have been crap all season long and attempting to win the UEFA Cup when our Prem survival is yet to be guaranteed is arrogance we can not afford. Arrogance probably too strong of a word there. What I mean is, we have by default devalued everything other than the league games thanks to our lack of consistency and form so pretending we can afford to play full strength teams in games that are not important in the grand scheme of things is misplaced. We could play a strong side and win, and take that confidence forward. Its agreeable logic, but the history of this season has served up one certainty: Spurs hardly ever turn up. I'd rather go out of the UEFA Cup, not lose any players to injury, and try to salvage some pride in the league.

I expect another reserve/youth team combo and a sharp exit out of the competition, but this being Spurs, I wouldn't be surprised if the complete opposite happened. Just for larks.

Sunday is now the new priority for the remaining week with Hull decimated. Utd, who we all hope get dicked by Inter this evening, will not be fielding a super-strength line-up at Wembley if they are a goal or two down by the final whistle tonight. Their second leg game at OT is obviously always going to be far more important than the Milk Cup. So amazingly, form aside, we do have a lickle chance of surprising Fergie on Sunday. Although their reserves are not going to be push-overs. And even with the Inter game sandwiching the Cup final, I still expect to see a superstar or two grace the field against us.

I'll be praying for some joy in what has been a joyless season. Fireworks in our favour please. Could even handle an Orish jig or two.



I'm still 'offline' and without internet access and will be travelling on Wednesday/Thursday so will resurface at some point on Friday.

Glory Glory for Tottenham: Flashback to Carling Cup win

I'm about to disappear on a hiatus of sorts. I'll sporadically post when I can but the next week or so you'll have to make do with Harry and loads of action. I'm sure you'll survive without my inane rants. But if you have become accustomed to them and need a fix to get you by, the boys and girls over at the hellmouth will help you with your addiction. You'll find them to be of a special type of crazy there. Otherwise, if you fancy your own hiatus, try something different.

But enough of the blatant advertising. Time for that flux capacitor to do it's thing.

Date: 25th Febuary 2008
Place: Back pages of the Evening Standard

Dicking Chelsea the day before was wonderful. Unfortunately, the quotes haven't aged too well.


"This just goes to show what he has done in a short amount of time. It's no fluke because he did it at Sevilla as well so he must have something really special. Certain managers have that luck about them. He has certainly done a tremendous job. To have a trophy after a few months is an incredible achievement" - Robbie Keane on 'Our Special Juan'

"The way Tottenham stood up to Chelsea gives supporters a real hope that a new era of sustained success is finally about to begin at White Hart Lane" - Michael Hart, Chief Football Correspondent, Evening Standard

"We have a very good manager and he has proved it by winning the final. There was no pressure on Ramos, but this is a wonderful achievement for him and the players" - Daniel Levy

"I have a lot of football to come and will stay with the team. I'm confident there are more trophies to follow" - Ledley King

"I am here, I want to win things and hopefully this is the first of many for me. It means a lot to beat Chelsea, they are a fantastic team. When the final whistle blew it was an indescribable feeling. Everyone was happy and it was great to see so many smiles. It's a major trophy and we wanted European football again. This is our moment, but on Tuesday we start again. We have important games ahead of us. We have big goals ahead of us. The manager is a winner and he knows how to win things. This is his first trophy and I hope it's the first of many" - Dimitar Berbatov

"The team has been improving in terms of security and confidence and yesterday's win reaffirmed that. The players have shown they can concentrate and fight with the best of them" - Juande Ramos

"In the dressing room afterwards, the players were all saying 'now let's win the UEFA Cup'" - Robbie Keane


Back to the future and I can happily live (if we win it) with reading the quotes from Redknapp about how monumental it was to beat Utd in the final, proper David and Goliath stuff, because, you know...we're down to the bare bones. I'll even look the other way when Levy sanctions the release of the Carling Cup Double special edition DVD.

Coys, let's be 'aving you. I fancy starting the month of March with a big fat smile on my face.

Late late show saves spinless Spurs

Milk Cup Semi-Final
Burnley 3 Spurs 2 (6-4 to Spurs on agg.)

Imagine an incontinent old man who tries hard to avoid wetting himself, but can’t stop it. No matter how many times he changes his pants and prays it won't happen again, it keeps happening. Over and over again. That’s Spurs.

You could argue that on a mud drenched rain soaked playing field Burnley gave it a right go but only actually managed three worthy efforts on target. All of which ended up in the back of the net. They hardly ripped us to shreds. We missed several chances to score including a sitter from Roman (managing to out do Bent from the other night), long before the final two minutes which saw Roman (making up for that sitter) and Jermain spare us humiliation. You could argue that the performance – which was shambolic with our lack of cohesion and retention of possession – felt 100 times worse because we expect so much from our players.

We expect them to play like the players we know they can be. Although a professional and efficient performance will do just fine, which is something they should be giving us without expectation every bleeding week. But we don’t have the luxury of that at the moment. Face it, that’s how bad we are. We can’t even beat the promoted sides in the league, so what made us think last nights second leg semi-final was going to be easy? Even at 4-1 up you suspected that Spurs would make it difficult for themselves. Their attitude doesn't bode well for our up and coming games. New blood, unaffected by these pathetic moral levels, will probably be the key to turning things around.

