Learn From This or Fail

January 31, 2011 / Alan / 15 Comments

You can’t turn it off and on again. Form, I mean. You can’t decide to leave it one afternoon, then come back to it the following week. It’s not tucked up snug and warm inside airtight bubblewrap, waiting to come out when the classy influential guests come a-calling.

Form has a life of its own. You can’t see it but you know it’s there. You can feel it, sometimes believe you can taste it, it’s so much a part of you, you almost don’t have to think about what you’re doing. It has a momentum all to itself, gradually gaining pace and shape like a snowball rolling down a hill.

But never, ever forget. You own it because you made it. All down to you. Your efforts, struggles and talent, mind and body slowly combines to be indistinguishable. Skill plus motivation with a healthy dollop of coaching to provide the organisation to play together, as one, united.

First, you concentrate. Every game, first until last. In the Glory Game, your illustrious predecessors Chivers and Peters talked of coming off the field exhausted and with a splitting headache not so much from the physical exertion but from the mental strain of focussing for each second. One mistake, one mistimed tackle for example, and you are a goal down, punished for your lackadaisical attitude.

Michael Dawson, a mighty warrior for the cause. You are our leader. You should have the honour of wearing the armband on a permanent basis but whatever, we look to you for an example, a leader in a team that’s crying out for leadership on the pitch. That’s why we love you, because you give everything, but you of all people cannot panic. Mistakes we accept, no one is perfect, we are realistic, but panic and that spreads through the team, to each and every one of them. You can’t turn that on and off, even if you would like a weekend’s respite.

I know that sometimes you will give everything and be beaten by a better team. I will be down and disappointed, more than I should be at my age and after all this time, but I will accept it. What I will not accept or comprehend is giving up. After ten minutes. I don’t care if it is the Cup in a world overly obsessed with the Premier League and the Champions League. We paid our money, same as when you could be bothered. We have – had – a great chance of winning that cup. A match for any team in the country, on the day, over 90 minutes. This new Tottenham – they are scared of us, of how we can sweep down upon them from all angles, Bale, Modric, Lennon, Van der Vaart, they fear us. Now they know we will give up, if you give us a little nudge, if things don’t pan out. That’s the message.

Habit. Winning is a habit. Make that, competing is a habit. This weekend I listened all day to the radio as the Cup unfolded. Lower league managers said they instil a winning mentality. Every game, every confrontation in the field, all over the pitch. Win it. Those little skirmishes won, the whole battle follows.

Transfers. In a few hours we’ll know if a judicious purchase or two (striker and defensive midfield, please) will lift us. Daniel Levy is singlehandedly trying to jolt the ailing Spanish economy into life. It could make all the difference but it’s utterly pointless if he joins a team without the mentality to be winners not posers.

Make it happen. Don’t sit back and wait for someone else. Play and others will play with you. Lead and others will follow. You’re all in this together.

Choke. Murray choked. Sent the message reverberating through his world that talent is nothing without the right mindset. Squeeze him and he falls apart. On the radio I heard another warrior, a rugby player this time, saying that as a coach he judges the true mark of a man not by a defeat by how he copes the next time. How he reacts. We’ll see on Wednesday. Most of you probably don’t fancy Blackburn on a chilly Wednesday. Don’t care. Sort out your head or all this talent and potential is out the window. Learn from this or fail.

Relief – Football Not Politics and At Least One Point

January 24, 2011 / Alan / 2 Comments

As the row over the new stadium cranks up a notch or three, the kick-off at St James’s Park was a blessed relief, never mind a pleasure. Football was the main attraction, rather than Daniel Levy and Karren Brady’s personalised version of Punch and Judy. Judging by yesterday’s sparring, this is a modern re-telling, with Brady landing all the blows onto Levy as a hapless Judy. Brady’s next opponent: Richard Keys.

Ah yes, football. Redknapp’s team selection was characteristically bold. BAE’s injury would have provoked caution in most managers but Harry saw it as an opportunity to slot in Pienaar in front of Gareth Bale, with Defoe as the only genuine striker. It shows a desire to go for a win away from home right from the start and Newcastle no longer have Routledge on that wing, as they did at the Lane a few short weeks ago.

