Back to Reality.......3 points at Blackburn please

I'm excited, are you excited? Premier League football is back and we don't have to wait as long as others thanks to Saturdays 12:45 kick-off. I'll be tucking into my breakfast around that time. Mug of tea in one hand and face stuffed with egg, bacon and toast. The good life. Andy Gray commentating would complete me.

I don't miss Blackburn away. Always found myself travelling up there by car, which as some of you may know is a hideously long journey. Especially for a 0-0. I'm a Sky Sports man tomorrow (it's part of the contract when selling your soul to the devil).

Palacios a main concern for the away trip, jet-lag being the likely reason if he's not present in the starting line-up. He played a part in Honduras 3-1 win over Mexico that saw the end of Sven. No team news just yet, so I can't confirm whether England International Darren Ashley Bent will be fit and available for selection.

Win this and any lingering concerns of relegation will be banished. I'll be shaking my booty in celebration. 41 points is safety territory. My hips don't lie. We can probably start to salivate at the possibility of a 7th spot finish. We've picked up points some cheeky points when not expected to do so. All I'm requesting from Harry and the players is to not lose any points where we are expected to pick them up. It's a test. One that needs passing.

Elsewhere, congratulations to Aaron Lennon for claiming the PFA player of the month award. Well deserved. Even if some of the lazy journalists who prioritise completing a match report in time for a deadline and base their analysis on generalisations and sound bites (rather than actually watching the game) don't quite rate his rate of improvement. At international level at least. I read one or two references to 'end-product' or lack of. Really? Sure, he has a habit of fizzing the ball when on occasions cutting back and playing it 'inside' would be preferable. But the boy done good against the Ukraine. When his team-mates decided to give him the ball. Criticism was best left for the ones who deserved it. Johnson and Cole come to mind.

Be afraid...be very afraid

Don't usually talk about other clubs, but everyone has an opinion on Newcastle United. Bit of a gutless move this by Shearer. An exercise in inflating ones ego. If Newcastle stay up, he'll be a hero and might well walk away from it (he's claiming he is there for 8 games only) as the inspired legend of the club saving them from the hellmouth of Championship football. If they do go down it wont be because of him. He'll have done his best and at least galvanised the crowd in the short term.

The Newcastle board should have appointed someone far earlier or Shearer should have stepped up after JK went into hospital. Or would that have meant far too many games for Shearer and the possibility of actually being responsible if his team were relegated?

Imagine Shearer on MotD next season having 'saved' Newcastle from the drop? The smugness will be unbearable. He'll be able to give us insight on other managers experiencing problems at their clubs, because 'he's been in the dressing room from the perspective of first team coach'.

That's why our priority this season should simply be this: Thrash Newcastle United at the Lane and save our Match of the Day as a consequence.

Ledley will always be our King

I'm a bit bored at the moment. There's a slight lull in stories worthy of commentary. Other than maybe the news that Ledley King could play in the remaining 10 fixtures for Spurs. According to our oracle of football, Harry Redknapp. This following on from the recent lack of contract talks that won't be taking place just yet between club and player.

King (with Spurs no longer having midweek games to concern themselves with) can now look forward to Ledders being available once per week with plenty of recovery time in-between. As long as the old knee doesn't give way. Is he prolonging the inevitable? Is he sustaining long term permanent damage to his knees every time he plays for us? How long will he persist with this? Equally important to ask whether Spurs will have to make a decision on King's future based on his availability. You can't build a defence around a part-time player. But when the player is this good, do you allow for a concession? Heart says yes. So does the head, but more so the heart.

As for the potential of a new contract, that really depends on whether this is it for the rest of his career. This being 'play when injected with magic' but only half the time and never twice in a week. It's sad. A fully fit Ledley King would be a fully fledged England international. And probably a Man Utd player. But theres no doubt he'd be a defender at the top of his game with countless clubs courting him - in a world with no knee trouble. He's still capable of exceptional performances for us - but still in a part-time capacity. Which is why we are probably not reading a Daniel Levy club announcement justifying a £25M transfer of King to Old Trafford.

What we have instead is a loyal committed servant who gets wrapped up in cotton wool more often than running out in Lilywhite. As long as he is not aggravating his knee problems with the injections and continuing to play professional football then I'm happy to have him at the club and the club should make sure he remains there till he hangs his boots up. I hope there is not a single ounce of truth that doctors advised him to quit or risk serious damage.

Also, I'm not suggesting Ledley is still with us only because of his injury plight. The bloke is no Sol Campbell. Ledley is honest and loves the club. He wants to be at White Hart Lane and in the past possibly could have flirted with a Champions League club if he wanted to. But if he was 110%, he'd be tested, along with the chairman. That's a sure thing. But he'd never walk the way Judas did. Personally hope he does start the big big away games we have at Villa, Everton, Man Utd and Liverpool. Dawson is a fine understudy to have on current form. I'm still staggered by the fact that King never trains.

Elsewhere, there was a perfect example of printed bullshit in the Sunday papers that had David Bentley linked with a move to Aston Villa. He would 'relish the move' apparently. No actual quote or suggestion that any part of the article was based on fact or actual player/club opinion. The usual standard of reporting from the weekend tabloids.

Bentley has been nothing short of disastrous since signing for us. No form at all. Not even 5% of what he showed at Blackburn. He has struggled monumentally to fit in and perform consistently. Yes, he is over-rated. He isn't the next David Beckham. He obviously believes he is far better than he is and therefore attempts to play like he's word class from distorted memories and what he thinks people expect to see of a superstar rather than just play a simple and productive game. Such is the power of confidence (and the decimation of it) that he can't even achieve the basics that came easy to him prior to his move.

As much maligned as he is and regardless of whether he is or isn't worth £15M or so, he does have ability and he can do a job for us. Personal problems aside, he has to stop feeling sorry for himself. The groans and frustrations from home fans will be replaced with cheers and applause the moment he gets stuck in and doesn't try so damn hard to be something he is not.

