Risible Then Remarkable

February 14, 2011February 14, 2011 / Alan / 2 Comments

Another win in a game where we played some decent football without ever being in full control. It’s becoming a bit of pattern. This time we defended in the second half with uncharacteristic but welcome vigour. Naturally by this time we had tried to throw the match away but Sunderland weren’t quite good enough on the day to exploit our lacklustre start by getting any more than a single goal clear, and by the end I was enjoying some old fashioned everyone back bodies in the way defending.

I can’t remember why www.dictionary.com send me a Word of the Day. Probably one of my periodic attempts at self-improvement that usually ends with a swift click of the ‘delete’ button before it’s been opened. However, Saturday’s word was ‘risible’. How appropriate. In my reflections on last week’s match, I noted our talent for the farcical, starring Gomes as N17’s Brian Rix (one for the kids there). Just when you think all the gags have been done, b’dum tish here’s new one. Gallas goes off to change his boot, teammates apparently totally oblivious to this fact, huge gap into which dashes sharp opposition striker. The eventual outcome on the game has meant this incident has been underplayed but how on earth can a professional football team get up to such rubbish?

Throughout the first half we showed a distinct lack of drive and imagination. Despite our good squad, we don’t adapt well to the loss of certain key players. We’ve learned to cope without Huddlestone but looked lost and bereft without Luka or a matchwinner like Bale or Rafa to turn the game and set the creative juices flowing. Even with the absences we should be able to generate some momentum from within but none was forthcoming, although it provoked a concerted burst of arm-waving from Harry. Our task was made harder by Sunderland’s pressing game, pushing right up on our back four to stifle attacks at source. This left gaps in behind their midfield that we tried to exploit with a series of long balls but this isn’t Pav’s game, back to the goal, so back it came. We searched in vain for a ball out wide but no width either. JD worked hard for the team, pulling out to hold up the ball. He deserves credit for this and he held it up well enough, but we were stuttering at this point.

I’m grateful for the goals when they come, obviously, but sometimes I wish we don’t need to wait for a goal to shake us from our lethargy, or a stunner to win it. How we needed Dawson’s header. The keeper should have done better. We’re off then. More bounce and nouse. Still much to be done and nothing was being created for our strikers. Then Nico’s stunning volley, studied technique preceded by shrewd positioning: rather than take the easy but worthy option of the space at the far post, he came inside diagonally to just the right spot.

Now we were keeping the ball much better. Corluka’s value was demonstrated once again in the way he times his runs (his strolls?) forward. No pace of course but he comes up from deep when the attack may founder and there he is, out wide, enabling the centre midfield to switch the point of the attack. As with last week, Benny did this less but just as effective once he got the hang of it.

Jenas had another strong game, working hard and energetic from first to last. Nothing more. Won’t say anything. That’s two or three now…STOP IT!

Sunderland as expected had plenty of possession as the game went on but we protected Gomes well. More often than not, our opponents were forced to shoot from a distance. When they did get into the box, the centre backs were able to come across to intercept because our midfield shield provided the first line of defence. So often this season we’ve conceded because that has not been in place and the back four have been compelled to come out.

Sandro played an important role in our win. Recovering well from a poor first half, he showed promise and application in the second. To me he looks a natural defensive midfielder for the modern game. In particular he seems comfortable just in front of the back four or dropping into the box when we are under real pressure, as opposed to Palacios who is more of the old style midfield destroyer, ranging across the centre looking for tackles. Equally, Sandro has good touch on the ball and can pass short or long. He moves well, gets forward quickly and usually his first touch sets him well for a quick pass on, should something be available.

His weakness is getting caught with the ball and Sunderland tried to pressure him. Too frequently in the first half he played the ball forward and it was intercepted. However, this wasn’t all his fault. He usually played it to feet as Pav or JD dropped back and they were easily dispossessed, whereas a run into the channel and a ball to match could have suited better. That’s not just for Sandro: surely our strikers, who had barely a chance between them, could thrive on those sort of passes and start their runs from deeper, rather than being caught with their backs to the goal.