However, our cunning plan was soon undone as Bale’s frantic season took its toll and he went off with a back injury. Although his replacement Bassong did well in a largely unfamiliar role, the Welshman’s absence upset our attacking options. It’s not just those now familiar unstoppable surges from deep. With one man up front, we depended on players coming late into the box to convert chances, something that we singularly failed to do for most of the game and which nearly led to us dropping three points instead of merely two.

The story of this match for Spurs was one of possession and passing with no end product. Our passing and movement was uniformly excellent. Modric once more led the way, less obtrusive than in recent games but effective none the less. He kept the ball moving, looking to touch it forward or spread it wide. Lennon provided width with Bassong available too. Jenas, invariably coming into the movement later as the more defensive of the two central midfielders, provided able support and the wide men were an outlet for his long passing.

The game showed why Harry was so keen on Pienaar. He settled in straight away. No disrespect to his former club but did I detect a sense of relief as he found a natural home in the welcoming prompting of Luka and the movement of VDV and Lennon around him? He certainly felt the frustration of the many opportunities that never became chances at goal, falling to the penalty box turf late on and banging his fists into the grass. He moved well across the line and that ability to cut in is handy. He’s very comfortable in possession and made a major contribution to the ease with which we kept the ball. What a difference compared with even a few months ago. Once, he just remained still on the left, waited until his colleagues had readjusted their positions then upped the pace again.

When this worked, it all looked good, especially in the first half when we pushed back our opponents. Lennon injected welcome bursts of pace in case we let the tempo drop and he was active for the full 90 minutes, or more accurately 94 as the final 4 minutes was a bonkers end to end melee when both sides totally forget years of training and went at it like schoolboys in the playground just before the bell sounds. The back four, one at a time, pushed up into the space as Newcastle retreated.

With all this support, the chances should have flowed freely. One sublime move cut the defence apart only for Defoe to find Harper’s feet. The keeper did well but you hope JD can put those away. Later, Modric hit the bar and Harper was active but in truth it was a case of so many possibilities, so little end product. Defoe worked hard – Rafa praised his movement earlier this week – but he’s not at his sharpest. The biggest problem, however, was the lack of a consistent presence from midfield, making purposeful runs into the box and getting ahead of Defoe. Newcastle dealt with Rafa effectively, stifling him by crowding the space around him. Moran kept close, which of course meant he was less of an attacking force, and knocked him about a bit, all part of the game and VDV can take it. He did little on a day when we really needed him.

Otherwise, we were too content with hanging around the edge of the box. It’s fine one or two waiting for a cutback as Lennon rips forward but others must hit the 6 yards box. More commitment is needed – they have to go for it but instead stayed in the comfort zone 18 yards out. Watch Barca or remember Inter Milan in Italy: their front men push up, then one comes deeper, the other moves across, keep the ball, keep prompting, have the ability to up the pace suddenly and the chances will come. We loitered without intent and for the most part did not speed things up.

At the other end, Newcastle intermittently looked dangerous in the first half but a high ball could on several occasions have brought some reward and they hit the bar after a fine far-post cross. Dawson was uncharacteristically uncertain, missing a couple of high balls and once, in the second half, left standing. We’re so used to his commanding presence, it was noticeable when he missed even one or two high ones.

The biggest problem was Hutton, who had a poor match throughout and whose ineffectual presence made a centre half look like Ronaldo for what could so easily have been Newcastle’s matchwinner. Time and again our opponents made hay down his wing. For the move when Best hit the bar, he stood and watched as the cross was carefully prepared. To be fair to him, Newcastle planned for this, exploiting Lennon’s absence on winger’s duties by doubling up down our right but he had an afternoon to forget.

On the other flank, Bassong did well enough. His central defender’s instincts meant that he tucked in, closer to the centrebacks, rather than being isolated, which is where Benny sometimes has trouble. A more defensive minded full back with all our attacking players could be useful.

Who needs all this fancy dan football? Crouch on, long ball down the middle, Lennon cuts in and a fine finish. At last. Harper berated his full back for not sending him wide but in the home game a few weeks ago, Lenny did go wide and still scored. It shows how his game has developed. Almost makes me forget a couple of crosses that sailed over Crouch’s head when he was unmarked on the far post. Still, can’t have everything and in the end we were grateful for a point in a match where we should have gained more, if we are to keep up the pressure on the top four.

