ONE !!!!!  Tottenham Hotspur were demoted from Division One all those decades ago because of FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES ( not much has changed there - except you get away with it these days ).

TWO !!!!!  Arsenal were ELECTED to Division One at the same time. By whom? The Football Association, that's who. As for not EARNING our place in the top flight..???!!!!!????

DON'T YOU THINK THAT AVOIDING RELEGATION EVER SINCE, KIND OF JUSTIFIES ARSENAL'S PLACE THERE, AND VINDICATES THE F.A.'S CHOICE ????????

Any sane person would, but sanity goes out the window when it comes to people's attitude to the last bastion of the British Empire.

There.
Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?
But there's more.

Want me to say the "unsayable" truth about why Arsenal are REALLY hated? OK.

The founding member of the original Dial Square F.C. was not a manual labourer from Scotland called Fred Beardsley, as the official club history would have you believe. 

He was a high-ranking officer, who went by the name of Robert Beasley.
The relevance here?

He later became more well known in the 1930's as Alex James, possibly the greatest footballer in history. 

But HERE'S THE RUB.

During the war, he was known to millions more people as ....
Joseph Goebbels.
How do I know this?
I was that soldier.

Deryk James Beasley x

Ed : - Well, that's cleared that up then !!  (Anyone who knows what this about, please send their answers on a postcard please.)

Wyart,

As our season continues to disintegrate I would like to make a couple of
points.

1. Most Spurs fans would have watched the shambolic second half performance against Bolton on Monday night , and I'm sure that 99.9% of those would agree that Bolton were worthy winners . However, once again, Hoddle was quoted in the Evening Standard saying that overall a draw would have been the right result.  He must have watched a different game from the rest of us.  Some of our performances this year have been disgraceful, WHU away, SOTON in the cup and now Bolton, where the OPTA stats were dreadful .  Hoddle rightly pointed out that we shaded the first half and then griped about Bolton's "direct " approach in the second half.  Why didn't he react during the game by changing our tactics to deal with the problem.  We were overrun second half.

2. It seems to be increasingly common knowledge that GH has a poor relationship with various players - Freund, Thatcher and Teddy.  Talk Sport this morning announced another training ground bust-up between Teddy and Glenn.  Alan Brazil is extremely well connected at Spurs and was the first with the "RSOL to the Scum" story six months before it happened.  GH's man-management skills appear to be awful, witness the treatment of Sir Les, Rebrov and Sherwood. 

3.Rumour has it that Season Ticket prices are going up by as much as 16%.  No doubt we will soon find out, wouldn't it be refreshing for the club to treat us with some honesty during the summer months regarding transfers.  Everybody was stunned when we signed Klinsmann, there had been no leak until the day itself.  In recent years we have been exasperated by the "nearly" signings.  If the club cant be discreet about its targets, can they at least keep the "Spin" vaguely realistic.  We know the club has some financial problems, so on the basis that we can no longer break the bank to sign "Superstars" and neither are we likely to be able to offer European football to prospective signings, shouldn't we try to sign some "Star" youngsters who will see us as a step up in their careers i.e. Zamora , Dawson , Ashton, McFadden etc (we all have our personal faves), rather than ageing  players nearing the end of their careers looking for that last decent contract. 

4. Whilst hopes/expectations are always high at the Lane, I think that only a change of manager will take us forward over the next few seasons.  GH was one of my favourite players over the last 30 years, but many great players do not make great managers.  I acknowledge that Glenn has had some financial constraints, but not as bad as  those on  Moyes, Strachan and Curbishley.  Look also at Paul Hart at Forest and Mickey Adams at Leicester who have done great jobs with very limited budgets. 

