Robinson

Taricco (Ifil 51)
King (Bunjevcevic 62)
Doherty
Edman

Davis (Brown 80)
Mendes 
Redknapp (c) (Ricketts 77)
Jackson

Defoe
Kanoute (Bakari 62)

Unused subs: 
Keller
Edson Silva

Katergiannakis

Lopez
Agostini (Sabato 65)
Maltagiati (Pisano 84)
Loria

Brambilla (Delnevo 69)
Abeijon (Conti 46)
Langella (Albino 61)

Suazo
Esposito (Alvarez 81)
Gobbis

Unused subs: 
Lezzo
Demartis

Tottenham Hotspur

Kanoute 55

Conti 60
Albino 62

These sort of games dishearten me.  Not the manner in which the meaningless friendly is played out these days, but the nature of the people who watch them.  You would think at £15 a pop to see the team you support, you might just about be able to do that.  Support the team.  But no ... a constant stream of moans and groans rain down in the sweltering heat, as Spurs concede two in a minute to lose to Cagliari.  Nothing at stake apart from pride (and that might have had something to do with it) and a result that means Spurs have lost six out of eleven pre-season friendlies this time around.

But so what.  These games are for trying things out and if they don't work then it has been a good exercise, although exercising in this 90° heat is not to be recommended when sitting watching the game makes you feel like you have been through the ringer !!

There isn't a lot to write about apart for the notoriously "fickle" transient crowd.

A wildly wide Taricco drive and one a bit closer but a little too high followed later, while Robinson was called into action to beat out a driven free-kick which was straight at him, but was a mite powerful and low to his left.  It was a well worked free-kick from Spurs that saw the Cagliari keeper make his first meaningful save on the half hour.  A back-hell to Jacko saw his low drive palmed round low at the post and another dead ball situation nearly opened the scoring just before the interval, as Redknapp bent his kick to go just inside the right hand post, but the keeper tipped it around with a good diving save.

The break brought a chance to catch our breath from the unbelievable nonsense being heard from the mouths of part-time fans around us.  It also enlivened Spurs, who came out after the break looking a bit more up for it.

Defoe brought the keeper into play with a smart shot, but the Taricco went off holding his thigh and on came Phil Ifil.  After a couple of Cagliari shots - one into Doherty's block and another pulled wide from a good position, Spurs went ahead.  Jackson put in a wicked cross from the left wing and although it evaded David, Fredi was on hand to side-foot volley home from a couple of yards out.  In fact, a minute later it could have been two, but Kanoute prodded wide when put in by Davis' header.

And then there were tow goals in a couple of minutes ... both at the Tottenham end.  Doherty again blocked a fierce shot, but the ball fell to the left and it was pulled back in front of goal for Conti to drill the ball home for the equaliser.  Then straight after, a cross from the right saw Gobbis get in font of Ifil to head goalwards and Robinson made a sharp save to beat the ball away, but it fell to Albino, who shot home low at the near post.  Two lapses and two goals conceded.  The mistakes are still out there.

Bakari came on and showed that he can do some things right, with a neat lay-off to Defoe and a header on, but a couple of other touches went for four, such was the ferocity of his first touch.  The Italians put a couple of crosses into the Spurs box and they went a long way without being dealt with before the game petered out with Redknapp's and Brown's high efforts signaling that we would not secure an honorable draw.

Edman put in another competitive 90 minutes (sometimes too competitive), Defoe wouldn't give up, Redknapp linked play without dominating and Mendes did get more involved, but has the ability to put in nasty late tackles which will get him in trouble.  Robinson had s ound game and dictated to the defence what they should be doing.

I just worry about next week.  While the players appear to be fitter now, the understanding is not totally there and they look a bit off Premier League pace.  Liverpool have shown in America that they are up for it.  Tough times lie ahead. 

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - ERIK EDMAN

It was good to be back at The Lane yesterday, so sunny and bright, but less agreeable to be in the company of some of the manic-depressives who sit in blocks 32, 33 and 34.  I accept that we need to protect our emotions by bracing ourselves for the worst but we must also collectively pursue the hero’s life on behalf of ourselves, the players and the club that we love.  I'm alluding to and presently referring to the concept of 'support'. 

Is support a scholarship concept ?  Is support elusive ?  Is it fickle ?  Can we switch it on and off ?  We constantly refer to ourselves as a massive club yet we often (not always) let ourselves down, in front of away supporters, in the way that we treat our team when things take a downward turn. 

Players perform better when they are encouraged yet sometimes the barracking, abuse, insults and booing (yes we've been known to boo our players off the pitch at half time) might lead a casual observer to think that we don't actually aspire to better things.  I felt sickened by the treatment of Dean Richards last season, in the home match against Portsmouth, and curious of those supporters who were happy to celebrate Poyet's winning goal, but had greeted his arrival on the pitch with insulting derision.  Surely they should have booed him when he scored ?!

We need to get behind the players, at every match and focus our passion on encouragement, togetherness and WINNING.  Reducing individual players to nervous wrecks is not a great investment.  If we raise the roof every time (remaining in our seats of course) and actually wait until the final whistle before departing perhaps we really can take on the 36,000 sized 12th man identity and get the players working for US.  What is there to lose ?