Stratford Decision Day Looms: No One Bothers To Ask The Fans

January 20, 2011January 20, 2011 / Alan / 36 Comments

A few seasons ago Tottenham Hotspur proudly celebrated 125 years of history. In 8 days time a decision will be taken that could shape its destiny for the next 125. It will be taken behind closed doors, by people eminent no doubt in their field but who are wholly unknown to the the public, who have little interest in football and none whatsoever in the future well-being of our club. The closest we get to a football man is the former managing director of Arsenal. Certainly no one has bothered to ask the fans.

The news that the Spurs board wanted to move to the Olympic site at Stratford seeped out gradually in the weeks before Christmas. There’s never been any formal announcement or acknowledgement. However, the detailed plans that were published as part of the bidding process for the post-2012 use of the Olympic Park indicated that far from this being a back-up should the redevelopment next door to White Hart Lane fall through, in fact the club had invested tens of millions in preparatory work. Moreover in AEG they had forged an unholy alliance with a major player in the leisure industry, for whom failure was not an option.

At the time, this caused a great deal of interest, or so I thought. Daniel Levy shrewdly kept a low profile but suddenly previously reticent board members like Sir Keith Mills were available to the media, talking up the possibilities of the site and as a secondary consideration mentioning that it represented a cost-effective option for Spurs. Other former members of the Olympic bidding process were co-opted to posts at the club.

TOMM signalled the dangers under the emotive headline: ‘Betrayal’. I make no apologies – football exercises my emotions like nothing else on this earth. However, the news did not spread amongst either Spurs fans or the public at large until two weeks ago. Despite regular dire warnings from the West Ham board, especially the media-savvy Karren Brady, it was the unlikely figure of the architect who has led Spurs’ design programme who put the cat amongst the pigeons. The media suddenly awoke to the consequences of the Spurs bid – the Olympic Stadium, the pride of Britain in 2012, was due for demolition. No athletics track either.

The fans picked up the mood too. Jolted forcibly out of their complacency, few were now able to claim that this was the Levy fall-back position. I was surprised and dismayed that so few Spurs supporters were unaware of the news but it has sent shockwaves through our worldwide community. It’s fair to say that by no means all the fans agree with my view that we should not move to Stratford, but complacency is no longer an option. Take a look, if you are brave enough, at the comments section of my previous piece on the stadium. Leaving aside the cyberwarrior bluster it reveals deep divisions not only in the debate around should we stay or should we go but also about the fundamental question of what it means to be a Spurs fan.

The fans are the heart and soul of the club. We were there 125 years ago, we’re here now and we will be here for as long as our team pulls on the white shirt. Players and chairmen come and go, we hand down the white shirt to our children and grandchildren.

Yet when it comes to this most momentous of decisions, we are the very last people to be consulted. We turn up through rain and shine, good times and bad, we pay our money and pay the wages. Right now, we don’t exist.

In stark contrast, the club were falling over themselves to consult during the planning process for the new stadium in N17, otherwise known as the Northumberland Development Project. I quote from the club website, as they worked towards the new stadium:

“ The previous application received strong backing from the local community and fans alike – with over 800 letters of support sent to Haringey Council from individuals, groups and businesses. The changes made directly reflect the Club’s desire to find the very best solution for the Club and the locality – and are the culmination of consultation and discussion with the Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), English Heritage and other agencies as part of our desire to appeal to the widest possible audience.”

Fans were encouraged to contact Haringey Council. Local people and businesses were roped in. There was an online consultation exercise. They needed us then. Now, our opinions have no effect on the decision-takers. We have no value for the club, hence the deathly silence.

While I’m at it, here’s another quote, again from the club website:

A Flagship for Regeneration

All successful regeneration projects start with a single high profile ‘anchor’ scheme. The Northumberland Development Project represents an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds into North Tottenham and we believe has the potential to be a flagship for the wider regeneration of the area – attracting additional investment and securing significant benefits for the local community:

An even greater ability for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation to address key social and community issues.
• World-class design which people will be proud to live near and visit.
• New affordable housing, both for rent and for key workers such as nurses and teachers.
• A significant investment in North Tottenham with a comprehensive scheme, not just a stadium.