Bentley is a good player. Not a great one. It's not lost on us that he 'loves the club' (he does, he said so) and wants to be successful at Spurs. He seems genuine enough, but it's inconsequential to what's produced on the pitch if his head is in the clouds. If he wants to succeed he has to believe it.

One bright thing the arrival of Bentley has achieved is the resurgence of Lennon's form. Having both players on top form would mean competitiveness within the squad, inspiring players to excel. Something we've lacked in abundance so often in the past. Not that Aaron needs to look over his shoulders at the moment.

Respect Sol Campbell? Thanks, but no thanks

I said I would not refer back to this, but it seems that Sol Campbell and his chums in the media won't let go, so here we are again. It's a reflex of mine to react like this even when I know in my heart of hearts that my time is better spent drinking from a bottle of rum and grooming my Ricky Villa beard. But the tabloids are at it again.

The Daily Mirror yesterday run a story entitled 'Why Tottenham Fans should respect Sol Campbell as a true servant to football'.

The story initially concentrates on promoting a campaign he has set up (Kids Go Live) which aims to get children aged from seven to eleven to experience more live sport (football, hockey, horse riding - are examples listed). Its a campaign which has government backing and is personally funded by the player. Good luck to him.

But rather than just concentrate on the campaign itself, the author of the piece (John Cross) can't quite decide what the article should focus on. He starts digging his hole with some rather oh so obvious Solesque friendly statements which turn the article into yet another pro-Campbell is Great propaganda piece that paints the player as a humble, quiet man who is the paradox of modern day PR obsessed footballers. Bit like Paul Scholes. Although he's ginger and therefore not newsworthy.

The irony is of course laughable. Campbell and his PR machine are masters of the subtle touch.

The piece includes some info about what he likes (photography) and his love of films and market stalls and a couple of iconic name drops (Spike Lee and Denzel Washington). All wishy washy soundbites that contain not an iota of insight. It's like reading a textbook profile from a online dating website. But it serves its purpose in promoting Campbell.

He still harbours a desire to play abroad and live a different culture and venture into management after he's retired from kicking a ball about. Apparently this makes him 'a bit different' because he isn't falling out of a club smashed out of his head. He is then compared with Graeme Le Saux and that players who don't have a WAG and a Bentley are singled out for abuse by fans.

I work with a couple of pretentious people who read broadsheets. They get singled out (I just did it by calling them pretentious), in the same way they single out The Sun readers in the office. Welcome to Planet Earth and the bullyboy culture. Maybe Le Saux was singled out because he was a git regardless of his reading material?

Football might be this big bad brash heterosexual its a mans man game, but we all know different. It's not the 70's and 80's anymore. We just conform to a stereotype and just about get away with it. It's easier to box things up in black and white (excuse the terrible pun). Football stands are not quite an intellectual forum of discussion and discourse, are they? Even if they do manage to birth some splendid moments of comic genius in the way of non-offensive chants and banners. I guess that stereotype for many of us is acting the caveman when in fact we all take a cheeky look at a broadsheet from time to time.

Of course, there is still an element that is stuck in the past and take themselves far too seriously, with no grasp of what is right and wrong.

The article obviously does the unsurprising thing of dragging back the 'racist and homophobic' story that caused such a stir in the aftermath of the chanting that took place at the Pompey v Spurs game that led to several mug shots of Spurs fans appearing on the Most Wanted list.

Which is the reason for my reflex and this blog article.

This (the racist and homophobic chanting), according to Cross, is punishment for leaving Spurs on a Bosman. We are then given some trivia about his England career and that just because Campbell isn't spotted with a Page 3 bird doesn't mean he should be subjected to mindless chanting.

'Family man' Campbell should not be singled out for this type of abuse. And I agree. But lets not lose sight of the facts. A minority sang those chants. The majority don't include racism and homophobic chanting when telling Campbell what they think of him.

The article then mentions one or two other high profile players as examples of professionals who are also subjected to similar chants. Not that you will ever hear any of the players complain about it in casual newspaper articles or proceed to bang on about it for years and years. Cross highlights an example of an Arsenal fan calling a Fulham player a 'f**king poof'', yet the article still manages to end with a reference to Tottenham fans. But then the whole article is an exercise in the Campbell is good, Spurs fans are bad agenda.

You can read the piece in it's entirety here and make your own mind up. Cross ends it with the following: "Boo him, hate him, whatever. But don't abuse him".

Ok. Thanks for the permission and clarification. Can I quote you next time Spurs play Pompey? Try taking the average football supporter aside and define what constitutes the difference in hate and abuse when being actively vocal at a football match.

I don't condone racism or homophonic chanting. The Lunacy song that caused so much unwanted publicity was distasteful, but a court of law did not deem it either racist or homophonic. Possibly because its so ambiguous and impossible to prove one way or another. The Spurs fans arrested and charged were done so (in the end) for singing more simple and crude chants. The type that police and stewards and players and the media have not deemed newsworthy in the past. Although if the intent is of a certain over the top and vindictive nature, then you deserve to get done. Whether they would have got done if the player had not made an official complaint is altogether another thing.

Not suggesting by the way that the Lunacy song is now ok to sing. It isn't. Spurs and the police act on it if they witness anyone stupid enough to burst into song. But the song is not what its made out to be by Campbell and some quarters of the media. I'm referring to the insulting and ridiculous suggestion that Spurs fans are aware of racist connotations relating to having black people from trees in 'racist America' a number of years ago. And that we are singling out the player because he is black and that's the reason we hate him.

<--- Insert tumbleweed here --->

Bullshit. Regardless, a way for us to avoid these accusations being made in the first place is to not sing the song full stop. Hum it. Don't sing it.

As a simple note to Cross and Campbell, even though I think Spurs fans should move on and forget about him, the majority won't because they know that the booing and hatred still gets to Campbell on the pitch and affects his game. And for that reason, it's justified to boo and scream non-racist and non-homophobic chants in his direction.

