The Waddler

Good Signs

2006-12-28T11:18:00.000Z

Before The Waddler jets off to sunnier climbs, how about some pleasant reading from Sporting Life; the current top goal-scorers in the Premiership (all competitions):

Lge FAC LC Euro Other Total
Drogba (Chelsea) 12 0 2 5 0 19
Defoe (Tottenham) 6 0 4 2 0 12
Saha (Man Utd) 8 0 0 4 0 12
Berbatov (Tottenham) 5 0 0 5 0 10
McCarthy (Blackburn) 7 0 0 3 0 10
Ronaldo (Man Utd) 10 0 0 0 0 10
Van Persie (Arsenal) 8 0 0 2 0 10

Not bad eh? I think you may have found your best partnership Mr Jol.

See you in a couple of weeks.

The Waddler.

Rock and Roll Xmas

2006-12-27T16:50:00.000Z

Spurs went to pieces up at Newcastle on the day before Christmas Eve, with a collapse of England cricket team proportions, only to bounce back in a more Aussie way with a victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. Our very own captain fantastic, Ledley King had a Freddy Flintoff style shocker at St. James’ Park, as Kieran Dyer bamboozled the Spurs defence like Shane Warne does to an English batsmen. It is typical of Spurs’ luck that Dyer, who manages about 6 games a season had to be fit for Spurs. The guy is quality when on top form, and Spurs had no answer for him. It was painful to see Mad-eye Roeder getting one over Jol, and this away form is a serious problem.

Of course losing Jermain Defoe in the warm up is not ideal, and presumably Mido wasn’t fit to play 90 minutes, which was why Murphy was chosen as his replacement instead. Any other reason and Jol wants shooting for playing Berbatov on his own up front against such a shoddy defence as Newcastle’s.

Credit where its due though, Spurs bounced back against Aston Villa yesterday in a fixture notorious for upsets, with Ledley back to his outstanding best. There was an odd atmosphere at the Lane, so quiet to start with that the players were making all the noise at one point. Christmas hangovers were the accepted reason, and it looked like there were a few nursing them on the pitch too with some very sloppy passing from the boys in white. However, there were many chances created and in the end it took some cool finishing from Defoe and some intelligent forward play from his strike partner Dimitar Berbatov to settle the score. Villa grabbed one back towards the end to make it a twitchy final ten minutes but Spurs held out for the deserved victory.

Two more games to come on Saturday and Monday before a short break and the FA Cup tie in Cardiff. Injuries are starting to mount up, and we will do well to get more than three or four points from the Liverpool and Pompey games – both of whom are above us in the league.

The Waddler, unlike the Premiership, is going on a winter break until after the Newcastle home game on January 14th. Lets hope there are plenty of points placed on the board, and the name Tottenham Hotspur is in the hat for the FA Cup Fourth Round in the meantime. A left winger in the January sales would be nice as well but you can’t have everything.

The Waddler.

Comolli’s January To-Do List

2006-12-21T16:05:00.000Z

In just over ten days time the January transfer window will open, sparking a rush of transfers all across Europe. As Daniel Levy pointed out in his recent Chairman’s statement, THFC have been one of Europe’s most active clubs in the last two years, so should we expect the same level of activity this time around? Here The Waddler takes a look at what realistically needs to be done to the squad, whilst keeping in mind Spurs’ finances, attraction to players and likelihood of players moving clubs.

IN: A Centre Back to act as cover for Ledley or Dawson. Curtis Davis at West Brom has been mentioned a number of times and looks like a sensible option if available for the right price. Davenport and Gardner are simply not in the same class as King or Dawson, and whenever either is not available, we suffer. King also has long standing injuries that may bring his career to an early close, and quality cover needs to be brought in sooner rather than later. A little competition in that area wouldn’t hurt either.

OUT: Davenport and/or Gardner. Don’t need them if a replacement is bought, neither are good enough. Good bargaining chips in a negotiation for someone better.

IN: A left winger/midfielder. The perennial target, and one that has been needed during the last two or three transfer windows at least. Downing would be OK if Boro are sensible about the price, he’s English, has a nice cross on him, takes corners etc. Nothing special, nothing exciting, but would be good for the squad. Ideally, we’d go and buy Robben at Chelsea but it’s simply not realistic. There are European versions out there as well, and hopefully Comolli knows of one or two.

OUT: Murphy, Davids. Too old, too slow. The game seems to pass both of them by and neither are used to playing bit part roles, and neither make good substitutes. They aren’t going to start anymore, and must cost a fortune in wages so why have them in the squad?

IN: More decent youngsters. Not everyone comes off, for every Dawson there’s a Reid, for every Lennon there’s a Routledge. Its quantity and potential when it comes to youngsters and Spurs should continue to snap them up. It’s the only way we’ll compete with Chelsea’s millions – by buying the players before they get really good. Giles Barnes at Derby, Gareth Bale at Southampton both fit the bill and should be snapped up early. Comolli looks to have signed Abel Taarabt from Lens already if stories are to be believed, and hopefully the window won’t pass without another couple coming in. The outlays tend to be small, with most of the cost wrapped up into how many games they play, and how many caps they get.

Aside from the above it should be a case of shopping in a opportunistic manner. If for example a good young right back becomes available, buy him and ship out Stalteri. If he doesn’t, hold on until the summer. Anderlecht’s Van den Borre was linked last week, and he has an impressive reputation already and could be ideal. If a good keeper is available, get him in and dispense with Cerny. Robinson needs some competition to ensure he doesn’t become complacent. Cerny seems to be here as purely cover. What’s wrong with someone pushing Robbo for the number one spot? Ben Alnwick at Sunderland has been strongly linked and is a good up and coming youngster so he could be the one.

So a centre back and a left winger should be at the top of Comolli’s to-do list, and preferably underlined with little stars by them. Once they’ve been sorted out some deadwood can be shifted and then some good youngsters and the odd squad upgrade should be sought. The squad is very close to being one of the best in the league and above all trading should be kept to a minimum. Too much upheaval, and too many new first team players can cause issues in terms of stability. After each of the last four windows Spurs have had themselves half a new team, and as a result suffered from needing time for the team to gel. Bar the left wing option any changes now are to the squad players, so should have a minimal impact.

Once again it will be an interesting month, and Spurs will be linked to every man and his dog but this time, hopefully, we can bargain from a position of strength, knowing that for the most part the team is sorted, and that we just need to make a couple of adjustments to the squad here and there.

The Waddler.

Shrimpers Tough to Digest

2006-12-21T10:51:00.000Z

For the second round running Spurs made hard work of lower league opposition, needing extra time and the arrival Dimitar Berbatov to ensure safe passage. With the changes that were predicted on here yesterday, such as the inclusion of Mido, Murphy, Stalteri and BAE and an unexpected switch of Dawson for King, Spurs were lacking that bit of class that was needed in circumstances like last night. A midfield of Murphy, Huddlestone, Tainio and Malbranque is fairly pedestrian, and really lacking the sort of character to take a game to the opposition. There is no pace there, no one to pick the ball up and run at the opposition in the way that Lennon, Jenas, Zokora or even Ghaly tends to do. As a result Spurs found it tough going to break Southend down, and it wasn’t until the very end of extra time that a lovely Berbatov through ball found a nice Mido run on the left and his cross was perfect for Defoe to slide home.

Jol presumably had hoped not to need Berbs, but Spurs were kept out by the Southend goalkeeper Flahaven who had an excellent game. Mido twice came close, first a swivel volley that crashed off the cross bar and the second a glancing header brilliantly saved. It wasn’t the best of performances, but enough chances were carved out to win the game in 90 minutes, and in truth Southend didn’t test Robinson all night. The morning papers and the ITV highlights were full of comments about how Southend made Spurs look ordinary and pushed them all the way, and whilst there is some truth in that, it must be remembered that this Spurs side was missing first-teamers King, Chimbonda, Lennon, Jenas, Zokora, Keane and Berbatov; as well as preferred squad players such as Ghaly and Lee. It’s no excuse for needing 115 minutes to beat the team bottom of the Championship, as any Spurs side should be capable, but it doesn’t help as the aforementioned players are the class that put Spurs above the dross.

Players such as Murphy and Davids, who came on for Tainio, have really lost what they once had and should be jogged on in January. They no longer offer anything to this Spurs side, both are getting on a bit, and their no doubt large wage packets could be used elsewhere. What do they offer that an up and coming youngster wouldn’t? It really is difficult to think of a reason. Get rid of both and go and get Giles Barnes from Derby and be done with it. At least he would be hungry and willing and can’t be worse at passing. The goal also highlighted the need for a left footer on the left flank, as Mido put in a great cross for Defoe from that side and it shows what a weapon that could be for Spurs. All four strikers would thrive on crosses, and as three of the four are right footed, crosses from the left are ideal to latch onto as the goal showed. Going 4-3-3 and having Mido and Defoe flanking Berbatov is a decent option when desperate, as we were last night, but is not something to start a game with. We do need a leftie who can thread balls behind a defence as our strikers are just made for such chances. Worryingly Downing seems the obvious option, but let’s hope Comolli’s greater knowledge can unearth someone better, and cheaper.

Its strange to be negative after a win in a cup quarter-final, so on the bright side Spurs are in the hat for the semi-final and if we get Wycombe it would be one of the most remarkable routes to a final ever. After a bye in the second-round, MK Dons in the third, Port Vale in the fourth and Southend in the Quarters, could Spurs be lucky enough to avoid top flight opposition all the way to the final? Its about time we had some luck, but no doubt it will be the goons or Chelsea and we’ll have a tough fight on our hands.

Its Newcastle on Saturday, and hopefully with a fresh King and Chimbonda as well as a fit Lennon, Spurs should get a positive result up there against the hapless Roeder’s bunch of mercenaries. A fit Dyer and a Duff with something to prove to Levy could be a worry, and we haven’t often come away with the points up there in recent times, but Spurs remembered how to win away last weekend, and are in good form with only two losses in the last twenty games now.

The Wadder.

Southend Preview

2006-12-20T09:45:00.001Z

Spurs face Southend at White Hart Lane tonight in the Carling Cup Quarter Finals, one step away from securing a place in the two legged Semi Final and a chance for a trip to Cardiff and Martin Jol’s first piece of Silverware for the club. It’s all a long way off, and Spurs will hopefully just be concentrating on the Shrimpers, but as a fan you can’t help but look ahead and imagine some glory. The fact is it’s a great opportunity, and with Wycombe now possible opponents in a Semi Final it could all slot nicely into place.

Spurs will need to be wary of Freddy Eastwood, Southend’s hero from the win over Man Utd and best player by a country mile, but aside from him, so long as BMJ picks a strong side it should be an easy night at the Lane. Against Port Vale Spurs struggled in the main because of the weak side that was picked, Barcham and an out of form Defoe up front was never going to work, and the midfield and defence was in the main second string or players returning from injury. We are now that little bit closer to the silverware and have a great opportunity that should not be wasted, so Jol needs to go with the big guns from the start and take them off when the game is won. Doing it the other way around like he did against Port Vale is dangerous and very nearly cost us.

That said it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mido up front, and maybe Murphy in midfield if fit. BMJ has been subbing Chimbonda in recent games as well, he might be carrying an injury, so it could be Stalteri at right back, and maybe BAE will come in for YPL as it’s not a league game. Even with those changes, we should be too much for the Shrimpers, and the name Tottenham Hotspur should be in the hat for Saturday’s Semi Final Draw.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Away Curse Finally Exorcised

2006-12-18T14:55:00.000Z

Spurs finally put their away hoodoo to bed yesterday at the City of Manchester Stadium, where they have now won on each of their three visits. It is also twelve years since we have lost away to Man City, so if ever a fixture was required to break a curse then this was it. The other good omen, albeit one that flies in the face of logic, is that we always do well after playing in Europe – so now that is five wins and a draw out of six in the games that immediately followed our UEFA Cup exploits. With all these factors swimming around in the players heads, as well as the confidence from winning three games on the trot, they managed to forget that we hadn’t won away all season or scored from open play away from home, we were missing Dawson, Zokora, Keane, Lennon and Jenas, and that Man City hadn’t lost at home and had only conceded once.

Despite the form guide, Spurs looked very comfortable in the first half, and whilst they scored twice it could easily have been more with a Berbatov shot and a Malbranque scissor kick both cleared off the line. It was a cracking goal from Tom Huddlestone for the second and as mentioned on here in the review of the Charlton game he looks like he has the ability to score a few screamers each season, and he duly obliged with one a mere week later. The technique involved to hit the ball on the half volley like he did, and keep it down and yet powerful is very difficult, and he now has as many goals for Spurs as his predecessor Michael Carrick in about one fifth of the playing time. He still looks a little slow, but he sure is consistent and the facts speak for themselves – Spurs haven’t lost when Huddlestone has started.

The second half was always going to be different from the first. Peace reading City the riot act, Spurs holding on to what they had, and the toll of playing twice a week for ages meant that Spurs would tire and City rise. However, this Spurs team seem to be made of sterner stuff than the team that threw a three goal half time lead away to City a few years ago, and managed to hold on for that elusive away victory. Yes City could, maybe should, have had a penalty at the end, but Rob Stiles wasn’t going to do Spurs any favours so perhaps it didn’t look as nailed on as the TV made it out to be later on.

That is four wins out of four since we lost to our foes from South London at the Deathstar, so fair play to Jol and the team for reacting in the right way, and making up for that debacle. Spurs are now two points off fourth and three off third, with all teams having played eighteen games. We have already got the trips to Old Trafford, Anfield and the Emirates out of the way, as well as the nasty game at Bolton that no-one likes. So at nearly half way, sitting in seventh and on the rise, in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, League Cup Quarters and the FA Cup to come, things are looking up. Berbatov and Defoe are finding the net, Huddlestone is finding his feet, and players are in the main out of the treatment room and getting back to full fitness (Keane and Jenas aside). We have a great squad, the new players like Chimbonda and Malbranque have settled and are really contributing to games and maybe with a choice addition of a midfield lefty, and a quality back-up centre back in the transfer window this team could be set for great things.

Southend at home up next in the Carling Cup, where nothing but a safe passage into the semi-final will do. Then with another nice draw, European football already safely assured for February/March, we can all dream of Cardiff, and banishing memories of 2002.

The Waddler.

UEFA Draw

2006-12-15T13:06:00.001Z

Spurs have drawn Feyenoord in the next round of the UEFA Cup after stuffing Dinamo Bucharest 3-1 last night at White Hart Lane. Some good performances all round, and some more goals from Berbatov and Defoe who are now forming an effective partnership. The draw could have been kinder, but Feyenoord are currently 5th in the Dutch league, which is weak anyway, and they only scraped into third place in Blackburn’s group. If Spurs get through that round then they will play the winners of the Braga/Parma tie in the quarter finals. Crucially in both cases the away leg is first, allowing things to be completed at the Lane. It has been a job well done by Spurs, who can now concentrate on domestic matters until March, safe in the knowledge that European competition awaits next year.

The Waddler.

THFC Appoint Sir Keith Mills

2006-12-13T12:35:00.001Z

THFC have today announced the appointment of Sir Keith Mills as a non-executive director. Sir Keith was the CEO of the London 2012 Olympic Bid team, and is now the non-executive Deputy Chairman on the committee delivering the games. Sir Keith also runs his own company. Loyalty Management Group (LMG) operates the Nectar programme, the UK’s largest customer reward system, with 50 per cent of all households participating in the scheme. He was also the inventor of Air Miles. Sounds like an impressive man, so what does it mean to Spurs?

Firstly, what is a non-executive director? Well, he is a director who is not an employee of the company and who only dictates part of his available time to the company. It is usually a person with particular experience or skills who holds a seat on the board to exercise a steadying influence on board decisions. His legal obligations to the company and creditors of skill and honesty are the same as those of an executive director.

OK, so why have Spurs hired him? Based on his previous experiences with the 2012 Olympics it would almost certainly be for the re-development of White Hart Lane or its relocation. Having performed a miracle in winning the Olympics for London, clearly this man knows his stuff in terms of stadiums, locations etc but perhaps more importantly will hold great influence with the Mayor, the GLA and even the Government, and will be a powerful ally for THFC in terms of lobbying. Spurs have made a great deal about the local infrastructure in Tottenham not being suitable for an increased capacity stadium, and have requested with no avail for tube line extensions amongst other things, only for them to fall on deaf ears. Presumably, the thoughts are that Sir Keith’s influence may swing things in Spurs’ favour, and we may see a softening of the authorities’ stance.

Another interesting aspect to the appointment has been clarification on Spurs and the future Olympic Stadium, with Daniel Levy stating: “In light of the requirement for the Olympic stadium to retain a permanent athletics track, we are no longer considering this as an option.” Previously this hasn’t been mentioned in an official sense, with only some quotes from Damien Comolli appearing in the press along the same lines.

Another interesting line from the Official Statement is the line about “his breadth and depth of knowledge of international marketing and branding” and the quote from the man himself stating “I look forward to bringing my knowledge of sport and business to help the Club grow both domestically and internationally”. So it seems that another aspect to his role will be to increase the Tottenham Hotspur brand overseas. This is something than Man Utd in particular have looked to do in recent years, with their tours to the US and Far East, as well as tie ups with foreign clubs and companies. It will be interesting to see if Spurs follow a similar path.

The Waddler.

That's More Like It!

2006-12-11T12:13:00.000Z

Spurs finally dished out the sort of spanking on Saturday that a team packed full of quality should administer from time to time. It was hapless Charlton who were the victims, blown apart by a ruthless Spurs side who seem to reserve the last home game before Christmas for banging in 5 golden goals, having demolished Wolves in December 2003 and Saints in 2004 by the same number.

The game didn’t look like a 5-1 to start with as Charlton really looked like they were going to go for it, with two strikers and a lively Andy Reid in the hole behind them, they had all the possession in the first twenty minutes without really threatening. Spurs seemed to struggle to get a foothold in the game, and it is with credit to Martin Jol that he switched things around, matching Charlton’s 4-3-1-2 formation by moving Lennon into a free role rather than leaving him on the right. It paid dividends almost instantly as Lennon threaded the ball through to Berbatov, who controlled the ball on his thigh and toe poked it past Carson and into the net. Teemu Tainio then hit a speculative effort a few minutes later which found its way through a crowd, wrong footed Carson, and into the net for 2-0.

Charlton were dead and buried already by that stage, and it was great to finally see Spurs carry on looking for more goals rather than sit back and defend. As a result Charlton caught them on the break, with Tainio failing to tackle Reid properly on the halfway line, the ex-Spur ran down the wing, beat Chimbonda and crossed the ball only for Dawson to deflect it past Robinson. It was the predictable goal before half time that Spurs so often seem to concede, but they came out for the second half as if it hadn’t happened.

The best goal of the game was the third, with Tainio chipping the ball into the area for Berbatov to nod down to Malbranque who controlled the ball on his chest before steering it in with his left foot. He was chuffed, understandably after opening his account for his new club, and ended up getting booked for celebrating with the crowd. It was superb play all round, and even the Charlton defenders stood and admired the quality on display. The fourth goal owed everything to Lennon’s barnstorming challenge in midfield, and when the ball came to Defoe he lashed it in from twenty yards. At 4-1 Spurs carried on going and Robbo finally realised that you don’t have to boot it up field every time, as he threw the ball superbly to Berbatov who carried the ball from halfway to the penalty area, and when his attempted square pass to Lennon bounced off the defender he decided to smack it in himself for the fifth.

In the Telegraph review of the game, they state that if Berbatov had pace he would be one of Europe’s top strikers. How quick do they want him to be? You can’t score a goal like his second yesterday without being quick, and his goal away to Besiktas took similar ability too. He is not as fast as Eto’o or Henry, but he is intelligent in a Sheringham like manner, and his close control and twinkle toes make up for raw pace in spades. He is also excellent in the air (which speed merchants don’t tend to be), as Malbranque’s goal proved and indeed his own against Brugge in front of the Paxton did as well. He has nine goals so far in all competitions, and that is having missed a few games at the start of the season, so if he can plunder twenty-plus in his first Premiership season, then people will have to acknowledge him as a top striker.

Once the fifth went in Spurs eased off the gas, and quite rightly so with the number of games coming up this month. Murphy came on for Steed, Mido for Berbs and Stalteri for the ever impressive Chimbonda, and all three were surely being wrapped up for Thursday’s UEFA group decider with Dinamo Bucharest. Hopefully this game will be a watershed for Jol’s management of the team, as here was a perfect example of what happens when you go for the second and third goals in a game rather than sit back and defend what you’ve got. Not only do the opposition crumble, but you can take your main men off for a bit of a rest and avoid injury. There is the added bonus of entertaining the crowd, which is the point after all.

The icing was nearly added to the Christmas cake when Tom Huddlestone had a twenty-five yard screamer just dip over the bar. They had been lining it up for a while, like a rugby team setting the fly-half for a drop goal, and his attempt was not far away at all. The crowd encourage him to shoot at every opportunity after his thunderbolt against Port Vale, and he looks like he has the ability to score a few screamers each season. It was a shame not to cap a great performance by him and the team, but you can’t be greedy after waiting 57 games for Spurs to score more than three goals in the league.

A cracking game, and let’s hope there’s more to come this season.

The Waddler.