Remembering our History

• The Club recognises the importance of remembering our history as a part of the new plans.

• We have the opportunity to re-house and re-locate key items which reflect and celebrate our proud history in Tottenham.

• We shall look to celebrate our past, display our memorabilia in a worthy environment and retain much of that which fans hold dear.

• This will be achieved both in the fabric of the buildings, in the new Club Museum and within the public spaces including the public square and lower courtyard.

• We intend to locate the famous Bill Nicholson Gates between the former White Hart pub and the Red House, which is the location of the current Bill Nicholson Way.

• We plan to put the famous cockerel, currently in our Club reception, on a plinth outside Warmington House as one of the first visible symbols fans will see as they approach from Seven Sisters.

• The old Club Board Room on the first floor of the Red House will be protected and retained and consideration given to bringing it back into use for appropriate Club meetings and Museum activities.

• We are also looking at how we decorate the gates and structures outside the stadium on the High Road and what other public art we commission across the site.

• We have established a Heritage Group which will consult on this work.

What price history and regeneration now? Literally: it has no value therefore our heritage is consigned to the dustbin, vacant rhetoric that has served its purpose and is now discarded.

Levy apparently lacks the courage to appear in public to discuss his plans. It’s ironic that this furore comes at a time when he has largely won over our support by the way he has run the club. For years his image was tarnished by poor judgement regarding the key appointment in any football club, the manager. Hoddle came and went, to be followed by what felt like the longest reign of any caretaker when, under David Pleat, we could so easily have been relegated. Santini failed, then Jol was removed because he was successful but not successful enough. With Ramos we plunged to the foot of the league until Our Harry came down from on high (well, the south coast) to save us all.

However, under Levy we have reaped the rewards of a consistent, prudent approach to money. He has resisted calls to make marquee signings, instead driving a series of hard bargains over salaries and fees. We’ve missed out on a few players in the process but the policy of buying good young players has more than made up for that as they mature. Also, the ludicrous problems experienced by Newcastle, Manchester United, West Ham and Liverpool are evidence enough to demonstrate the anguish caused by a potentially fatal combination of overbearing ego and an eye on the profit margin. Levy created sustainable financial stability and we owe him a lot.

Perhaps his biggest achievement, his personal legacy, was the new stadium. Finding a site near to the Lane was remarkable in overcrowded London. I don’t envy L’Arse their cavernous soulless spaceship but my goodness how I secretly admired the fact that stayed so close to home. Levy, however, trumped them, because we had a proper football ground, with stands close to the pitch and rising steeply plus an ‘end’. Thus the atmosphere of the Lane, its very essence, was preserved for generations to come.

This is why we felt safe with Levy, because this above all else proved he knew what football means. A proper ground, in our home! He consulted the fans, listened and responded. He knew what we wanted and did something about it. Now that bond lies in tatters. There’s no consultation now because he does not want to hear what we have to say. That’s why I feel so badly let down.

Levy would say that he’s being consistent, acting with the same financial prudence that has taken us this far. I certainly do not want to bankrupt the club, but we should do everything that is humanly possible to stay in N17, rather than cut and run to Stratford.

So it’s back to the Olympic Park Legacy Committee. A baroness, a Sir and a Lord, plus members with backgrounds in the local community, athletics, politics and planning. They’re so on the ball, they only realised a couple of days ago that one colleague, Tessa Sanderson, has links with Newham, i.e. a partner with one of the bids. They will make a recommendation next Friday, which then goes to Boris and the government for a final decision. It’s possible that on the 28th they can defer their choice to seek more information, so don’t hold your breath. This is fast becoming a political hot potato so they will proceed with caution.

As it stands, Spurs bid is seen as the stronger financially whilst West Ham scores on the legacy issues. How the balance tips is anyone’s guess. Nothing is emerging from the committee. Athletics is having a big push in favour of keeping the Olympic Stadium and this could be decisive, but it is only one of several factors the OPLC is duty bound to consider. As I said last week, the public will be baffled by any plan that knocks the stadium down and I suspect Cameron does not want to be remembered as the man with the wrecking ball.

