Charity Begins in the Dressing Room

December 22, 2009 / Alan / 4 Comments

Working as I do in a career where teamwork is crucial, I’ve attended more than my fair share of team-building exercises. I’ve gathered in intense circles of earnest contemplation, gazed at my navel, had days out in the country and built models of bridges (oh the significance) from cardboard, paper and string. Catching so many toppling colleagues in trust exercises, I’ve become known as the Pat Jennings of my profession.

Mercifully I’ve so far been spared the ordeal of crossing the Thames in a raft made from wood and oil drums lashed together with rope by myself, the temp in accounts and the IT nerd. However, I have participated in more than one team sculpt. Unfortunately this does not involve getting messy with large dollops of clay. Rather, you choose to stand in a place that symbolises your relationship with your colleagues, close perhaps if you feel good, holding hands to represent a strong bond or the merest fingertip touch if you are hanging on for dear life. It feels like playing Twister at a funeral.

But after all these years of experience, my advice is that only one thing is truly effective – alcohol. A few beers round the table in a decent pub or a glass of wine in the park allows people to talk to each other in a relaxed way and loosen a few inhibitions. I’ve been on two highly expensive and professionally facilitated jaunts that people barely survived, then went off to the pub to get over it and returned to work the following Monday full of how they got to know their team mates over a pint and a couple of g and t’s.

British professional footballers don’t need much prompting to get the beers in but if the Spurs squad felt better after team-bonding in Dublin, then that can do nothing but good. Footballers are athletes, whether they see themselves that way or not, and so they have to watch carefully what they eat and drink as well as slogging out the miles on the training pitch. Provided that they do not overdo it every night of the week or, worse, succumb to the stress of life at the top by regular solitary drinking, the occasional night out is a valuable pressure-valve for young men in the public eye. Far worse are players who clearly aren’t fit because they are unwilling to work hard or who are overweight. They will have no sympathy from me.

Team spirit at Spurs seems good, despite the odd grumbles from men who are not regular starters. Dublin probably helped. The question is not about the moral outrage spouted in many of the papers over the past few days or the value for the squad. Rather, it is more plain – why didn’t Redknapp allow them to have a Christmas party in the first place?

He has been widely quoted as having a well-known dislike of Christmas parties for the players. But he knows they are part of our football culture, and Harry knows that culture better than most. At West Ham and Portsmouth it could not be said that he had a reputation as a martinet when it comes to team discipline. The unchaperoned golf trip was obviously a euphemism for something more lively, yet he appears to have given his blessing. If so, then why make a big thing about parties in the first place? Keep quiet, let the players organise something and let it run its course. As it stands, he risks having his authority publicly undermined by a captain prepared flagrantly to disregard his manager’s expressly stated command. At any club the manager must be in control.

It’s even harder to fathom why HR or the players thought they would not be found out. In the old days, this would have been a scoop uncovered by a crack journalist. Now it’s any old clubber with a mobile phone and hold the front page.

This whole business is avoidable. Maybe he made his comments in an unguarded moment – you know how he gets excited when a microphone is thrust in front of him – and thought more about sounding tough over indiscretions rather than thinking it through.

In other clubs this would have been portrayed as a crisis in confidence in the manager, i.e. the players have taken absolutely no notice of him, and that club discipline has fallen apart. Cue old photos of Crouch sticking his head out of the car sunroof and Led falling into and out of various nightclubs. Harry’s cosy relationship with the media has really helped, however. That’s not how they have chosen to portray Redknapp, so it’s good old Uncle Harry and boys will be boys.

A quiet word and a donation to charity is the best way of sorting this out, given where we are, and for the club’s sake this is the best outcome. The papers have fallen over themselves to trump the anticipated total, ranging from £2k each in the Indy, 5k (the Sun), £20k (Mirror) up to a total of £1m in the Star. If Redknapp thought for a single moment that his captain was working against him then Keane would be out on his backside in the blink of an eye. A wink from Harry, cough up lads and next time, don’t get caught. Thank goodness it’s over.

Blackburn v Spurs

December 20, 2009 / Alan / 4 Comments

A solid away win keeps Tottenham Hotspur in contention and more importantly perhaps, that’s two clean sheets in a row for the first time this season, as well as our first away victory for two months. Our passing game spluttered fitfully but we rose to the occasion in the second half when hard graft enabled us to maintain our hold on the lead offered by Crouch’s header late in the first period. Rising to the challenge in adversity is a talent we would do well to nurture.

I say ‘adversity’. Their strikers’ dangerous moments were outweighed by mediocrity in other areas of the pitch and despite their pressing, Blackburn never totally closed down the space in midfield. However, we’ve come unstuck against such opponents in the past, this match last season being one of those occasions. We were on a good run as Harry sprinkled magic dust over the team, then Palacios was unluckily sent off for a second bookable offence that wasn’t and we duly imploded, their winning goal coming from a particularly woeful piece of defending. It can’t be that easy for so many defenders to miss a cross and leave so much space in the six yard box.