Charlton Preview

2006-12-08T15:00:00.001Z

Spurs actually have a home game on a Saturday at 3pm tomorrow which makes a refreshing change, but some things are always the same, and that is the injury list at Spurs Lodge. Robbie Keane is out for five to six weeks after damaging a ligament in his knee, Jermaine Jenas is out for four weeks, Gardner is still out, so is Davids by the look of it, and now to add to the misery Zokora is suspended for three games as well. On the plus side our Egyptian twosome Mido and Ghaly are back from injury and suspension respectively to bolster the squad.

Its bottom club Charlton that we entertain tomorrow, and the game on paper looks like a home banker – so that means Spurs will make hard work of it. That is just the Spurs way, but it won’t be helped by Charlton going the same route as Boro and coming for the draw, whilst Spurs, if and when they take the lead, will sit back and defend. We may as well just keep both sets of players in their own halves and have a staring contest for all the fun it’ll be.

So with the defence picking itself now that Lee has ousted BAE, and Keane’s injury allowing Defoe a nice little run in the side along side Berbatov, its really only the midfield where things are unclear. Tom Huddlestone has been in good form in recent weeks, and should be a cert for the holding role; likewise, if Lennon is fit he plays. Presumably, Malbranque will continue his rehabilitation on the left flank, leaving the main question as who will partner Thudd in the middle? Ghaly has to be a good shout as he was playing constantly before his red card at Blackburn, but then Jol went for Tainio against the Gooners. It should come down to one of those two, unless he thinks Murphy is worth a go against his old club.

Three points are a must against dross like Charlton, but we will need to keep an eye on old boy Andy Reid who is proving that he is not a left winger by playing well in the middle and earning rave reviews. Darren Bent is also one to watch as he is on the edges of the England squad and lethal finisher. An eye also needs to be kept on the fixture list as we are now entering the busy period, and with injuries to key men such as Keane and Jenas already, some careful rotation will be the order of the day, if not tomorrow then shortly. It will be interesting to see how Jol picks the team that plays Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday as he balances the health of the squad with the need to entertain the fans who have paid category A prices to watch a largely irrelevant game. Tomorrow is the third of ten games in thirty days and we’ve already had three casualties (Keane, Jenas and Zokora), so we could do with coming away unscathed tomorrow.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

THFC Power Brokers – Part Two: Paul Kemsley

2006-12-08T12:23:00.000Z

The second part of The Waddler’s three part series on Tottenham Hotspur’s power brokers is finally here, and this time it’s the turn of the number two at Spurs, Vice Chairman Paul Kemsley. In Part One the links between Daniel Levy, Paul Kemsley and Joe Lewis were explained from a business perspective. In terms of information about the man himself, that is very thin on the ground.

Paul Kemsley, or “PK” as he likes to be called is a self-made man who has made much of his money from property. He runs Rock Investments which incidentally is half owned by Joe Lewis through a vehicle called Rapallo, of which a certain Daniel Levy is an executive director. He recently found himself in the business pages due to a particularly impressive deal, where he and HSBC made a profit of more than £30 million in just five months. Rock bought and then sold the Grade I-listed former headquarters of Midland Bank on Poultry in the City of London, whose vaults featured in the James Bond film Goldfinger in 1964 (see The Times for more info). He has this week seen his name bandied about again on speculation that he is involved in buying a chunk of a company building property around the new Wembley Stadium (see this in the FT for more info on that deal).

Rock came to prominence a couple of years ago when it became involved in a high profile takeover battle for Countryside Properties. Countryside’s chairman and founder, Alan Cherry, had tabled an offer to take the business private when it emerged that Kemsley was interested in making an offer as well. He built up a 28.5% stake in the company, and Cherry was forced to raise his offer to ensure he could complete the deal. Kemsley made £12m on the share gain even though it was reported that his bid had “failed”. Presumably, all that profit must have helped soften the blow.

Kemsley is also involved in a profit-sharing deal with THFC whereby they have agreed to pay him 15% of any profits the club makes from its property investments. Its a deal that has caused a stir among fans, but which Levy defends as a fair return for the work Kemsley will do. Spurs have been buying land around White Hart Lane bit by bit to create a larger footprint for the stadium if they decide to stay, and of course have been involved in land deals in Essex and Enfield in recent years in their quest to find a location for a new training ground. Clearly this is Kemsley’s game, and judging by the Poultry and Countryside deals, the man knows value when he sees it. If Spurs can make tidy profits on property, and that gets funnelled back into THFC, then it can only be good for Spurs.

Aside from Property it seems Kemsley’s other big interest is in gambling, in particular online gambling, where he has taken positions in a number of quoted businesses. Gaming VC, Party Gaming, Betex and Gaming Corporation, have had PK’s money recently, although his biggest success has been with a 17.5% stake in Fun Technologies, who make skill games, which allow customers to play solitaire, chess and other games for money. Unlike casino games or sports betting, it is legal in America. He also has high hopes for a new betting business to be launched next year, called A Right Result, which will allow people to bet on the outcome of a series of football matches and answer a number of questions for a £1 stake and the possibility of winning thousands.

He doesn’t just like gambling as a business opportunity though, he is by all accounts a big player on the London poker circuit, where recently at a tournament he plonked $150,000 on the table and declared that whatever he won he would donate to charity. Unsurprisingly he had the full support of much of the crowd after that. He also owns a racehorse with Harry Redknapp called Sunshine Rays.

Interestingly, Paul Kemsley is the link between the old and new regimes at Spurs, as he is an Alan Sugar man too, appearing on BBC’s Apprentice as one of Sugar’s hit men in the semi final episodes of both series. Sugar introduced him saying “he's a very smart young businessman and I value his perception”. He is also big pals with Philip Green, the owner of BHS and Top Shop and another wealthy Spurs fan (as is Sugar). He came across as very brash and confident on the Apprentice, but did come out with some great one-liners such as “If you go out of this office down to the Peugeot salesroom you’ll find four Pauls in there – and three of them will be wearing nicer suits.”

So he knows lots of the right people, he seems to be a very shrewd investor, and apparently loves Spurs and loves being Vice Chairman of Spurs. Maybe then he could take over from Levy and take the hot seat himself one day? He’d certainly know lots of the right people to ask for advice, and if he keeps making the sort of money that he has done so far, he may even be able to buy the club himself. He looks like a man to keep an eye on.

The Waddler.

Spurs for Sale?

2006-12-08T11:00:00.000Z

A rather speculative article in the Independent has appeared today suggesting that Spurs could be for sale at somewhere between £200 and £300 million, along with a host of other Premiership clubs. There are no direct quotes, and no evidence is given for why they seem to think that this would be the case, but with the recent share price rise, maybe there is fire to go with their smoke?

The rise in the share price couldn’t have been to do with the PLC’s results which were released today, showing profits down, but revenue up for the year. Turnover increased by £3.5million to £74.1million while operating profits
before football trading and depreciation dropped by £10million from £14.6million to £4.6million. So where has the £10m gone? It must have been spent, and presumably has gone on securing property around White Hart Lane, and the costs of the proposed training ground in Enfield.

Next year’s figures should be far tastier, with the Carrick sale and extra revenues from the UEFA Cup included, plus the monies from Puma and MANSION rolling in. There is no doubt that everyone has a price, and Levy and Lewis must have discussed an exit strategy at some point like all good businessmen do, but if they hold on a little longer, with the club making strides on and off the field, they could get a far greater return on their investment. However, the Independent is right to suppose that if someone came in and bought the club for £300m now, Levy and Lewis would bite their hand off, and why not?

The Waddler.

THFC Share Price Heads North

2006-12-07T16:32:00.000Z

Something is afoot at THFC Plc, as the share price has gone through the roof this week. The FT is speculating that the move is due to Liverpool’s proposed takeover by the Dubai group but can this really be the case? Football clubs are being taken over all the time – why didn’t the price rocket when West Ham were taken over or Aston Villa for that matter?

The preference shares have traded at the exact same price from January up until last week, but this week are up more than 12%. The main shares are now at levels not seen since before the internet bubble burst in 2000 taking all the FTSE down with them. They have now massively out-performed the FTSE All Share this year, so its not just a case of all boats rising with the tide. The volumes are far higher than usual too, with more shares changing hands than normal.

There’s something in this, possibly to do with property deals, or maybe someone has got a whiff of a takeover approach? Who knows, maybe some news will emerge soon.

The Waddler.

Reparation Begins

2006-12-06T16:10:00.000Z

There was a muted atmosphere at White Hart Lane last night coming as it did so soon after the appalling North London Derby. The first half did little to help the mood of the crowd, as Boro came for a point with a 5-4-1 formation and Spurs seemed to be clueless as to how to break them down. There were some who booed the team off at half time, and BMJ also must have let his feelings known as Spurs started the second period in much better form. Another lovely goal from Berbatov to add to his growing collection came almost right away, but it looked like Spurs might be made to pay for Defoe’s profligacy in front of goal when Boro went very close and then finally equalised with ten minutes left after a goalmouth scramble.

It would have been harsh on Spurs to have left with only a point, as despite not playing very well they had the majority of the possession and created a fair few chances, particularly in the second half. Once Huth’s equaliser went in people began to head for the exits toward the late night trains, but those who stayed were rewarded with a fine finish from Robbie Keane. It was quick thinking from the increasingly impressive Huddlestone, who tapped a free kick to Robbie who then simply lashed it in from twenty yards. Robbie Keane is often best when he doesn’t have to think about what to do in those situations, and this was one where his instinct was to simply belt it, and thankfully it paid off.

Spurs were doing their now usual sit back, defend the lead and counter attack for most of the second half, and once again it nearly backfired as the second goal just didn’t seem to want to come. Boro defended well, and Schwartzer pulled off some excellent saves to deny Defoe in particular. But once Keane came on Spurs had the impetus back and the goal came within minutes of Boro’s equaliser. Its simple really – attack and you’ll score, defend and you’re less likely to. One day Jol will have an epiphany and realise this, and it can’t come soon enough for the paying faithful.

The downer to the evening was the red card handed out to Zokora which didn’t look too good on the Sky Sports replays later on, but he was only trying to defend little Aaron Lennon and shouldn’t be judged too harshly. Robbie Keane went off with a hobble shortly after scoring and hopefully hasn’t done any damage as we’d be low on strikers with Mido currently out. From the game on Saturday to Pompey away on Jan 1st, Spurs are playing ten games in thirty days, and will need fit strikers. That said, Defoe looks like he needs a run of games to work himself into some form. There were signs of some nice link-up play with him and Berbatov last night, and the chances are starting to be created, they just aren’t going in, yet. Jol should go with the same two against Charlton regardless of the fitness of Keane and Mido, and let them see whether there is something worth working at. Robbie is effective from the bench and can also play deeper or wider, so gives BMJ more options than Defoe, who simply needs to be scoring to do his job for the team.

Half of this week’s reparation work has been completed, now three more points on Saturday and safe passage secured atop our UEFA Cup group next week, and the memories of the derby defeat will start to fade. The players and the fans have not fully made up yet, but by the end of the evening the icy barrier had thawed somewhat, and cordial relations at least had resumed. Two wins out of the next two games and we’ll all be bosom buddies again.

The Waddler.

Chokers

2006-12-04T13:35:00.000Z

An awful, gutless display was given by Spurs on Saturday, in the biggest of games, leaving all fans both bewildered and angry. The players didn’t seem up for the game, there was no fighting spirit, and whilst all three goals conceded were from dodgy refereeing decisions, it did not hide the fact that this was the worse performance for a very long time. They were there for the taking and Spurs choked.

There needs to be an inquest at the club because it was simply unacceptable, especially against our main rivals – the one game you want the team to give their all. The blame for a lack of spirit goes equally to the players and the management who are supposed to motivate them, but the negative tactics and complete lack of attacking ideas are down to Jol and Houghton and someone, Levy or Comolli, needs to formally tell them that it was not good enough.

They have two home games this week in which to bounce back, and only two wins will be acceptable after Saturday’s appalling “effort”.

Yours disgusted, The Waddler.

Arse Wars Episode 06/07: A New Hope?

2006-12-01T12:04:00.000Z

The Rebel Alliance (Spurs) will tomorrow fly into the Deathstar (Emirates Stadium) to tackle Darth Wenger and Emperor Dein’s red and white Stormtroopers, hoping for a victory that will bring down the evil empire. It’s been a while since the last battle won by the good guys, the White Knights of North London, but they are always victorious in the end and we have to keep faith. With little Aaron Lennon who has the speed of the Millennium Falcon, and our very own Hans Solo (Berbatov), we have the guile and cunning as well to defeat the bad guys.

Enough of the Star Wars references and onto the football, it is a difficult game to call tomorrow, with so many factors influencing the result. In terms of form, it has to go with Spurs who have lost one in fourteen, as opposed to the Gooners who have lost two on the spin. Then again our away record is poor, and they haven’t lost in the new place yet. But they haven’t played that well there either, and Henry might be out, and so will Gallas and Senderos, leaving them weakened at the front and back. Spurs have almost everyone fit and raring to go, and have new hope and conviction after dispensing with Chelsea, finally ridding the team of the label about not being able to beat the top four. We have had all week to prepare and they have had two days, but when do they lose three on the trot? It’s such a tough one to call, yet the bookies have us as 3/1 or 4/1 shots and when are they wrong?

Even the most lilywhite-tinted spectacle wearing Spurs fan, the guy that starts the “stand up if you hate...” chants in the Park Lane each week, even he would admit that Wenger has brought some quality players to the club over the years. In Henry and Fabregas they have a couple of players that historically would have been more suited to the cavalier and flair of Spurs rather than the dour effectiveness of them lot. There are things to admire there, even van Persie looks like a good player, but it’s the way they go about their business that makes them so dislikeable, they are bad winners and losers, and Wenger shoots his mouth off all the time and somehow gets away with it. After they lost to Fulham in mid-week he was already getting his excuses in about tomorrow, complaining how we had more time to prepare, but that they would still win. BMJ should stick those comments on the wall of the away dressing room tomorrow and fire the players up some more. Lets hope he uses some nasty tape that pulls the paint off the wall when he does it. Lets also hope that if Wenger squares up to him again Jol puts him away properly this time.

Spurs don’t tend to like a rough and tumble sort of match but if there is one team that likes it even less then it is Wenger’s Nancy Boys, who were out-muscled by Bolton and Fulham in their last two games, and as Corporal Jones used to say “they don’t like it up ‘em”! Hopefully Spurs would have worked this out through our detailed scouting, so BMJ will go with as combative a line-up as possible tomorrow. In reality, with Mido injured and Davids rubbish these days, this probably involves someone like Tainio playing centrally – he likes to get stuck in and tackle people. A partnership of he and Zokora should do the business and with Chimbonda also around to ruffle some feathers we may have the edge in that side of things. Whether that will be enough we won’t know until tomorrow, but so long as we get a fair rub of the green from the referee, and Berbatov gets some space to work in and Lennon destroys whatever left back they field again we should be OK.

Its never a good game to watch, and there tends to be little upside, but Spurs should enjoy that nice big Emirates pitch rather than the narrow confines of Highbury and with our excellent away support no doubt making all of the noise, it really, really could happen.

Come On You Spurs! May the force be with you.

The Waddler.

Comolli Watch

2006-11-29T10:39:00.001Z

If this story on Eurosport is to be believed, then Spurs have snapped up another young French talent by the name of Abel Taarabt for €3.5 million from Ligue 1 side Lens. Now normally with these things Spurs get linked and then it’s either denied, or the rumour just goes away, but in this case it seems to have legs as we have direct quotes attributed to the boy:

"I have discussed things with Martin Jol, and he really wanted to have me. I have visited White Hart Lane, and I can't wait to play there."

Seems fairly black and white that one. Apparently an attacking midfielder, at roughly £2.4m he comes with a chunky price tag for a 17 year old, although knowing Spurs that will be paid over the next 10 years with half based on whether we win the Champions League and the rest when he wins his 50th French cap or something similar.

Spurs have also signed Sunderland’s young highly rated goalkeeper Ben Alnwick in the last few days, with Martin Fulop going in the opposite direction plus £1m. Fulop burned his bridges at Spurs with comments about wanting to sign for Coventry where he had been on loan, and not return to Spurs reserves, so it was just a matter of time before he was gone. In any case it is better to have British or at least EU back-ups these days as UEFA are soon to have strict rulings about the number of players trained by the club and trained in England in a squad for European games.

It is great to see youngsters being snapped up from all around Europe, and these two follow the young Swedish goalkeeper Oscar Jansson and the young Norwegian striker Dag Alexander Olsen who were both featured in The Waddler’s last Comolli Watch and have since signed permanently at White Hart Lane.

With Dorian Dervitte getting good reviews in the reserves, and of course the undoubted quality of first-team signings such as Berbatov, Zokora, Chimbonda, BAE and Malbranque its looks like Damien Comolli is a real find for THFC and as an added bonus we now seem to be shopping in the sort of markets that Arsene Wenger used to have all to himself. It’s no coincidence that his former main man in terms of scouting was one Damien Comolli.

The Waddler.

Safety First

2006-11-28T14:32:00.000Z

In Jol’s analysis of Sunday’s game on the Official Website we get a little insight into his thinking, and in particular why we sit deep against teams once we’ve taken the lead:

“It didn't take too long for us to get back and we knew after we got the second that we would be able to hit them on the break. As I said, it took us a long time to get the third and what we want is for it to be like a couple of seasons ago when we scored five goals on a few occasions and three on others. If there is only a margin of one it is often not enough in the Premiership.”

He believes that after taking the lead against a team that they will throw everything forward and that we’ll be able to pick them off on the break, perhaps with the pace of Lennon, Keane or Defoe, and even Jenas. Fair enough, but why do we do this with a one goal lead at home? Away from home this attitude is good, as the home side want to win in front of their own fans so they’ll go for it. When a team comes to White Hart Lane though they were probably only here for the draw in the first place so they don’t go for it and leave space at the back, they stay solid – why not when there is only one goal in it? All we do by switching to a counter attack style is hand the impetus to the opposition and give the fans heart attacks due to having to watch us defend so deeply.

If we have a two-goal lead then Jol’s counter-attack attitude makes more sense; soak up the inevitable pressure and hit them on the break safe in the knowledge we have a nice two goal cushion. But at one-nil or two-one it’s a dangerous game to play. We should carry on playing at one-nil or two-one as if its nil-nil, i.e. going all out looking for the second goal. Once that goes in then the foot can go off the gas and we can pick off the opposition at will, as they will have no choice but to go for it.

Its good to see that he recognises that we haven’t been spanking teams this season or last season, but he should be having a think as to why this is the case, and hopefully his conclusion will be that it is due to his safety first attitude. This season and last season our biggest wins have been 3-1 victories, against Wigan and FC Bruges this season, and Charlton last year. We haven’t scored 4 or more in a league match since April 2005 in the 5-1 mauling of Aston Villa. You can’t count the 5-0 win over MK Dons this season as it wasn’t a fair fight.

Why should this be the case? We’ve always got it together a couple of times a season to spank somebody, doesn’t matter whether it was Pleat, Hoddle or Graham in charge, we managed to stick four or five past someone each season. Its something that needs to be looked at, as all the big teams belt the smaller ones a couple of times a season and Spurs should be no different.

The Waddler.

Dimi Does The Business

2006-11-27T11:27:00.000Z

Quality told at White Hart Lane yesterday as Spurs ran out 3-1 winners against a distinctly average Wigan side. Spurs started the game incredibly poorly, with some very sloppy passing, marking that was all over the place and a distinct lack of desire, perhaps due to tiredness from the mid-week trip to Germany, or due to simply not being able to motivate themselves to play Wigan. Who knows? What ever it was it took the inevitable Wigan goal to motivate them, and two splendid goals in a minute turned the game on its head.

Dimitar Berbatov was the star of the show, scoring one and setting up the other two, and for the first time in the league this season showed how he is head and shoulders above everyone else at the club in terms of ability. It was a lovely through ball for Defoe to score the equalizer, and the little man’s turn and pivot to beat the defender was exquisite, and something he tried a couple more times during the game. Being free on a Saturday evening so much this season has obviously done Jermain some good, as he seems to have picked that one up straight from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Berbs’ goal a minute later was right from the top draw as well, and one for a future Greatest Spurs Goals DVD without question, as the Bulgarian nutmegged Jackson, took the ball on and blasted it over Kirkland and into the top corner. Great stuff, and hopefully just one of many that we will now see from him as he finds his feet in the league. Another good run from Dimi nearly forced Jackson into an own goal, before a break away at the death where the steadily improving Malbranque found Berbs on the wing, who sailed into the box before laying on to Lennon to slide home Spurs’ third.

Between the second and third goals was the entire second half, and as usual when Spurs are winning these days it was more about defending than trying to score the third. Its something that needs to be sorted out as the fans pay good money to be entertained and whilst this is a results business, being 2-1 up against Wigan at home in the league in November is not holding onto a lead in the UEFA or FA Cup final. So why when Chimbonda won a corner late in the second half were we tapping it to each other and trying to run down the clock by the corner flag? That is a small team mentality, the sort of thing a League One club does when beating a Premiership Team in the Carling Cup. It is not what Tottenham Hostpur should be doing when beating lowly Wigan at the Lane. We should be piling forward looking for the third or the fourth, scoring goals, getting players’ confidence up, entertaining. When the third went in at the death it was clear that the game was over – so why not try to score it earlier and take it easy? Why not sling the corner in the box and let King, Dawson, Chimbonda et al attack it and try to score? What’s the harm in that? Maybe the power brokers at the club have forgotten the old ethos summed up by two great quotes from Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower:

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

“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It's nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It's about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.” - Danny Blanchflower

This is a good Spurs team, and Jol is a good manager, but there is an attitude coming from somewhere that is distinctly small time and needs to be eradicated. Running the clock down by the corner flag at home to Wigan is small time, so is grimly holding onto one-nil leads at home against teams like West Ham, or not going for the win against 10-man Blackburn. So is releasing commemorative DVDs and T-Shirts of a 2-1 league victory against Chelsea. These things are not what big teams do, and if Spurs want to be a big team again then they need to start acting like it down to every little detail.