Even though lady luck had more to do with it in the end than our class prevailing (Burnley tired out and got punished for settling for the away goal rule), if you swapped Alnwick for Gomes, we would have got through this game without the need for dramatics. Yes, I know Gomes is prone to the odd dropping of the ball, but Alnwick was very much a weak link and clearly cost us 2 goals. Not exactly the environment for an ideal debut.

As a team we were simply woeful, a side of individuals with no team structure who made it very easy for Burnley to get within touching distance of a cup final. We always do just about enough to lose games without getting battered, and last night was a prime example.

Far too many mentally weak players with the fabled ‘I don’t care’ attitude. No urgency or self-respect and very little acknowledgement of the fans loyalty. It’s been like this for quite a while now, and even the threat of relegation doesn’t appear to bother them. Maybe one or two of them are already thinking about where they wish to play next season. Wake up. Wake the f**k up.

Yes it was a game played in nasty conditions against a team that has battled through the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal to get here, but regardless of this and regardless of the players missing from our team, how can you possibly excuse that embarrassment of a performance? 4-1 up and they still managed to almost throw it away. Where was the determination? The passing? The possession? How can you possibly excuse that?

You can’t.

Shut your eyes, this time last year we swaggered to a 5-1 win over Arsenal. I think the final itself against Chelsea was the last time we actually played really decently.

Easily the most inept performance from Spurs I’ve witnessed for some time. We almost got what we deserved. But we suddenly decided to play for two minutes towards the very death and display a little of that almost forgotten Premiership quality.

I'm not completely sadistic. I am 'happy' we have another day trip to look forward too, but not best pleased with the display that got us there. Well done Spurs, you complete absolute joke of side that I love with all my heart, but hate how you pull it in all directions and bleed it dry.

Post-match?

Our players will probably think they did alright tonight. To be fair, one or two did not disgrace themselves. Dawson in particular and Bale and Bentley had far better games than anything else they've done for a while but that's not saying much at all. Zokora, possibly playing for his career at Spurs with the imminent arrival of Palacios also stood out from the dross, but put into perspective – this was all against Championship opposition. Adel (arriving us a sub) showed some spark. Overall, rubbish.

I was half expecting Harry to say we 'weathered the storm' in his post-match interview, but now I can understand his public slating of players. He is right to have a go at them after a performance like that. It's difficult to blame him for the tactics because the players don't look like they actually follow them. His post-match was brutally honest and to the point. We have players who look like they are sulking and feeling sorry for themselves. They need a good slap. The lot of them.

"The players should be fighting for their lives to stay at a great football club like this. Their future is on the line, they need to perform to stay at the club”, said our Harry after the game. Thing is, they stopped fighting a month or so back. I'm inclined to think Redknapp's man management isn't enough at the minute. It would be easy to say he is once more playing the blame game and deflecting attention away from him and onto the players. But the players performances are as bad as they were under Ramos.

You'll have one or two of the giddy idiots getting their suits measured for the final. Faces in Gants Hill tonight for them no doubt.

Looks like we are sending a second-string to Old Trafford on Saturday. Shame we have to discount the FA Cup, but even with a full strength team on current form, I wouldn't fancy our chances. FA might slap his hands for making the comment about a weakened side, but who cares. Mish-mashed will have to do. It’s sad really because it’s the FA Cup. And it’s at Old Trafford. Regardless of the team put out, they should give it 100% because if Spurs can’t be arsed with games like this how exactly are we going to fair in the bread and butter of Prem survival? Where is the passion? I can show you some passion for free, let alone the levels I could reach for £30,000 a week.

Only Spurs can make you feel despair and ecstatic punching of the wall joy at getting to a Cup final. My knees have gone all trembley.

Nice of you to turn up 45 minutes late

Carling Cup Semi-Final
Spurs 4 Burnley 1


Only Spurs can infuriate me this much. Woeful first half of football. Bale and Bentley were tragically bad and the team as a whole, shit. I'm not going to take a thing away from Burnley. They played tidy football, broke well and took their goal (gift) with confidence. The first half consisted of us playing what I like to call zombie football. I'm not talking about the fast moving Rage virus zombies from 28 Days Later or the Dawn of the Dead remake. There was nothing agile about our display. I'm talking about the zombies from the George A. Romero original. Slow us fuck. And unlike the zombies in that classic film, we lacked any kind of menace when in possession. It was, yes you've guessed it, inept®.

I can never figure out how the minds of Tottenham players work. If this was Arsenal at home, we'd be 100 miles per hour from the off. Instead, we allowed a Championship side (a good one at that) to dictate. It wasn't anything spectacular mind. They made one or two chances, but you could see they were not a real threat if....if we stepped up a gear. But as the half dragged on, the worse we got.

I don't want to start pointing my finger at Bentley again, but he was having a nightmare of a game. Much like most of his appearances for us. Everyone was lethargic and sleepy, and mis-hit passes and crosses (even Lennon was struggling) but Bentley was particularly bad. And Bale looked utterly lost.