Yesterday we were made of sterner stuff. Another good game from Dawson, ably supported by Bassong. Daws still got caught out by flying in, too high up the field. His nervousness that his lack of pace will be found out causes more problems than his speed. He needs more confidence in his ability. Stand tall, stay on your feet, don’t get pulled too far forward and trust that colleagues will cover.

Nothing much written in this blog about Gomes lately. He’s quietly getting on with the business of goalkeeping and yesterday made a couple of cracking saves. He gets down so well to low shots. The shambles of Blackburn’s winner last season as he was sucked unthinking onto the near post is not likely to be repeated too frequently.

The other difference with this win is that we made few chances but took a high proportion of those that arrived. Some classic centre forward play from Crouch. Determination in the first, smothering Nelsen’s brawn to head home firmly, and perfect chance-taking for the second, smoothly tucked away with poise and balance, two adjectives that I’m certain I haven’t used to describe him so far.

Huddlestone and Jenas combined well, JJ driving forward to come up with the second while Hud dropped back to defend.

Meanwhile, Harry’s fervent wish that his alleged financial indiscretions might disappear has not been granted, even though it is Christmas. I wrote about this in October: Harry v The Taxman – Battle of the Titans http://wp.me/pzmOo-40 and nothing has changed my view that he is in danger of being scapegoated to show that the massive Stevens inquiry has not been wasted. It appears that the sum in question is comparatively small beer at about £10k. I’ve been hamstrung this year by unpaid taxes (my employer’s fault in case you are wondering) running into the hundreds but Harry has in his words paid £10m in tax over the years. However, they need someone to be fronted up as a warning to those immersed in the murky world of football and a high profile guy like Redknapp fits the bill perfectly.

Spurs statement is supportive but maintains a degree of distance. It’s odd that they say it is ‘not related to football matters’ because surely it has something to do with his contract at Portsmouth. My understanding is that with such sums, a settlement is the usual option but this may turn on whether the Revenue pursues the fraud angle. Actually, it will turn on the skill of Harry’s hotshot lawyer who defended the Jockey Keiron Fallon recently. That garnered plenty of unwelcome publicity so it’s more negative attention for the club.

Blackburn v Spurs Preview

December 19, 2009December 19, 2009 / Alan / 10 Comments

Spurs travel to Blackburn today in high spirits, and that’s not just the after-effects of the Dublin Christmas party.After such a fine win against Manchester City, we need to maintain the mood, energy and skill in what is another winnable away fixture.

There’s not much to talk about with the team selection – same again, surely. Upfront, Keane might have a look-in, though. Redknapp has made changes to the striking partnership throughout the season based on his assessment of our opponents’ defensive weaknesses rather than our form in the previous match. Samba and Nelsen might be one of the few centre back partnerships to be relieved to face Crouch instead of the quicker, more mobile Keane, who has done well enough against Blackburn in the past.

At the back, Harry has a cautious attitude to change, and anyway we’ve only got two centre halves. Blackburn were horribly ordinary against Birmingham in the week, a series of high balls forward underlining their lack of creativity. If Daws and Bassong stay alert and mark assiduously then we should be able to resist. Palacios needs a rest but will probably play: he should be stationed permanently in front of our back four. It’s possible that Harry wants him to play his way through his bad patch but a break now might refresh him for the Christmas period. Word is that Redknapp is an admirer of Jenas but it’s questionable if he has faith that between them he and Huddlestone can provide enough of a defensive barrier. Hud should be willing to tuck in between the centre backs if we are defending in the air.

Once more we look to Lennon for the source of our goals. Chimbonda might be shifted to left back to handle him. I rated Chimbo, moody greedy git though he may be. His form with us dropped as soon as it entered his head that we might not deliver the success he sought, so from then on, he was off, first in his mind and then in reality. I’m certain he regrets leaving, discovering as many do that change somehow breaks up what is working, the things that are going right. Eh Robbie? Allardyce will have a better plan to nullify Lennon’s danger than one of his predecessors at Ewood Park did on Wednesday, so we must look to use the space double marking creates elsewhere on the field.

Off the pitch, the Spurs’ players determination to be branded drunks continues unabated. My initial reaction to the Dublin reports was disbelief but no one seems to want to deny it. If players want to let their hair down occasionally, I have no problem with that. Emphasis on the word ‘occasionally’ here. Young men having a good time is part of normal life and if it occasionally (again) eases the pressure and enables them relax as the rest of us do, then fine. There’s a huge difference between that and partying several nights a week or, worse, serious drinking, often in private, as a refuge from their fame and the consequent expectations.

So in worrying abut this episode, I’m not occupying the moral high ground. If we are to believe what is being said in the media, the club captain has organised a rebellion in direct confrontation with his manager’s instructions. Most of the squad have gone along with it. Keane’s position therefore is untenable, but more significantly, Redknapp’s authority has been totally undermined. He said no party and moreover has made a big splash about it in the papers. They partyed.