Again this may come over as being harsh after a win, but we are so close as a club and a team of breaking into that upper echelon that it is frustrating to see the things that are holding us back. As Jol quite rightly said after the game, things are going OK at the moment:

"We are in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, have nine points in our group in the UEFA Cup, had a good win against Wigan and now it's one defeat in 14 matches. So we can be pretty satisfied."

Next Saturday’s game will be the true test of how far this team has come and how much they want Glory, as it’s the first North London Derby at The Emirates and just how good would it be to do them over at their new home? Spurs have the quality these days, that lot are going backwards and it is a great time to play them. Spurs can do all the clock running down they like if they’re beating the Goons away with a minute left next weekend. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Waddler.

Wigan Preview

2006-11-24T14:58:00.000Z

Its Wigan at home on Sunday as Spurs are dealt another favourable home game after a Thursday night UEFA match. Someone must have been having a word somewhere as so far it’s been so good after UEFA games:

After Salvia Prague (A): Tottenham 0-0 Fulham
After Slavia Prague (H): Tottenham 2-1 Portsmouth
After Besiktas (A): Tottenham 1-0 West Ham
After Club Brugge (H): Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea
After Bayer Leverkusen (A): Tottenham ?-? Wigan

The run does come to an end after Dinamo Bucharest as we go to Middlesbrough, but it has been a useful little quirk of the fixture list for a team not used to playing twice a week. Particularly after our “record” number of games last year – the fewest ever if all the Gooner and Hammer statisticians from last season were correct.

Wigan are a funny little club, only having been in the league for less than 30 years, and coming from a Rugby League town they are way down on the list of things you think about when someone mentions Wigan. After Andy Farrell, and of course The Verve, Wigan is famous for having and then not having a pier. Very strange. Wigan Athletic, as the football club are known, in 1972 applied to join the Scottish Football League as they weren’t getting anywhere in England! Still once JJB’s Dave Whelan took over things started looking up, and with the appointment of Paul Jewell they took the Championship by storm. They did excellently last season as well, and confounded most people who thought they would go straight back down. They have had it hard this season though as Spurs stepped in and bought their best player, Pascal Chimbonda, and they lost Jason Roberts, their target man, and replaced him with Emile Heskey.

Heskey aside, Wigan still represent a tough task for Spurs on Sunday. They are one of the teams that chase and press, fight for every ball and work their socks off. The opposite of Spurs, and just the sort of team we can’t cope with. See Reading and Bolton away and Everton at home for evidence if you’re not sure. Last season they kept knocking the ball up to Scharner at White Hart Lane and he won absolutely everything against Dawson and caused no end of bother. We scraped a 2-2 draw in the end, but it wasn’t pretty and we lucky to come away with a point.

As usual Jol and Hughton have to sift out the dead and wounded from the previous battle and work out who is fit enough to play. In an ideal world, you would pick the same team that started last night, as without JJ it was our first choice eleven. BMJ picked the same side for the Chelsea game that started against Brugge, so its possible, and that worked out OK so why not? Either way, what ever combination of players is picked, they should be too much for Wigan, but Spurs still need to match them for effort. If they do that then there is no reason why we shouldn’t steam roller them and warm up nicely for a certain derby game on December 2nd.

It would be good for Berbatov to score in the league, and Keane looks like he really needs a goal but you have to fancy Chimbonda to get on the score sheet against his old club. He came very close to breaking his duct last night, and if he’s fit enough to play it could be one of those peculiar twists of fate that football throws up – just like Berbatov scoring against Bayer Leverkusen. One suspects Pascal might celebrate rather more flamboyantly than Dimi did though, given his rather acrimonious departure from Wigan. Anything less than a win will be a poor return for a nearly fully fit Spurs team, who have to start performing in the league sooner rather than later.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Berbs Breaks Bayer Hearts

2006-11-24T10:22:00.000Z

Spurs sailed into the next round of the UEFA Cup last night with a relatively simple 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, with the goal scored inevitably by Dimitar Berbatov. Spurs always looked in control, and missed an absolute hatful of chances that would have put the game to bed long before the final whistle. Yer man Schneider had a shot cannon off the post, which as was pointed out on here yesterday is a speciality of his, but bar that and a couple of Robbo saves it was cruise control all night.

BMJ picked a nice attacking side, which seeing as we only needed a draw seemed a fairly baffling but pleasing decision after the bore-fest of Blackburn. Chimbonda made a welcome return and showed how he is approximately one million times better than any other full back we have at the club, and nearly got his first goal too after a lung busting run at the death which was finished with a shot that cannoned off the goalkeeper’s legs. In the midfield the more defensive trio of Davids, Ghaly and Huddlestone were replaced by the almost holy trinity of Malbranque, Tainio and Lennon. Steed is getting better with each game, and there were some nice through balls and bits of skill shown by him last night that hopefully foreshadow a glittering Spurs career.

Lennon was off colour, and got disposed at every turn – presumably the Germans had targeted him as the danger and saw to it that he never got a chance to dribble at them. Either that or they just defend much better than your average Premiership defender. The fact that the little man has just come back from injury probably means he wasn’t going at full pelt, and lets hope he saved something for Sunday instead. TT looked pretty good in his favoured central midfield position, always looking forward rather than sideways, and Zokora looks a proper player when allowed time on the ball. His forward surges when the pass isn’t on are excellent and he’ll come good after a bit more time in England.

Berbs actually looked a little off colour last night, presumably confused by playing against his old team, and the fact that he looked sheepish after tapping in his goal probably said more about the circumstances than the ease of the chance. The reception he got from the whole crowd when he was subbed for Mido after 75 minutes must have been a nice moment for him, and he can now get this game out of the way and concentrate on winning the UEFA Cup single handily for Spurs which he seems to be doing at the moment. Robbie Keane was the star man, until in front of goal that is, and it was his lovely through ball that set up Lennon for the move that created the goal. He was buzzing around and stepping over everything all night, as he did against Chelsea, and was causing the Germans lots of trouble. His finishing though was poor, and he could have easily had a couple of goals if he showed a little more composure. Mido had a great chance late on too, which he should have squared for Robbie, but then the Egyptian is not exactly an unselfish player so it wasn’t to be expected and the way Robbie was shooting would probably have gone over anyway.

So that was that. Lots of pleasing shots of Bayer’s Sporting Director and former strike partner of Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudi Voller looking shocked last night, and perhaps he should have a re-think about the comments he made about Berbatov going to a top club, not Tottenham. Still think that Rudi?

Wigan preview to appear later.

The Waddler.

Bayer Preview

2006-11-23T12:38:00.000Z

It’s the heavyweight clash in the UEFA Cup Group Stage tonight, as Spurs travel to Leverkusen only needing a point to secure safe passage into the next round. Hopefully though Spurs won’t spend the entire game camped on our own 18 yard line defending desperately, but that said, they can go there without much pressure, knowing that there is still the home game against Dinamo Bucherest to come to ensure qualification if we need it.

Last season Leverkusen finished in fifth place in the Bundesliga to qualify for the UEFA Cup but are currently 12th in the eighteen team German Bundesliga, having lost their last two games to Nurnberg and Bayern Munich. Sounds very much like Spurs! In the UEFA Cup they have drawn with Brugge in their only game so far in the Group Stage. Whilst Spurs plucked their best player from them in the summer, Dimitar Berbatov, Leverkusen are a team with good experience having got to a Champions League final as recently as 2002. The best known of their current players is the German international midfielder Bernd Schneider who played in last summer’s World Cup and has scored twice in this season’s UEFA Cup, including a screamer against Brugge.

Spurs have the usual injury worries, although it looks like Chimbonda will pull through, but it is a game too soon for Jenas and probably Lennon too although he maybe on the bench. Steed Malbranque should be ready to start after having good run outs against Port Vale and Blackburn and Ghaly is bound to play tonight given his impending three match suspension. Up front it will be Keane and Berbatov for sure, and it was pleasing to read a nice quote from Berby in the build up to this game:

"I was at home when they told me we had drawn Bayer Leverkusen because I was on international duty. I was sick. I had five wonderful years there but that is over. It will be strange, but I am a professional player. I play for Tottenham and I will try to score. It doesn’t matter that they are my friends, I will forget about that and try to help my team. I will celebrate like usual, raise my hand and show that I have scored. I appreciate that I play for Tottenham and I will try to show that with my goals."

Good boy Dimi, lets hope we see that celebration tonight.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

He Who Dares Rodders...

2006-11-20T11:07:00.001Z

Spurs managed a point yesterday in darkest Lancashire, but it could have been so much more as yet again Jol’s negative tactics stopped the team from grabbing a game by the throat. It has been mentioned on here before that the main difference between the “success” of last season and the poor returns this year are not the performance of the players but the lack of luck. It seemed to be following a similar pattern yesterday when Tugay’s thunderbolt went in, the third long range goal conceded in three weeks. Thankfully, it didn’t pan out that way as Ghaly was tripped in the box and Tuguy went from hero to villain and was sent off rather harshly. Defoe then tucked away the penalty and the game was in theory flipped on its head.

However, Spurs or rather Jol didn’t take advantage of the numerical advantage and looked to settle for the draw that they went there hoping for. Most fans would have been crying out for the introduction of Keane and Berbatov to take the game to Blackburn, and use the extra space that was created. Putting Keane on the left and even Defoe on the right to stretch them would have made sense, with Malbranque sitting behind Berbatov or Mido. Sadly this wasn’t the case and Spurs created a few chances but it was Blackburn that looked like they wanted to win the most.

After the Liverpool game where Spurs capitulated, The Waddler questioned whether Jol was really the guy to take Spurs to the top table, and whether he would be the Ranieri or Houllier to our Mourinho or Benitez. There is no question that he has stabilised the team after a barren run under Hoddle, Pleat and Santini; and that taking us into the UEFA Group stages is something that no previous Spurs manager has achieved for a long time, probably since Shreeves in 1984/85 after Burkinshaw had done the hard work by winning the trophy the year before. For that he deserves credit and recognition, but there is something lacking there and it’s difficult to see how it can change. Whenever Spurs go one nil up its sit back and defend time and hope to hit the opposition on the break. Likewise when away from home its keep it tight, put as many defensive players on as possible, and look to hit teams on the break, even when you’re losing. These are small club mentalities and reflect the fact that Jol has only managed small teams before getting the job at THFC.

He has a good squad assembled, thanks mainly to Arnesen and Comolli, and with one or two additions and a couple of replacements to the reserves it would be a great squad. However you get the feeling that all is not well either with the team morale or with Jol’s tactics as this side rarely kill off the opposition, and of course rarely win away from home. Its not pleasant to have to quote Tony Adams on a Tottenham Blog, but he was once asked to compare the difference between George Graham and Arsene Wenger on what was when Wenger first took over still very much Graham’s team. He said something along the lines of Graham had the players but that he never let the team fly in the way that Wenger did. Of course Wenger had added Vieira and Petit, and Bergkamp had also joined since Graham left, but the fact is he came along and took Graham’s boring but functional team and made them rather good by playing attacking and attractive football. The parallels between Jol’s boring but functional team and Graham’s get stronger week by week, particularly after watching games like yesterday.

Now there is no point getting rid of Jol mid season, and he has to be left to finish what is only his second full season in charge, but someone has to remind him of the club’s motto, which is even written in English these days so there’s no excuse for not understanding it: TO DARE IS TO DO. If he doesn’t get it, or agree with it, then Messrs Levy and Comolli need to have a think about who would be the right man to take over and take this team on. The man who would be Tottenham’s Mourinho, Benitiez or Wenger.

Perhaps this all sounds a bit draconian after what is on paper a respectable point at Blackburn with an injury ravaged squad, but this a culmination of 3 years of Jol’s negativity and settling for what you’ve got attitude. Maybe he has a grand plan to unleash this team on an unsuspecting world at some stage in the future, but that day could be now if only there was some ambition shown and positive decisions taken occasionally. The game was played with one eye on Leverkusen on Thursday, hence the resting of Keane and Berbatov, so lets hope for some PMA (positive mental attitude) in Germany, as this becomes a typical “cup season” for Spurs.

The Waddler.

No Lennon, JJ or Chimbonda: No Hope?

2006-11-17T16:51:00.001Z

Its Blackburn away on Sunday and the team news isn’t good with Lennon, Jenas and Chimbonda all out of the running. It’s a tough place to go and get points at the best of times, but without three of your best players its making it look a tough trip. Blackburn are not the same team as last year now that Craig Bellamy has gone, but that said they are decent enough, and got to sixth last season and are doing well in the UEFA Cup this year.

Spurs away record in the league is still shocking, reading 6 games, 4 losses, 2 draws, 2 goals scored, 1 by a Spurs player and none in open play. The longer this goes on the more it will become a monkey on the team’s back, so the sooner it can be put to bed the better. Reading was a disaster last week, and hopefully the team have spent the week reflecting, and getting ready to put it right.

Given the injury situation, it could be the same back four as last weekend, with a midfield of Zokora and Huddlestone in the centre, with a newly fit Tainio on the left and Malbranque on the right. Not a bad line up, but lacking a little in pace. That said Zokora didn’t exactly win any friends last week, so it could well be Davids that drops in for JJ. Whether Jol goes for Tainio and Malbranque, both of whom would lack match fitness is another question, so Danny Murphy should feature one way or another. Up front it will probably be Keane & Berbatov, but with one eye on the Thursday’s tie at Bayer Leverkusen, it could be Mido and Defoe if Jol decides the UEFA game is more important. Who knows basically!

Live on Sky Sports again, lets hope for a better showing than last Sunday.

The Waddler.

The Ballad of Reading Goals

2006-11-13T14:32:00.000Z

If Spurs took a step forward by beating Chelsea last weekend then they took two back yesterday by putting in a dire performance against Reading. It was a display completely lacking in desire and in many ways the polar opposite of the game against the Champions.

Spurs took to the field with an air of superiority about them, almost as if they knew they were better than Reading, so simply had to turn up in order to win. This attitude wasn’t helped then when we went one-nil up through a Robbie Keane penalty in the first half, as Spurs continued to coast. Reading on the other hand played like we did last week, forever chomping at our heels, chasing balls and getting stuck in. Spurs never play well against teams that do that to us, and as a result the passing went badly awry as every player was closed down before they even received the ball. When they equalised Spurs just went to pieces and conceded an abysmal second goal from a corner that gets worse every time you see it.

For all three goals Paul Robinson looks culpable, with the first and third seemingly going under his outstretched hand. That looks like a technical issue, as he can clearly dive far enough, but somehow can’t get his hand to the ball. For the second, whilst there were people not marking or concentrating everywhere, a goalkeeper should claim any cross in the six yard box and Robinson was rooted to his line when the corner came in.

9 games in 28 days is lot to ask, and unbeaten runs end sooner or later but it was a poor performance and there can’t be any excuses. Only Keane and to a lesser extent Jenas looked like they cared, and were the only two really putting a shift in. YP Lee had a terrible game, and Hossam Ghaly and Didier Zokora were also woeful, looking completely shocked when they weren’t given time to control the ball by Reading. It was a very quiet team that was picked, with no real aggressors on the field without Chimbonda or even a Davids, and that didn’t help when the chips were down after their equaliser. It seems strange to heap so much importance on a right back, but you couldn’t imagine any of the goals being scored with Chimbonda on the field, in particular the second one. The third was a result of Spurs going with 3 at the back so doesn’t really count in the analysis. The fact is though we missed his aggression which rubs off on the rest of the team, and that highlights some gaps in our squad.

It’s Blackburn away next up which won’t be easy, and let’s hope Spurs take it a little more seriously than they did yesterday. Oscar Wilde once wrote that “In Reading gaol by Reading town, there is a pit of shame” and you would hope that Spurs sat in that pit yesterday and had a long hard look at themselves.

The Waddler.

Reading Preview

2006-11-10T12:25:00.000Z

We travel to newly promoted Reading on Sunday to face a club we haven’t met in a competitive fixture since 1931, a period when Spurs were spending some time below the top flight and Reading played at Elm Park rather than the swanky new Madjeski Stadium. Reading have had a patchy start to their first ever season amongst the biggest boys, and were recently spanked 4-0 at home by our North London neighbours. Their ambulance procedures and morality have also unfairly come under criticism from Jose Mourinho recently, which may have shaken them and contributed to their recent poor form.

The referee for the game is Rob Styles unfortunately, he who handed the Chelsea game last season to the opposition on a plate by sending Mido off and giving Chelsea every decision they wanted. He has a tendency to give decisions to the biggest/most hyped team in any given match that he is refereeing but has yet to ever give us anything so we need to play him as well as Reading on Sunday.

Spurs’ away form in the league has been very poor, still not having scored a goal ourselves and only amassing two points so far. The games against Slavia Prague, Besiktas and MK Dons all proved that we are capable of winning away from home, but we are yet to prove that in the league. The team should be buoyed by last weekend’s demolition of the Champions and should go into the match well rested (most of them) and full of beans. We should expect the same team that faced Chelsea to run out against Reading, assuming Chimbonda has recovered in time from his knee injury inflicted by Lampard last weekend. If he doesn’t make it, Y-P Lee should come in at right back, but Chimbo will be a loss as he has very quickly become a mainstay of the side. There will more than likely be a role for Malbranque as well, probably on the bench after his 60 minutes against Port Vale.

It won’t be easy but it’s about time Spurs broke their away duck for the season and posted 3 more points to take us further up the league table on Sunday. Live on Sky Sports 1 for those not making the trip along the M4.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Spurs in Left Winger Shock?

2006-11-10T09:27:00.000Z

Well according to the Guardian Spurs have signed a left winger, and even more shockingly beaten our North London rivals to the signature (and Wigan). His name is Leonardo Vitor Santiago, he is Brazilian and currently plays for NAC Breda in Holland. He was previously at Feyenoord where he had issues with his coach and was forced out. His contract at Breda is running out at the end of the season, allowing Spurs to nip in with a nominal fee in January.

All sounds good. He’s obviously a risk given his temperament, and being Brazilian will no doubt be typecast as soft and not suited to the hurly-burly of the English game, but for a nominal fee the risk is minimal, and presumably BMJ knows of him at least, and is confident he can keep him on a tight leash. Mido came with a similar reputation for falling out with coaches and being difficult to handle but he’s been OK at Spurs, at least in public, and Jol was confident enough to sign him permanently in the summer.

This assist he made whilst at Feyenoord shows some nice ability, and he would be a most welcome addition at the Lane, especially if Spurs can sort it out so that he arrives on January 1st so we can have him as soon as possible, and then he can play in the FA Cup and hopefully start by terrorising some lower division defence to ease him in. As usual we will have to wait for Comolli’s comments on the official website before celebrating too much, so in the meantime lets keep fingers crossed that he is the one. Will he be the first Brazilian at White Hart Lane?

The Waddler.

THudd Thwarts Vale

2006-11-09T13:57:00.000Z

Spurs made heavy work of Port Vale last night, needing extra time to see them off and at one point being 10 minutes away from getting knocked out of the competition altogether. As it was, it just needed an injection of class, and with the introduction of Lennon, Berbatov and Ghaly the game was easily turned around into Spurs’ favour and Port Vale were dispatched 3-1.

That it was such a struggle probably owed a lot to Mido’s withdrawal before the game with a knee injury. It meant that Jol, with his desire to rest Keane & Berbatov, went with Andy Barcham and Defoe up front. Now no disrespect to Barcham, but he is no Mido and if Keane and Defoe doesn’t work as a partnership there is no way Barcham and Defoe was going to either. As it was Spurs’ attacking moves weren’t working, Defoe was blasting chances everywhere but the net and it took a Vale goal to enliven the tie.

Once the big boys were on there was only one result, and Tom Huddlestone’s first two goals for the club, the second a real screamer, plus a late Defoe tap in were enough to put away Port Vale. It was a risky move by Jol to play so many of the second string, but he got away with it. Malbranque looked rather short of match fitness, but there are ideas there, and Dorian Dervitte looked good on his debut. Other than that, the highlight is simply being in the next round, and extending the unbeaten run to 10 games.

Quarter Final draw on Sky Sports 1 (or Sky Sports News) during Soccer Saturday. Lets hope for a nice home game against Wycombe or Southend.

The Waddler.

The Need for Steed

2006-11-08T09:22:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur fans get their first chance to look at Steed Malbranque in a Spurs shirt this evening in the Carling Cup tie with Port Vale at White Hart Lane. Of course Spurs knew what they were getting when they signed the injured Steed just before transfer deadline day, but its been a frustration for all concerned not to be able to call upon one of the most skilful players in the squad. Out with what has been described as a hernia injury, Steed has been training for a few weeks now and is ready for some first team action. The Carling Cup is actually an ideal way to get some match fitness, and it will be interesting to see whether BMJ puts him on the bench, or starts him and then takes him off before the end.