The Pièce de résistance however is when Cross calls him a footballer with a conscience. Comedy gold right there from our Mirror journo.

All I see is a former Spurs youth player and first team captain, Mr Tottenham Hotspur (that's the name he gave himself) who couldn't keep his mouth shut about wanting to stay at the club and wanting to sign a new contract because he loved the club so much. A player who loved the club so much he left on a free transfer screwing us out of millions and then walked up the Seven Sisters and joined Arsenal, picking up a nice signing on bonus and then genuinely expecting Spurs fans to forgive and forget.

Do I sound bitter? Maybe I do. But I'm just sticking to the timeline and facts. Campbell would have still been hated if he had joined Arsenal but not as bad had he left like Carrick did for a massive fee and without the lies and deception that came before his departure. I say 'not as bad' but you know what I mean.

There is no integrity to be found in his soul, and it doesn't matter how many times he attempts to prove otherwise via the tabloids.

Remember his first return to WHL after he joined Arsenal? Remember the level of noise aimed at him every time he went near the ball? No homophobia or racism. Just 30,000 or so Spurs fans screaming hatred. It rattled him. However his response post-match was to call Spurs fans racist and thus that was the sole reason why he was being booed.

"What did I do?" has been the look on his face since his move away from N17. He honestly believes he has done nothing wrong.

As for Spurs fans being racist? No wonder Ledley King hardly ever plays for us. And that Lennon, we hate him too, lucky he can run so fast. And as for Jenas, it's not because he's so bloody inconsistent that we scream out expletives when he loses the ball or misplaces a pass - its because of the colour of his skin. Exfoliate damn it Jermaine, exfoliate!

<--- insert family of tumbleweed here --->

Do one Campbell. You too Cross.

Campbell is an absolute melter of the highest order and as much as Spurs fans bring it on themselves for living in the past and singing songs about him, he needs to stand tall and look the other way and just ignore it instead of constantly attempting to justify why we are the guilty ones.

Sticks and stones.

I should probably follow my own advice and look the other way too next time a red top runs a similar non-event article.

Why should Tottenham Fans respect Sol Campbell as a true servant to football? Don't ask the Daily Mirror. They don't quite have the answer.

Time to terminate Darren Bent

Yesterday I read some quotes from Darren Bent about how Harry should play his strongest side possible in the UEFA Cup and that the benefit to the team would be to aim to carry the (hopefully) winning momentum into the next league game. That’s all well and good Dazza, but we've already had plenty of opportunity to carry forward the momentum in important league games and have got nowhere, so there’s no logic to the suggestion, based on the inconsistency of our players and their failure to put a decent run together. We never win when we should be forcing the issue.

Bent has been very vocal in the past week or so and according to Setanta Sports is back at it again today in what looks like a reprise of his comments from last week:


“I’ve got a point to prove in that I want to show the gaffer what I can do and I want to be starting games. At the same time, I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove because I’ve scored goals this season. If I hadn’t done then I would – but I’m the top goal scorer at this football club so I feel like I can just go out there and relax. I don’t feel the pressure at all, I just go out there and enjoy it” - Darren Bent (allegedly)


For the time being I’m going to assume this is a direct quote from the mouth of Darren Bent and not a representative or an overly creative and bored journalist mish-mashing a mis-quote alphabet soup together. Until the player states he has been misquoted I’m going to assume the above quote is word-for-word what Darren believes and stated.

So, let’s break down his statement of intent.

Dazza has a point to prove to the gaffer, but hold onto ya hats, no he doesn’t because he’s scored a few goals this season and if he hadn’t he would have a point to prove which is what he said in the first place regardless of scoring those goals but he’s top goal scorer at Spurs so he can contradict himself as many times as he wishes.

That’s set that straight then.

And because he’s top 'club' goal scorer (worth mentioning again) he can take the field of play and relax. That’s right, Dazza feels no pressure at all. Because he has nothing to prove. It’s all just a walk in the park for the £15M poacher. He can take the field and chill out because that's just the type of player he is.

WALOB.

Firstly someone needs to take him aside and explain to him that we are in a relegation scrap. Secondly, he needs to watch extended highlights of his apologetic on the field mannerisms and rabbit in the headlights stature, all teary eyed and scared as glances motionless in the box holding onto his comfort blanket waiting for a ball to hit his shin and go in.

So you go out there and enjoy it do you Darren? Enjoy what exactly? The ambience of the stadium? The weather? Bit of fresh air and half time cup of tea? The melodic chants of the Park Lane? You’re not meant to enjoy it. There is nothing enjoyable about our dismal form and lack of consistent cutting edge as a team from one game to the next (consolation goals do not count). Not that you are to blame for it, but as an individual, you're not impressing anyone.

We are the ones who are meant to be enjoying it and when you see us doing so you can then take a slice of satisfaction from it. I don’t believe for a second that you’re half as confident as you’re making out to be, mouthing off to the press every other day. So unless you are pulling some kind of Joaquin Phoenix method acting publicity stunt and you're not really a complete messy paradox of a player you need to be doing more on the the pitch and less of the talking off it to prove your worth.

I don’t care about your goal ratio. I don't care that you are the top scorer at Spurs. It's not enough to think that minimal effort is satisfactory because minimal effort equates to 14 goals. I want to see more effort and more willingness. I want to see you develop your game. I want to see you adapt to the formation and tactics of the team. I want to see you score more goals.

But no. That's too much for you isn't it? We don't ever see any of that extra effort. All I ever see from you is ah-da-da-dah like this in the background holding your head missing a sitter. What the f*ck is it with you? What don’t you understand? You got any f*cking idea? It’s f*cking counter-productive having somebody that does nothing in front of the midfield during a game? Give me a f*cking answer! What don’t you get about your lack of effort?

Ohhhhhh, gooooood for you, you scored a couple of goals up at Bolton. I hope it was f*cking good, because it’s useless now, isn’t it?