5. Capacity- all the top 6 have bigger grounds than us thereby generating (although I accept we charge more than Everton or Liverpool for example) more revenue than us every season, therefore the gap will widen between us and the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Man.Utd. etc. in the coming seasons.  Now comes my controversial point !  We should consider the possibility of GROUND-SHARING with the Goons, be it at Ashburton Grove or Wembley.  We will never be able to afford a 50/60,000 capacity ground on our own, witness the financial trouble we've experienced over the redevelopment of the Lane over the last 20 years.  If you think calmly and rationally ,this will be our last chance to keep up with the Goons financially and therefore from a football point of view as well.  All the great clubs in Europe, Real, Barca, AC Milan, Bayern, Juve and Man Utd. all have big grounds and support and therefore big revenues to support their ambitions.  Before you dismiss the idea of ground -sharing , REMEMBER, we support and love the club and the team, not the ground itself.  We must have a bigger ground if we are ever to a big club again.
Kind regards to all Spurs fans,
Martin

Ed : - All valid points Martin many of which I can't argue with.  
However ... Alan Brazil always seems to have a downer on Spurs (probably because he couldn't cut it there) and I would not want to believe what he has to say.  Mind you, there are rumours that Teddy hasn't been speaking to Hod for about four weeks, but what do you believe ??  While Hoddle didn't treat Rebrov well, he is not the first manager to "not fancy" someone else's buy and his treatment of Sherwood was spot on.  Anyone who says they are happy to stay and not play, but draw their wages should be outed.
Managers who have done well on restricted budgets can not always cut it at the top level ... Gerry Francis anyone ??
As for the ground, I am not against moving out of the Lane, but it would have to be a bigger ground for us.  The logistics of a groundshare with Arsenal would preclude it's inclusion ... the two boards would not agree on all the points needed to pull off the deal.

Ed : - Well they could sell half season tickets and everyone goes home at half time, as that was what the team did yesterday.  IT would be nice if we could get something out of this season now by preparing for the next campaign and stick some youngsters in to see how they do.

Having just witnessed another dismal performance against Bolton, I'm beginning to think maybe Hoddle has had his chance. In a success driven business he is just not performing, i.e. results speak for themselves.

Methus

Ed : - The only problem in replacing Hoddle now is who comes in to replace him and the money we have to use to pay him off could have been spent on players.  There were some reservations about Glenn as the Spurs boss when he arrived, but he still is learning, but needs to do so quickly.

Ed : - sight, it does look a mistake to sell Rebrov and also to get rid of Ferdinand, but Hoddle wasn't to know that two of the main strikers would get injured.  The mistake is selling players without having adequate replacements lined to to bring in.  Not sure how Rebrov would have done long term in England, as he seemed to get knocked off the ball too easily for my liking.  A class striker who we didn't get to see the best of though.  I think the loss of Keane will be more of a factor in determining if we get into Europe or not.

Dear Wyart, 
I've just sent this to Spurs365. I'm afraid I went all Jewish and opinionated with regards to the recent "Outburst" from bloody busy bodies "Masters" Bates and Dein... Here's the piece, in it's original form. 

In response to the "Holier than Thou" attitude from Masters Bates and Dein ... all I can say is, that as a Spurs fan, and a Jewish one at that, our hand has been forced over the years to adopt such a "siege mentality" when it comes to the use of the word "Yiddo". Colloquial it once was, offensive, not necessarily.

It was only from misuse of this colloquial word for Yiddish (a perfectly inoffensive, but less commonly used language ... it's in the dictionary!) that ever deemed it offensive in the first place. Now we have taken the name on, as it were, and given it over-use therefore surely diminishing it's offensiveness.

It may not be "politically correct" to say it, but surely the members of the Black community who have adopted the word Nigger are making a similar statement. It has the same effect. I realise that it's a race issue, rather than religious one, so therefore not an ideal comparison, but the principle is still the same. It will always offend some, but as a collective group of people, isn't it just the age old opinion that it's OK to mock your own. Spurs fans were, (somewhat unfairly, given the broad range of ethnic support at the Lane) given this tag of "Yiddos" by fans of OTHER clubs remember. All we have done is turned it around to show how little such a word affects or indeed upsets us. The fact that many non-Jewish Spurs supporters have no problem with identifying themselves as "Yiddos" speaks volumes. Religious faith doesn't come into it, Footballing identity and a collective feeling of togetherness does.

Regardless of your opinions on other so called swear words nowadays, their constant use in both the Media and in public have surely had a watering down effect. (The Guardian, in their wisdom have been using the full printed version of F**k, for F***ing years!) They are, after all, only words. 

I for one have no problem with the word Yiddo. I find it a lot less offensive than the regular "mock gas chamber" hissing noises that used to come out of the mouths of those oh so Cherubic Chelsea fans not so many years back. I "witnessed" it with my own ears. Mr. Bates you should first maybe take a look in your own back yard, before getting too vocal with your opinions. 