Port Vale are there for the taking, but Spurs should be mindful of Grimsby last year, and of course Man Utd crashing out to Southend last night. The holders being knocked out means that the path to Cardiff has cleared a little for Spurs, and being in the hat for the next round, and receiving a favourable draw could mean a very real chance of silverware and an early ticket back into next year’s UEFA Cup. Jol therefore needs to think about this, whilst balancing the need to rest players, as it was nearly the same eleven that played Watford, Club Brugge and Chelsea all in the space of 8 days.

There is no chance of Ledders playing, and you would expect Berbatov to also be rested. Looking at the last game against MK Dons in the last round it could be the same sort of thing with Cerny in goal, Davids and Huddlestone in midfield and Mido and Defoe up front. Injuries to Davenport and Stalteri, who would normally slot straight in, could mean a chance for people like Phil Ifil and Dorian Dervitte. Either way, a team with mainly squad players and the odd reserve should still be enough to secure safe passage to the next round, especially at the Lane.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Not "So Easy" Now

2006-11-06T13:00:00.000Z

What a day. Spurs beat Chelsea, the Gooners lost to West Ham and plenty of fireworks were seen, both actual and metaphorical. Spurs didn’t just beat Chelsea though, they smashed them. By the end of the game Chelsea were a mess, down to ten men, substitutes being substituted, players woefully out of position and Spurs carving them wide open. It was beautiful to watch, if rather nerve-wracking, and if you weren’t there, I’m afraid you missed a treat.

Chelsea are very dislikeable these days, more so than ever because of their new found arrogance and disdain for the opposition. Even before the kick off they displayed their lack of class by making Spurs change ends and attack the Paxton rather than the Park Lane like we always do. A small thing but typical of Chelsea. The less subtle referee goading, not retreating for free kicks, diving, dirty little fouls and abuse of opposition players are also nasty traits of theirs, as well as Mourinho’s constant moaning and “mind games” of course.

John Terry’s sending off yesterday was for two bookable offences and on the replays it was difficult to see exactly what the second one was for, but if you look at Ledley King’s reaction to what Terry said to him, and the subsequent melee involving Chimbonda, Zokora and BAE its obvious it was down to what he said rather than what he did. Ledley isn’t someone that would hurt a fly normally, so for him to have to be restrained by Robinson meant that it was something very upsetting. The reactions of Drogba and Essien also suggested they were trying to restrain the Spurs players rather than get involved in a fight, and Wright-Philips’ attempt to remove Terry from the scene and the complete acceptance of the card by Terry suggests that it was bad, and everyone knew it, Spurs and Chelsea alike.

The chant that then came out of the Park Lane of “That’s why you’re w*nkers!” summed them up perfectly. The Spurs fans were on form all day, telling Lampard he had let his country down as well as telling Mourinho where his place was, both politely are rather more fragrantly. The fact that we were all so chipper stemmed from the excellent Spurs performance after Michael Dawson’s equaliser. Prior to that it looked like it was going to follow the usual Spurs-Chelsea game pattern, but once Daws grabbed the goal, a lovely header from an excellent Jenas free kick, Spurs were a different team, full of confidence.

Jol’s formation change mid way through the first half worked a treat, and full credit must go to him for having the balls the change his tactics so dramatically. The 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 depending on how you class Keane and Lennon’s roles worked well, matching Chelsea’s midfield as well as putting our two best dribblers against their full backs. Ferrera was booked and withdrawn for Bouhlerouz who was then given an absolute roasting by Keane and subbed after only being on the field for 20 minutes. It was the Keane-Lennon combo that combined for the winner, and it was great skill from Keane to roast the full back (twice) then cross for Lennon, whose first touch took him away from Cole, and with his second steered the ball into the net. Cue the Lane going into raptures.

The rest of the game then involved Spurs soaking up the pressure and trying to counter attack, which is how BMJ likes it for some reason, but yesterday it worked and bar Robben’s shot that hit the post, it was always going to be Spurs that took the spoils and ended the curse of 19 years. Great stuff and long may it continue.

The Waddler.

Berbs Bashes Brugge

2006-11-03T16:11:00.000Z

Spurs edged a little closer to Glasgow in May last night with a good 3-1 win over a reasonable Club Brugge side at White Hart Lane to take us top of Group B. Another excellent performance from €15m summer signing Dimitar Berbatov was the highlight of the evening, scoring two lovely goals and setting up the other with an exquisite pass to an otherwise off colour Robbie Keane to fire home.

Brugge had taken the lead with a nice goal from Salou, and the Spurs faithful were briefly silenced. The away support Brugge brought with them was excellent and very noisy indeed, often drowning out the Park Lane and Paxton choral societies. It wasn’t until Spurs got the third that they shut up, and by then they and their players knew the game was up.

BMJ opted for Lennon on the left again with Ghaly on the right. The problem with that though is that Lennon doesn't get to the byline on the left and just cuts inside. Its plain he can't shoot, and he ends up knocking it square to JJ or Zokora or back to BAE. Berbatov is wasted without crosses, and unless Lennon is on the right he won’t get any from him. Surely Ghaly could do what he does on the left and let Lennon fly down the right? It’s blunting our main weapon playing him on the left. It’s like taking the jam out of your doughnut; it’s still a doughnut and better than not having one, but it could be so much better.

Anyway, that was really the only downer on a good night, and its pleasing to see the forwards scoring at last. Berbatov now leads the charts with 4 this season, followed by Keane, Defoe and Mido all on three. Now if they can all start doing it in the league we may be able to see the name Tottenham Hotspur in the top half rather than the bottom. At least we’re reminding Europe that we’re back, and stating our intent to reclaim our rightful place at the table.

The Waddler.

UEFA Cup: Club Brugge Preview

2006-11-02T14:09:00.000Z

So who are our opponents tonight? Club Brugge or FC Bruges are the only Belgian club to reach the final of the European Cup, losing to Liverpool in 1978 at Wembley (bit unfair that!). Spurs have met them once before in this competition when a 3-0 victory at the Lane took us, the holders, through 4-2 on aggregate in the 1984/85 campaign. They have never won in England apparently. They have not lost in more than two months, are third in their league and spanked Mouscron 5-1 over the weekend. In midfield they have one Jonathan Blondel who was signed for Spurs by David Pleat as the “blonde Enzo Schifo”, and looked good, albeit lightweight, in a couple of League Cup games under Pleat’s stewardship. Hoddle had previously refused to play the boy, and he eventually got home sick and went home, obviously.

Spurs have the usual injury worries of course, but may welcome back Didier Zokora which would be a boost. There are rumours going around of BMJ resting a few players tonight, but as long as the back 5 stays more or less intact it shouldn’t matter terribly. Whilst we have cover for every position these days, its only in midfield and up front where that cover is actually any good. The thought of Stalteri’s furrowed brow trundling up and down the flank tonight is not a pleasant thought.

Really this is the game Spurs should look to win, as passage to the next round would be all but secure already, but with Chelsea looming on Sunday perhaps it would be wise to keep one or two players fresh. Even with a little rotation Spurs should be too much for our opponents who seem to have based all their scouting on the Watford game, and our a rather confident apparently. Time for a Besiktas level of performance and a few goals would go down a treat too.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Comolli: No left winger (yet)

2006-10-31T16:49:00.000Z

Sporting Director Damien Comolli has spoken of Tottenham Hotspur’s search for a left winger:

"They (Spurs fans) have wondered why we haven't signed a left-winger but they are difficult to find. Of the teams who reached the last 16 of the World Cup there was only one left-winger. It is not something we should concentrate on. We have enough quality to compensate. It's not so much of a problem and they should not worry."

The interesting bit there is the line “…not so much of a problem”. Meaning it is a problem, but we are going to work around it until we can find a solution. He is right of course about not many teams having left wingers. If you look at Chelsea or the side Arsene Wenger picks each week, neither of them pick a left winger as part of a four man midfield, which Jol uses. Rosicky, Ljunberg or Hleb tend to play wide and are not what you would call wingers, and Chelsea only play Robben as part of a forward three, with three central midfielders behind. The premise being that playing two wingers and two forwards is too attacking – you either play two with one forward, or play three tight central midfielders and one flyer. Which is what Spurs do with Lennon.

Spurs’ problem though is that the guy who plays on the left side of midfield is playing out of position. Whether it is Davids, Murphy or Tainio none of them would choose to play there, or regard it as their best position. What Spurs need to balance Lennon on the right is a left footed midfielder who works hard, can tackle and cross and in an ideal world have a bit of pace. Having a left footed Lennon on that side would be great at home, but away, or against a physical team, Spurs would get overrun. That is why Spurs are struggling to find this player, there are not many around of quality (Reto Ziegler and Johnnie Jackson technically fit the bill, but just are not Premier League players). Gareth Barry would work, and Downing does to an extent but not to the tune of £12m.

Spurs would also prefer not to buy foreign, which further limits the available pool of talent. Comolli said: "We will never do what Arsenal have done. When I discussed with the board last year about coming they told me that the club's philosophy was built on English players and I agreed with them. What we have been trying to do has not changed. We always try to sign British players, the second option is foreign players within the Premiership and the third is looking abroad. But we won't say we won't buy someone because they are foreign as we need to bring in quality players. Martin is right about having an English core. We lost only Michael Carrick in the summer (to Manchester United) but Tom Huddlestone is getting more involved this year as a result. Our policy now is to sign the right players. We are looking for top quality so the quantity will be less."

So don’t expect anything soon, but when we do get new players they are going to be great? Well OK that sounds like a reasonable policy. In the meantime, let’s hope Malbranque fits the bill, or Tainio comes back from injury a player reborn. If not, we may have to go for someone just below top quality, or break the bank on someone who is. Its simple economics Damien: demand high, supply low equals high price. Surely Mr Levy knows that?

The Waddler.

Firing Blanks

2006-10-31T16:48:00.000Z

What can you say about Saturday? Spurs should have scored but didn’t, Watford did score but it was disallowed. They also missed a sitter and cleared a Robbie Keane effort off the line with a very fluky back heel. Therefore, maybe a draw was a fair reflection of the game.

The disappointing thing is that Spurs are still to score an away league goal themselves this season and yet to register an away win. The positive is that its yet another clean sheet, albeit rather more fortuitously earned than others this season, and it’s a point earned away, which is the standard expectation for an away team.

That’s about it really, not great, not all that bad either. It’s how we do on Thursday that will show whether this team have some mettle, and then onto Chelsea on Sunday where we will no doubt contrive to lose as usual. Let’s hope it’s not Rob Styles refereeing this year.

The Waddler.

Mind the Gap: The Watford Preview

2006-10-27T15:05:00.000+01:00

Watford: Elton John, Luther Blissett, Graham Taylor and that Hoddle goal. These are the things that spring to mind when you think of Watford. They pop up to the top flight every so often and they quietly go back to where they came from without really upsetting anyone. Oh, and they hardly ever need to use their away kit, maybe if they play Norwich or Wolves. The current Watford side are not that bad, and in Aidy Boothroyd and Keith Burkinshaw the former UEFA Cup winning Spurs manager, they are well managed too. Ashley Young is being heralded as a bright young thing, and has looked impressive so far, and in Marlon King they have someone who can put the ball in the back of the net.

Having said all that though this looks like a game to break our away duct in the league this season, and take our unbeaten run to 7 games. Spurs are flying at the moment, confidence is high after beating Besiktas, West Ham and MK Dons all fairly straightforwardly, and Big Martin Jol has a rested Berbatov to bring back, along with the other big boys that didn’t feature on Wednesday night such as King, Chimbonda and Jenas. He now has a selection headache up front; as all four strikers have scored in their last match with Mido leading the way with 3 in his last 2 starts. You would suspect that it would be Keane and Berbatov tomorrow as it was Mido and Defoe on Wednesday, but then who knows, they say you shouldn’t drop an in form striker, and both the latter two seem to have worked themselves into some form.

It should be a good test as to how far this Spurs team has come, as most big teams will regard this as simply 3 points, and so should Spurs if we have ambitions to sit at the top table of English and European football.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Spurs Whack Dons

2006-10-26T09:47:00.000+01:00

It seems that it is obligatory to have a biting related headline this morning, such as “Defoe devours Dons” or “Spurs sink teeth into Dons” etc, etc. The Waddler has opted for the Godfather-esque route that most of the lazy hacks would have opted for had little Jermain not gone for an early dinner on Sunday. It was the score line that was wanted, and it was ideal for the strikers as all three that played scored, and it means that all have put the ball in the net during the last week, leaving plenty of selection headaches for Big Martin Jol on Saturday.

The line-up picked showed the strength of the squad Spurs have assembled as BMJ went for his B team. You can make a case for the entire line up being replaced for a more important match given a fully fit squad. For last night’s line up of Cerny, Stalteri, Davenport, Gardner, Ziegler, Ghaly, Davids, Huddlestone, Murphy, Mido, Defoe you could replace each one with a more likely first team member: Robinson, Chimbonda, King, Dawson, BAE, Lennon, Jenas, Zokora, Malbranque, Berbatov, Keane. That’s assuming you prefer Keane to Defoe, but the message is clear, Spurs have strength in depth these days, and that is without mentioning YP-Lee or Tainio.

MK Dons certainly matched Spurs in the first half, and there were one or two moments early on where the memories of Grimsby came flooding back. This time though Spurs held firm and class told in the end, as we were able to put the ball in the back of the net. The first goal emphasised the importance of wide players as Ziegler whipped in a perfect cross that Mido steered into the net with ease. Defoe then followed with a chip over the keeper and in the second half latched on to a lovely Huddlestone pass. He then set about going for a hat-trick, ignoring his team-mates along the way and one of his attempts re-bounded to Mido who slotted in it. The evening was rounded off well by Robbie Keane who finally scored in a one-on-one situation, slipping the ball through the on-rushing keeper’s legs.

The draw has also been kind to Spurs with Port Vale at home coming out of the hat for the fourth round. It looks then as if Spurs will find themselves in the quarter-finals without having to do much at all. That’s how we like it!

The Waddler.

Carling Cup Round 3 - MK Dons Preview

2006-10-25T15:53:00.000+01:00

It’s the Carling Cup tonight, and a trip to Milton Keynes of all places to play some team called the Dons. Apparently Spurs are the first Premiership team to play there since they upped sticks and swapped South London for Buckinghamshire. Also in the interesting facts section is that their manager, Martin “Mad Dog” Allen, is one of Clive’s many cousins in football. Lets hope Clive hasn’t let out any secrets during a family christening or wedding lately.

Of course this team used to be Wimbledon, the Crazy Gang, the team you dreaded playing against because even though they were rubbish, they could always somehow find it in themselves to beat you. Those days are long gone of course, but Spurs beat Wimbledon last time we won this trophy in 1999, so if omens are needed, there’s a good one.

In terms of team news it seems Big Martin Jol is rather keen to avoid a repeat of last season’s Grimsby debacle, and is going to field a rather strong side. It would be a shock to see Ledley, but other than that it could be a fairly full strength side, with Berbatov back in the squad, and only the usual Tainio, Malbranque and Zokora unavailable. If that is the case then it should be a cake-walk so long as the players take it seriously. It could also be a good time for the strikers to fll their boots, and work themselves into a bit of form by scoring one or two a piece.

BBC London Radio this evening for those not going to the world famous English National Hockey Stadium – its always fun listening to Spurs on the radio. Lets hope this one goes with form, and we’re not splashed across all the back pages like the poor old Hammers were this morning. Lets hope no-one bites anyone as well.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

The lean, mean, biting machine...

2006-10-24T16:12:00.000+01:00

The papers have all had their say, even the Sports Minister has chipped in with his two pennies worth, Harry Redknapp has defended him, so has Jol of course; it’s the topic that is dividing the nation in what must be a slow news week. Did Defoe really bite Mascherano, and if so why? Is he a child? Does he like biting men? It’s all very strange. In true Arsene Wenger fashion, The Waddler didn’t see it at the time from the posh seats in the West Stand, and TV replays have proved inconclusive. Surely its only a matter of time before Sepp Blatter, Pele and Kofi Annan all have their say and poor little Jermain is being tried for war crimes in the Hague.

The fact is though that the controversy has hidden a decent Spurs performance and taken pressure off Pardew that would have been turned up a notch after seven straight defeats. Spurs gave West Ham a good going over for about 80 minutes, and went some way for avenging the defeat on the last day of the season. Having only had one day to prepare, and on the back of a trip to the furthest reaches of Europe, it was a good performance, very solid, and with a little more composure in front of goal, mainly from the mean, lean biting machine it would have been more emphatic.

Aaron Lennon was back to his zippy best, and Paul Konchesky will be waking up in cold sweats at the memory of the little man whizzing past him like Road Runner. Tom Huddlestone seems to be growing by the game, adding little drag backs and flicks to his sublime passing skills. Mido started the game like he was wearing lead boots, with every pass being fizzed at a team mate’s chest or over his head. On the stroke of half time though he scored a goal out of the top draw, a beautiful flick up, twist and volley that went in off the post. He is a bit of an enigma, as he is a big guy, who is good in the air and gets labelled as simply a target man, but he is capable of subtlety when he wants and after the goal he became twice the player he was at the start of the game. He could have had a hat-trick with a header off the bar, and just failing to get on the end of a perfect Huddlestone cross.

Jol likes to hang on to a lead, and memories of the fixture from last season came flooding back with a series of corners towards the end that made for a nervy last few minutes. The result was different this time around though as Spurs hung on, and if Steve Bennett, the referee, was able to see beyond his nose, then Spurs would have had it far easier with Konchesky sent off for bringing down the biting machine, and a penalty when Robbie Keane was brought down in the box. It was not to be however, but alls well that ends well and Spurs should be able to send out a reserve team at MK Dons on Wednesday and concentrate on winning their first away game in the league this season at Watford on Saturday.

The Waddler.

Big Brother's Little Brother: The Wham Preview

2006-10-20T12:00:00.000+01:00

Ah plucky little West Ham, they’re like a naughty little scamp that you can’t help but like – they’re not ever going to do you any harm, and in a funny sort of way you quite like their antics. That’s the sort of view the average Spurs fan has (or had) of West Ham, they play nice football, fairly inoffensive, basically a poor man’s Tottenham Hotspur. They’ve been our feeder club, and we’ve offloaded lots of our tat onto them – a little brother if you will. West Ham fans hate their older brother though, and for them the biggest game of the season, when they’re in the top league, is the game against Spurs. Spurs though are only interested in the lot in N5, so regard the ‘appy ‘ammers as simply 3 points.

That all changed a bit on the last day of last season, when most of the Spurs side were mysteriously taken ill, and subsequently lost a game that had they won, would have enabled them, at the expense of their real rivals, a place in the lucrative Champions League. The gloating, mockery and scorn showed that day by the fans, players and staff at West Ham will live long in the memory for all connected to Spurs, and revenge is very much on the menu this weekend. Even the usually quiet and reserved Ledley King has been issuing some fighting talk:

"I want to keep them silent this time. Last season West Ham were our bogey team. They scored in the last minute at White Hart Lane and beat us on the last day of the season. That defeat still hurts. We are all well aware of what happened last season and are all really hungry to win this game. I was at Upton Park, I travelled with the lads and knew a lot of them were ill. It was horrible sitting in the stands injured, watching what was happening and not being able to do anything about it. This time I want to do something about it. I heard their fans taking the mickey out of us for being ill, but I want to keep them silent this time. It was a disastrous day for us. They haven't got off to the best of starts but we have taken a lot of confidence out of beating Besiktas."

There has been a rumour flying around that the West Ham fans will turn up wearing Chef’s hats in homage to the Gooner Chef that cooked the meal that allegedly made Spurs ill in the hotel Spurs stayed in before the game. Presumably they had plenty of time yesterday to prepare, because they unexpectedly had a free date in the diary after embarrassingly tumbling out of the UEFA Cup in the first round.

In a way you can see why they don’t like Spurs, we go and nick Kanoute, Defoe and Carrick from them, whilst offloading Etherington, Zamora, Rebrov and Taricco, plus lending them Davenport for a few months to toughen up while they were in the second division. Its not our fault though that they secretly revere Spurs so much that they go and get Sheringham and Konchesky off their own backs as well. They just need to put a bid in to Bournemouth for Anderton, sack Pardew and replace him with David Pleat and they will be all set.

In terms of the team Spurs put out it will be a case of picking up the pieces from last night’s heroic victory in Istanbul, and see who is fit and raring to go. With Jermain Defoe sitting on the bench for most of last night, you would expect him to be selected to face his old club over the miss-firing Robbie Keane and likewise Didier Zokora should be ready to start ahead of Tom Huddlestone if he gets over his fever. Aside from that there shouldn’t be any real need to change a winning side, unless there are still knocks or tired limbs come Sunday. Aaron Lennon could start, but Spurs need to be careful about rushing him back too quickly.