So a resolute second half plus a brilliant goal and we have yet another win without playing fantastically well. Yet in its way this current run that we are putting together is remarkable. On Saturday we were without the heart and soul of the team. Four top class footballers were absent – Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart and King. Let’s not forget the excellent Huddlestone or the promising Kaboul, who has done so well this season. Umpteen changes in the back four, different players meaning different patterns, yet we are regularly wining matches. Such an injury list would unbalance any team – just look at Chelsea with all their riches and how they struggled without Lampard and Terry. Full credit all round.

Public Information Service: don’t go yet. TOMM is warm-hearted and generous, thinking only of its readers’ well-being. I’ve been contacted by a few people with some things you might like to know, so read on.

First, a shirt from our friends at Philosophy Football:

OFFSIDE!

Offside? An always controversial decision but none so more than when an oafish pair of TV studio so-called experts make the claim that it is gender that determines your knowledge or otherwise of the rule. Philosophy Football’s handy T-shirt design provides the signals of the Assistant Referee as they wave their flag for offside together with the rulebook definition to start the argument. Complete with ‘Lets Kick Sexism out of Football’ campaign logo against dinosaur attitudes to wear on your sleeve. Available from www.philosophyfootball.com

Next, memorabilia fans sit up:

Double winners Les Allen; Peter Baker; Maurice Norman; Cliff Jones and Terry Dyson will be appearing at the Memorabilia Show, NEC Birmingham, 26-27 March.

www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham

Finally, Our Ledley endorses a worthwhile scheme, showing our Spurs make an effort in the community:

LEDLEY KING SPURS ON BRITAIN’S APPRENTICES

On the final day of National Apprenticeships Week, www.notgoingtouni.co.uk has received the backing of Tottenham Hotspur and England defender Ledley King. King has joined forces with the online portal for apprenticeships and vocational opportunities, to encourage young people to consider vocational opportunities during National Apprenticeship Week 2011.

“Apprenticeships are a great way of entering the world of work for those who, like me, know what they want to do for a living,” King said to notgoingtouni’s free digital magazine for prospective apprentices. “Apprenticeship Week is the perfect time to start looking into the options. I came up through the Tottenham youth academy, so I know the value of on-the-job training. And I know it can lead to the best job in the world!”

The increase in tuition fees, as well as one in five graduates currently being unemployed, is opening the door for more and more young people to consider vocational qualifications.

“Young people looking to enter the professions are now beginning to discover, for example, that it is actually quicker to become a chartered accountant through an apprenticeship programme than via a degree, with a higher proportion finding employment at the end of it,” explains Spencer Mehlman, managing director of notgoingtouni.co.uk.

A free digital guide for Apprenticeship Week, is available at www.notgoingtouni.co.uk, also tells the story of Rohan Duncan, 25, who joined Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s Future Job Fund programme in February 2010. He was offered an apprenticeship on completion of the programme and now leads coaching sessions and studies for an NVQ Level 2 in Sports and Allied Recreational Studies at Croydon College.

“I was a Spurs fan before I got the job. I went to the job centre because I’d been unemployed for a while and I saw there were jobs going coaching at Spurs. I’m a sporty guy but I’d never done any coaching before. I didn’t think I’d get it – it seemed too good to be true!” Rohan explained.

Now, Rohan coaches young people from the local community, leading PE lessons, table tennis sessions and the Kickz programme aimed at keeping young people out of trouble on the streets.

“I’m on contract until June,” Rohan adds. “I’d like to stay on at Spurs, but even if I don’t I’m much more employable than I was before. I’d like to stay in coaching or mentoring.”

40,000 companies work with notgoingtouni.co.uk including industry giants such as IBM, British Gas, Rolls Royce, Unilever and Tesco.

Spurs Lose the Olympic Stadium But the Real Conflict Has Only Just Begun

February 10, 2011 / Alan / 36 Comments

Politics. All down to politics, as this blog has been saying for a while. The BBC has ‘learned’ that West Ham will win the Olympic Stadium bidding process. In the language of politics, it’s a leak from a sound source, otherwise the BBC would not have gone so big on it. It will happen. Rejoice, oh rejoice unto the heavens! Yet the abiding feeling this morning is the realisation that far from being over, the real issue for Spurs fans, the plans that will affect our development in the next hundred years, that battle has only just begun.