F*cks sake man, you’re amateur. Harry, you got f*cking something to say to this dud other than comparing him to your wife? No? Well somebody should be f*cking watching and keeping an eye on him.

He doesn’t give a f*ck about what is going on around him. I’m trying to support the team here and I am going “What the f*ck does Darren Bent do exactly? What is he doing here?” Do you understand my mind is not on the game when you're out on the pitch?

Stay the f*ck away from the media. For f*cks sake.

You are trashing my club.

You mouth off one more f*cking time and I ain't going back to the Spurs Shop and spending money on merchandise if you're still playing shit. I'm f*cking serious. You're a nice guy. You're a nice guy, but that don't f*cking cut it when you're f*cking around like this on the pitch and doing nothing much and then giving it the big billy bollocks in the press.

Seriously, you and me, we’re f*cking down, professionally.

Let There Be Love

And there I was thinking it’s been a slow week for news.

Noel Gallagher has launched an amazing rant against Tottenham Hotspur (amazing and rant are not my words, but the words the press are going with. I'd prefer to describe the rant as acquiesce):

"I've told him (his son) he can support his local team down here if that's what he wants - but he can't support Man Utd or Tottenham. I have an irrational loathing of Spurs, their fans and everything about that club"

Really? Do you? You and half the country you absolute melter.

So you've banned your 17 month old son from ever following the club? Cognisant already at such a young age? What a perceptive young lad you’ve got there. How about giving our kid a crayon and some paper and get him to pen the next Oasis album. Just get him to rhyme as many words as possible with shine and you can’t go wrong.

If any cockney Darth Vaders out there want to bring their Oasis LP's and CD's to the next Tottenham home game please do. Martin Chivers will be burning them in the centre circle.

Tim Sherwood? Does anyone care?

Robbie Keane has been back five minutes and he’s already made an impact. Such is the lack of leadership in our squad (and with Ledley King never fit) Harry has opted to make our returning son club captain. No doubt he will point, look up at the sky, wave his arms, shake his fist and shout at everything and anything including the slackers in the side. Whether any of them bother looking up to take note of our Robbie is altogether another thing. Because, you know. The players don’t care, right? What, you haven't heard? Have you not caught up on your weekly reminder about the lack of caring thing? Slacker. Get that Daily Mail delivered to your home, damn it!

It concerns me that we have to listen to people employed by the club, slag the club off. We have Tottenham forums and the tabloid columnists for that sort of lark. Even if the club deserves to be slagged off or be criticised, we do not need to have the main focus of sound-bites coming from manager and coaching staff (yes, I know…..Harry loves to talk, the irony burns).

I’ve never liked Tim Sherwood, and still don’t have much time for him. I’m not sure I understand the logic behind his employment as a part-time coach with us. How anyone can be part-time in football is beyond me considering it’s not exactly the most challenging profession with regards to hours spent in a working day compared to people who stand on their feet for 8 hours or sit in a office staring at a screen falling into a coma.

Whatever it is Sherwood does at the club as a coach is obviously not working, so I almost ignored reading his latest rant. I sucked in the vomit and went ahead with it anyway. What he says is common knowledge to anyone who watches Spurs. Players don’t care enough. You can’t disagree with it. We can see it for ourselves week to week. He cites that we are capable of defeating Arsenal on our day but fail to grind out results when it’s equally important (but not as glamorous as a NLD). Says the reason we looked at Craig Bellamy was because of his attitude towards winning. Keane does have a similar work ethic. So it does make sense to make him captain when our other choice is Jenas (Woodgate would have been my preference).

Finding myself in agreement with his viewpoint (even though its one shared by anyone following Spurs) still makes me ashamed considering he has spent the past few years slating us at every opportunity on TalkSport radio (he’s neither knowledgeable or insightful….so perfect match). Very bitter man. And I'm still not sure what he has to offer us exactly. If anyone knows what he does at Spurs, please let me know. The bloke has no experience as a coach, was not a great midfielder (should our players be inspired by his presence?) and is unprofessional (talks to the press far too much).

So, to reiterate, it's now a common occurrence to slag off our players and highlight their faults, week in week out, publicly. And it's not working as the results are not changing and the players are still not giving it 110%. All it serves is to pass the blame so everyone is in no doubt who should be blamed (at least from the perspective of the one doing the passing).

So how about working all this out behind closed doors rather than giving the red tops more headlines? Its tiresome stuff to see the same complaints repeated over and over again and yet no progress made. The reason we have managers and coaches is to man-manage and coach.

I expect Tim will be happy regardless. If Tottenham sink, he’ll go back to radio full-time and possibly publish his memoirs on the Titanic travesty Tottenham was in season 2009.

Spurs: The Reason they got Relegated by Tim Sherwood

Future bestseller on Green Street that.

Talking of travesty….Darren Bent. No, I’m joking. Look at his record.

It’s something like 14 goals in 30 games from 18 starts. He scored 8 goals last year as a sub. I might be one or two goals off (as I’m attempting to recall from memory) but still, that’s not too shabby, is it? On paper at least. So why is he much maligned? Well, personally, he doesn’t seem to play well when paired up front with another forward and he can go long periods (several games) without doing much in-game in the way of any thing productive on the eye. In a recent match he must of touched the ball 5 times in 45 minutes.

Which is why we tend to remember his misses more so than his performance and application. In a course of a game, he simply doesn’t seem to be involved us much as a Defoe or Keane or Pav. His Bolton cameo was a good one. Do that every week and we’ll go back to rating him much like we did earlier in the season. Fickle bunch we are. If things don’t work out, we can always flog him to Sunderland come the summer. Best moment of the window came after it actually closed from Ricky Sbragia who ‘tapped up’ Bent (yes, he did, according to Sbragia himself who accused Harry of the exact same thing in relation to us being linked with Jones) when he stated ‘we are interested’.