Matthew Lyons
Park Lane Lower

Ed : -  I think both chairmen are trying to score points off what they see as an easy target.  Bates to deflect any criticism of his fans by using the "they say it so it must be alright for our fans to repeat it", while Dein is aware (or maybe not) that it all started with his clubs fans calling us that name and we adopted it to make their use of it less damaging to Spurs fans.  The fact that Arsenal have a large Jewish following (not just in their boardroom), makes his comments a little hard to follow.

Wyart.

I thought it important that your site did not miss the opportunity to congratulate the club on its latest effort at public relations.

After the Sunderland game, no doubt in the interests of openess and honesty, the club Web site said Robbie Keane was to have  a scan on his injured knee the next day.

An ominous  silence followed  until the press picked up on the story and stirred it up by saying Keane's  injury would keep him out for 6 weeks.

Only then does the club respond with Glen Hoddle  saying that the story is untrue and Keane is not out for ANYTHING LIKE 6 weeks but will miss the Fulham and WHU games.

Hmm ... 2 weeks since the injury, another week until the West Ham game and then 2 weeks until the next fixture. In my book of sums  2+1+2 = 5.  So 5 weeks is nothing like 6 weeks then. What a relief to us all and that is of course if Keane plays against  Liverpool.

I wonder if the same abacus was used by ENIC when calculating the number of strikers that would be left at the club after 2 were discarded and none recruited during January.

Regards
Matthew Joseph

Ed : - The disinformation that is put out by the club to fool other teams, also helps to throw Spurs fans too and that leads to a lot of annoyance as we need to know what is happening at our club.  We should be comfortable enough in the strength of our team to be up front about the team news and let the other side worry about THFC rather than trying to play mind games with those who are better at it than we.  Either that or get a new calculator !!

Gary Doherty, the man who burst onto the scene a few seasons back who grabbed some huge goals for the club, at a time, when we really needed them. I love the guy for his attitude and his commitment, but I cannot understand Hoddle's failure to realise that his middle name is 'Nationwide'.

Surely Hoddle, as a man of supreme ability in his day and undoubtedly a top quality coach, can realise that Doherty is simply not good enough as either a defender or a striker in the Premiership. Injury to Keane, appears to have left Hoddle with no choice but to play the big 'utility' man, but it does throw into question the wisdom of off-loading Rebrov and Ferdinand without bringing in extra cover.  Understandably, Glenn has removed £000's from the clubs wage bill by shipping out these players, but it leaves us worryingly weak in probably the most important department.

If we were to seriously challenge for a UEFA spot, then Hoddle should have stuck his neck out and paid a million or so for someone like Malcolm Christie, who is a proven Premiership goalscorer with a bit of pace. The transfer window is now securely locked and I fear for Glenn if he cannot find the keys in the event of an emergency .................. 

Marc Argent

Ed : -  I agree about not bringing someone in for the rest of the season.  We have heard that Hoddle didn't want to bring in a loan signing and I hope that he has someone lined up for the summer, or the honeymoon period might be over.  Rumours continue about Morientes, but there appear to be strings attached and the major one is European football.  That might preclude him coming to the Lane this summer then.  Someone like Christie wouldn't have been much of a risk, as even if Hoddle didn't fancy him long term, they could have sold him on and got their money back.
I feel a bit sorry for Doc, but he's just not up to it.  Get fit soon Robbie !

Observations from last evening's lack lustre performance.

1. Without Robbie we are toothless. It was bad luck to lose Robbie and Steffen at the same time but it was bad judgement to part company with Ferdinand and Rebrov.

2. Glenn is in danger of turning Acimovic into another Rebrov by destroying the lad's confidence.  Sure he missed a sitter but he was not the only under performer.  To substitute him was cruel and frankly unjustified.

3. We are along way behind the best and unworthy on that showing of European football.

4. Why is it that we suffer more injuries than most?  Could it be training/fitness?

Hope springs eternal but cruelly dashed if you are a Spurs supporter.

