Caption Competition: Robbie and Pascal

Pascal reacts a little bit too excitedly to Robbie's David Bentley impersonation

General Observations from the Spurs game

Mike Riley. Is atrocious too harsh of a description for this alleged Premier League referee? Personally, I think I'm being a little too kind. His pièce de résistance was a delightful moment of decision making that saw him hold his hands out to signal play to continue when a foul was committed against us in a rather tasty area of the field to allow for advantage. When advantage was more than evident, he blow his whistle. Staggering. Since when was stopping play, taking play back to where the foul was originally committed and taking a free kick from there more viable an option than allowing for advantage to proceed?

Riley is obsessed with his whistle. Minimal contact? Blow that whistle. Not a foul? Blow that whistle. Anything that is borderline controversial or requires a professional unbiased viewpoint and decision, the whistle stays firmly away from his mouth.

Zokora committed one or two fouls last night and yet inexplicably got away with it.

If you want a ref who does his best to stop the game from flowing and gives about 80 decisions out of 100 the wrong way and enjoys blowing his whistle for no apparent reason, then Mike is your man.

He belongs in a rave.

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David Bentley. Not too shabby again yesterday. Not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination. If there is one thing that will improve his performance by about 60% its the removal of the flicks and showboat attempts. David mate, stop trying to get onto Soccer AM. When a simple control of the ball and pass is the best option, use it.

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Dawson. Yes he made a boo-boo that led to Stoke's goal, but how great has he been in recent weeks? Once upon a time it always seemed like he could only play if he had Ledley King by his side. Even looked like he would be shifted out of the club at one particular point. Great to see him grow in stature and confidence. Still needs Woody and King to lend a helping hand with his concentration and composure. Apparently, Daws is inseparable from Ledley (they sit together on the team coach, share rooms, probably even swap mp3's). Bless. If Ledley doesn't ever make it back full time, then I hope he can continue to inspire Michael.

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Chimbonda and Palacios watched the game from a box. Rumours Fred was also hiding somewhere within the ground, looking on. However, according to Harry, the player failed to turn up yesterday. Not sure if this one has any legs in it. Wondering if we should have made a cheeky bid for that young lad Heskey who joined Villa and scored on his debut.

Monday Transfer Round-Up

Carlo Cudicini.

Free transfer. Unlikely he's moved from Chelseas's sub bench to sit on ours. Which means expect to see him play as our number one, whilst Gomes recovers from his slight injury concern, which means it will be up to the Brazilian to reclaim his place in the team. Competition for the keepers jersey. When was the last time that happened?


Chimbonda.

Ideal signing for the predicament we find ourselves in. Can hit the ground running, cover 3 different positions (yes, I know he ain't too hot at left-back) and ease defensive selection problems.

Personally, hate the fact that we've had to go back for him as I dislike the man and his lack of principles. But beggars can't be choosers. We are in a mess, so much so, that we've had to re-sign a player we sold 6 months ago, proving the point that he shouldn't have been sold in the first place. Even if he was a bit of a mercenary, we got rid of far too many players (in fact, three of them all to the North East). Hail the DoF system and our pre-season planning.


Jones.

If you listen to the Sunderland boss you'll notice he isn't dismissing Tottenham's approach for Jones. Well, he is, but not in the direct fashion we've heard in recent weeks. In a SSN interview he acknowledges a bid has been made, mentions how the club and the player are under pressure, and how Jones is just getting on with it. He mentions that Jones wants to stay. Sunderland have said the player isn't going nowhere, but it still appears ominous. Redknapp has also commented on this by saying that there has been dialogue between both chairmen, so it's more than obvious that if the price is right, Sunderland will be happy to accept. Probably.

Still don't believe he is worth a penny more than £8M (and even that's too much but it's the average in today's modern day market).


Robbie Keane.

I kid you not. Harry is telling everyone how much he rates the player. It's common knowledge that Liverpool have only paid as around £6M or so thus far for his summer transfer to Anfield. Someone should point out that Keane and Defoe never made a decent partnership.


Berbatov.

Worth a cheeky bid?

Chimbonda, just the man for a relegation scrap

Sky Sports News understands that Pascal Chimbonda is having a medical at Spurs on Monday.

That's right, Chimbonda is on his way back to the Lane.

Pascal 'Kevin Keegan has approached me and they’ve offered me more money. I am definitely leaving Spurs. It’s all about the money. I don’t care about the final, I don’t care about the cup ' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'storms down the tunnel at Wembley' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'I would love to play for Arsenal' Chimbonda.

Pascal 'hands in transfer request to Wigan after the final whistle' Chimbonda.



£20M worth of right-backs at the Lane if this happens.

Gunter. Young and needs development. Talented, but we can't expect him to make the position his own just yet.
Hutton. Still injured. If you believe the whispers, he'll be off in the summer.
Corluka. A right-back, but required more as a centre-back thanks to King's constant trouble with fitness. Bringing in an experienced RB will allow him to play as a CB.

So what of Pascal? Ignoring his indiscretions as a person, can the logic of having him in a Spurs side out-weigh the mockery of a transfer this is, based on the fact he was sold not that long ago?