Er, Ricky…..if you’re gonna tap up a player you need to make sure you time it so that you actually stand a chance of signing the player within the window. Doesn’t actually have much of an affect after it.

Juande the press will get it right

From the official Spurs site, via JuandeRamos.com, in response to several media outlets running stories suggesting Ramos was shaking his fist furiously in the direction of Levy, and then pointing and saying 'IT WAS YOUR FAULT'. This is Juandes response to the coverage:


"I understand that my comments regarding the sale of Keane and Berbatov have been misrepresented in the UK press. For the record Daniel Levy did not sell these players to make money. They were sold for footballing reasons. The players wanted to change teams because they had the opportunity to play in the Champions League. During my time at Tottenham I always received support from the Chairman regarding sporting decisions to make Spurs an even greater team: I maintain an excellent relationship with him and I am convinced that he is doing everything he can to lead Spurs to a successful future."


Lost in translation perhaps? Whether it's the tabloid newspapers or the broadsheets, it seems its quite acceptable to take a quote, slap a bit of make-up on it, and push it out to walk the streets where it gets picked up for cheap thrills.

I don't know any journalists, apart from one chap (a Gillingham fan) who covers football for a non-national (he has yet to be corrupted by the dark side) so I guess the editorial process allows for mistakes like this because cheap thrills will always be in demand.

Reminds me of one particular TV channel that ran a story about a Barcelona player, and that said player was in talks with Spurs, only to then remove it from their screens and their site and never mention it again, all in a rather zany 10 minutes.

Then again, we can hardly trust anyone in football either. It's not like they don't lie.

Rock. Hard place.

Payment plan for Palacios?

According to Wigan boss Steve Bruce, the size of the fee has been agreed between Spurs and the Latics for holding midfielder Wilson Palacios. But as far as the payment is concerned, Bruce has stated that our dear esteemed chairman wants to pay if over something like 55 years.

Obviously a slight exaggeration. It's probably more like 48 years.

Honestly Daniel. Look for those extra pennies behind the sofa and if need be, smash that piggy bank you've got in your office and try and be a little more reasonable with the offer. Or maybe sell the Opus for a discounted price of £3,500 (bargin!).

Have we run out of those £15M reserve transfer buckets?

Still on the Palacios story, loving the piece in the Daily Mail about how Wilson will reject Spurs and stay at Wigan till the end of the season. That's not the bit I smiled at. The part that says Wigan are reluctant to do business with Spurs - much like Sunderland, West Ham, Pompey and Boro having been 'aggrieved' at the way we have gone about our business.

So let's take a look at how we've gone about it.

Who revealed to the media that a bid had been made for Palacios? Wigan.
Who revealed to the media that bids had been made for Bellamy? West Ham.
Who revealed to the media that a bid had been made for Jones? Sunderland.

As for Downing. All Redknapp did (I'm not too critical of him in this case) was answer a direct question from a journalist. Not exactly with the style of a Rafa or Sir Alex either. After that point, it's Boro who did all the 'talking' via the media.

In fact, I see no 'scatter gun' approach in the way we have gone about our (lack of) business this Jan window. We made enquiries, made bids and that is it. If clubs then want to make comments after the fact, that's their prerogative.

For now, all we can do is sit back and wait for an official word from the clubs in question. Then let the media tell everyone like they knew all along.

Mourinho'ed

Jenas to Inter? Scoff.

Apparently his admiration for Bale and JJ dates back six months when the Daily Telegraph asked him to take part in their Fantasy Football league. He picked the both of them.

Once more, I applaud the nations tabloids, broadsheets and Sky Sports News for re-inventing old news. Does nobody confirm quotes and comments drafted up for print? Or perhaps it's the old nudge nudge wink wink, '......print this and I'll buy you a pint' favour journos do for football agents to help add weight to something that doesn't quite exist.

Jose hinted that the 'quotes' have resurfaced because someone might just be interested in one of his players. I'd prefer not to do the maths on this with regards to where the story got it's re-birth from. You know. Because of the Adriano rumours.

At least it gave us all something to write about, debating how Jenas must be more than decent if the Special One wants him in his side and that us fans are blinded by our lack of true in-game knowledge and know-how that leaves us without sight of just how vital JJ is to the midfield. Riiiiiiight.

Someone needs to follow-up and ask Jose if he's transferred JJ and Bale out of his team since July and who he's replaced them with? Might be a story in there for the red tops.

Allegedly

I'm sure we'll know in time, but there are rumours suggesting that the 11 Tottenham fans charged for you-know-what against Sol Campbell have been pretty much stitched up. Not to go over old ground (for the millionth time) I have no gripes about people being prosecuted for racist chanting or homophobic chanting (although this one is a bugbear for many people who frequent football games - as discussed in earlier posts).

Apparently, of the 11 fans arrested, only 2 have been charged with singing the 'Lunacy' song which has been deemed offensive by the Police and media via Campbell (bite me yeah). The remaining 9 fans (three of which are juveniles ) have been charged with singing one of the following songs:

You can stick Sol Campbell up your arse, Singing we've got Ledley at the back

or

Gay Boy, Gay Boy

Again, I have to stress, this post is simply about this rumour and I'm not suggesting it's fact and will be interested to see what the charges amount to once the guilty appear in court. The 'gay boy' chant is crude but is hardly worth prosecuting people for. Seriously, its ridiculous. Songs about gassing the Jews (can we retrospectively bring charges against thousands of Chelsea and West Ham fans dating back to the 1970's?) and Harold Shipman, Munich, Ronaldo dying in the tunnel and a ton more with homophobic connotations relating to several Prem players sang by most clubs that never appear to fathom complaints from the targeted footballers are completely ignored because as wrong as they are, they are right in the footballing stadia arena (although that appears to be changing. No more common mans muck for us).

Apparently the following is from an e-mail sent by Spurs to a fan. Again, pinch of salt, as it's just an extract, but if you remember the Trust meeting from a few weeks back, Spurs did make it clear that they did not think the charges against the Spurs fans were fair.