West Ham have not been laying well lately, coming into this game on the back of four straight losses, with Pardew under real pressure. He comes across as an arrogant man when interviewed on TV, and you have to wonder what he has to be arrogant about after failing to take West Ham back up in his first season, sneaking through the play-offs in his second, fluking their way to a Cup Final and then losing in his third, before crashing out of Europe at the first attempt and leaving the club lurking in the relegation zone in his forth and more than likely last. To say that Tevez and Mascherano really wanted to join West Ham with a straight face was a bridge too far though, and for that he should be sacked anyway. Those two, undoubtedly world class players, must wonder what they have done to deserve their current fate, and they both must wish they could fast forward the clock to January 1st when they can get out of their nightmare. That said Spurs will need to be wary of Tevez, who is a special talent, and may just turn it on in what will be the biggest game he plays for his current club. Hopefully he and his fellow Argentine will continue to look as disinterested as they have since they found themselves stuck in the East End. “United? Ah yes we would very much like to join them. Hold on this isn’t Old Trafford, where’s Rooney? What’s this jellied fish you expect me to eat?”

Simply a must win game for Tottenham on Sunday. Let’s hope for more of the same from Thursday night.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Brilliant Berbatov

2006-10-20T09:40:00.000+01:00

A great performance by Spurs last night in Turkey, and a brilliant show from Dimitar Berbatov who capped off a fine night with a cracking individual goal. He also had an assist for the first goal, scored eventually by the impressive Hossam Ghaly, and really should have had a penalty and another assist when Robbie Keane somehow managed to hit the bar from 10 yards out. He was quite rightly singled out by both managers after the game.

"Berbatov showed some flashes of his quality.” Big Martin Jol said, “We've always said if our strikers can make a difference then we will be a good team. Berbatov is the extra quality we have up front. It was a terrific goal and, hopefully, it will break the spell as we have struggled to score this season."

The Besiktas football director, Jean Tigana, also felt Berbatov was the difference: "His goal was fantastic. When you have a player like that it is a lot easier to win. He can change a game by himself. Tottenham were very good.”

Neither of them were wrong either, as last night our new Bulgarian hero showed what he is about. His strength and ability to hold the ball up is excellent, and his composure and close control are a marvel to watch. With his goal he showed that you don’t need raw pace to beat players, just some skill and guile are enough to do the job, as he out foxed both the defender and the goalkeeper, before stroking it home. Robbie Keane needs to follow him around in training because he can learn a lot from this man. Robbie was woefully out of touch last night in terms of his shooting; hitting the bar, tapping a tame effort at the keeper and blazing one over the top during the course of the evening. If it wasn’t for his profligacy in front of goal, Spurs could have gone home with 3 or 4 goals without reply. It wasn’t all Robbie’s fault that didn’t happen though, with the referee ignoring a stick on penalty when Berbs was brought down in the box. If that had been up the other end with 36,000 Turks baying for blood, one suspects he may have given it.

Some good performances by Pascal Chimbonda, again, and Jermaine Jenas are also worth highlighting. Both men work tirelessly in their respective positions, and both have calmness under pressure and use their skill when the opportunity arises. It was also great to have Ledley back, he’s the type of player that you often don’t notice because he simply does everything well, and is always neat and tidy and gives the team a confidence in its defending. Tom Huddlestone also didn’t look out of place on the European stage, especially considering he is only 19 years old. He is a little slow when in possession, but he’ll learn, and Besiktas took to fouling him horribly in an attempt to threaten his midfield domination with JJ.

It was an excellent away performance, another great European night for Spurs to add to the collection, and a reminder for those younger fans what Tottenham Hotspur is all about - glory. After some Turkish baths no doubt last night, Spurs head home this morning, full of beans, ready to put the little brother West Ham back in their place on Sunday. Has that corner now been turned? Its looking good, the proof will be on Sunday.

The Waddler.

Turkey not just for Christmas – Besiktas Preview

2006-10-18T15:45:00.000+01:00

Tottenham Hotspur travel to Turkey tomorrow for their first game in the UEFA Cup Group Stage to play Besiktas, a team from the European part of Istanbul. Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü to give them their full name are the oldest club in Turkey, and were originally a gymnastic club, hence the middle name. They play at the Besiktas Inonu Stadium, which Pele allegedly once said had the most beautiful view in the world. It is also the only stadium in the world from which you can see both Europe and Asia - amazing. Anyway, the team are managed by Jean Tigana, formally manager of Fulham and Platini’s midfield sidekick for France. They sit third in the Turkish League with five wins, a draw and three losses from the nine games played, and have Kleberson the Brazilian World Cup winner and failed Man Utd midfielder in their squad. That’s all you need to know about the opposition, more importantly, how are Spurs looking?

Well, it’s the usual story of injuries as King, Dawson and Davenport are all doubts with knee, head and nose troubles respectively. The lack of our young French centre back Dorian Dervitte in the reserve squad the other night suggests that he is going get his first taste of action with the big boys, at least making the squad for the trip. He could be on the bench if only one of the aforementioned three pull through, with big Tony Gardner ready to step in for Ledders or Daws.

The midfield is starting to pick itself with Teemu Tainio, Hossam Ghaly and Steed Malbranque all absent for one reason or another. The main question will be whether Big Martin Jol starts Aaron Lennon, or holds him back on the bench. If it’s the latter then Jenas would play on the right, and the central midfield pairing could well be the same as our last European away game, with Huddlestone and Zokora holding fort. Another run out for Danny Murphy on the left also looks likely, as he slowly begins to look like the guy who won many trophies with Liverpool.

Up front isn’t that easy to call as Defoe and Berbatov started on Saturday, so it could be Keane and Mido this time out, particularly as West Ham’s biggest game of the season is on Sunday, which presumably Defoe would quite like to play in. Berbatov would also have played five games in two and a half weeks if he plays tomorrow, and given he is on the way back from injury expect him not to feature either tomorrow or Sunday.

This is all new territory as far as this Tottenham team is concerned, so a draw or better will be a creditable result. The crowd will be hostile, as the opposition will be, and Spurs will have to match their passion. Class tends to tell over a two leg tie, but this is different and there’s no concept of coming back with an away goal anymore, its points that are needed. The team played well against Villa last week, and there’s no reason why they can’t do the same tomorrow, just so long as we can score, which has been a distinct problem away from home all season.

Fair play to the 500 brave fans making their way to Istanbul, you are a credit to the club. The Waddler is going to have to make do with Channel 5 and John Barnes. Oh dear.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

THFC Power Brokers – Part One: Daniel Levy

2006-10-18T13:49:00.000+01:00

The Waddler has decided to branch out into the murky world of investigative journalism in order to bring you, dear reader, the low-down on the men that really matter at Tottenham Hotspur. They are, in order of the power they wield, Chairman Daniel Levy, Vice Chairman Paul Kemsley and the mysterious man with the money, Joe Lewis. This will be a three part series that will attempt to dig deep(ish) into the lives and history of these three men, checking their Spurs credentials as well as their business acumen and maybe concluding whether they are the appropriate people to be controlling our football club.

Daniel Levy is 43 years old, Jewish, married, 3 kids, has a first class degree in Economics from Cambridge, and has apparently been a Spurs fan all his life. Together with Joe Lewis he owns ENIC, which stands for the English National Investment Company. The original aim of the firm was to be a holding company for various sports and entertainment enterprises. They at one point had a portfolio ranging from a stake in Glasgow Rangers to the UK chain of Warner Brothers stores. They began to diversify too much however and decided to focus on football, with the aim of owning a club in each of the major European leagues. However, in 2003 they took a controlling interest in Tottenham Hotspur from Alan Sugar, which became the jewel in ENIC’s crown and the other clubs were gradually sold off. ENIC also went private that year, when Levy and Joe Lewis bought out the remaining shareholders. As a result getting information on the firm is now difficult, but it seems clear that ENIC’s main focus is THFC, and to a lesser extent a holding in the Czech club Slavia Prague.

ENIC's ultimate owner is a company called Crailes Holdings, registered in the Bahamas, the tax haven where Joe Lewis lives and where it is not easy to find information about companies. The Guardian managed to get quotes from an ENIC spokesman who confirmed that Lewis is behind ENIC, with Levy, via family trusts, owning 29%. "It is very much a joint effort between Joe and Daniel," the spokesman said. "Daniel himself takes responsibility for the decisions at Tottenham." ENIC, according to the financial news service Bloomberg, own 32.7% of Tottenham, which means the Chairman effectively only owns 9.5% of THFC, less than Alan Sugar who has 14.7%. Lewis is therefore the man with the main financial interest, with over 23% of the club held through his holding in ENIC. The breakdown is as follows:

ENIC 32.7%
Amshold (Sugar) 14.7%
Hodram 9.9%
Schroder UK Smaller Companies Fund 0.8%
Small Shareholders i.e. fans 42%

Hodram Inc is a vehicle owned by the brother of EasyJet’s Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Both are mad keen Spurs fans who simply want a stake in the club. In a similar vein Andy Brough, manager of the Schroder UK Smaller Companies Fund is a big Spurs fan which no doubt played a part in his fund having that particular holding.

So despite Joe Lewis being the money man, it is Levy that calls the shots and would be a difficult man to dispose, unless he falls out with Lewis of course. Levy’s other business interest is in property and he, Kemsley and Lewis are again involved together in a company called Rock Investments, which is half owned by Lewis and run on a day to day basis by Kemsley. According to the Guardian, in the year to December 2004, Levy was paid £240,000 by Rapallo, the vehicle through which Lewis owns Rock; and in the year to June 2005, he was paid £525,000 by ENIC for his work as THFC Chairman. More on the property angle in THFC Power Brokers – Part Two: Paul Kemsley.

In many ways Kemsley and Lewis are more interesting as less is known about them. We have had Levy as Chairman for 3 and half years now, and have seen him make some tough decisions such are firing Graham, Hoddle and Pleat, and make some astute decisions such as hiring Arnesen and Comolli. There were some errors along the way of course, and no-one was especially happy to have Pleat in temporary charge for most of a season only to appoint Santini, who ran off after a couple of months anyway. He is still fairly new to the job, and history will be able to only judge him years down the line, particularly on areas such as the stadium and training ground. He is often seen by many as being too interested in driving a hard bargain in transfer dealings, but you can argue that he is only spending the money wisely, and after allowing Hoddle to persuade him to part with £8.1m for Dean Richards, who can blame him? The man has taken Spurs into European competition, spent millions on players such as Berbatov and Zokora, and extracted as much as he could in the sale of Carrick and the compensation for Arnesen. Abramovich aside, there are not many chairman that spend enough money for the fans liking, but most sensible Spurs fans would be happy to have Levy in charge rather than a Risdale or Bates, running up huge debts with their Jam Tomorrow attitude over paying it back.

So is Daniel Levy a good man to have in charge of Tottenham Hotspur? Yes, probably. He has great business experience, is obviously intelligent, has backing from the right man, and things are pretty rosy in terms of the squad that has been built. He has a good man in place on the football side in Damien Comolli, and whilst the jury is still out on Jol there can be no argument that last season was a success, at least on a relative basis. It is what he does with the stadium that could be his lasting legacy however, and on that, the jury is going to have a long wait before it can deliberate.

Parts two and three to follow over the next couple of weeks after Besiktas and West Ham are taken care of.

The Waddler.

Spurs “Reject” Olympic Stadium

2006-10-17T09:47:00.000+01:00

In what was effectively an official statement, given the direct quotes attributed to Sporting Director Damien Comolli, Spurs have rejected the opportunity to take residence at the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. Whether that chance was actually there in the first place is of course up for debate in itself, but either way it has been clarified as not being an option.

Comolli said:

"The way it is going with the Olympic Stadium they are to keep a running track so there is no way we are even going to look into moving there. I travel around the world and every ground that has a running track in the stadium has a poor atmosphere, the attendance is down and all the clubs say it was a mistake to play there. It could have been an option but it is not any more. We are looking at all possible options, including extending White Hart Lane, but we may go somewhere else. Whatever happens, it won't affect the financial stability of the club or the ability to invest in players. The board are determined that doesn't happen and we will be very careful about it."

Now given that there were rumours of some statement about the stadium issue coming out a couple of days before these quotes were seen in the press, this is certainly a premeditated action by Tottenham Hotspur. But what are they trying to achieve? It looks as if they are either putting pressure on the Olympic Bid people to change the plans for the stadium, which now seems a long shot, or they are posturing for a move to Wembley, either temporary or permanent. The line “…we may go somewhere else” seems like a veiled threat to Haringey Council and the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who have so far not been forthcoming in terms of offering THFC help and assistance in redeveloping White Hart Lane and the surrounding area.

A temporary move to Wembley seems to make the most sense, as then White Hart Lane could be redeveloped without having to stage a match every other week, and the club wouldn’t have to put up with a reduced capacity while the work is going on. It would be a hard deal to organise though, as not only would you need the FA and the local council on board, you would also need some reassurance that transport links to the Lane are improved in the meantime.

In an ideal world of course you do what almost every other club that have built a new stadium have done, and find a nice plot of land, build yourself a stadium and carry on playing at the old one until its ready. That’s what Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Southampton all did, its what Liverpool are going to do, and most importantly that’s what the lot from Woolwich have done. The trouble is, most fans wouldn’t accept a permanent move out of the borough, that’s what the travellers currently residing in N5 did, its not something Tottenham Hotspur have ever done in 124 years. So it means finding somewhere in the Tottenham area – which isn’t exactly full of open areas of land, and the bits that are open suffer from the same transport issues as the Lane.

Presumably, Spurs have a plan, one more cunning than a Baldrick cunning plan, and this is merely a way of letting the fans know a bit of information without revealing all, whilst playing the long game with the authorities. This issue looks like it is going to run and run.

The Waddler.

Angel Gives Spurs Wings

2006-10-16T10:06:00.000+01:00

Tottenham Hotspur still haven’t scored an away goal themselves this season, but the corner they are turning, ever so slowly, continued to be turned at Villa Park on Saturday. To come away with a draw was all that could be realistically hoped for pre match, given the form of the two respective sides, but if it wasn’t for some wayward shooting and a dodgy red card and penalty against Davenport, it could have been even better.

The first half was dominated by Spurs, and little Jermain Defoe was proving a real handful, putting in one of his best performances for a long time in a Spurs shirt. Maybe it was playing two games on the trot, or maybe it was because he has been linked heavily with a move to Aston Villa, who knows, but he was back to his old twisting, turning and dribbling self, albeit with the shooting radar still off target. He had many if not all of Spurs’ best chances during the game, and although for one he should have squared the ball to Berbatov, most were fairly close to finding the net. He needs a run of games, and a goal or two, and we could see him back to his best. Aside from JD, there were good performances from Zokora again, and Murphy on the left who seems to be benefiting from being picked every week, not just subjected to bit part roles. BAE and Chimbonda were again good, especially the latter who had to fill in at centre back when Dawson went off injured early in the second half.

The pre match loss of Ledley King was a cruel blow, as the Dawson and Davenport partnership looks very shaky in comparison with the Dawson-King combination. That said Davenport’s second half sending off was very harsh, as on the replays it looked like the precociously named Gabriel Agbonlahor miss-kicked the ball and fell on his backside. So it was very kind of Juan Pablo Angel to miss the penalty to compensate for the travesty of justice that had just been served. He took the generosity a little too far 60 seconds later though, when he headed Defoe’s woeful corner into his own net. That was manner from heaven for Spurs who now had something to defend for the last 20 minutes with 10 men. It only lasted 5 though as Villa upped the tempo and Gareth Barry unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top right of the net. There was nothing that Robbo could have done, and in fact was he excellent all game, putting his England troubles, and the moronic taunts of the Villa fans, well and truly behind him. In fact, according to Martin Jol, it was the sheer presence of Robinson that made Angel fire his penalty wide:

“Paul made him nervous because he knew exactly what he was going to do. He
always prepares 100 per cent and told me before the game that he knew what he'd done in the past and what he would do."

To come away with a draw, despite the loss of King before the game, Dawson half way through, and then Davenport with 20 minutes to go really showed some mettle from Spurs and is certainly a positive to take away. Another positive was the surprise return of Aaron Lennon who came on as a second half substitute for Hossam Ghaly. He looked a little short of match sharpness which is fair enough, but another couple of sub appearances should be all he needs to get back to his wing wizardry, and Spurs will be all the better for it.

Spurs have a busy week ahead, with a trip to Turkey in the UEFA Cup before playing little brother West Ham on Sunday, who will presumably be at home watching Eastenders on Thursday night. Hopefully Ledley’s fluid would have drained sufficiently to return for the Besiktas game, and that Dawson’s headache also disappears. Ghaly has done his hamstring, and Davenport also broke his nose to add injury to insult, so the Spurs physios will be earning their corn again this week.

Things are looking up.

The Waddler.

Revenge for Robbo? The Villa Preview

2006-10-13T11:18:00.000+01:00

Poor old Paul Robinson, England’s number one splashed all across the front and back pages with pictures of “that” blunder under abusive headlines, Sky Sports News showing it over and over again, getting experts to analyse what went wrong. It was freak incident for gawd sake, get over it and stop hiding the fact that England were rubbish, Robbo was in fact their best player and Gary Neville’s backpass was played across the goal – a schoolboy error.

The character of the man will be evident tomorrow by his reactions to the fact that he will be the player that all the cameras will be on, ready to pounce on any error to crush him further. He needs to have the game of his life to show those hacks and doubters that he is the ENO, and the best keeper in the land. The Spurs fans up at Villa Park will let him know he’s still tops in their eyes and hopefully he will put it all behind him.

He needs to have a great game because Tottenham’s record up at Aston Villa isn’t the greatest, with one win since the Premier League began, the point at which time began apparently. With the usual injury list that looks like the available British troops after the Battle of the Somme, it’s a good job Martin Jol has an enormous squad from which to choose. The good news is that the fluid from Ledley’s knee has drained sufficiently for him to run out as skipper tomorrow (you can’t be squeamish and a Spurs fan), which is a massive relief. It was interesting to read quotes from Danny Murphy this week where he said that the reason Spurs hadn’t started the season well was because Ledley King wasn’t playing. A remarkable statement, but quite right in The Waddler’s opinion, we simply need the man to be fit and playing in order to play well. If Ledley has the knees of Paul McGrath though, it would be wise for Spurs to find a long term replacement for him sharpish, as the hole he leaves when he isn’t fit is just too large. Davenport and Gardener just don’t cut it.

Also potentially out are Pascal Chimbonda and Jermain Defoe. The more worrying of the two is Chimbonda, as he has been one of the stand out performers this season, and his absence could mean the return of Paul Stalteri, which would be a double blow. Hopefully though the Big Man will plump for YP Lee at right back if Chimbo doesn’t make it. The loss of Defoe isn’t that big these days, with Keane and Mido available to partner the main man, Dimitar Berbatov, up front. Teemu Tainio will be absent for six weeks apparently, but the good news is that Aaron Lennon is close to full fitness, and Steed Malbranque is back in full training. Spurs are close to being able to field a very strong side.

So what of Aston Villa? Their main summer signing and best performer this season is by far and away Martin O’Neill. As long as he is on the touchline then any opposition will have a battle on their hands. It was a massive coup by Villa to coax him out of his sabbatical, and they have got the real deal, one of the best managers there has been. What he did at Wycombe Wanderers was truly remarkable; he then went on to take Leicester into some of the best years in their history, before landing his dream job at Celtic. It was there that he really showed his worth, taking a team that had been completely in their neighbour’s shadows, turning them round into the dominate force in Scotland, as well as reaching a UEFA Cup final. Yes, it was only Scotland, and yes it was done with Hartson and Sutton up front which was not always easy on the eye, but success is success and this man brings it with him.

At bit like the Man United and Liverpool previews, its going to be a case of hoping for a draw, as we never do well there, and the opposition are flying, which Spurs are not. Of course Spurs have the players to beat Villa, man for man we are far better than them, but its not always how football works and O’Neill will have them fired up and Spurs will have to be up for it. Who knows what’s going to happen, it’s not an easy one to call, but The Waddler can’t see past a 1-0 or 2-0 to Villa sadly. Unless Robbo has the game of his life, and Berbatov nicks one at the other end of course. Either way Spurs look like they are turning a corner, albeit slowly, and we have more UEFA Cup action again to look forward to next week.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Martin Jol and his remote controls

2006-10-11T14:46:00.000+01:00

Poor old Martin Jol he will be sat at home this evening, flicking through the channels with his vast array of remotes that control all the satellite dishes attached to his Chigwell mansion, hoping and praying that his troops come back from foreign fields unscathed and ready for battle against Villa on Saturday. With the news that Ledley King has been sent home with his dodgy knee, it shows just how easily a manager’s plans can be unravelled by things beyond his control. The good news is that Ledders should be OK for Saturday, but it must be a worry that he can’t play more than one match a week at the moment, and if things continue Spurs will need to be buying a replacement sharpish.

So BMJ will be watching Croatia v England to keep an eye on Robbo, and maybe tune in towards the end to see if Jermain Defoe is unleashed, or JJ chucked on for another token cap. He will also have an eye on Robbie Keane in the Ireland v Czech Republic match tonight, hoping and praying he can find a goal that reignites his season. Now if he has a really big dish he may be able to pick up Bulgaria v Luxembourg, and have a look at Dimitar Berbatov hopefully filling his boots against the minnows of Europe. In many ways this is the most interesting game for the Big Man to tune into, as if Berbs can re-find his goal touch and come away unscathed it will be a real blessing for Spurs. A quick hat-trick and Bulgaria five or six up the manager can then withdraw our new hero and keep him wrapped up for Saturday. That would be nice.

With half the team in action tonight, and the other half hanging out in the treatment room it is going to be a nerve racking evening for the Spurs boss, and the fans.