He can play left-back and he can play at centre-back too. Arguably better at CB (defensively) where he appears to be far more disciplined than at RB. He does possess decent attributes. Determination is there when he's on-form and as an attacking forward he is more than adequate, but he does suffer from lapses of laziness and concentration and has (in the past) undermined the likes of Lennon when playing behind him thanks to his own agenda when pushing forward (i.e. failing to cover and support the right-winger).

Zokora is the one tagged with having no footballing brain. Pascal's lack of positional sense is a deterrent to him being a reliable full-back 100% of the time (not that anyone is) as he sometimes plays for himself more than he plays for the team. Which is what I meant by undermining Lennon and having his own agenda. He has more freedom at RB, therefore, he goes on far too many walkabouts. Stick him at LB or CB, and he concentrates more because naturally, he is out of his comfort zone - but the fact he plays well when called upon proves he DOES have something of a footballing brain and the concentration and discipline to go with it.

However, part of me would consider that the reason for the Lennon/Chimbonda partnership not working was more to do with Lennon than it was Pascal. It's something up for debate.

As for the transfer itself, it's yet another laughable example of how desperate we are. No news on the improved offer for Jones at Sunderland. I'm scared to even listen out for information on that one. Perfect foil or not, if he is signed we'll be guilty of over-spending again. Desperate desperate times.

£3M is the reported price for Pascal. As much as I dislike the principle of this transfer (it's a massive risk) and dislike the man himself, it might just work as long as Harry knows what to do with him and re-ignites that fiery passion we did happen to witness on a number of occasions. We need that in every game, and none of the blasé drifting.

His attitude will remain questionable because of his history, but he isn't guilty of anything just yet.

We are in a relegation scrap, we need the cover. He can hit the ground running. If he shows no immediate impact and fails to do a job for us, then don't fret. He'll pull out that transfer request away to Liverpool on the final day of the season and begone.....

.....let's pray we are not gone.

SSN (Spooky Sports News) Morning Report

So, footballer Pascal Chimbonda has declared he is on his way to Newcastle because…well, let him tell you himself:

“Kevin Keegan has approached me and they’ve offered me more money. I am definitely leaving Spurs. It’s all about the money. I don’t care about the final, I don’t care about the cup.”

What a prick. For the record, you’ve had about two decent games this season. Liability better spent lazing around in the Newcastle defence rather than ours. Not exactly surprising he is moving on so quickly. He shafted Wigan. He was always going to shaft us. Although it's far more likely that he is going because we (Ramos) doesn't rate him. Hence the Hutton chasing and the fact that we haven't denied he wont be sold.

Although, as a disclamier, maybe the quotes have been made up. It is, after all, The Sun who run the story.

Classy

Robbo has come out all guns blazing:

(From Sky Sports News)


"It's not exactly a fall-out. I was disappointed to be left out - like any professional would be - but I'm certainly not angry at being dropped by the team if you like. Every professional player gets phases like that in their career. If the manager decides I'm not performing and I'm not up the standard he wants at the time then he picks the team and I can't argue with that. I was disappointed with the way the situation was handled let's say. I saw reports yesterday saying I've put in a transfer request, I've never put in a transfer request."

"Definitely not. However, any professional worth their salt wants to play. If I don't play between now and the summer I've got a decision to make. If the club turn around to me and say I've got no future at the club then that's a whole different situation. As of yet that's not the situation.

The press and media seem to be having a lot of fun and games at my expense recently and I seem to be reading stuff day in, day out. The truth of the matter is I'm getting my head down and working as hard as I possibly can to get my place back. I've taken a lot of criticism over the last 12 months. I think it's affected me. I think it's unfair. At times my confidence has dipped, but I'm rebuilding it again."


At least he has admitted he has been affected by it all (self-inflicted though Robbo mate), all though less of the ‘unfair’ and more of the 'rebuilding' should be the way forward for him. Time will tell if Ramos has dropped Robinson so that the player can prove his true worth to the team by fighting back into first team selection and recapturing his past form. Or if he has simply paved the way for a transfer. Spurs will buy a keeper in the summer for sure, with Cerny on his way home when his loan finishes. Whether Robinson will be number one or not down the player. He wont stay at the club if he is number two, and will be flushed faster than your first dump in the morning.

Then we have Woodgate. The Darren Anderton of the defensive world. Hardly ever fit (although unfair to say he hasn't done ok this season). So quality when he is fit, but….but always a risk of a break down. Are we aiming to bid for as many 'not sure I want him' players as possible? First the one dimensional Downing and now a crock. With King back in the team and Dawson finding his form because King is back in the team, the last thing we want (if King gets injured) is a player who probably won’t be fit at any given time. Although I shouldn’t be that scared of this going through, as the likelihood of Wodogate failing his medical is very probable. Surely the world pool of available players is massive. Is Comolli scouting via the BBC’s squad selector? Jesus wept.

Its the 25th January. There's not that long to go before the transfer window shuts.

Still no central defender.
Still no right-back.
Still no defensive midfielder.
Still no creative midfielder.


Although potentially:


Still no central defender. Woodgate.
Still no right-back. Hutton.
Still no defensive midfielder. Tiago.
Still no creative midfielder. Jenas (to blossom under Ramos).

Is this the way forward?

I'll ask again in a month.