There are two decent, very decent, players in there somewhere but it looks like it's going take a while to get them to smile and play well. If you need an irreverent back-heel flick, Bentleys your man, but anything that requires simplicity, no chance. Bale was a nervous mess.

Its all about confidence. There was a point in the first half that Bale could have taken the ball on and run into the penalty area. He didn't. That split second decision resulted in him playing the ball sideways. No belief there at the minute, because if he took it on and fucked it up, he'll get more moans and groans from the crowd, and too much thinking about the negatives eats away at players. Which is why Bentley is deep into Paul Robinson territory at the minute.

The way Eagles run through the two of them to set up Burnley's opener was embarrassingly easy.

Off went Bentley at half-time and on came Jamie O'Hara. Now Jamie will never be world-class. Or even good enough to play for the England first team. But he has bite and determination, even if he needs a couple of touches to control the ball. He gets stuck in. And thanks to the switch and the half-time bollocking, Spurs stepped it up. Why the overpaid gits couldn't muster this tempo in the first half is anyone's guess.

You're at home. Against opposition from a lower league. In a semi-final. FUCKING WELL SHOW US THE GULF IN CLASS. Ok, so they knocked out second-string Fulham, Arsenal and Chelsea sides. And they play pretty football. But be a sodding professional about it.

Incoming Jamie corner. Dawson meets it with his head. 1-1. Perfect script-writing. Livened up the fans a little. To be fair, we are never any good at home against lower-league opposition when it comes to singing/chanting. First half, our lack of noise shadowed the teams performance. Second half, with the change in effort on the pitch, inspired us to stand up and shake off the icicles to sing a song or two.

Five minutes later, Jamie manages to squirm the ball (well its more a case of the keeper allowing it to squirm) under his legs from a volley. 2-1. In the 65th it was 3-1, this time Pav driving the ball home after breezing way too easily past the Burnley defender. Goal in every round from the Russkie. 4-1, and it's practically done and dusted. Own goal this time.

If Zokora had 1% shooting ability he would have made it 5, but this being Zokora, the ball has yet to be retrieved from Glasgow city centre.

I'd say that's us at Wembley, but if Burnley come out all guns blazing and we play as badly as we did in the first half, they have every chance. But somehow, I can't see that happening. Would be daft to fuck it up that badly now.

Gio back on the bench today. Along with Adel and KPB - but none of them had a cameo. Which was a shame. No Ghaly. But expected this. Best to have him on the bench for Sunday and maybe bring him on then. Less of the boo-boys around at away games.

Special mentions: Defoe. Bit surreal to see him back. He has a right good chance to shine now that there is no longer a Berbatov or Keane at the club. Nigh impossible to break that partnership (which was arguably one of the best in the country). I think he'll work well upfront with Pav.

The Burnley fans right next to me in Block 42. Some decent banter going on, although one or two got a tad too serious with the abuse when the score was reversed in our favour. Unlike last year which was against Arsenal and it meant a lot for obvious reasons (failure to get there the season before), tonight I really felt it meant a lot more for the Burnley fans than it did for us. I guess it would considering their stature and lack of recent semi-finals. Our fans were a little casual tonight, along with the players. Thankfully just for the opening 45. I guess the Premiership is priority for all at the minute. January rescue package should see to that.

Anyways, slightly stronger team and more focused performance, and we could have overwhelmed them tonight. Instead, the team did its usual best to worry us silly.

Not good enough at the minute to even consider beating Utd in the final.

And that was the week that was.....

Anderton retires today, bless him. Hope he gets that testimonial he deserves from us.

Freddy Adu (formally a Man Utd and then Chelsea fan) who was fourteen years old for about 5 years is now proclaiming he supported Spurs when he was a kid. Even though, he still is a kid. He's at Benefica, although out on loan in France, so basically, he's shit and over-rated and simply a over-hyped product of the Nike school of bullshit. Thanks but no thanks. I'll stick to the Football Manager version of you.

Robbie Keane is being rested for Liverpool today, away to Blackburn. Rumours (and that's all they are) suggest he will be sold. Where does one go when he is pushed out of his boyhood club? I guess his other boyhood club (Celtic) will be happy to take him. Keane will score 30 goals up there, no problem. I guess if he is sold we'll be disappointed (Levy that is) financially, as we probably only got £12M upfront for him, with the rest based on appearances and goals.

I'm uncertain if Tony Parks has joined the club as a coach. Can anyone confirm?

Watford away was just about okay. One down, two won up. Sure you've gathered that by now. Not a convincing performance, but then wasn't a fully strength team. Sure 'arry will play a strong team in the semi-final. Interestingly, every time we've got rid of a manager early on in the season, the new boss has gone onto win the Cup. More of the same please.

Warm balls?

Hail to the Milk Cup. Semi-final draw, live on Gillette Soccer Saturday, saw us get a plum first leg to Burnley - the giant killers of London clubs (Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal) whilst Manchester United go to Derby. Sponsors are expecting a Spurs v Utd derby, and unless we manage to completely fuck up our home tie, I expect this to be the case. Disrespect meant, who would want to watch the two Championship teams in the final? Glam it's not.