The Waddler.

All quiet on the N17 front

2006-10-09T17:03:00.000+01:00

There has been little going on in the world of Tottenham Hotspur in the last week, hence the lack of updates on TheWaddler.com. Ledley King, Jermain Defoe and Paul Robinson were all involved in England’s dour 0-0 draw with Macedonia on Saturday with Ledley coming out with credit for a top quality performance. Whilst most Spurs fans would have been watching him with their hands over their eyes for fear of injury, it might do him some good in terms of building up match fitness. Rio Ferdinand replacing him on Wednesday against Croatia would be ideal, allowing him decent recovery time before Aston Villa on Saturday. Jermanine Jenas wasn’t involved after picking up a knock in training, so hopefully it was nothing serious.

Robbie Keane was involved in Ireland’s spanking at the hands of Cyprus, which would have done him no good whatsoever. Teemu Tainio has gone in for an operation on his hernia, which may explain his terrible performances this season. It’s never good to play with an injury, and Teemu’s performance levels and status with the fans as a result have taken a big hit. Hopefully he will come back stronger and fitter, and put in the sort of all action performance that was seen last season.

And that’s about it. International breaks are dull, but this one should have been a good time for BMJ to make some tweaks, and for the physios to work on Lennon and Malbranque, both of whom are needed desperately.

The Waddler.

More Waddle Magic

2006-10-04T12:20:00.000+01:00

This time its for Sheffield Wednesday and a 5-0 thrashing of poor old West Ham from the 93-94 season. A game that is apparently quite rightly known in Wednesday folklore as 'The Waddle Game'. The great man single handedly destroys the Hammers. Great Stuff.

Comolli Watch

2006-10-04T10:50:00.000+01:00

So with the transfer window shut until January, Damien Comolli has to occupy his time somehow, and it seems that from snippets in the press over the last few weeks he is working very hard indeed. Apart for representing Tottenham Hotspur at the UEFA Cup draw yesterday, he is also busy snapping up top notch Scandavian youngsters to bolster the youth ranks, and hopefully provide for the first team in the future.

One definitely in is young Swedish keeper Oscar Jansson from Karlslund. The 15-year-old has had two trials with the club and passed a medical. Apparently regarded as one of the most promising keepers in Scandinavia, he is expected to join the Under-18 squad, when he arrives in January. Also on their way for trials are Hogaborg BK starlet Samuel Aziz, and Håvard Nordtveit a 16 year old Norwegian central defender.

Spurs also recently had a 17 year old Norwegian striker over for a trial called Dag Alexander Olsen, who we have apparently offered a contract. He is also being tracked by Liverpool and Bayern Munich, so we will do well to snap him up. Spurs may well have the upper hand though as apparently he got on well with the players in our youth set-up and also trained with the seniors before he went home. Edgar Davids and Ledley King took time out to speak with him and told him all about the joys of Spurs. If Edgar can’t convince him, then no one can!

Not just content with Scandanavia, Comolli has also been keeping tabs on Standard Liege's young centre back Marouane Fellaini who claims Tottenham are monitoring on his progress: "Tottenham spoke with my agent and they will continue to follow me," he said. "I would like to play with the biggest clubs in Europe." On a more speculative note, Spurs have also been linked with Gillingham striker Adrian Jarvis can either play as a traditional forward or operate down the wings and has been watched by Premiership scouts almost every week.

It is good to read news like the above, as it shows Spurs are thinking and planning about the future, and even if only one in ten of these youngsters makes it into the first team regularly it will be a job well done. Those that don’t make it at Spurs tend to go out on loan and are then sold on for decent money, much like Dean Marney was this summer, so it is not a meaningless exercise. The fruits of Comolli’s labours won’t be seen for some time of course, but if the youth and reserve teams win things it’s a good sign, as Man Utd’s youth team with Beckham, Scholes, Neville et al certainly did, as did the Leeds youngsters containing Woodgate, Smith, Kewell and our own Paul Robinson. The West Ham lot including Ferdinand, Defoe, Lampard, Carrick and Cole also had a lot of success at youth level. If the Spurs youngsters do the same in the next couple of seasons, it would be a good omen.

So with three months until the transfer window opens you would assume that Spurs are merely busying themselves with snapping up youngsters, but not if you believe the papers who have linked us with Chelsea’s Joe Cole and Celtic’s Aidan McGeady in the past couple of days. The Cole rumour can be put down to sheer paper talk, and more than likely it has come from his agent trying to put the wind up Chelsea before a new contract is offered. Spurs are unlikely to want to deal with Chelsea again after the Duff saga, and Cole is probably not keen on a move to Spurs anyway as an ex Hammer. The McGeady link is more intriguing though, as he fits the identikit Levy regime signing – young and cheaper than your average bear. He is a quick and skilful left winger, and despite being born in Scotland, sensibly opted to play for the Republic of Ireland, so hopefully Robbie will have a word in his shell and tell him what a great place Chigwell is. He represents a cheaper option than Petrov or Downing, and playing in Scotland would be used to the rough and tumble of the British game, so this one could have legs. Whether Celtic can be persuaded to part with one of their prize assets though who knows, but he could certainly follow the likes of Mackay, Gilzean, Archibald and Gough and make a step up in his career by coming south of the border and joining the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

The Waddler.

UEFA Cup Group Stage Draw

2006-10-03T13:45:00.000+01:00

The UEFA Cup draw has been made and it’s a case of could have been worse for Spurs. Having not played in Europe during the previous 5 seasons there was no chance of the club being seeded, despite having won the competition 3 times (UEFA merged the Cup Winners Cup with the UEFA Cup after the 1999/2000 season), so the path to Hampden Park in May was always going to be a tough one. The dates are as follows:

Thursday 19 October - Besiktas (Turkey) (A)
Thursday 2 November - Club Brugge (Belgium) (H)
Thursday 23 November - Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany) (A)
Thursday 14 December - Dinamo Bucuresti (Romania) (H)

The stand out ties are the away games to Besiktas and Leverkusen, both of which seem quite daunting at this stage. The fact is though that the top 3 teams in each group go through, so six points should be enough to see us into to the next round, and that means winning the home games against Brugge and Dinamo. Anything gained in Turkey and Germany would therefore be a bonus, and a way of winning the group.

Each of those four teams would have been watching the draw thinking “not Tottenham Hotspur, please not Tottenham Hotspur” as we were by far the biggest team in pot 5, if not the competition itself, and it shows what a mockery the UEFA draw is. The bookies still have us as second favourites to win the trophy behind Seville, and in Dimitar Berbatov, we have a player that knows our main rivals for the group, Bayer Leverkusen, inside-out as that’s where Spurs plucked him from for €15m in May. Spurs should also have Lennon and Malbranque flying for a least the last two games, and so long as we don’t get struck down with further injuries, we should sail through.

Here’s to some more of those Glory, Glory nights.

The Waddler.

Controversy, Abuse and 3 Points

2006-10-02T11:45:00.000+01:00

Lets deal with the controversy first, which surrounded the build-up to the game with Mido’s ill advised comments about Sol Campbell and then again during the game with Zokora’s dive for the first half penalty. Neither incident is the sort of thing that should, in an ideal world, be associated with Tottenham Hotspur. With the Mido thing, Jol rebuked him in the press and then dropped him from the side too. It was some good man management by the Big Man, who took the sting out of Harry Redknapp’s team talk and showed that Spurs are above that sort of thing. Mido can sit and stew over his actions, and will have to wait his chance in the team again to show that he can take his size 12s out of his mouth and put them to good use on the pitch.

The Zokora penalty is less clear cut. Yes, in an ideal world diving shouldn’t happen, and yes, THFC should be above that sort of thing. BUT, everyone else does it, Spurs are in a bit of bother at the moment and the guy comes from leagues where diving is part and parcel of the game. Zokora, and Spurs have got a bit of a caning in the press today over the dive and it shows the anti-Spurs bias that exists in the English media. Did they do the same when Henry chucked himself on the floor to win the free kick from which they scored in the Champions League final? How about when Gerrard and Owen fall over in the box playing for England to win penalties – is that OK? It is according to the Goon and Hammer loving journos who write for most of the papers based in London. So what should Spurs do? Well BMJ should have a word and say well done Didier, but if you’re going to do it again, try and make it look a bit more realistic next time. Spurs rarely get the rub of the green in these scenarios, and it is actually a refreshing change to see us get a decision like this. It is not something that should be seen on a regular basis, but a win was so badly needed yesterday that almost anything justified the means. We don’t want to get a reputation for it, and we don’t want to win all the time by cheating, but taking a tumble with a bit of contact in the box occasionally is not the worst thing in the world, and if means the difference between 1 and 3 points, then lets have a bit of it. Everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t we?

It was also the annual return of the pantomime villain yesterday, and for the first time dear old Sol experienced defeat at the Lane since deserting the ship. The abuse is fine, and chants like “Campbell loves Barrymore” and the “…I wanna know oh oh, why you’re such a…” chant are acceptable and still reasonably funny but the one about him hanging from a tree steps over a line and should really be phased out. Likewise, it’s a shame that the way to let Ledley know our fondness for him is by first wanting to stick his predecessor somewhere painful. Campbell should never be forgiven for what he said and then did to Spurs, and it should be made clear to him that he is not welcome back to the club, but the sooner he retires and the sooner this annual charade is over, the better it will be for all concerned, as the fans don’t cover themselves with glory when he’s back. Having said that, some of his pained facial expressions were very amusing, as defeat was the last thing he wanted, and exactly what he got.

So, looking at the actual football it wasn’t a bad performance by Spurs considering how low on confidence they were, and all the chopping and changing of the line up required. The return of Berbatov up front was much like the return of Ledley at the back, a bit of class and an air of authority injected into the side. Within 30 seconds, Berbatov got closer to scoring than Mido had in the previous 5 games, with a header that David James parried and Murphy flicked into the net. It was a nice reminder seeing him back out there that he was where most of the summer transfer kitty went, and with it our hopes for the season. Watching him play you can see he just exudes class, and even though he clearly wasn’t fit yesterday his movement and awareness of where his team mates were was excellent. At one point you could see him telling Defoe to look at him, and watch the run he was making. Let’s hope JD listens, as it will make him a better player too. It was a surprise that Berbatov didn’t take the penalty, but Defoe needed a goal and looked like he argued the best in the discussion with Berbatov and Murphy as to who was going to take it. A 2-0 lead at half time would have been a good reward for a decent half of football, but it was a sloppy equaliser to concede, with Kanu scoring his customary goal against Spurs. An inquest will be needed as either King or Dawson let him go free, and that isn’t what we expect from the skipper and the future skipper.

The loss of Chimbonda at half time was a blow, as it interrupted Spurs’ flow and game plan, as it was he that was supplying the width on the right. Ghaly, who keeps on impressing did well filling in at fullback, but it wasn’t quite the same, and by the end BMJ felt the result was more important than anything else, as Spurs defended deeper with only one close call, an effort from Lua Lua, brilliantly saved by ENO. Jenas could have had a hat-trick in the second half though, with a shot well saved by James, a mazy run with a blast over the bar, and one which looked like a swing and a miss from about 8 yards out, turned out on the replay later, to have been affected by a bobble. JJ is some player, he’s got strength, pace, stamina and skill, he scores goals and never stops working, yet the crowd are clearly divided over him because his passing and shooting is occasionally off target. Hopefully a few more goals will turn them around.

Spurs now have two weeks to patch up the wounded, get some players out of the treatment room and work on some clever routines before a trip to high flying Aston Villa, followed by a tight schedule of UEFA Cup games, a home game against West Ham, a trip to the Milton Keynes football franchise in the Carling Cup and then away to Watford. This will be where the squad will comes into its own, and barring any more international related injuries, the team could be close to full strength with the return of Lennon, and maybe even the introduction of Malbranque.

Keep reading www.thewaddler.com for reactions to tomorrow’s UEFA Cup Group Stage draw and any other Spurs related tit bits that follow throughout the week as usual.

The Waddler.

Mido Rings Pompey Chimes! (a.k.a. The Portsmouth Preview)

2006-09-29T14:07:00.000+01:00

So you’re not keeping the fans happy as you fail to score in your 5th game running, and you’re not playing particularly well either, what could you do to keep them onside? How about taunting their most hated player? Well, that could work. At least that must be what Mido thought when he was quoted as saying :

“Portsmouth is a really important game for us. They have Sol Campbell at the back and he is the easiest defender I have ever played against. I'm not scared
of him.”

A rather cocky comment, especially from someone who isn’t exactly doing the business on the pitch at the moment. Still, he’s confident, which we like, and he did give Campbell a rough ride in the North London Derby at the Lane last season. Poor old Sol was so bad that day, every pass went to a Spurs player or ball boy, and he looked visibly shaken by the whole experience. There will much of the same in store again on Sunday, except this time it will all be directed at him, rather than him and his team mates which was the schedule for the games against the Goons.

Spurs will need to step up a gear from the one they were in against Slavia Prague in order to beat Harry Redknapp’s boys, who are flying at the moment, and contain 4 ex Spurs players all rather hungry to prove a point. If Spurs weren’t in a bit of a slump then this sort of game should be a home banker, but things aren’t going well in terms of finding the net and it is going to be a dicey affair. Our friends at MANSION have Pompey at 7/2 in old money to win on Sunday, which is mighty generous given the two teams respective form cards. Harry’s teams are always fired up, and play decent effective football.

Despite Mido’s verbal jousting, he might not actually play as Martin Jol talked during the week about Dimtiar Berbatov possibly being back to face Portsmouth. That would be a big boost, as you can’t quite imagine our Suave Slav missing all of those chances last night. Having Ledley back would also convince The Waddler not to take up those generous odds on Pompey, and would get Spurs ever closer to fielding a full strength side. It’s a sorry state of affairs, but if Spurs can come out unscathed on Sunday, then they can go into the international break and re-group, patch up those weary limbs, and maybe even get Aaron Lennon back in the fold. There is a two week break then before the next match against the Premier League’s other resurgent team, Aston Villa, run by the man that should be in the Spurs hot seat, Martin O’Neill.

Let’s keep all fingers and toes crossed that King and Berbatov pull through and that Spurs step it up on Sunday. A midfield of Jenas, Ghaly, Zokora and BAE or Ziegler would be an interesting one to see, as Ghaly certainly looked effective last night, and Murphy certainly did not, yet again. Jenas did a pretty good Lennon impression, and BAE or Ziegler would still offer us balance on the left. As to who makes it though, who knows, as the Big Man’s team sheets are becoming harder to predict than where a Mido header is going to land.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

www.thewaddler.com

A night of Purgatory at the Lane

2006-09-29T10:44:00.000+01:00

It was a tough evening to be a Spurs fan last night, as the team made heavy work of light opposition; missing chance after chance along with some defending that would have been comical if it wasn’t so serious. That probably isn’t a new occurrence but it was a wasted opportunity to kick start the season and instil some much needed confidence into the side. As Martin Jol said in his program notes, Spurs needed to score and do it early. That they didn’t was down to some woeful finishing, and the result was that as the game wore on, the team got more nervous, so did the crowd, and more passes were miss-placed, tackles lost and chances spurned. The downward spiral was evident for all to see, and one wag sitting near The Waddler likened it to Purgatory, which is the sort of intellectual comment often found in the West Stand, in between mouthfuls of prawn sandwich. Although what transgressions Spurs fans have not paid for wasn’t clarified, maybe the simile will be completed for those in earshot on Sunday.

The night had started reasonably well, despite UEFA’s draconian rules of no beer sold in the ground, and even worse no Jumbotron, which denied the crowd the opportunities to see just how bad some of the finishing really was. The atmosphere was good though; the team were gleaming in the all white strip, and with the floodlights on coupled with the rain driving down it was a proper evening match at the Lane, and it felt good to be back in Europe. There were some good performances around too if you looked hard enough. Jermaine Jenas, whom The Waddler could fill countless pages on such are the emotions that the man creates in a Spurs fan, certainly worked very hard. The dichotomy of Jenas is that he has all the ability in the world and can do something superb, but which is then often followed by something truly awful. One run last night summed him up perfectly; picking the ball up in his own half, he ran two thirds of the length of the pitch, leaving Slavia defenders in his wake, only to pass the ball to one of them on the edge of the box, rather than having a go himself. That said he never stopped going, always looking for the ball and all the while playing out of position on the right wing. Honourable mentions should also go to Hossam Ghaly who looked useful when he came on, and the mighty Pascal Chimbonda, who looks a steal for the £3.5m allegedly paid for him.

The left side continues to cause problems, with Reto Ziegler looking rusty with his positional sense and link up play. Some of his set piece deliveries were decent though, and maybe he should be given a run to see if he improves. Teemu Tainio seems to be eating whatever Edger Davids has, as he has lost it since last season. The ball doesn’t stick to his feet, his tackling lets him down, and he gets nowhere near the opposition box. Spurs could do worse than leave Lee at left back and try BAE on the left side of midfield, or even vice versa. Either way, Comolli needs to be generating some serious air miles looking for someone with a left foot, as the status quo is not good.

At least the name of Tottenham Hotspur is in the draw for the group stage, West Ham’s is not, and Robbie Keane finally scored his first goal since April. The Waddler dreams of a team of Robbie Keane’s as much as the next Spurs fan, but a Robbie lacking in confidence is not a pretty sight, so hopefully this will be the first of a hot streak. Adding King, Berbatov, Lennon and Malbranque to this team would certainly improve matters, and could even be enough to win the UEFA Cup so long as the luck holds.

The Waddler.

Now at www.thewaddler.com !

UEFA Cup Preview - Bring yer boots tomorrow!

2006-09-27T16:35:00.000+01:00

It’s a long awaited European home game tomorrow at the Lane, where the team, all dressed in white, will take to the field under floodlights and evoke memories of Mullery and Roberts lifting that enormous UEFA Cup trophy, and putting Tottenham Hotspur on the international map. The team need some inspiration from somewhere, and it should be provided by the White Hart Lane faithful, who have been looking forward to this for a long time. The club and fans demand to be playing in European competition every year, and now that we have arrived, the opportunity to make an impact, as well as re-ignite the season should be taken.

It has been a poor start to the season by anyone’s standards, and whilst the term “crisis” is a little far fetched at the moment, getting knocked out of Europe now would certainly warrant its use. Spurs take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg after a decent workmanlike performance in Prague a fortnight ago. With the crucial away goal in the bag, it should mean that Slavia Prague need to attack Spurs pretty much from the off, and this should allow for some free flowing and fairly entertaining football. An early Spurs goal would settle everyone’s nerves, and allow the team to build up some much needed confidence.

Where are the goals going to come from though? With only two players finding the scoresheet so far this season, and one of them, Dimitar Berbatov, not available for a few more weeks it’s not immediately obvious. Add in the rumour that Jermain Defoe is injured as well, leaving Mido and Keane up front, it could be a nervy night. It will be interesting to see who makes the bench tomorrow as back up striker, as Lee Bernard hasn’t featured for the reserves lately, presumably due to injury, so it could be Tomáš Pekhart, a 17 year old signed from Slavia in the summer, who has been banging them in for the under 18s. What a bizarre first team debut it would be for the boy if Mido or Keane got injured and he had to play, against his old club. That is presuming he is eligible for European competition of course, as Spurs would needed to have registered him, and who knows if they did.

With the forward line picking itself by default, the midfield will be a key area as usual. Also out according to the rumour hounds is Edgar Davids, which lets be fair is no great loss. This only clarifies the situation slightly however, as Jol could use Huddlestone along side Zokora as he did in the first leg, or play Murphy there as he has for the last two games. There were signs of a player emerging in Murphy during the Liverpool game, and perhaps he just needs a run to find his form. He could do with a goal, as could everyone of course, but that might be enough to spark a recovery. The lesser spotted Ghaly is an option as well. Presumably, Tainio and Jenas will fill the “wide” roles given the lack of alternative options, although as mentioned on here already, its time to give Ziegler a try on the left.

At the back we have some disastrous news, with Ledley apparently picking up a knee injury which will keep him out of the game tomorrow, but maybe not Sunday. Gardener and Davenport, the likely replacements are also struggling apparently, but one or both should pull through to play along side the great Michael Dawson. Which one it is doesn’t really matter, no one can replace Ledders, and if neither make it then it will have to be Huddlestone or maybe Chimbonda playing out of position, which would be bad.

So, with Spurs Lodge looking like a scene from the Battle of the Somme, with players strewn all over the field, The Waddler is going to take his boots with him to the Lane tomorrow night just in case. You never know. Despite the injury situation though it is a perfect opportunity to stick a few past Slavia, and get the team fired up and full of confidence for Sunday, when Harry brings his boys up the A3, and a certain former Spurs captain returns for his favourite match of the season.

Come on you Spurs!

The Waddler.

Jol down on his luck

2006-09-25T11:03:00.000+01:00

Oh dear. As soon as the team sheets came out it was clear there would only be one result. Liverpool were taking this game seriously with their best strike force, Kuyt and Bellamy, and their main man, Steven Gerrard all lining up against a Spurs team with Keane & Defoe up front. Surely, the point of buying Berbatov and Mido was to avoid the little and little partnership? Yes Mido hasn’t yet scored but nor had Keane or Defoe, and the two paired together never works. The ball gets lumped up to them, or we put in head high crosses and nothing happens, it blunts the play completely. To have two little ‘uns up front you need to adjust your style of play, building attacks through the middle, keeping the ball on the floor or knocking it behind the defence for them to run onto. Spurs don’t play like that though. Seeing Keane and Defoe paired together is getting to be like the bad old days of finding out Poyet and Anderton were that game’s central midfield pairing; it meant one thing – get to the bookies and lump on the opposition. On Match of the Day Alan Shearer got it right, Spurs played well up until they got to the box, where they lacked presence and power. Exactly! Why can’t BMJ see that though?