We do not believe our fans to be guilty of racism and believe that the media organisations that originally carried the story under that misapprehension have now amended their copy. We have actively promoted our stance that the song is not racist within the media.

If anyone has e-mailed the club, feel free to share the response.

Christ only knows how volatile and intense the atmosphere will be on Sunday. Personally, 3 points and a good performance is all I care about. We need to rise above it, but you get the feeling the police and stewards will be very active and fans (both sets) will exchange colourful words - but nothing more than the usual for a game that includes former players/managers up against the club they left.

Campbell, will no doubt have unbelievable abuse (I'm talking about the level of noise) aimed at him. I can guess already the four letter word on everyone's lips (it's neither racist or homophobic, well, not until Campbell complains and the Daily Mail run the story).

It's 'Redknapp'...spelt....H...O...U...D...I...N...I

So, according to Harry Redknapp, he’s a better coach than O’Neill and Sir Alex. Been in the business for 28 years, so he must be right, right? According to the News of the World all this. But how relevant is it? All managers/coaches get interviewed, and most of the time they mouth off various sound-bites, all in the aid of kidology or egotism. Hoping that this particular masterful pat on his own back was an attempt to deflect attention away from his players. Even though he was gladly attracting attention to them when slating them for yet another poor display. You keeping up with this?

Pinch of salt should always accompany a Redknapp quote or interview. Does he love the sound of his own voice? Yes. Does he love talking to the media? Yes. He’ll even phone them up now and again and give them an exclusive. Does it all serve a purpose? Yes. But that purpose is dependent on how much (or little) you trust his agenda.

He’s in it for himself, that, there is no doubt. But then most are – more so modern day players. He also knows how to keep the press sweet, which explains the non-stop media assault. But what he does best does have to do with his responsibilities as coach.

He plays the blame game to a tee, banging on about how the squad he inherited is unbalanced and lacking in depth and how the whole universe is conspiring against him as he attempts the impossible with bare bones Tottenham.

Ferguson is the master of kidology. Redknappology is altogether a different thing. Our ‘arry manages to engineer and bend reality to aid his untouchable public persona. Immunity to criticism is a wonderful tool to possess. Harry Houdini. You know him right? He failed to oversee the escape from relegation for Southampton.

The Daily Mail (stop laughing) who seem to always have some kind of insider story or exclusive that never quite pans out to be true (can you believe?) have one such story today about how Harry launched a tirade of abuse at the Spurs players after the Wigan game.

Transcript?


'I don't think you love the ******* game’
'I think you ******* are here for the money, I don't think you give a ****. You, do you give a ****?'
'You? You're the ******* worst of the lot!'


I’m not suggesting for a second this never happened, because it’s the exact type of thing you would hope a manager tells the players after a defeat like the one at Wigan. But if the transcript is word for word correct, then my money is on a cheeky little chappie by the name of Harry calling it in, because once more all eyes are on the Spurs players as the ones who should be blamed. And again, to a degree, they should be responsible. But just how far will this subtle finger pointing go? How far will Harry allow it to go?

You can see it now. Spurs get relegated and it’s all down to those pesky uninterested Spurs players. Harry Houdini walks away, chains left behind for someone else to pick up and tie up the next clueless mug.

Has Defoe signed yet?

Can't Spurs ever just sign a player, straight-forward transfer, parading him only after the ink has dried? Nah. Not fucking likely. No official word yet, so the tabloids are stirring it up with rumours about no fee agreed and legal issues with Spurs re-signing Defoe so soon after selling him.

Personally, find this a little more interesting, and far more likely:

Tottenham also inserted a sell-on clause when they sold Defoe, which entitled them to a percentage of any future transfer fee. Given the sums involved, that would have amounted to £4m. But Portsmouth negotiated that figure into the final package while the monies that they already owed to Tottenham in instalments on previous transfers were factored in as well.

Portsmouth were due this month to pay the balance on Defoe's transfer to them, a figure of £4.5m, while they also owed £5m on the switch that Younes Kaboul made last summer and £2m on Pedro Mendes' transfer in January 2006.

Little money has actually changed hands on Defoe's return to White Hart Lane but Portsmouth sources are satisfied they have made a £6m profit on him in just under a year. They also received £5m from Tottenham in compensation when Redknapp traded places.

Spurs are stupid, but not stupid enough to parade him before a game. And Pompey are broke and need the cash. It's done.

Oliver Holt

Holt, Daily Mirror journalist and Sky Sports Sunday Supplement melter, thinks the pressure that Paul Ince is under at Blackburn and the abuse he is getting from sections of the home support is simply because of the colour of his skin and has nothing to do with the former MK Dons boss being completely out of his depth. His argument is that Roy Keane was not subject to the same treatment from the fans at Sunderland.

This bloke actually gets paid by a tabloid newspaper and a tv broadcaster to write and speak his views. All these years, all the job opportunities I've had - if I had known that all I needed to do was pull my pants down, stick my arse in the air and fart shit every time I had an opinion I'd be laughing myself all the way to my pension. People in the media who get paid to commentate on weekly events in football are no different from the thousands who frequent message boards (apart from the fact they get paid, obviously). Some talk sense, some talk a lot of sense, the rest are trolls. Any takers on which one Oliver is? It's not the ones who talk sense. And no chance is it the ones who talk a lot of sense. Its the troll. He's a troll. Oliver Holt is a troll. Troll, if you're still not getting what he is.

Morning

According to SSN, Harry wants rid of Pav, but nobody is interested. 1 goal in every 2 games Pav obviously doesn't know where the back of the net is, the lazy Carlos Kickaball. How dare he not settle in London and average 2 goals per game from the off. Considering the lack of depth we have upfront, this is yet another example of lazy unnecessary reporting which has no relevance to anything other than filling up a couple of hours of time in between all the rehashed-every-20-minutes of non-event headlines going into the weekend that Sky Sports News drowns in.