Think I'm more happy with the home tie first up also, more so than last year because of the opposition. Do a good clinical job, and the second tie will be a formality. If we choke, stutter or simply get a bit arrogant and fuck it up, we don't deserve a second successive Wembley visit. Yes, they beat second elevens on their way to the semi-finals, but if we can't brush them aside then shame on us.

Would love a Utd final. Berbatov, are ya listening.....?

Watford v Spurs

If we lose tonight, then we don't need to beat ourselves up because - and I know this is an obvious thing to state - if we lose, we don't bloody deserve to think about the 'what ifs'.

3 games from Wembley. That's incentive enough. No matter the team Harry puts out.

Not that it matters in the long run. If we get Utd in the semi-final, it will be a full strength Utd. Which won't bode well. But enough of this negativity. Onwards, upwards etc.

Milk Cup update

The Arsenal super-kids get knocked out by Burnley. Apparently they didn't quite make the grade (I guess the grade is getting dicked 6-2 in the semis?). But hey, let's all applaud Arsene for sticking to his footballing principles.

Derby beat Stoke in the other quarter-final. Watford away for us tomorrow, and if it's a good evening then its hello to the semi-finals and another potential UEFA Cup qualification. All dependent on the team Harry selects. Premiership is obviously always going to be the priority. But its just 3 games from another Wembley day out. So why not go for the glory?

Too good a chance to fuck up.....so get your excuses ready for Thursday morning.

It's how we roll

Spurs 4 Liverpool 2

Spurs were lucky to score four goals, all from defensive errors, and Liverpool should have won, but were cheated out of the game by the ref and Gareth Bale pretending to tackle when in fact he committed a cynical foul. But enough about what Liverpool fans thought of the game.

In all fairness, gloating should be kept to a minimum based on the fact that this wasn’t a full strength Reds side. We've already beaten that version.

So, yes, they made 10 changes and played their reserves. And yes, we made 7 changes (no King, Woodgate, Jenas, Bent, Modric, Bentley etc) and used other first team players. Is it our fault we appear to have better depth for these type of occasions? Even the Prince had time to come on and show-off a little. This wasn't our strongest side, but having Hoddlestone centre midfield, spraying balls all over the pitch (ooh) and the team pushing forward with intent, purpose and < insert other buzz words to help illustrate how decent we were on the night > helped make this even more comfortable.

Let's not forget a few years back (Fredi's handball) losing on pens to a team of Liverpool reserves. No mistake this time out. They weren’t up for it. We were and nobody is going to frown at 3 goals in 6 minutes of frantic play, and ending up eventual 4-2 winners. Their goals weren’t even proper goals. Early Christmas presents thanks largely to the flapping and mistiming of our calamity keeper, Gomes (they could argue the same about ours). Though credit to his bravery later on that saw him leave the field on a stretcher, but apparently (according to ‘arry) was well enough to grab a post-match Chinese with some of the other players. Sadly, he’s available for Fulham away.

Campbell looked electric, teaming up with Pav. Both shared the goals on a night that even witnessed several Ole, Ole, Ole moments as we passed the ball around. Got to love the over-excitability of the home crowd. Quarter-finals next. Chelsea knocked out by Burnley, so we’ll get Man Utd away no doubt. While The Kids© will get another home tie.

This win made it the best start to a Spurs reign by a newly appointed manager. You have to go back 110 years to a certain Frank Brettell (what, you’ve never heard of him?) to find a better record. All this after our worst start to a season ever.

Never a boring second supporting this lot.

Liverpool @ home

Another exhibition match on the cards for the Wenger Babes, thanks to the traditional warm ball, with Wigan next in line to experience stage fright in this season Carling Cup. Whilst over at WHL, Spurs get knocked out by a Robbie Keane brace.

Hail the Carling Cup.

Spurs win the Desperation Derby

Newcastle 1 Spurs 2

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog. I've been out celebrating our win. Only just got back.

Cough.

Worst game ever? Possibly, at least when referring to the opening 45 mins. Two teams devoid of direction and confidence, labouring towards sleep paralysis. I switched off after 20mins, fleetingly going back to the game in the vein hope of something. Anything. This was the de-evolution of football, live on Sky Sports - with additional anti-Spurs commentary by their resident pro-Arsenal commentator.

Oh yes. We were shit. But somehow, getting the brunt of the negativity simply because we had more of the possession is a tad mis-placed. Enough of the sympathy for Newcastle, who were kicking lumps out of us. Feel free to laugh at them.

Our tactic was far more subtle. We moved sideways and backwards. It's like we've had the imagination drained out of us. Lobotomised and useless. But then when the 19th team in the Prem host the 20th - that's crisis club v bottom of the lot - a 'classic' is the least expected outcome. This was bad non-league football on display. And if neutrals were not switching off the 19,000 who turned up to see this were regretting not staying away.

Gio livened things up when he came on. He defied the world of footballing science (as displayed by us and the opposition) by moving 'forwards' with the ball. Revolutionary! Pav notched up a goal. O'Hara deserved his fortunate 'winner' for the effort he put in. Lennon again was full of purpose. So there were some positives.

But all we did was beat a poor team. We didn't thrash them. Or out play them. Or swagger. We did enough to win. As ugly as it was.