Whatever happens, Spurs fans will not have a say, and nor for that matter will the supporters of west Ham. Fans left out once more. Earlier I said in passing that we should be heard because we are the ones who pay the wages, but the fact is, that is no longer true. The majority of a club’s income comes not from gate receipts but from TV and other rights and from the corporate sector. They’ll care when it comes to the noise in the big games, the club and Sky love us then, but right now we’re out in the cold looking in.

Modric the Sublime Master But In The End, Frustration for Spurs

January 17, 2011January 18, 2011 / Alan / 11 Comments

Spurs versus Manchester United remains one of the classic encounters in any season. Lacking the blood and thunder of London derbies against L’arse or Chelsea, nevertheless the tension is palpable and the air crackles with excitement and energy in the early exchanges.

On such days, matches are won or lost in fleeting moments, where the masters remain calm amidst the bedlam of a baying crowd and flying tackles, where poise becomes a commodity temporarily more valuable than the most precious mineral, where everything that has gone before counts for nought, there is only the moment.

Yesterday, early in the first half, Luka Modric was that master. Surrounded by three players, without ever taking his eye off the ball, that ball so close to his boot as to be somehow magnetised, he shimmied and swayed, hunched low to the turf and rolled away into free air. Over in a second, it was an instant of sublime mesmeric brilliance.

Immediately the ball was on its way, thirty yards curling into Alan Hutton’s stride. He delivered a firm near post cross at ankle height. Then: the moment. At pace Crouch and the defender stretched together, the defender’s hope turned in a heartbeat to anguish as the Spurs man was ahead of him. He got there first, made firm certain contact and… another heartbeat, the ball rammed against the hoarding behind the goal. The moment was gone and so was the game.

It was not easy, hand on heart nothing is in the Prem whatever we may think from the safety of the stands, but it should have been taken or at the very least on target. A shame because it would have been such a glorious goal but the trouble was, rather than being the first of many, it was in fact one of a precious few.

United started well. Early on, they threatened to pull us out of position and eventually out of our misery with their familiar movement, power and running from deep. However, they couldn’t find a spare man in the box and Dawson in particular once again stood strong, tall and proud.

However, we gave as good as we got and gradually pushed United further and further back. We had plenty of possession, kept it too, and maintained that high tempo that suits us for the rest of the half. Rafa was alert and Bale threatening down the left but apart from one Rafa header, he found no one to get on the end of the crosses. Some could have been more accurate but there were enough to make Van der Sar work. Two in particular flew across the edge of the six yard box, where wingers have been placing the ball for the last 150 years but our men were hanging back. Someone should have been there.

Darren - Mate - You're Good But You Won't Get Near Luka Modric

United were not at their best but posed sufficient threat to prevent our midfield from getting into the box enough. Crouch was often isolated and Rafa’s link-up play not at his best. The burden of striking duties fell to Crouch and he disappointed. Never dangerous, Vidic and Ferdinand handled him easily.

I have no desire to be consistently critical of one of ours but honesty will out. Watching him yesterday was like intruding on his personal and private grief. He kept going for the whole game but to little effect, and he knows it. At times he was so uncoordinated, he looked like a puppet where half the strings had been cut. Scant consolation but he appeared to suffering at least as much as we were.

As I’ve said before, however well he performs, his style is wrong for our side. Luka and VDV want some movement up front, someone to pass to, not a stationary item perambulating around the box.

Modric was outstanding. I guess at some point he lost the ball in the tackle but I can’t recall it. Working back and hammering forward, passes long and short, he was the game’s driving force. Surrounded by world class footballers, he was head and shoulders above them all.

Is it so wrong for one man to love another? As giddy and goggled-eyed as a love-struck teenager, I worship Luka’s every movement and each precious gesture, every pass an object of desire to be cherished and immortalised in the memory. After the ball has gone, my gaze lingers for a further furtive fraction, just because I can. Gone are the days when I felt protective toward this frail figure as the premier League midfield behemoths bore down upon him with glinting studs and malice in their hearts. I have long since learned that he is more than capable of looking after himself.

Ironic then that my previous muse was also on the field. Dimi oh Dimi, how could you forsake me so? I wasn’t like the others. I saw through the pouting, the sulks, the lack of effort, even, at the end when the break-up all got a bit nasty, the tantrums and the way you behaved towards us. I prefer to recall the dazzling control and nonchalant brilliance, the effortless ease of a touched first-time pass or a volleyed goal as the ball dropped from the heavens.