Except this is not quite what happened. Redknapp permitted a golfing trip. Spurs fans and the world of football have been presented with the concept that one of the most experienced and wily managers in the game happily accepted that an unchaperoned group of players would have a round, followed by a couple of lemonade and limes and tucked up in bed by 10.30. I kind of like the idea that they actually thought no one would find out. Ireland is indeed a land of green farmland, but my understanding is that these days it has telecommunication contact with the outside world.

Nobody comes out of this with any credit and the club look absurd. If the players were to have a party, let them. Never mind, it’s already spawned new urban slang. ‘Fancy a round of golf tonight? See you down the pub then’.

Spurs v Manchester City. Dawson is Our Leader. We Shall Not Be Moved

December 17, 2009December 17, 2009 / Alan / 6 Comments

A satisfying win for Spurs against Manchester City, one of our main rivals, not without its problems but in the end a comprehensive victory.

After 33 minutes, something remarkable happened. We passed the ball around a bit. I glanced up at the clock to quietly mark the moment. Until then my head had been swivelling like a spectator at centre court as the ball whizzed from one end to the other as fast as a Federer forehand. Entertaining enough but we weren’t getting anywhere by missing out the midfield and hitting early balls to Crouch and Defoe. This must have been tactical orders. City pressed right up the field so I presume we wanted to clear our lines and work from knock downs. Maybe it was designed to get away to a start without mishap, then settle down. Defoe and Crouch had problems with understanding the offside rule, although to be fair JD has really worked on this problem that bedevilled his game over the last few seasons. Unfortunately, as fast as the ball pinged forward, back it came as Crouch’s lack of close control was highlighted.

We were getting nowhere and City looked sharp and purposeful, quick to the ball with Tevez in threatening space between the back four and midfield. Then a little move, Lennon down the right and a chance. Just wide, and nothing special, but the tide had turned. From then on, our grip on the game tightened as City simply faded away. Kranjcar got on the ball and found his touch whereas Huddlestone never got the range or weight of pass. We fed the ball wide right and Lenon took Sylvinho apart. Once again we saw how he now has a cross to match his pace and dribbling, a lovely ball stood up to the far post for the first goal. It was a thrilling period of the match, holding our breath as he twisted and turned, promise in every touch. Hughes made a huge mistake in leaving Sylvinho on his own with Robinho in front him. Come right this way, Mr Lennon, the goal is waiting for you. Next time, read my preview, Mark. Or not.

Immersed in the sea of misery, hope and desperation that is the way I watch Spurs, defending a lead causes more trauma than when we are chasing a goal deficit, as with Wolves on Saturday. I am a hopeless case: even when we were two up I see the gaps at the back, the might-have-beens, the danger of Tevez on the ball…This may have some basis in reality, given our apparently unending capacity over the years to cave in, but the fact is it says more about my psyche, permanently damaged after 40 years of supporting Spurs, than it does about what happens on the pitch. City were not going to score. It was they who folded in adversity, their expensive stars able to live easily with defeat. I genuinely forgot Robinho was playing until he strolled towards the Shelf at the start of the second half.

But last night there was another, more significant reason to ease my anxieties. Michael Dawson produced a magnificent performance, the heart of the defence and the soul of the team. He’s normally strong in the box, determined in the air and fearless in his blocking. In addition, his decision-taking was impeccable, effortlessly stepping forward to intercept and tackle around the edge of the box or to cut out a through ball. His distribution, short and long, retained possession and turned defence to attack. His expression is now steely focus, dealing with the moment and then straight away thinking ahead, either to direct others into place or to anticipate danger. If we need to maintain a high tempo, then Daws will keep it moving from the back. That purpose and urgency communicated itself through to the team, whose spirits must have been raised by such might behind them.

Daws is not the finished article. He must always work so hard on his positioning and anticipation to compensate for his lack of pace and he still lets players get in front of him and/or between him and his defensive partner. But our search for a leader? Right there. Give him a go, HR, regardless of the fitness of others. He’s earned it.

Never mind this football lark, long ball down the middle, a Gilzean-esque flick (and believe me, there is no higher praise in my book) and we are two up. Crouch is so frustrating, he won every ball in the air, trouble is, you don’t know where it is going to end up. Most players have good and bad games. He has good and bad spells in most matches, beginning last night with some poor control, then setting up both goals and a purple patch where he was unplayable that then inspired him to attempt to score from as far out as possible when on each occasion other players were much better placed.

Niko sneaked through for the third, not sure quite how but a thrilling climax to the match, allowing even me to actually enjoy the last five minutes of the game, complete with a bit of Adebayor-baiting.

Hud did not get going, JD’s upper body strength enables him to hold the ball much better than in previous seasons, and Assou Ekotto put all thoughts of handbags to one side with an accomplished 90 minutes. Wilson looks out of sorts still. When it doesn’t work for him, he dwells on it, admonishing himself with a pained expression and Honduran swearing. It’s a bad sign if players allow mistakes to play on their mind.