Play like this at Pompey and we might just get smacked. Yes I know they have been spanked recently, and we have a decent record down there, but we really aren't very good at the moment.

How many Spurs players do you have in your fantasy football team?

Exactly.

Carling Cup preview

Not sure what to expect this evenings Carling Cup spectacle at St James Park. The two Premiership comedy clubs clash in what will either be a laugh-a-minute 'how not to defend' circus of calamity or the game that ignites the season for us or them. Apart from a 1-0 win a few years ago, we don't tend to beat them up there. We prefer to lose, and usually lose heavily.

The fact that Chris Hughton is looking after things whilst Ashley attempts to fix the mess he's created, makes it doubly potentially embarrassing if Ramos is out-witted by the former Spurs man.

So strongest team on paper?

Gomes
Gunter King* Woodgate Bale
Bentley Jenas O'Hara Lennon
Modric
Bent

*Corluka in place of King, depending on how bad his knee is this week

I haven't included Pav in that line-up because the lad needs a rest. That's what you get for paying £14M for a striker who's already played several months of the Russian league season.

So, our strongest side is a side with little physical presence in the midfield. No left winger - in fact the left side isn't the strongest (with Bale in defence and Lennon on the opposite side to where he should be). Bentley, is on the right, but will his deliveries meet the head or feet of Bent?

Modric is back in full training, so I don't expect him to play this evening, which means we might be looking at:


Gomes
Gunter King/Corluka Woodgate Bale
Bentley Jenas O'Hara Lennon
Campbell Bent

No matter who he opts with - its imperative that Lennon starts and Lennon is used as our main outlet of forwardism. Attack, attack, attack. Give the ball to the imp and just make bloody sure you're in the box to deflect a cross into the goal, with arse or foot, it doesn't matter.

With Martins back for Newcastle (4 played, 4 wins, 4 goals - against us), its all looking ominous. Historically, we are soft when we play them in front of their home crowd (although not sure how many will bother to turn up to watch this game).

Maybe we should play the kids. Works for Arsenal, should work for us, right? Right?

Jansson
Gunter Dervite Dawson Berchiche
Taarabt O'Hara Bostock
Dos Santos
Campbell Barcham

I reckon that team could beat our first team handsomely. Jossy's Giants could beat our first team handsomely. Christ, this is grim. Let's look on the bright side. This is the best start we've had in years. The table speaks for itself, no? We are only three points behind Man Utd.

Glory!

The Didier Zokora Cup Final

Chelsea 1 Tottenham 2 aet


There was a moment in this game that had me jumping around, screaming out to the heavens muttering the same word over and over and over again.

Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why.

Why Zokora? Of all the players to find himself running towards the goal, why does it have to be him? Didier, bless him, makes Steffen Freund look like Thierry Henry. But then he isn’t a goal-scoring midfielder. Even when he managed to find Cech’s head rather than the goal, he failed to compose himself and lay the ball to Berbatov or better still, find the target with the second opportunity presented to him.

See, these are the moments that pretty much define Spurs.

If only.
Almost.
Nearly.
So close.

The cruel irony is that the player who run from midfield is the one player that you know won’t be able to do what you oh so want him to do. But it was at this very moment that I had an epiphany.

Chelsea had done practically nothing all game. And rather seeing this assessment from a typical Spurs point of view, being ‘we’re gonna fuck it up’, I saw the game through the eyes of a neutral. Just for that one all-seeing moment.





There was nothing to suggest Chelsea would get something from the match. Spurs were in their ascendency. And I could see it. But before we get to this part of the game, let’s go back to the start. The opening 45 were ominous to say the least. My epiphany at this point in time was nothing but a sperm casually backstroking towards the egg.

We started brightly and created chances, but Drogba’s insistence at taking centre stage with his theatrics proved to be the dramatic catalyst for the wrong kind of breakthrough. This was Drogba’s no country for real men, and with each pathetic fall to the ground, it made me wish for an air-powered cattle gun. Yet another collapse to the ground, this time 30 yards out was definitely a free-kick, and the irony wasn’t lost on anyone.

What followed was a quirk that was probably noticed instantly by Ramos (mistakes like this are avoidable). A complete mess of a wall, built with Marmite rather than cement. Not only was it in the wrong place, but the fact King and Robinson failed to orchestrate some kind of organisation was unnerving. You could see exactly what Drogba was going to do. He tried it earlier. This time it was an open invitation. We hate it, they loved it. Drogba shots and scores. Robinson hardly moves. This time not because of consumption of pie, but rather the fact that even if he did dive in the general direction of where the ball was placed he wouldn’t even get there in time with rockets on his boots.

1-0 to them and much biting of nails insured.

One highlight from the first 45 minutes involved the Chelsea fans rising to sing a chorus of ‘Stand up if you hate Tottenham’. The Spurs fans stood up and sang ‘Stand up if you hate Arsenal’. The Chelsea faithful should really do their best to look elsewhere for that defining rivalry.

During half-time I wondered if this was going to be one of those disappointing days where efficient Chelsea do enough to stifle the game into a non-glamorous victory in their favour.