Perhaps you’re the type I go for, hard-to-get, act surly and give me the run around. Worth it, worth all the pain and heartache, just for a few precious moments when you’re on fire. If we had stayed together, what could we have become? Truth be told, I’ve never really got over you, and secretly hope you’re happy with your new rich and famous partner. What you would do in this team, it doesn’t bear thinking about…but I do. How I long for your return.

A thrilling first half started to run out of steam by half-time. Far from the break being rejuvenating, the trend continued. After about 70 minutes, we were on top with much of the possession but running out of ideas. After that we rather went through the motions. The tempo dropped and even Rafael’s dismissal couldn’t revive our flagging spirits. Rafa temporarily perked up and ripped a bit deeper as finally Defoe came on but by this time the United central defence were solid and settled. Van der Sar had a relatively straightforward afternoon. VDV put the best chance an agonising fraction over but we never pierced the heart of their defence.

Much has been made in the media of United’s sterling defence but this is our 4^th clean sheet in 5 games. We can be open because of our attacking preferences so it is essential that we win the one to one clashes, or else there is often not much in the way of insurance. Yesterday all four defenders did well in this respect, coming away with the ball on the ground and not allowing United a way to progress.

I was looking in particular for Benny to have a good game in such a high profile encounter, because he’s been on the receiving end of undue and, in my view, unfair criticism. Hansen chose to have a go after the Everton game, when to be fair he did not play well. Now others are jumping on the bandwagon, Perry Groves the latest on 5Live on Friday. It’s classic punditry – largely a mess of received wisdom rather than doing what they are paid to do, watch lots of matches (oh the hardship) and make their own minds up.

Sadly he probably didn’t do enough to redress the balance. Plenty of sharp tackles and good interceptions but also a few moments where he let slip a ball that should have been dealt with, fatally over-playing and presenting United with two excellent opportunities. On the plus side he supported the attack better than in recent games, using the space that Bale creates (because he takes at least two defenders with him wherever he goes) to get wide.

In the second half, United made us play more down the right, that is, to keep the ball away from Bale. Refreshing though it was to see Hutton’s natural game at attacking full-back, the contrast was all too apparent between his hit-and-miss approach to distribution and Corluka’s recent reminder of how well he plays Lennon into the game. For his part, Lennon partly put aside an anonymous first half with some exciting forays down the wing but little came of them. VDV, as if over-compensating for the faults of others, tried too hard and wanted that extra touch or tried a wayward flick in desperation.

Palacios had a reasonable match, diligently sweeping up in the middle. The problem came when he moved forward,. United safely left him as the spare man, their attentions occupied by others, because his distribution and shooting were simply not a danger. At this level, you can’t afford a central midfielder who can’t pass, whatever his redeeming qualities.

It’s a sign of our progress that we are disappointed with only a point against an unbeaten United team but we should have made more of our periods of dominance. It’s also a sign of our stagnation that we do not have a high quality striker. I can’t fathom why Defoe, for all his faults, did not come on sooner but then again I can’t quite see why Crouch was picked to start. Maybe Harry thought that United are vulnerable on the flanks so we needed a big man to turn a plentiful supply of crosses into goals. However, leaving aside the excellence of Vidic and Ferdinand, it’s an overestimation of Crouch’s abilities to believe he was the answer.

Before the game I’d hoped to join in and report back on the ‘We Are N17’ pre-match protests but by the time your intrepid reporter reached the Bell and Hare, only the petition clipboards remained. On twitter I enjoy the morning comments – “play with the kids, breakfast then off to the Lane, few beers, meet friends” etc. For me it was walk the dog, hoover, put the washing on, load the car, down the dump, miss breakfast, tidy the garden then off.

However, I could celebrate the brave young woman who in suffragette tradition, threw herself not in front of a horse but of Andy Gray’s punditry quips. More painful, clearly, than the thundering hooves. The best half-time entertainment since Chirpy and the deckchairs.

She balanced precariously on the gantry for the sake of the N17 campaign. Did it appear on TV? Take a bow. Seen as well as heard. It took gumption to do that, go girl!