This decision has nothing to do with football or the clubs. It’s a political settlement based on the promises around the Olympic Stadium that date from the bid itself, the legacy and the perceived public reaction if the nod went to an organisation prepared to knock down Britain’s showpiece. The arguments advocated by Levy or for that matter the odious Sullivan in yesterday’s Standard (“the decision is about a promise made in the Queen’s name”) count for virtually nothing. Coe and the athletics lobby as 2012 approaches, Cameron and Boris with cold shudders down their spines as they imagine themselves pictured with the wrecking ball, the government being seen to renege on Olympic undertakings in the most public of ways – these are the factors.

I’ll tell you why this choice was made – my office. Two blokes in the workplace, me and one other who’s not interested in football in the slightest. The rest are women, only one of whom is keen on sport. Lovely people, and yes of course women like football, but not these. There’s not a lot of footy banter going on.

Except over the stadium move. Everyone knows about it. They have no idea who Daniel Levy is, no club allegaince or the faintest notion of a legacy. But they all know Spurs plan to demolish the stadium and they are livid. Many of them blame me personally, even when I point out my opposition. To them, it’s simple: ‘How dare they knock down our stadium?’ Our stadium. There it is. Not Spurs’ or West Ham’s. Ours.

The fans of both clubs, and Orient’s too for that matter, are so embroiled in claim and counter-claim about territory, heritage, revenue streams and sightlines that we fail to appreciate the big picture so beloved of politicians in local and national government. The public want the Olympic Stadium. They are proud of it and proud Britain is hosting the Games. Woe betide a politician who ignores the public mood, whatever they may consider in private, especially so in these straitened times when election promises are returning to haunt members of the government.

In saying that the arguments advanced by both clubs have been so much pissing in the wind, it has to be acknowledged that West Ham have caught the public mood much better than Levy and his PR department. To me, the notion of the Porn Barons and Karren Brady as champions of the people is incomprehensible and frankly nauseating. However, they have successfully presented themselves as guardians of the Games and upholders of decent, honest values, of keeping promises and keeping faith with ‘the youth of London’, whilst at the same time burying the news that theirs is the option that uses public money. Levy meanwhile has been caught on his heels, belatedly desperate to catch up as West Ham set the agenda and the pace. It helps to have a column in the Sun, mind.

Above all, the public and the media like a simple story, and West Ham have successfully cast Spurs as the baddies. This debate about the future of sport in this country has been dramatised as a battle between good and evil and we have lost. Serious damage has been done to our reputation, unwarranted in my view because this was not what it was about at all, but real in the eyes of the public nonetheless. Levy the Loser is the tag he will find hard to shake off, never mind the public, in the eyes of the media and his fellow Premier League chairman. Remember this is the guy who drives a hard bargain and as the deadlines approach, does not blink. Until now.

My opposition to Stratford has been implacable from the start. I’m pleased with this decision but this is just the beginning, because it throws the long-term problems of THFC into sharp focus. If not Stratford, then where? The club cannot challenge the top teams in the long run in a ground that holds fewer than 37,000 people. Figures published today by Deloittes show that of the top 7 clubs, only one, L’arse, made a profit. Spurs have the dubious honour of making the least loss, about £6.5m compared with Man U at nearly £80m, Chelsea at £70m and Man City £121m. The matchday revenues at Spacecity North London are 5 times greater than ours, their profit £56m last year.

I hope we can return to the NDP: I understand the costs have risen but remain wary of Levy’s sudden change of tack. Let’s leave the specifics for another day. One thing is certain, that Daniel Levy remains the key figure who holds not only the balance sheet but also our hopes and dreams. There’s no one else we can turn to: he’s the man in charge. Yet after this mauling, I wonder if he still has the stomach to fight a series of new, possibly protracted battles. We need him to be at his best but he must be feeling battered, sore and bruised. Despite his decade or so in the hotseat, he’s never given the impression of being a passionate man on a mission. Whatever you think about Stratford, it will be hard for anyone to generate the motivation for the challenges to come. It would not be a surprise if he walked away.

This to my mind is the biggest problem Spurs and Spurs fans have to face in the coming weeks and months. If there is a lesson to be learned, it is that Levy should have done so much more to take the fans with him. Most accept his arguments that the club must change in some way. The fans and board united has to be the way forward. I’ve been an opponent, at times showing a degree of bitterness that is not part of my character, but Daniel, here’s my hand. Reach out and take it.