At this point I was worried. Goes without say I was enjoying the occasion, but I suddenly got sickeningly nervous of losing. Yeah sure, it’s the Carling Cup. The lickle half-breed cousin of the FA Cup. But this was Chelsea, and losing to them (and fucking ‘ell have we done a lot of that in recent years) is just not a feeling I choose to experience anymore. I hate it. I hate it more than losing to Arsenal. It’s like losing to Fulham. Why the fuck would you accept losing to Fulham?

Then there’s the fact that it’s a ticket back into the UEFA Cup. It’s not the ideal way in but it’s on offer. And with our bad start to the season costing us any true chance of finishing top 6, this is the dream ticket.

And finally, its silverware. You know. That thing other teams outside the top 4 sometimes manage to flirt with on the odd occasion the second-string eleven don’t make it through to the final. Makes the honours list look not too shabby either. What’s good for the goose...

Winning it would also make it number 15 in Cup competitions won domestically and in Europe (only Utd and Liverpool have won more). Call it just rewards for the progress made by Ramos in the short months he has been here or proof that we don’t choke when it matters. A medal of honour.

So back with the sickeningly nervous feeling, I couldn’t shake. And onto the second half.

“Huddlestone has to come on”, my mate commented.
“I can’t see where a Spurs goal is gonna come from”, I informed him a few minutes earlier.

And then Hudd came on. For Chimbonda. I burst several veins in my forehead screaming abuse at Pascal the Mercenary who was disgraceful in the ungracious manner he walked off the pitch. No urgency, no care in the world other than his vanity. And off he went down the tunnel. It’s bitterly disappointing he wasn’t sold in the January transfer window.

So with the skinny demure Hudd on, things began to change a little. A disguised pass here and there. Lennon, who might as well have been in Faces during the first half, began to show a little spark. And as I thought back to my comment about not seeing where we would score from, we go and win a penalty. Didn’t think of that one. The decision was never in doubt. Juggling the ball isn’t controversial imo. It’s nailed on, ball on the spot.

The sickeningly nervous feeling turned into a haemorrhage. Up steps Berbatov. Some Spurs fans run down to the bottom of the aisle and look upwards to the fans, preferring to watch the crowd reaction rather than the actual penalty.

Up steps the Bulgarian and in one majestically cool second we are level. Pandemonium at long last. And that little bit of hope is embracing us.

Tainio on for Steed. And Spurs continue to press and push and the tempo is now where it should be. Pace with movement and purpose. Chelsea are disjointed in comparison. Anelka isolated with zero chemistry between him and Drogba, or anyone else for that matter.

Lampard unable to control a midfield bossed by Jenas and Zokora. Jole Cole on the bench. Woodgate and King in complete command at the back for us. It’s not quite a walk in the park. More of a brisk jog with a poodle chasing behind you. But you know it’s never gonna catch up, let alone bit you on the arse. Although at this point, I still had nightmares of the poodle ripping its way through my gut like an Alien.

And then, the sperm completes its journey and my epiphany is born. The precise moment this happens is when Zokora runs through towards goal with Cech being the only person standing in the way of folklore. And you know what happens next. And nobody can believe it even though the outcome was exactly what we all knew would play out.

But when I held my head up away from my hands, I knew that this miss would not go down in history as a testament of why we always seem to fail when it matters. What had Chelsea done in the game that would lead me to believe they could go on to win it? As a Spurs fan you’d automatically think it’s more likely to be us who give something away or make a mistake. But without anchoring myself to what I would normally expect in that oh so classic defeatist manner, I was free to see the facts.

Chelsea were fucking shit and had no hope in hell of beating us. I was enlightened.

Extra-time. Jenas, not for the first time this season floats in a perfect cross and Woodgate, the most unlikely of heroes nods the ball, which is palmed back onto Woody’s face and into the net. Silk finish, it was not. But when you’ve seen Gary Mabbut score an own goal, you don’t tend to be picky about the quality of a winning goal.





It was a strange moment in the stands, at least where I was. There was almost a delay in celebrations. Fraction of a second if that. The initial header and its journey away from Cech and into Woodgate seemed to take an age. When the ball crossed the line it was Pandemonium Part II.

Keane limped off. Kaboul trotted on. Chelsea huffed and puffed without really scaring us too much, though that’s thanks to a decent stop from Robinson.

When Zokora completed his brace and overplayed a ball to Lennon that would have surely settled it beyond doubt, there was still way too much tension in the Spurs end. Not helped by David Copperfield who plucked out 3 injury time minutes to be added onto the end of the second half of extra time.

One of the best moments of the game was TT wasting time with a throw-on (good to see Spurs are finally learning to do this when it matters) and earning a yellow-card, only for Drogba to come running onto the scene to berate TT, wasting more of the precious time Chelsea had left.

And then the final whistle and 9 sodding piss poor fruitless years come to an end, and for the sixth decade on the trot our players have winner’s medals.




And we got to laugh at Drogba’s complaining to their bitter end.

Who would have ever predicated Jonathan Woodgate scoring the winning goal in a Cup Final for Spurs? Effortlessly brilliant at the back, I pray he stays fit. Same for Ledley.

Jenas and Zokora were superb in the middle of the park. Berbatov, worked hard....in fact, apart from Chimbonda, I don’t have too many complaints.