Just like Old Trafford, it’s another strange tactical decision by Jol and another loss. It’s harsh to say that it is the sole reason for the loss but it’s a contributory factor. The main difference between this season and last though is the absence of luck. We are playing the same quality of football, i.e. not that great, but last year it yielded points, but this year it is not. Why? Jol’s luck has run dry. There were many occasions last year when The Waddler strolled out of White Hart Lane wondering how Spurs managed to win having played so poorly, but because we won, there’s no point grumbling. This season though its just not happening.

JJ’s miss after 65 minutes was clearly the turning point of the game, as if it had gone in the celebrations would still have been going on when Liverpool scored 30 seconds later. Based on last year, Spurs would then have held on for a point after conceding an equaliser from a Liverpool wonder strike (a la Riise’s effort on Saturday). But no, not this season and as it was Spurs had to push forward looking for a goal and got hit a couple of times. 3-0 was a harsh scoreline, but one that should ruffle a few feathers back at Spurs lodge and feathers sure need to be ruffled down there.

At some stage things will turn, the luck will come back and the goals will flow. Its not as if the team is full of bad players, it is not, the squad is one of the best we’ve had. It’s not as if the stadium is half full and the crowd have turned against the team or the management, it is not, the Lane is full to bursting every week, as are the away ends wherever Spurs go. Martin Jol’s name is sung everywhere. But how long will this situation continue? Six games is still the “start” of the season, but what happens if we’re in the same boat after ten? That is over a quarter of the season gone.

Clearly, this week is a big one. Slavia Prague and Pompey at home, both games that should and need to be won to kick start the season. If that happens then a sigh of relief can be breathed, and normal service can be resumed. What is normal service though? Will we ever see the type of football that the fans want under Jol? The jury is very much out, and now in his 3rd season, the verdict should be delivered soon. Will he be our next Burkinshaw or Nicholson? Both didn’t start well, and then went on to be creators of great periods in our history. So Jol could be too, but the signs are not very clear at the moment. He has certainly stabilised the team after tough periods under Hoddle, Pleat and briefly Santini, there is no doubt about that. Qualifying for Europe via the league, no matter with luck or not, is a great achievement for a modern Tottenham manager, but does he get the best out of his players? Should that side have wrapped up the Champions League spot before the last game of the season? Should Spurs be losing at home to Everton and failing to beat Fulham?

It is all very much up in the air at the moment, but there is the nasty feeling that the Big Man has taken this team as far as he can, and that he will be the Rioch, Houllier or Ranieri to Spurs’ equivalent of Wenger, Benitez or Mourinho. All of whom took a team that was very well stocked by their predecessor, added a few choice players and their own tactical nous and took their respective teams up a level and onto to trophy wins and success. If Jol is the Ranieri then who will be our Mourinho? It is not a question with an easy answer. Jol fell into Spurs’ lap having made a poor choice with Santini, so who would they go for this time? At least Comolli is there to advise this time, but you can’t help think that with Sven Goran Eriksson currently out of a job, and his alleged close relationship with Levy, that he would be the one they go for. For that reason alone it’s enough to continue to back Jol to arrest this decline and maybe in the back of his mind, for a point in the future, Levy can take time to line up the next manager, the man who will bring the glory back to White Hart Lane.

The Waddler.

Alright Lah! – Its De Bezzie Pool Preview

2006-09-22T11:37:00.000+01:00

This is going to sound a lot like the Man U preview; haven’t won up there in years, injuries, best Spurs can hope for is a draw, etc, etc. Obviously though The Waddler will write this afresh, not simply cut and paste and replace the words Man Utd with Liverpool – that would be wrong.

So, what of our opponents? Well, who knows really as Rafa Benitiez changes his team so much; you never know who is going to play. Apparently, this is the 963 game on the trot (or something) that he hasn’t fielded the same team twice in a row. It was Kuyt and Bellemy up front against Newcastle, both former Spurs targets, so that leads the average fan to suspect that it may be Crouch and Fowler up front, or Crouch and Luis Garcia even. Perhaps he has a National Lottery style machine with all the players’ squad numbers on little balls, and draws out 11 before each game; then a bit like Thunderball, 5 more for the subs, not as good as the main draw but better than nothing. The good news though is that Spurs are the third game of four that they have to play in 10 days, as they have a Champions League game on Wednesday. Hopefully then this will involve more shuffling than usual from Benitez and mean that Gerrard is left on the bench or in the stands. He is the one world class player they have, and the main difference between the two sides, apart from form of course. The unfortunate loss to Everton aside, Liverpool have started the season reasonably well, getting the results without necessarily wowing the plaudits with dazzling football.

One of the main improvements under Jol is that Spurs rarely go to places like Anfield and get spanked, we still lose but its more gallant these days, perhaps losing to a deflected goal or wonder strike. The end result is the same of course, but on occasion it means that we come away with a point, which is better than none. At Highbury and Old Trafford we did so last season, and at Anfield, OT and Stamford Bridge the season before. So can we nick a point again tomorrow in the day’s early kick off? It is possible of course, especially with our new solid looking back 5, that has just kept two clean sheets on the trot. The tough decision for Jol is whether to go all out defensive, and play one up front with five in midfield, or keep the two up front and play a couple of defensive players together in the middle. So long as he doesn’t put Keane up front on his own and Mido left midfield again, we should have a chance either way. Hopefully, someone at the club told him that wasn’t a good idea, as Jol can’t be like Nero and make crazy decisions that go unchallenged. We all know what happened to him.

There is very little chance of Spurs scoring a goal up there tomorrow, especially with the news that Berbatov is still not going to be back for a couple of weeks and without Lennon either. Spurs should look to defend and hit Liverpool on the break, so a midfield of Tainio – Huddlestone – Zokora – Jenas would do the trick in terms of people tackling, winning the ball and in the cases of Zokora and Jenas, breaking forward to join the attack. Mido and Defoe up front would be a decent combination of strength and pace, both qualities needed for a good counter attack. As to what the Big Man does though, it’s a bit like Benitez – no one knows! There is an article bigging up Murphy on his Anfield return on the official site, so maybe he’ll get another go. As mentioned on here yesterday there should be a time when Ghaly and Ziegler get a chance as there are not many midfielders playing so well their name is inked on the teamsheet. Here’s hoping, but if you’re a betting man you would be best to keep your money safe this weekend, or maybe chuck it on the Ryder Cup instead.

The Waddler.

Good Ghaly Mister Jol-ly

2006-09-21T10:11:00.000+01:00

It’s been a fairly slow news week for Spurs, as for once the club don’t have to take part in the Carling Cup second round, and thankfully were not implicated in the BBC bungs investigation. So the average fan has to look for little snippets from the official website, or the odd quote from a player that finds itself on the newswires. Today then it’s the turn of Hossam Ghaly, who has in lazy hack speak “pleaded with Martin Jol to be given a chance in the Tottenham side”.

In truth he has actually been quoted as saying, “At the start of pre-season I was really hoping that I was going to break into the team and play for Tottenham, but the chance didn't come for me in the first few games. Now I hope the manager has the confidence to pick me again because he has seen I can do a job for the team.” Fair enough Hossam, can’t argue with that.

He featured out of position at Old Trafford on the right hand side of midfield, where in truth he didn’t look particularly comfortable. When he was bought in January he was heralded by Damien Comolli, who was quoted on the official website at the time as saying "I have watched Hossam since he was 17 years old. He is a versatile, very physical and technically gifted midfielder who will offer us a number of playing options. He is a terrific addition to the squad." Sounds great, so why haven’t we seen more of him? Perhaps he should be given a go along side Zokora in the middle for a few games; he can’t do any worse than Murphy did against Fulham. If indeed he is technically gifted, which presumably means he can control the ball and pass, then the central midfield area could do with that. Zokora’s first touch hasn’t looked great, Davids couldn’t trap a bag of cement, and Huddles seems to like to dwell on the ball a little. So someone who can quickly receive a ball and pass it to feet, to keep a move flowing would be a welcome addition. Presumably, he was bought for more than shoring up our reserve team, so isn’t it about time he was given a go?

Also worth an honourable mention is Reto Ziegler. Looking at the reserve report from last night’s 3-1 spanking of West Ham, it looks like he had a stormer. He set up all three goals, and the report was Ziegler this and Ziegler that. He hasn’t exactly impressed in the first team, but then again who has lately? Maybe he is worth another try; it looks like his corners were causing some bother, and he set up a few chances with his crossing from the left, both problem areas for Spurs. That would then free Teemu Tainio from the left to play in his favoured central position. It’s certainly a thought, and maybe one that could be tried out against Slavia Prague next week.

The Waddler.

He's got no hair and we don't care, Martin, Martin Jol!

2006-09-20T12:40:00.000+01:00

There have been murmurings of unrest in the camp over the last week or so, with the big man himself rumoured to be unsettled and not entirely happy with his lot. The Observer mentioned as much last week, and the wires have been buzzing over the last few days amid rumours of fallouts with Damien Comolli and talk of Daniel Levy expressing his dissatisfaction with the team’s start to the season. Let’s get one thing clear, it has been a poor start, and something is clearly wrong at the club – at the moment. The results speak for themselves. Levy was right to express his concerns (if indeed he actually did), he owns most of the club (more than The Waddler anyway) and as Chairman needs to be the ultimate authority. There is nothing wrong with that. What needs to happen though is for the manager to be given time, for the team to gel, for injured players to return, and for the gaps in the squad to be filled up in January. Then, and only then, if results are still poor, should the club management be looked at.

The Waddler hopes that Levy told BMJ that he had time to sort things out, but that he needed to get on with it. With the club selling one of their most influential players, Michael Carrick, and bringing in lots of new faces over the summer, all for the first team, the side needs time to gel. BMJ always talks about his young team, and growing up, getting a strong mentality etc. This can’t be helped by not having a settled side, with players coming and going like no-ones business. Hopefully now there should be an end to the horse trading, with just one or two players being upgraded each transfer window. The nucleus of the team is there now, with a strong back 5 in place, 4 decent forwards battling it out for 2 spots, and some decent midfielders. A couple of left sided midfielders are needed, and in an ideal world a backup for Lennon and a central midfielder that could thread a pass through the eye of a needle would be quite handy too (maybe that is Malbranque). If they came, Spurs would have a squad comparable to only Chelsea or Liverpool.

Spurs have almost started again this season, having bought so many players. BMJ wants to get the team to be solid, grind out results, and be capable of winning without playing well, before eventually letting it fly. It’s an alien concept to Spurs fans, who want to see fast, flowing football with flair. At the moment the football being served up is reminiscent of that brought to us by George Graham, and it’s not pretty to watch. The difference is though that we are watching a team with far better players, who are currently underperforming whilst trying to get used to each other. Once that comes, the football and results should improve. If it doesn’t then there is a problem, but in the meantime patience is needed.

The Waddler.

The Natives are Restless

2006-09-18T12:25:00.000+01:00

It is too early to throw in the towel, but after the worse start in 14 years, and the sort of form that got Hoddle sacked, the White Hart Lane faithful are getting jittery. With Spurs failing to beat a poor Fulham side, our neighbours somehow winning at Old Trafford, and then waiting an hour on the platform at Northumberland Park for a train to actually stop, it wasn’t the greatest of days. Those trains flying past, leaving Spurs fans stranded, were a metaphor for how the season has started – Spurs are stuck on the platform and everyone else is speeding off into the distance.

You can make excuses for all of the games. At Bolton we were shocked by their unruly tactics, Everton scored a lucky deflected goal and then hung on for their lives before hitting us on the break, and Man U, well who wins at Old Trafford anyway? Oh, yeah, well never mind. But not being able to beat Fulham at home, a Fulham shorn of their better players as well – it’s a struggle to justify. The papers are full of headlines such as “Spurs draw blank”, “Fulham hold Spurs” and so forth. Those hacks don’t watch Spurs every week like the fans do though, this is how the team has played all season, and arguably last season as well. There is no creativity, the opposition are always first to a loose ball, players don’t make runs for each other, and our set pieces are truly awful. This was no European hangover, unless we’ve had one all season.

In modern football, teams come to your ground, set themselves up in a defensive manner, and hope to contain you and then maybe hit you on the break at some stage. This is what Everton did very successfully, and this is what Fulham did well yesterday too. The way to break these teams down is by individual brilliance, which is non existent without Aaron Lennon, or through a set piece. So why don’t we have a set piece taker in the team? Don’t say Jenas, because his efforts yesterday were woeful. Why wasn’t Danny Murphy taking them? He scored free kicks at Liverpool and Charlton fairly regularly, so there was quite rightly dismay in the crowd yesterday when at one point towards the end, Spurs had a free kick on the edge of the area, slightly left side, and despite Murphy standing over it, he doesn’t shoot but taps it to Defoe who managed to trouble the corner flag. Something just isn’t quite right in the camp – there should be leadership from somewhere telling the players who takes what and when. Yesterday, there were Jenas, Zokora, Keane, BAE and Murphy all taking free kicks or corners – do they practice these? Is there not a plan for who should take them? At one point Robbo was in their half taking a free kick! It looks like Spurs have underestimated this side of the game, and don’t actually have a plan. With players like King, Dawson, Mido, Jenas and Chimbonda – all excellent headers of the ball, we should be dominant here, but something isn’t right.

If you can grab a goal with a free kick or corner then the game opens up. The away team have to attack you, and then you can break them down easier and score more. Spurs needed a goal for confidence, and the longer the game went without one, the worse the team got. In fairness, Spurs created a few chances, Tainio shot wide, Chimbonda had one off the line, Mido hit the crossbar, Zokora flashed wide, Defoe had a shot saved, but nothing went in. The returns of Berbatov and Lennon can’t come soon enough, and hopefully Malbranque can add some midfield creativity when he’s finally ready. In the meantime though, there are few positives to cling on to. The back four look good, and yesterday Chimbonda and BAE again played well. We have some good players at the club who will get better the more they play, like Zokora, Huddlestone, Mido and Berbatov. But that’s it.

The best we can hope for is to go to Liverpool and grind out a draw, before taking on Prague. That Prague home game is key to the team’s confidence, and therefore season. If they can stick three or four past them, then things will be looking up, and they can then take that into the game against Portsmouth to go on some sort of roll. Spurs will need to be on their game to beat Pompey who are flying at the moment. With Liverpool away, Pompey at home, and then a trip to a resurgent Aston Villa, The Waddler’s pessimist side thinks we could well be in the relegation zone shortly. The team needs to click, and do it quickly.

The Waddler.

The Fulham Preview

2006-09-15T13:17:00.000+01:00

Games on a Sunday because we were involved in mid-week European action? Oh, go on then – what a chore! Let’s hope we have lots more Sunday games this season, as it will mean we are making waves in Europe. Having said that, it’s now about careful squad management and rotation policies, as the games come thick and fast – something Spurs aren’t used to after only playing the minimum number of available matches last season.

The news coming out of Tottenham this week was like that you would expect from the Ministry of Misinformation, with Lennon injured for a month, then oh wait look he’s training again, only for the final worse news of all, that he needs a knee operation and will be out for 6 weeks. So with no Lennon, no Malbranque obviously and doubts over Ghaly and Murphy who didn’t travel to Prague, the midfield almost picks itself. BMJ’s 4-2-2-2 formation in the Prague game will probably come out again, if Teemu Tainio can play two games in four days. The man always picks up knocks so who knows, but if he is OK, then it’ll be TT on the left, with Jenas on the right again. Not ideal, but this is what happens when you don’t buy wingers and loan out your spare ones. In the middle Zokora must be a shoe-in after his all action display and it will be either Hudd or Davids alongside him. The Waddler suspects it will be our be-spectacled friend who gets the nod after missing out on a starting place against Prague.

The back four should be set in place for the rest of the season, as it looks like the best we have had for a long, long time. The more they play together, the better they will get as well. Chopping and changing is fine for midfield and up front, but the back four should be untouchable unless one of them is completely out of form or injured. Without Lennon and an equivalent winger on the left you need fit full backs who will get forward and put in decent crosses, which both BAE and Chimbonda look more capable of than YP Lee or the Canadian with the permanently confused expression on his face. With Ledley back it takes the pressure off Dawson, and he looks the better for it. Watching Ledley gives you such confidence, he rarely puts a foot wrong, and when he does he has the pace to make up for it before anyone has noticed. Spurs are a 50% better side with him in the team.

Up front it will the usual big one, small one combo, and you would expect that with Mido and Defoe starting against Prague it will be Keane and Berbatov lining up against Fulham, all being well of course. Having only scored 3 goals in 5 matches this season, and only one of those coming from our much heralded strike force, these boys need to start scoring some goals, so lets hope they start on Sunday.

So what of Fulham? A great result for them up at St. James’s Park last week would under normal circumstances mean that they travel across London full of confidence, but the horrific injury to Bullard and not being able to play our very own Wayne Routledge, who set up both goals last week, means that they will be shorn of some creativity. If they pick Michael Brown then it shows they are a poor side that should be put to the sword by a Spurs team desperate to correct a poor start to the season. McBride and Boa Morte, allegedly the subject of an eleventh hour bid by Damien Comolli on deadline day, are the best players on view for the visitors, and if we can deal with them then we should be able to deal with Fulham.

Come on you Spurs!

The Waddler.

Job done in Prague

2006-09-15T09:58:00.000+01:00

“It was the perfect result for us” so says Big Martin Jol, and you can’t help but agree with him. Whilst the performance wasn’t exactly the high octane, tub thumping return to European football that the fans may have wanted to see, it was as good a European away day as we could have hoped for.

Spurs started the game quite slowly, and took at least 10 minutes to get into their stride but were never really threatened by an average Slavia team. Once they did get going, the ball started to be moved around and Spurs took control. Didier Zokora looked immense all night, that boy has some energy levels, and loves a tackle too. It was he that set up Jenas for the only goal of the game, and really dragged Spurs up a gear. It was a nice strike by JJ but he did little else worthy of mention, and his set piece delivery certainly needs some fine tuning.

With Lennon not making the game after all, Spurs fielded a sort of 4-2-2-2 formation with Huddlestone and Zokora the holding midfielders, and Tainio and JJ playing ahead of them in what you could describe as narrow wide roles. Both TT and JJ were quiet though, and didn’t really get forward to join Mido and Defoe. Chimbonda & BAE certainly did their bit adding the width, and with a little more practice, Spurs may have found a way of playing to use until Lennon and Malbranque emerge from the treatment room. Big Tom Huddlestone deserves a mention for what was his first competitive start in a Spurs shirt. He certainly has presence, his range of passing is very nice indeed, and he’s not afraid to get stuck in either. The only concern is his lack of mobility, he needs time to dwell on the ball and to get to where he needs to be, and you don’t tend to get that time in the Premiership. Perhaps that’s why BMJ is trying him out in Europe. You can’t help but feel he may make a good centre back. Maybe it’s just because he was playing next to Zokora who seemed to be everywhere at once, zipping around the field like there were three of him on the pitch – most players would look pedestrian next to the “Maestro”.

Aside from a spell towards the end of the game, Spurs didn’t look under pressure and if Robbie Keane could score in a 1 on 1 situation, it could have been 2-0 and goodnight Prague. It must be a mental thing with Robbie, because you would expect a player of his skill to put those away, even relish the duel with the keeper, but he always contrives to mess it up somehow. It keeps the second leg interesting though, and should ensure Spurs don’t go into the game in a blasé manner.

With West Ham losing at home and Blackburn only managing a draw against Red Bull someone, it shows that it could have been worse for Spurs, and this result should do them the world of good in terms of confidence too. Roll on the second leg.

The Waddler.

Waddle Magic!

2006-09-14T21:51:00.000+01:00

For those of you who never saw, or can't remember the great man in action, here is a video of his Marseille days that was sent in today. Its a great watch, and if anyone has a version of his Spurs days, please send details to thewaddler@hotmail.co.uk - thanks!

Spurs are on their way to Wembley - every week?

2006-09-14T11:35:00.000+01:00

The English newspaper, The Guardian is this morning running a piece that suggests Tottenham are looking to buy Wembley from the Football Association. It reasons that because the cost of the project is so high, the FA can not afford to run it, and that as Spurs are looking for ways to increase capacity the club will buy it off them, and loan it back for England Internationals, FA Cup Semi Finals and Finals. Now, whilst this looks like The Guardian putting two and two together, it would not surprise The Waddler if there is a little more cloak and dagger to this than meets the eye.

At last year’s THFC Plc AGM, it emerged that Paul Kemsley, an Executive Director of the club, is in charge of all property projects; which comprises the new training ground and the WHL expansion/new ground project. Anyone that saw his cameo roles as Sir Alan Sugar’s chief terrier on BBC2’s Apprentice programme will recognise that this man has no fear or care about what people think of him. It would not be a surprise then that this story originated from somewhere near Mr Kemsley as a way of putting pressure on either Haringey Council or the Olympic 2012 people depending on where the club’s ambitions actually lie.