Newcastle Show Spurs The Way

February 7, 2011 / Alan / 14 Comments

With due respect to our opponents, Bolton at home is not a fixture to set the pulse pounding but the denouement of Saturday’s encounter ran through the entire emotional spectrum in two minutes flat.

First, high farce, just to soften us up. However well we are performing, wherever we are in the table, or indeed this season wherever in Europe, the farcical is never far away. Already we had ignored our opponents on two set pieces, one of which, as we gazed vacantly into space while they took a quick one, led to Elmander hitting our crossbar. Crouch, who is never more than a pass away from the eccentric, unerringly waited for the defender when clean through, twice again. He has the expressions to match the comedy skills of a Mr Bean or Lee Evans – how did that happen? Same way it always does, Pete, same as always. Nobody calls him Pete, do they? Wonder why? Oh yes, three penalties, one goal. How did that happen?

Anyway, to top that, comedy gold as Daws gives the ball away and Gomes goes down late. Playing well, on top, must mean it’s time to go bonkers. However, this was nothing compared with the reaction of the fans when Newcastle made it 4-4. A deafening roar, twice as loud as anything that afternoon. This parochial attitude that focuses more on our rival’s misfortune that our own success is totally infuriating. The ‘stand up if you hate L’arse’ chants is one thing but this was another dimension. We are fifth in the league, pressing for a CL place in the pressure cooker of the Premier League. This may be Bolton but every single game is vital from now until the end of the season, yet this truth appears not to have registered with the crowd. As the chants crescendoed we had crossed the ball into the box. I expected the centre half to clear: in fact it drifted over his head to Pav, who fluffed the fleeting opportunity with a misdirected, weak header to no one, but a chance is a chance. It’s small-minded and shows that never mind about the team, the fans have not yet registered what is important in the makings of a top four team.

From the ridiculous to the sublime in the blink of an eye. If Spurs are capable of farce then we are also able to produce the most scintillating moments of sheer brilliance. Kranjcar has looked distant, unfit and under-motivated when he has appeared recently so although I am an admirer, I expected little when he strolled on as a late sub. Fair play to Harry – we needed a win so he created a formation that could not have been more attacking. He seems happy at such moments, because having been around the block a time or two, he still loves a devil-may-care freedom of expression for his players.

We have the players to make something happen. As the game reached its conclusion, time and again they touched it into place to pull the trigger, Lennon, JJ, JD, Nico, Pav, but nothing came of it except an extra touch that gave the determined Bolton defenders that moment they craved to tackle or block. Then Kranjcar moved on to the ball, fiercely struck it kept going, curling away into the top corner. Despite the keeper’s touch it was always going in.

A fine goal that received the adulation it deserved. We knew what it really meant, this was reality, it clicked then. Three more points, six in a week, lessons learned from the Fulham débâcle and despite our faults, no lack of effort or application.

Another element of the emotional spectrum. A hard week or two for me, yet a goal like this and it all pours out, a roar from deep down, crazy jumping, hugs all round, backs sore from slapping. All better now, the release of pent-up feelings that are so profound, you don’t know they are there until they flood out uncontrollably.

It all started so well. How about an easy afternoon, just once. A penalty early on, in the scramble I couldn’t see but MOTD showed the ref was correct. The second looked sound at the time but coming so soon after the first, most refs would have thought twice but you can’t criticise Clattenburg this time. Well, not for all of 90 seconds anyway. Disallowing the second penalty for encroachment was harsh, because everybody does it and we all know that. Apparently. In the end, another example of how our players could have thought a bit harder.

I admired VDV for putting three in the same place, well almost the same place. It demonstrates a mental toughness that we need, so I thought, but on reflection he lost his focus after the disallowed goal. My imagination, or did he put the ball down and walk back just a little too fast, showing his impatience.

Before the game, Clattenburg engaged in an animated and lengthy conversation with a fan as the ref warmed up in front of the Shelf. He could have opted out but instead chose not to trot along the touchline with the linesmen but to carry on. I couldn’t quite hear what was said but it was clearly about his previous dodgy decisions, with Old Trafford coming up, no doubt. He said that he expected Gomes to ‘launch it’, presumably a reference to that free kick that never was, but I admire him for having the decency to converse with a fan.