Maybe had we beaten Bolton or Boro in the final (no disrespect to either of them) then this wouldn’t mean too much. But beating Chelsea also meant that semi-final 5-1 got its icing on the cake.

Spurs stalled under Jol. We all know it. He deserves some credit for what he achieved in building the foundations, but Ramos did something that Jol could not have possibly done. And that’s masterminding the semi-final win and then lifting of the Cup.

Ramos and Poyet have galvanised us. Take this Cup success as the first hurdle crossed in the transitional cross-country race.

The players have tasted success. They have beaten a Top 4 club. They now know they have it in them. And there’s no doubt when the euphoria settles Ramos will gently ease in the mentality that next time, it should be something bigger. Something like the FA Cup, or maybe even the UEFA Cup.




We all know a sustained 4th spot position is the Holy Grail. And we all know that’s still way off. But with the chasing pack taking turns each season, it’s always open to anyone who really gives it a hard push.

So, there I was at Wembley loving every second of it.

That included Robbie Keane’s tears and utter joy at finally winning something. Berbatov also looked like something he hasn’t quite been all season. A Tottenham player. He celebrated like someone who you wouldn’t bet your money on leaving (caught up in the moment?).

And Chimbonda made an appearance along with a Spurs fan that joined in with the celebrations. The fan had more right to be there than Pascal.

Robinson can thank Cerny’s mistake for allowing him a way back into the team. Last thing he expected a few weeks back was for him to be part of the team again.

So as the fireworks fizzled out and the players disappeared down the tunnel (to finally reappear at Faces nightclub) we left Wembley happy. Chelsea fans long gone, it was pretty much the perfect Sunday.




Cheers Juande. Piece of piss wasn’t it mate?

Que Sera

Looking forward to tomorrow. Wembley, London final. A song here and there. Would be gutted if we lost. For several reasons.

Its Chelsea.
Its silverware.
Its a ticket to the UEFA Cup proper next season.

Had someone tell me that if Chelsea are on form, then we ain't got a chance. That's a fair comment. Apart from Utd or Arsenal, who else can beat them at the top of their game? But its a [cliche]one off[/cliche], innit? The favourite doesn't always win. So all I'm asking is for Spurs to turn up. The drab, fruitless result from our last League Cup final, which saw us spurn far too many chances hasn't been forgotten. It's always disappointing when you lose a game without really forcing the issue the other way.

Berbatov, give us your swansong. And Robinson, for the love of all things Lilywhite.....make yourself big between the sticks (ooh matron). King and Woodgate at the back please. And no Chimbonda playing the opposite side he is usually accustomed too. As for the rest. Jenas, stick all your chances away. Lennon, do to them what SWP does to us.

I just hope the idiot minority keep the football factory shit to remote train stations.

COYS

Countdown to Wembley

Prague tonight. And no such luck of resting all our ‘top’ players like Chelsea were able to do in the Champions League. Nice to see them taking the Carling Cup so seriously. Obviously the game on Sunday is far more important than an away leg in Greece. Although today, there are suggestions that Terry and Lampard won't start on Sunday. Don't believe the hype.

Not certain what Ramos will do tonight, but hopefully he’ll start with a strong eleven, and look towards them killing the game off in the first 45, then take off the key players who will be vital on Sunday.

Robinson might be recalled. Not sure of Kings fitness. 3-0 Spurs.

Yes, I know Robbo will be back in goal. And yes. I'm predicting a clean sheet too. Crack is one hell of a drug.

If we lose, I'll start the 'RAMOS OUT' campaign in earnest.

WIN

So there I was. Five minutes into a relentless chorus of ‘Que Sera Sera’, with practically the whole ground joining in, arms raised, smiles all around. And Spurs go and score a 5th. We’ve beaten the scum. And we get a Cup Final as a bonus prize. Proper Glory night, bragging rights back with us. At least for the whole of Wednesday.

I forgot to buy a programme before the kick-off. Decided this was an omen. Along with the ‘1999 Worthington Cup winners’ key-ring I found when clearing out some old junk the day before the game (that sat in my pocket). In Bootlaces, before the game, I reiterated the need for self-belief, on the pitch and in the terraces. We jokingly laughed when suggesting, ‘we could do with another 5-1 semi-final win’. The footballing Gods were listening for once.

Ooh the highlights…

Jenas performance and his goading of the away support after the opening goal
Dawson regaining the ability to defend (probably because of the next guy…)
King again showing us all just how important and immense he is. Incredible the difference he can make to our defence
Tainio, doing the job Ramos expected from him
Keane's 101
Lennon on form
Berbatov’s flick (to release Lennon) and nutmeg on Gallas
The home support/atmosphere - probably the best it's been any where in the country this season
Berbatov looking genuinely happy
Arsenal fans leaving on the 60th minute mark
Adebayor/Bendtner handbags
The irony of Bendtner scoring with his head
Theo ‘Only had five touches’ Walcott

Only negative was Paul Robinson's absence at the end of the game. He ventured into the dressing room at the final whistle, thinking more about himself, as Graham Roberts put it 'first, second and third' rather than 'the club, his team-mates and the fans'. Unless of course, Robinson is on his out of the club, and 'celebrating' would be a tad too uncomfortable if he is departing. I'll leave this conspiracy for another time.