As things stand, Spurs have four options, which ranked in order of the clubs likely preference are:

1. Expand White Hart Lane. This is dependant on some backing by Haringey and the Mayor of London to improve transport links to the area. The current situation is full to bursting with 36,000 people as things stand, to match that new stadium in Islington, WHL would need to be nearly doubled, which would put an awful strain on the local area in terms of parking, trains, buses, etc.

2. Take on the Olympic Stadium after 2012. The blueprint for this idea is Man City taking on the Commonwealth Games stadium, which was converted into a football arena once the games were over. The difference is that was always the plan, whereas the London Olympic bid was chosen on the basis that the stadium would be downscaled to a smaller athletics venue after the event. Ken Livingstone opposes a tenant taking it over, but the club are apparently interested in the idea.

3. Building a new stadium from scratch. This would involve buying land and building a new stadium, just like Cashburden Grove. Various venues have been mooted over the years, from Pickett’s Lock, Tottenham Hale and even somewhere in Hertfordshire. The transport problem again rears its head, along with London property prices being a factor. Spurs couldn’t exactly convert WHL into posh flats to recoup the outlay!

4. Take over Wembley. A last resort option for both the club and the FA. It would involve Spurs moving to the other side of the capital, away from their original fan base, and it would be a struggle to fill it every week. Likewise, the FA would not want to relinquish control unless it was their only option. It would also involve taking on enormous debt.

So what is really going on? The Waddler’s opinion is that options 1 and 2 are being seriously considered, but that there is a lot of lobbying and brinkmanship involved in order to get the right backing. That involves using the media to apply pressure at the right times, which is why we will see reports about 3 and 4 appearing form time to time. The Olympic Stadium option has a finite window, as building will have to start soon, and it will either have to be built to enable a conversion to football, or built to be able to scale it down to athletics. It can’t be long before that decision is taken, and the path becomes a little clearer. If Spurs don’t get it, then they might get compensated with a tube extension to WHL, which would solve the whole problem.

The Waddler.

100 Up! The UEFA Cup Preview - Slavia Prague Away

2006-09-13T10:43:00.000+01:00

Ah, how nice it is to write those words – UEFA Cup preview. It’s been a while since Spurs were in this competition, the 1999-2000 season to be exact, after our Worthington Cup win at Wembley under the chap in the overcoat enabled us to qualify for the first time since English clubs were allowed back into Europe. Two late goals in the away leg of the second round against Kaiserslauten ensured that it was only a brief adventure however. Europe may not have seen the best of Tottenham Hotspur in recent years, but there is a rich history there which is not forgotten. The UEFA Cup and Cup Winner’s Cup competitions were merged in the 1999-2000 season, so taking the history of both tournaments, the UEFA Cup from its glorious beginnings in 1971/72 when the mighty Tottenham Hotspur were the inaugural winners, and the CWC from its first season in 1960-61, the list of most wins is:

Team No. of Trophy Wins
Barcelona 4
Juventus 4
Anderlecht 3
Inter Milan 3
Liverpool 3
Parma 3
Tottenham Hotspur 3

So victory this year would mean that Spurs take their rightful place as the joint most successful team in the competition’s history. What a nice achievement that would be. Edgar Davids thinks that Spurs sits well with Barcelona and Juventus on his CV and The Waddler thinks it would look pretty nice on the UEFA Cup roll of honour too.

OK we are getting ahead of ourselves a little bit, got a bit misty eyed there for a moment, picturing Graham Roberts lifting that enormous trophy in front of the pretty new West Stand at White Hart Lane. Could it be Ledders doing the same in Glasgow next May? Anyway, enough of dwelling in the past let us look towards Thursday’s game against Slavia Prague. Martin Jol and Chris Hughton have both quite rightly emphasised how good Czech football is, and how the national team is as good as England. However, that hides the fact that all the best players play abroad, leaving their domestic competition rather weak. Whilst Slavia have far more recent European experience than Spurs, regularly appearing in either the Champions League or UEFA Cup for each of the last 13 years, they should be put away over 2 legs by a star studded Tottenham team. A Czech club can only dream of taking one of the German League’s top strikers away for €15m for example. There is a world of difference between the two teams. In fact Slavia coach Karel Jarolim threw in the towel as soon as the draw was made, commenting “We could not have been drawn against a stronger opponent“ .

So, what should be the plan? With the very welcome news that Aaron Lennon looks like he may be fit for this one after all, Spurs can stick with the tried and tested 4-4-2 containing the same back four that looked good against Man Utd last weekend; a midfield of Tainio, Zokora, Jenas and Lennon, with Mido up front if Berbatov isn’t fit, and it would be nice to see a start given to Jermaine Defoe. That side should be too good for most teams to handle. With one eye on Fulham on Sunday, you could then pick Berbatov and Keane for that one all being well. There will be some squad tinkering over the next two games, and it will be interesting to see who features. We have yet to see any of Tom Huddlestone for example, and Hossam Ghaly’s surprising introduction to English football at Old Trafford suggests we may see more of him.

It would be nice to go over there and come back with a 2-0 lead, but in all honesty a score draw would still represent a good nights work, and leave us in pole position for the home leg in a couple of weeks time. For Spurs’ 100th competitive European game though a win, wearing the all white kit would be a fitting way of announcing to Europe that Tottenham Hotspur are reclaiming their place at the table. Let’s hope for a return of those Glory, Glory nights.

Come on you Spurs!

The Waddler.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Lennon?

2006-09-11T11:31:00.000+01:00

The hills are alive with the sound of… anguish. Spurs fans around the world were rocked this weekend by the news that Aaron Lennon could be out for a couple of months with a knee injury. Having allowed his natural replacement in the squad, Wayne Routledge, to go on loan to Fulham and with the only other player capable of playing on the right side, Steed Malbranque injured for just as long, Spurs have got themselves a dilly of a pickle. Not buying that left winger over the summer now means that Spurs have just one fit player capable of playing in a wide midfield position, Reto Ziegler. However, he has done nothing to suggest that he justifies a place in the starting eleven, so it is going to have to be one of our many, many central midfielders to fill the void.

Playing four central midfielders in a flat four man midfield is a recipe for disaster, too many round pegs in square holes, so a tactical change is going to be needed. Chimbonda and BAE will now need to provide the width, so either a diamond in midfield or a Chelsea style 4-3-3 is in The Waddler’s opinion, the answer. Lets explain:

The Diamond

The key to this formation is who plays at the base and the point of the diamond. Zokora suggested on Saturday that he is capable of playing the holding role, the anchor if you will. He picks the ball off the back four, spreads it around, and brings it forward. Huddlestone would also make an able deputy, particularly if we need to be more defensive. The two sides of the diamond require the players to start centrally and perhaps drift slightly wider when needed, playing a one-two with the full back, or perhaps knocking in the odd cross. It’s a case of picking any two from Davids, Jenas, Tainio and Ghaly for these two positions. The tough choice is that of the peak of the diamond, and its going to sound strange but the ideal player here is Danny Murphy. Whilst his Spurs career has been appalling so far, this is actually where he played for Charlton, and looked good in the process. At his best he can pick a pass that unlocks the defence, whether that be to Defoe or Berbatov running on, or Jenas breaking through from deep, or one of the full backs bombing forward. He is also an excellent dead ball specialist, which is an added bonus. For a more attacking option, Robbie Keane could slot in here instead, playing a free role which he would relish, not stranded up front on his own like he was on Saturday. Perhaps Keane would be suited to home games, and Murphy away.

The 4-3-3

This one is slightly tougher given Spurs’ personnel, but it could work. The midfield would still require Zokora in the anchor role, with say Tainio and Jenas the two more attacking midfielders in front of him. Up front would be Berbatov in the main forward role, the Drogba position to continue the uncomfortable Chelsea analogy. Then on the left you could have Mido, and on the right you could have Defoe or Keane. When attacking we would have three forwards up there – you could picture Robbie or Defoe beating his man, crossing the ball and having both Mido and Berbi in there waiting to pounce. It should scare most defences. The trouble with this system lies in when the team is defending. It would require the two wide players to track back and defend, and it is debatable whether this would occur with Mido, Defoe or Keane in those roles.

So what should Big Martin Jol do? In The Waddler’s opinion it should be the Diamond, particularly for the next game in Prague. In this system all 11 players are playing in roles familiar to them, no one is being asked to do something they are uncomfortable with. It gets as many of our central midfielders in the team as possible, and plays to BAE and Chimbonda’s attacking strengths. If at some stage we need to go for the jugular, or Murphy is having a stinker, then we could switch to 4-3-3.

Whilst losing Lennon is a clear blow, it may do the team some good to learn to play without him. In recent games it has become all too obvious that our tactic is give it to Lennon and let him run at the defence – we need to come up with a pattern of play that will break a team down with or without him. It is also worth mentioning the rumours that he has come back from the World Cup as, to coin an Alex Ferguson phrase, “a big time Charlie”. He certainly walks with a bit of a swagger these days, and with the club tying Routledge down to a new contract before he went out on loan, it might suggest that they are preparing themselves for another Carrick situation. Naturally The Waddler hopes the rumours are just malicious gossip, as there is no doubt the boy is a joy to watch. Lets hope he recovers quickly, and is able to slot back into a winning team playing some great football. In the meantime, it is good to know there are alternative strategies, and all is not lost.

The Waddler.

So near, yet so far…

2006-09-10T17:45:00.000+01:00

Very few Spurs fans would have expected to go Old Trafford yesterday and actually get something out of the game, but if it wasn’t for a simple error that allowed Giggs to head the only goal of the game, some strange tactical decisions by Big Martin Jol, and a complete lack of luck in front of goal, things could have been much better.

Lets get the goal out of the way. It was a swerving free kick by Ronaldo, but Robbo should have done better. If the sun was in his eyes then he shouldn’t have taken the cap he was wearing at the start off. He should have been able to hold onto the shot – it was hit right at him. Taking the goal out of the game it was a good away performance by Spurs. We had lots of possession, created a few chances and didn’t allow Man Utd to play their usual game. Unfortunately that goal, scored so early, completely ruined the tactical plan, yet we didn’t deviate from it until deep into the second half.

Quite why Big Martin Jol thought Robbie Keane could play up front on his own is something that only he knows. Lets get this straight, The Waddler is a big Robbie fan, but the guy can’t head the ball to save his life, yet Robinson was still booting the ball up to him and he lost out every time. If only we had someone with aerial presence up front – oh wait we did, but Mido was forced to play on the left touchline! Who thought that was a good idea? This is where BMJ needs a good number two next to him, questioning his tactics, playing devils advocate occasionally. Does Chris Houghton do this? Who knows, but it was a poor decision, and one that cost us the match. Playing Davids on the left of midfield is something that fails every time and yet we keep seeing it happening. The news of Lennon’s injury obviously threw the plans into disarray, but playing four central midfielders across the midfield does not make for a pretty sight. Its tough to give Ghaly stick on his debut, but Davids’ distribution is woeful, and really lets him down playing left midfield. He can do a job playing centrally, breaking up the play, and playing short, simple passes, but not wide, where you need to have some creativity.

So what were the positives? Zokora looked excellent – very neat and tidy, with nice passing skills and he can bring the ball forward, which is something we have missed. Chimbonda was superb, getting forward with ease, very strong defensively, and with BAE on the left, Ledley and Daws in the middle, we have a great back four, that will only get better as they get to know each other. A storming performance from Ledders showed what we have missed recently, and Dawson looks a better player along side the Skipper, than he does with Davenport or Gardener. If Defoe’s header had fallen to Mido, or if Van der Saar hadn’t played so well, making great stops from Dawson, King, Mido and Chimbonda efforts we might have got the point we deserved.

So lets all keep our fingers crossed that Lennon’s injury isn’t too bad, that Berbatov is ready to return, and look forward to the start of the UEFA Cup adventure which starts on Thursday.

The Waddler.

New and Improved - Mido Lite!

2006-09-08T09:24:00.000+01:00

Having mentioned in the Summer Transfer Window Review that there was a preference for a Mido resembling himself from the earlier part of last season (i.e. thin) rather than the chap that came back from Egypt in January (i.e. injured and rather larger); it looks like The Waddler’s wish has been granted – and then some! Apparently he has lost 22lbs over the summer in a bid to be as competitive as possible for Spurs, and for this he should be applauded. It is refreshing in the modern game for someone not only to talk about his desire to play for a club, but also to show this by clearly working his proverbials off to get into the best possible shape.

He also sounds very positive and realistic about his prospects as one of four strikers at the club: “This season we play European football and hopefully there will be many, many more matches, maybe 50 or more. If I can play 35 to 40 matches and score 20 goals; that will be a successful season for me.” The fact that Berbatov is injured, and looks doubtful for tomorrow’s game, shows just why the club has bought him. Going to Old Trafford with Keane & Defoe up front limits the team’s options; with Mido there, we have an aerial threat to add to either Keane’s movement and creativity or Defoe’s speed and lethal shooting. That he was only on loan last season and half of the previous one meant that The Waddler couldn’t fully allow Mido a place in the Circle of Trust, but if he can score goals like those from this time last year, and stay in shape, then a Mido 11 shirt could be on the Xmas list!

The Waddler.

Our Kid’s Man Yoo Preview

2006-09-07T13:54:00.000+01:00

Ahhh Manchester in the 90s - Oasis, Stone Roses, Charlatans – bands that defined The Waddler’s youth! It seemed the world revolved around Manchester at the time, especially as Utd were dominating English and European football, with stars like Cantona, Giggs, Sharpe, Kanchelskis, Beckham, Scholes and Keane. In recent years though both the music scene and the lot from Old Trafford have been on a gradual decline. Liam and Noel have got old, and Sir Alex has tinkered with his tactics and formations, and crucially failed to adequately replace the stars he fell out with. Think of his midfield issues – he lets Keane get old and leave without replacing him, and resorts to playing striker Alan Smith and defender John O’Shea in midfield! Well, he eventually saw sense, too late you might say looking at Chelsea’s dominance, and splashed the Glazer dollars on our beloved Michael Carrick. Is that enough though? Especially after selling your main goal scorer to Real Madrid and not replacing him? That decision doesn’t look too clever this weekend, with Rooney suspended, Rossi on loan at Newcastle and Saha an injury doubt. That leaves Solskjaer, who is still regaining fitness after years out through injury and who else up front? Giggs maybe? Ronaldo?

So it’s a great time to play Man U then? Well, yes for any team bar Spurs who have a truly awful recent record against Utd, home and away. You have to go back to 1989 and a goal from Gary Lineker for our last league win at Old Trafford! Once you factor in the start they have had to the season (3 games, 3 wins and 10 goals scored), versus ours (3 games, 1 win and 2 goals scored) you begin think a draw is the best we can hope for. We’ve gone up there and come away with a point in each of the last two seasons, so it’s not impossible.

So is it likely? Well, if Ledley makes it, which is looking hopeful, and Berbatov makes it, which is less so, then we will have a chance. The midfield as always is the key area. Should we play a physical line up to combat the artistry of Carrick, Giggs, Ronaldo and Scholes? If so, then we will line up something like Tainio, Davids, Zokora, Jenas. Should we fight fire with fire? Then Lennon needs to play, so maybe Big Martin Jol will rest Tainio after his international commitments and go Davids, Zokora, Jenas, Lennon. Either way Spurs can’t play worse than they did against Everton, and you have to assume Zokora did his selection potential no harm by being on the bench for most of that farce. Jol doesn’t drop Davids or Jenas, so you have to assume they will feature somewhere. The Waddler’s own preference at the moment would be to see how a midfield of Tainio, Zokora, Jenas, Lennon works out. There you have nice blend of tenacity, pace, power and goal scoring threat.

Up front it’s the pick one big ‘un and one little ‘un combination, so expect to see Keane and Berbatov up front if both are fit. If Berbi doesn’t pull through then it is Mido and Keane, as Defoe would have over exerted himself playing twice in a week. A debut for Chimbonda also looks likely, so fingers crossed he’s the real deal, and not simply another full back to add to our ever growing list under Jol. Spurs go through full backs quicker than John Reid gets through cabinet positions. Our friends MANSION have Spurs at 5.35 to win and 3.50 the draw, so if you are convinced, lump on. The Waddler will be saving those used fivers for another game.

Come On You Spurs!

The Waddler.

Summer Transfer Window Review

2006-09-05T16:38:00.000+01:00

Since the summer of 2004, and the arrival of a Dane with questionable loyalty, Spurs Lodge has been fitted with a revolving door, allowing for the enormous turnover seen over the last two years. Whilst this scatter gun approach to recruitment can’t have been helped by changing Sporting Directors after a year, it is remarkable how many players the club have got through. So given Spurs’ previous transfer market form, this summer The Waddler was glued to the message boards, hitting F5 for dear life, hoping for THFC related gossip and rumour to brighten an otherwise painfully slow moving close season (World Cup? Yes, well England’s never started did it?).

The window began very promisingly, with the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen for £10.9m. At that price, he was always going to be the main purchase of the summer and it looks like Spurs have got themselves a genuine star. With his Andy Garcia looks, an excellent goal scoring record in Germany, and the confident air of man that means business, The Waddler is looking forward to watching the man in action from the posh seats in the West Stand this season. At this stage, The Waddler thinks he looks like Mido and Kanoute rolled into one, thankfully without the temper tantrums.

Another early buy was Benoir Assou-Ekotto. Clearly a Damien Comolli purchase as Big Martin Jol admitted that he had never seen him play; he looks like a real find. Quick, direct, nice passing, some have whispered that he looks like Ashley Cole. Shhhhh! Lets wait and see shall we.

Next up was Didier Zokora, the Ivory Coast midfield player. Unfortunately, The Waddler’s summer holiday clashed with Ivory Coast’s World Cup matches, and Big Martin Jol has so far only allowed the White Hart Lane faithful a cameo of the man known as “Maestro”, so it is too early to judge him. He looks very neat and tidy, and hopefully he is just being eased into English football.

The departure of Michael Carrick during the summer was a blow, albeit softened by £18.6m. His passing and close control reminded The Waddler of watching that other 80s legend, Glenn Hoddle. He will be missed, but then again he lacked that extra something to make him a great player, or even an England regular. He couldn’t tackle hard; he didn’t score many goals, his killer balls rarely resulted in a direct assist, and his dribbling, whilst excellent, was seen all too rarely. Perhaps he’ll find that extra something once he’s been on the receiving end of a Sir Alex Hairdryer.

So with all that money burning a hole in Little Danny Levy’s pocket, The Waddler was on full rumour and gossip overdrive, with Spurs being linked to every player in the world. It was clear that a backup for Berbatov was needed, unless Big Martin Jol wanted to go for the little and little partnership that failed to hang on to a Champions League place last season. Also on the shopping list was a new right back, as the Canadian chap last season joined a list frequented by such luminaries as Gary Doherty, Stuart Nethercott and Justin Edinburgh as The Waddler’s most hated current player. Of course the left wing problem was still prevalent but hopes of a solution were high, with the rumour hounds bringing back names such as Martin Petrov of Athletico Madrid. However, little Daniel loves the brinkmanship of the closing of a transfer window, so the faithful had to wait almost to the end to see who the club brought in.

As it was, The Waddler was pleasantly surprised to see the return of Mido, who was not given enough credit for his pre-ANC displays last season. At his best he is tough, good in the air, and knows where the goal is – an ideal partner for Defoe, Keane and Berbatov. So long as he doesn’t fill up on his Mum’s cooking as he did on his trip home to Egypt last season, he should be an excellent re-addition. Pascal Chimbonda flew in late on deadline day to be our new right back. The Waddler watched little of Wigan last year, as there were pins to be placed in eyes, so there is little to say other than anyone who is named in the PFA team of the year, and who is not Paul Stalteri, will be given the thumbs up. The most intriguing signing is that of Steed Malbranque, who seems to be a proper Spurs player. Skill, flair, an eye for goal, The Waddler is looking forward to watching him. Sadly it won’t be until Christmas.

So to the trail of the left winger. The excitement and desperation of the transfer window got to The Waddler a little bit, so much so in fact that the news of bid for Stewart Downing was met with some form of giddy happiness. Luckily, that has now passed, and all faculties are restored. Thankfully Middlesbrough turned down THFC’s offer, believed to be the bulk of the Carrick money, and hopefully that will be the end of the matter. The mighty Tottenham Hotspur can do better than that.

Welcome to The Waddler!

2006-09-05T15:14:00.000+01:00

The Waddler’s first post should explain that this blog will be a look at Tottenham Hotspur, past and future, but mainly present. We can not forget what has gone before however, and watching the current team it is clear to The Waddler that Big Martin Jol’s side is crying out for some wing wizardry on the left hand side to complement little Aaron’s speed and lightening feet on the right. What price would Chrissie Waddle fetch now? Stewart Downing? Not fit to comb the great man’s mullet.

To watch the mighty Chris Waddle in his prime, plying his trade for Tottenham Hotspur was an honour. Very few players in history could match his dribbling skills (remember the way he would drop his shoulder and sail past the defender as if they were not there?), shooting ability (how about the chip out of the mud at the Dell?) and of course that languid walk of his, feigning indifference before splicing the opposition defence open with a mazy run, or killer pass.

If you don’t remember, perhaps you should go out and buy some videos of Spurs in the 80s. If you do, The Waddler suspects that you too would pay anything to slot the great man on the left hand side of the current midfield.

The Waddler.