Ramos, apparently wants Adam Johnson. I kid you not. Madrid obviously going for a next generation galactico.

Elsewhere, forgot to mention yesterday the Jamie Redknapp to Chelsea story. He's apparently coaching reserve players twice a week (so sadly he'll be free to pundit on Sky Sports over the weekend). Massive massive move there for Jamie, and no doubt he'll continue to be impartial when discussing his cousin Frank Lampard, Chelsea, Liverpool and his dad at Tottenham. I don't know about you, but if I'm out at White Hart Lane and miss whatever is being televised I rush home after the final whistle, and sit in-front of the tv with my wank-rag watching Jamie tells us how it is in that ever handsome yet definitely not clichéd manner he has when he insightfully tells us he can see a chess game when all we can see is 45 minutes of fucking crap. Surely our Jamie would have been a better bet than Tim 'I hate Spurs unless they are paying me wages and all the slagging off I did about them on the radio didn't really happen' Sherwood.

We've lost out big time there people. Big time.

Challenge Spurs™ - I really really love Sky Sports, I really do

We won. 1-0. Pav with another goal (that's 6 in 9 now). Great first half performance, but couldn't score that second which would have made it just a little bit less of a 'Oh God please no last minute equaliser' type of afternoon.

Second half, with Rovers down to 10 men was still fairly comfortable thanks to their inability to push forward and apply any type of pressure. Lennon, was in cracking form. Hasn't just put in pacey performances here and there this season, he's actually playing decently week in week out. Another reason to pat Harry Redknapp on the back.

Out of the bottom three, for the second time, and up to the giddy heights of 14th. Nosebleeds all round.

Now the match review is out of the way, let's get down to the business of ironic cheering and Sky Sports who pride themselves on hype and bullshit. See, a game of football is never enough for them. They have to take something and turn it into something else and do their best to make sure it builds a nice bit of momentum so that Sky Sports News have something to talk about every 30 minutes. Although (ironically) we have ourselves to blame for cheering in this manner in the first place, thus given them opportunity to run with it.

Spurs fans cheered with smiles on their faces every time Gomes got hold of the ball without a fumble or flap in sight. Now usually, ironic cheers like these are kept for the visit of David James. These type of cheers are blatantly tongue-in-cheek piss-takes. Because for all of James ability to drop a clanger, he can pull a mighty fine world-class save out of the bag. And we know it. Much like he knows it. There's no argument that these type of cheers are of an ironic nature. And YES, its not the cleverest thing for Spurs fans to do the same thing for their own keeper, because of the way it will be misconstrued.

However, to suggest Spurs fans this afternoon were cynical or negative to Gomes is mountain out of a mole hill ridiculous. That includes you Harry (who mentioned it in a post-match interview). Abusive language and booing is far worse than ironic cheering. And I'll prove it to you.

Back to the suggestion that this form of pisstaking is moral draining is it of the same level as the the Sky Sports Soccer Saturday panel do when they laugh and giggle and make jokes at Gomes expense? If Spurs fans 'hated' Gomes or did not want him in the side they would boo and shout abuse whenever he got the ball, not cheer or sing his name or applaud him - all things that Sky prefer not to mention because if they do, there's no story to be told.

People who publish photos on the back pages of the papers with clever and witty headlines, ridiculing a man for millions of people to read about is something I'd wager more likely to hit his confidence than a few hundred people cheering at a game.

Touched upon it a moment ago, but no mention of the same Spurs fans singing 'We love you Gomes, we do'. Why? Was this an editorial decision to make Spurs fans look bad? How about a news item on the constant booing the Arsenal home fans dish out to their own players. Or are they being ironic?

[ repeating myself ] Ironically cheering an opposition keeper for simple ball handling is what it is - a piss take. [ / repeating myself ]. When you do it to your own, its not the brightest of ideas even when meant in good-humour. But its far from being devastating. Much like Spurs fans singing 'England's Number One' to Robbo last year when he was complete shit. Surely that could be deemed ironic too? No? Robinson appreciated it, much like the positive applause he got from us today (he throw his gloves into the Spurs crowd......on purpose, they didn't slip off his hands).

For every Gomes fuck-up, he's made 3 or 4 great great saves. Doesn't excuse his fuck-ups, but one or two media hacks should concentrate on the facts rather than soap opera sub-plots. That includes Match of the Day 2 this evening.

Facts?

We sang his name.
He acknowledged us at the start of both the first and second halves of the game, during the game and after it when he APPLAUDED THE FANS.
The fans behind both goals stood up and applauded him.
He even managed a 'thank you' in our direction and was the last Spurs player off the field at the end of the game, having celebrated the three points with the home faithful.

This is Spurs AND Gomes sticking a middle finger up to the armchair pretty-boys and shaved-gorilla(s). I'd say its best next time to leave out the irony, but it was clear to anyone with their eyes and ears open that Gomes was just fine, got over his early mishap missing the ball completely and grow stronger in confidence as the game progressed.

So, fuck you Sky Sports.

And now back to Challenge Spurs™.

13 points in the bag now, halfway through the Dirty Dozen. Still part of the yo-yo that is 20th - 11th, and currently sitting in at 15th spot. Home win next weekend is once again imperative. But can't argue with our current form, even if we are still way way off playing at full capacity. And talk of Europe is still not acceptable.

Everton at the Lane next.

Shaggy

Darren Anderton, old shaggy, remember him? Decent bloke, decent player, plagued with one or two injuries. He said some rather interesting things in the papers recently about his career, including one or two digs aimed at our emperor, Daniel Levy.

Dazza, back in 2004, had a verbal offer for a new contract at Spurs. He was out in the US seeing a specialist about an injury that had seen him sidelined for 2 months. He received a fax from the UK, from a secretary, that simply said:

“We won’t be renewing your contract”

Classy. No phone call. No waiting for a UK return. Just one line of text faxed across the Atlantic. Dazza made sure Levy knew what he thought of the fax. Levy, in response, told Dazza that the club had to make a decision between offering him a contract or Jamie Redknapp. What makes this another perfect illustration of the detachment from footballing reality and Levy’s brain is that the excuse given to Anderton was that Redknapp and his wife were settled in the area, compared to Dazza who was obviously still waiting to settle having lived ‘in the area’ for 12 years.