Ironic that we looked like dropping two points on a day when we produced some of our best football for a while. Without the drive of Bale or prompting of Modric, we kept a decent tempo and kept the ball moving. There was always someone out wide to find and switch the focus. BAE stayed back in the first half, although this changed in the second period, no doubt at Harry’s behest, but Corluka’s value was on display. Little pace but he times his runs in support of the attack well, strolling up when forwards (and therefore defenders) have committed themselves, so he can use the gaps for a run or a pass. Not everything worked but enough did to offer several good chances. He deserves a run as Hutton has had a few poor matches.

Jenas was my man of the match. He worked hard from first to last, concentrating fiercely and providing those driving runs forward that can be so valuable, if only he could offer them on a consistent basis. A cracking free kick too. He and Wilson worked well together. They seemed clear on who should go forward and who should remain behind, WP usually. JJ too deserves a run, hopefully to capitalise on the absence of others, but far too early to signal the Jenas Renaissance (part 89).

Lennon had a second good game in a week. Both Bolton and Blackburn left enough room in midfield for his runs. He seems to be quicker than ever. I thought he should stay on the left in the second half, up against Elmander rather than Taylor and the full back.

Defoe was also utterly determined. He moved well and was strong in the way he held the ball up. He needs a goal and it was a shame that the header, from a beautiful move, was disallowed for offside. A shame too that those chances fell to Crouch not JD. Otherwise, Crouch did Ok until he went off, injured presumably as afterwards Harry said that once he left the field Spurs lost their focal point. It’s an interesting comment, confirming Redknapp’s preference for a big centre forward around which the team can play rather then utilising the running and movement of Pav. Still, he’s changed things around since Fulham and 4-4-2 with VDV coming off the right and Lennon on the left has produced 6 points.

Second half, we should have been coasting with a couple of penalties under our belt and excellent football to boot, but once again we did not take our chances and Bolton came back into the game. A word of praise for them: they have the makings of a fine little team there. Attacking against us works well. Sturridge was lively throughout, he has real promise, and with Elmander on the right they did not hesitate to get forward. Holden has been playing well for a year and Mark Davies is another impressive youngster. If anything, their expansive game let them down because it gave us plenty of space. And if the Cahill penalty had gone their way…

All in all, a good week and we needed the home points as we have several away games coming up. Now to the sublime: Milan tickets on sale. £59.25 plus £1.75 booking fee. My son is going to the away leg – £15 for a seat in the San Siro. Like I said, never more than moments away from high farce.

Step Forward Bond, Les, Allen, Joe, Tim – We Need You Now

February 1, 2011 / Alan / 14 Comments

Not so much an article on the aftermath of the transfer window for Tottenham Hotspur, more a series of slightly disjointed thoughts.

Or maybe, ‘disjointed’ is a suitable summary of our transfer policy this time around. There was one constant, however: the word ‘no’, uttered in Geordie, Spanish, west country and Scottish accents, plus a few others no doubt. Levy and Harry aren’t used to this.

This blog has been highlighting the problems with our strikers for some time and to be fair to them Redknapp and Levy responded by making huge bids for high quality players. And Andy Carroll. We can’t fault them in this respect at least. Remember that whatever figure is quoted in the media is only the opening bid. If the players wanted to come, we could have upped the cash but we hit a brick wall in the shape of the cold hard realities of modern football.

It’s January and everyone is after the same scarce players, never mind clubs anxious to keep their precious assets, thereby suddenly finding the money to increase salaries and extend contracts. Thanks to Levy’s prudence we have money but there are often (but not always) others who are rich enough and desperate enough to spend beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Step forward Roman Abramovich. He’s been quiet of late, seeing if his team can cope without him. They can’t: they need to rebuild. Faced with buying a new model or a repair job, in the end Roman cannot bear to leave his precious toy to decay so he finds a spare £50m down the back of the sofa. On the day that his club announces operating losses of around £70m, we can’t compete in this parallel reality, and neither should we.