Back to the game and the Arsenal team which included (at various points in the game) Gallas (17 Prem apperances), Eduardo (13), Hleb (19), Denilson (7), Fabregas (19), Walcott (13), Gilberto (12) Adebayor (21), Bendtner (14), Sagna(21), Diaby (9).

Kids? Reserves? Excuses?

Six of these players started their last league game and nine of them played in the league game prior to their last. Yes, arguably it was a fragmented side and their defence at times was calamitous compared to their seasoned 'proper line-up'. But all we can do is attempt to defeat the opposition no matter who they are.

Arsenal had Fabianski. We had Cerny.
Hoyte? Lee.
Diaby? Tainio.
Walcott? Defoe.

Our team was made up of fringe players too. Add Huddlestone and Boateng to the list. That's a fair few. And Spurs had no World Cup winners either. See how perception works to your advantage when you want it to?

They want your autograph Cesc

Ramos and Poyet’s message to the players pre-match was simple. WIN. In fact, kudos to finally having people at Spurs who understand the art of war. None of the usual tripe our players shout before big games that result with egg-on-face. We used what Arsenal said as a motivating tool to get the players up for it. Rather than tell the world we will win, we tell the world how great they are. Thus making us the underdog and allowing the 'words' and soundbites coming out of the Emirates to motivate us for the 90 minutes.


“There were a few interviews this week and they helped us a lot. They don't realise how much they help us when they say these things. They said we were scared of them, so many things. The players proved today they have no fear of anyone.” - Poyet


All the things I (we) have asked for happened. Even when Berbatov hit the post, and I thought ‘shit, here we go again, we just can’t kill them off’ – we do just that moments into the second half. Turns out we are not a bunch of bottlers after all. A bit of confidence, tuned into the right mentality frequency with the reassurance that we are tactically spot-on under Ramos and it can come together. Spurs can defeat their demons.

It's good to see a complete unit for once, in such an important game. All players following their instructions. Tainio, bless his little cotton socks, always injured but proved his worth giving us far more experience than O’Hara and biting at the ankles of the Arsenal midfield.

This is just the one game and the one performance, but under Ramos (and in fact, this season in generally) we have not been overhauled or thrashed. We've played awful at times, but this game shows we can deliver when it matters. Granted, this was a North London Cup game and the hard graft is in the Prem, but with continued improving fitness and commitment levels and the return of key players along with new ones and the balance and growth of the team can only go one way. Above West Ham. And then a bit more further up the table.

The sudden realisation that hard work equals success has dawned on a side that has at times waited for the result to happen rather than create it themselves.

We didn’t choke. We didn’t falter. We cut them to shreds at times. We even had the luxury of taking off Berbatov and Keane with 30 minutes to go. And little surprise that Wenger once more fails to lose gracefully.

Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser….or something along those lines, is the excuse drummed out every time people point and wag their finger at the direction of Wenger. He apparently didn’t believe the score line represented what he saw on the pitch and that we were not the better side over two legs. Thankfully, some Arsenal fans are gracious to admit they lost to the better side – even avoiding the tiresome excuse of ‘our reserves’. It was criminal we didn’t win at the Emirates (wasteful chances) but in hindsight, it set up the game for last nights demolition.

The fact that he isn’t magnanimous about it and a couple of their players decided to have a tiff out on the pitch speaks volumes. Talking of volumes, cracking atmosphere. When we turn it on, we turn it on.

The Gooners managed a chorus of “2-0 and you fucked it up”, at half-time, but even they didn't appear too confident of the gloat. A kind reminder that was rammed down their throats in the second half. But can’t say I really spent that much time looking their way during the course of the game. The noise emanating from each side (shock horror, even the West Stand) was [cliché]electric[/cliché]. One positive about having a compact ground is the fact you can drum up that 12th man. Although the continued rise in noise levels had a lot to do with the players lifting us up for once. This wasn't just about us the fans embracing it. The players finally tasted victory over the auld enemy. Robbie Keane, 101 goals into his Spurs career, finally being able to jig his way to the win.

You have to go back to the early 80’s for the last time we smacked them this hard. And in a season where we have been involved in several end to end classics, this pulsating masterpiece (calm down) makes it all the sweeter. If you’re gonna end a record/curse/jinx, then 5-1 is pretty much fucking a.

In previous encounters Spurs have dominated large parts of the game. But that's been a trademark death-march precession, as we always end up with nothing out of the game. So near yet so far. This time round, we sat back, and killed them with the counter-attack. Very Arsenalesque.

Strength, commitment, composure, confidence all evident. With the addition of sharp quick passing. Didn't matter how long they kept the ball for, when we won it back we made it count. It was effective and it was stunning.

The difference between last years disaster (being 2-0 up) was we didn't sit back and play long balls. We hassled and passed and kept the ball when we had to (one of KPB's strengths when coming on as a sub). We carved out chances, all mostly on target, 5 hitting the back of the net.

It was beautiful. It was wonderful. It was a fucking long time coming.

Thanks for finally bucking a trend. I've missed this feeling.

Que Sera Sera

Blog on it's way later once my hangover subsides.