Yeah sure. Santini (remember him? Christ, why do I still remember him?) didn't want him, so out went Shaggy. But regardless of whether it's up to the clubs discretion on what injury plagued player to retain, it's no way to treat someone who had spent over a decade at the club.

To make matters worse, Levy (at a later date) said that Anderton could have a testimonial only to then find out that the team would be on an end-of-season tour to Malaysia. A testimonial without the actual squad of players representing the club is not a testimonial. Its one man on his own in an empty ground.

It’s a bit of a shame really. He was a loyal and much liked player. Dazzled us a few times too, regardless of the injuries he was one bright spark during a period of time where we didn’t too often shift forwards in the right direction as a club, so had to make do with the odd stand out game(s) here or there as a way to cope with the overall barren, desolate plains of nothingness that us Spurs fans had become accustomed too. He did leave us with a few decent memories. The Famous Five, the Klinsmann season, Euro 96, early 2002 form.

Anderton is still kicking a ball about for Bournemouth. So all the best Dazza/Shaggy/Sicknote, and maybe, like you want, you get to visit the Lane with your current club in the FA Cup. Not quite a testimonial, but close enough.

Top 4 Bias

"Hope for a Liverpool goal for the sake of a good finish"

Yes, over at Setanta Sports the usual pro-Top 4 biased commentary kicked into over-drive. As per usual. Obviously they agreed with the Liverpool fans that the Bale tackle should have led to a penalty and thus moaned about "The overall poor reffing (sic) of the entire game" adding that "Rafa has every right to be disappointed" (That's Rafa, first name terms there - our man was always referred to as Redknapp).

On came the usual soundbites defending the defeat. Rafas shadow side/second string/youngsters apparently 'outplaying us' on occasions against an 'experienced Tottenham side'.

Sky's commentary from their SKY Live Score Centre bore more of the same:

"Boateng runs into the track of Babel but somehow earns himself a free-kick"

"I hardly dare say it, but it looks like Spurs are there now - the quarter finals await"

Hardly dare say what? The result was never in doubt and was fully deserved. I'm sure if Liverpool had won we would have heard about Rafa's brilliant selection of randoms out-smarted Tottenham's first eleven. As for Boateng, he was fouled. Or is it not permitted to be a victim?

I can forgive the Daily Mail for telling everyone that we were lucky against City and even going back to the Arsenal game (they cant kill a team off) and the Liverpool result (they don't know how to score) and can doubly forgive them for having four photographs from the 4-4 derby, three of which were Arsenal players celebrating their goals. I can forgive them because the Daily Mail is a rancid mess of a cuntness.

Setanta and Sky should try to break their mould once in a while. Match of the Day too. But then the whole point is that the 'elite' deserve the coverage they get because they are the best in the land. But the bias which is blatantly apparent within the coverage is now beginning to bore me.

It's ok for Liverpool to lose games, it really is.

The Blame Game

Wenger is all guns blazing, supporting his old chum Comolli claiming DC is nothing more than a scape-goat for the Spurs boo-boys. Really? Not his fault? So who's fault is it? Because if you take note of various other newspaper articles and interviews it seems the blame doesn't sit with anyone at the Lane.

Sugar stuck up for Levy.
Ballague stuck up for Ramos.
Wenger for Comolli.

Friends looking after friends can be dismissed based on factual evidence.

Comolli has failed to address the main squad issues relating to the DM position, no left-winger, two right-wingers, no strikers. He didn't support Martin Jol and our squad is no stronger than it was a year/two years/three years ago. Is he a director of football or a mediator between chairman and manager?

Levy has sanctioned the deals that have taken place and is probably responsible for the ones that got away. His whoring for extra cash on the Berbatov deal is textbook.

Ramos, whether effected by the terrible twosome or not, has struggled to get to grips with the domestic game.

You don't get bottom of the league from bad luck. You get there because you deserve to be there.

Wenger should mind his own business and concentrate on giddiness and superlatives for his super team of super super kids.

Leave the commentary to the people who own the dramatics.

Another round of musical chairs?

Quick look at the weeks tabloid pish

Mabbutt, Roberts and Ginola have all been giving their two-cents in recent days. Bilic has been linked. Others have been quietly whispering the name of Big Sam (shudder). Klinsmann (not setting the world alight at Munich, for the second time) is the other potential target, if....if Ramos was to go. And then there's the stories (mostly forum based) that Ramos is trying to get himself sacked to return to Spain with plenty of change in his pocket.

Amongst all the usual tripe, the highbrow Guardian dedicated a whole page of Spurs jokes (mostly made up of one that are regurgitated each year for whatever unexpected club finds itself in trouble) and opposing fans continue to point and laugh. I'd suggest someone at the club prints off that page from the Guardian and posts it on the dressing room wall on match-days. Knowing our lot, in the midst of Bentley star-jumping and Zokora listening to hip-hop, they'll probably all laugh at the jokes.

Make 'em smile

David Seaman is apparently finding it difficult to wipe the smile from his face. No, he hasn't just watched the Coen Brothers latest comedy 'Burn after Reading'. Seaman is quite blatantly talking about the plight of Tottenham Hotspur (bottom of the league, if you've not been following the soccer recently). He also revealed (to Jeremy Kyle on TALKsport) that Ramos needs to learn English. Cutting edge stuff this.

It's behind you!

Ronaldinho in Japan in the World Cup. Nayim from the half-way line in a European final. Gascoigne from 35 yards at Wembley, in the FA Cup. About time he found something he could smile about.

Glad the Spurs could be of service David. Now if you don't mind....vete a la verga o vete a la mierda.