In our world, we went big, big and risky. £25m for Carroll and clearly some sustained bargaining over the last few weeks. Again to be fair to Levy, I suspect that rate than leave things to the last minute as it appears, he and Harry have a method in their apparent madness. They work away over an extended period, making sure clubs and players know we are interested, then we come with a late run on the inside, rather than coming out of the blue. I doubt the offers as are much of a surprise to the selling club as they claim.

It’s been effective in the past but on this occasion Liverpool suddenly fulfil the criteria. Answer yes or no to the following questions: Rich – Yes. Desperate –yes. Oh god yes. Reckless – yes. Prepared to pay a bonkers sum for a largely untried but admittedly talented prospect – yesyesyes.

We can’t tick all the boxes and again, good decision re Carroll in my view, not worth the £35m risk. The Spanish players don’t fancy north London, the salary, the lack of tax breaks or the fact that they don’t really know who Spurs are. The World Famous Home of the Spurs and a CL place if you are cup tied cuts little ice if you’re fifth, I’m sad to say. Face it – they have to have a blinding reason to come and Harry’s banter isn’t it.

So we were left with nothing. That’s how it felt last night but that’s manifestly unfair. What we are left with are the players who got us into the CL last year, plus Pienaar, a useful addition in my view, and Rafa of course. There’s plenty to work with and Harry and the coaches have to work damn hard to turn around the fast fading form.

I would have liked to see the arrival of a defensive midfielder who could properly shield the defence and allow Luka and others the freedom to get forward. The Adam bid was absurd, a sign of desperation for a decent but overpriced player who does not fulfil those requirements and anyway Hud can pass better than he can.

Crouch. From my viewpoint, he’s been awful in the league this season, but I’m not going over that again. Harry’s not stupid – he put a lot of faith in Crouch who has not repaid him. The centre forward has limitations but he has been woefully off-form even by his relatively average standards. Harry must be as disappointed as I am. He didn’t expect us to be in this situation, crying out for a striker. Pav he doesn’t rate and JD lacks sharpness and the nouse to play on his own up front.

All our rivals have strengthened in this window. Sunderland have invested part of the Bent money in a couple more midfielders. Like us they don’t score that many but unlike us, they have a plan B – work like Trojans, defend hard in midfield and see what they can nick. It’s not an insult – far from it, it works in the Prem but we can’t do it. They are set for the battle.

Perhaps the most vulnerable are L’arse – scintillating midfield (although is Nasri injured?) but weak if you can get at them. But then I think that every season and look what happens…

The key people at the club right now are the coaching staff. They have to reorganise and reinvigorate our flagging form and spirits. Waiting for the CL to start again is not an option. I maintain what I said yesterday – you can’t turn form on and off. The team’s potential would be greatly increased by the addition of a top striker but what we have remains underdeveloped. There’s so much more we can do – let’s get back to basics, work like stink with this talented squad and get some results. If the strikers aren’t scoring, work on the midfield coming through into the box. Try two up front and sacrifice an attacking midfielder – even Lennon if the balance requires it. Rest Hutton and bring back Charlie again. Something different with what we have.

A final thought. Damien Commolli’s period as Director of Football created backroom tensions that harmed the club’s development. However, he brought a wealth of talent to the club, talent that needed to be developed and nurtured but was worth the wait. That supply has largely dried up since he left, assuming that Rafa’s arrival was as sudden and unexpected as the accounts make out.

Commolli may or may not have spotted those players himself and some of the deals were in the pipeline before he arrived. However, he had a wealth of knowledge about European football, the contacts to know not just about ability but also temperament, whether they wanted to settle in England, what price it would take to get them. That’s what modern scouts have to do, and it seems to me that we have to find someone who can do something similar. Given our experiences in the window, even with money that wasn’t enough. We have to get hold of players on the up, like Modric, and make them into stars.

Harry was always able to pull out a plum, However, you don’t hear so much now that he has Levy to keep a close eye on all the, um, payments. No inflated salaries either. Also, Harry’s contacts bring him players who will shine (usually) but not those of the highest quality. It’s a different world now, remember.

The problems with the DoF role were partly down to Commolli liking the power but mainly down to Levy’s weak grasp on the key management question in any business – who is in charge and what is the line of accountability for decision-taking? I don’t advocate a return to those days but call him a chief scout, call him a co-ordinator, call him Shirley, but we need someone who can find those players on their way up.