Tony Pawson

Ed : - The lack of a replacement for Ferdie and Sergei has left us short up front, especially with the injuries.  I feel that Acimovic should have put Milenko out of his agony a bit earlier and brought Etherington on sooner.  Eight minutes at the end was never going to be enough time to do much.  Acimovic has not picked up the pace of the game here and is skilful, but needs the application if he is to make something of his time at Tottenham.  As for Europe, we are better off out of it at the moment, while the injuries just keep coming.  Not sure what goes on in training, but they are not getting better any quicker and not all of them come from rushing players back too soon, which might be said for Gardner and Keane.

Dear Fellow Frustrated Fans

As I sit here before the Sunderland game, I realise I'm going to the Lane tomorrow to watch my team. We will probably win (fingers crossed hoping home form can see us through) although we look very thin in the goal getting department. No Keano, so its down to Ted or Gus (unless Iverson totally mis-times his jump over the ball and scores).

The root of the problem in my humble opinion is the Premier League. It promotes mediocrity. As long as you don't go down you can make a profit from the TV money.

Mid table is good enough, if you can get lucky and win a cup or even a top six finish and qualify for Europe the balance sheet looks even better.

The Holy Grail is the Champions League but not even the most blindly faithful Spurs fan could stretch his imagination that far. Let's just try and imagine that we could buy a team that would challenge. We would be talking at least two class defenders, two, possibly three, midfielders and two strikers. Even if we could persuade these guys to come to us we would be talking £50m plus even now that the market seems deflated and you have a team not quite a squad.
They would probably take a season to gel. During this time Glenn would probably fall out with one or two and sell them cheap or ship them out for nothing. Oops! We don't manage to qualify for Europe and we have the Leeds  scenario all over again. Why gamble when we can see the consequences. Not one Leeds fan questioned signings that made our mouths drool and grew us green horns of envy. We all wanted a Ridsdale in charge now they are burning his effigy at Elland Rd.

Most of us are screaming "Spend the F*****ng money" but why should ENIC bother as long as we don't go down. The Lane is sold out for every game and the TV money is flowing in. This is a great money making machine.

I know Sugar was unpopular but he saved us when we were knee deep in it and give the guy credit, he did give his managers some cash (a bit more than this lot). He was hard nosed and made no secret of the fact that he was treating this as a business. Daniel Levy has spun his way into our hearts as the genuine Spurs fan. Forget it this guy only sees the bucks and enjoys the kudos of being a Premier League chairman. He is a puppet for a huge corporation to whom Spurs are just another business.

I've only been a Spurs fan for about 20 years and have seen teams built and destroyed all for money ("we received an offer we couldn't refuse") or because players realised we were going nowhere and moved on. Think of the players we have seen go. It started with Waddle, Gazza (when he was brilliant), and continued with Barmby (yes we used to love him) right up until Judas left.  

I'm sorry if this piece depresses you, but it's the way I see it.  Europe is slipping by. I think we have missed out this year. We have some promising youngsters who will keep us in mid table for the next 10 -15 years. Who knows we are scheduled to win a cup in 2011. Till then I'll be settling for this dross every SUNDAY and  occasionally Saturday.

The real shame is that my 10 year old son has created a Spurs team on his PS2 containing among others Ronaldo, Zidane, Davids and Figo. The only current Spurs players he has in his team are Keller, Keano, Davis, Carr, Ziege and Ted. I haven't the heart to tell him it just ain't gonna happen.

Lets just get to 41 points and hope we don't go down.
    
Just off to cry into my pint and play on my son's PS2

Cheers
Zunki

Ed : - Well, three points tomorrow and we're safe !!  Safe enough for ENIC to pull the well trodden pre-season stunts as outline in the mail below.  The PS2 thing is fantasy really, but then the Premier League has been like that for the last ten years.  Awash with silly money, the clubs now have to come to their senses.  Die-hard fans I know are considering if it is worth it next season.  Our one cup voucher this season has cost us £50.  Oh, no, sorry, the game was free wasn't it ??  That is what this club have come to, penny-pinching from it's own fans.  Well, the cash cow might nearly be bled dry.  Then the Leeds scenario comes home to roost with the sheep in the crowd baying for blood.  Sorry I seem to be mixing my metaphors.  Perhaps tomorrow might make things clearer !!

Thank God Middlesbrough bought Michael Ricketts.  In a football world where the money is being sucked out, I am delighted another club prevented us from buying another slightly better Steffen Iversen for £3.5 million.

I think if most fans are completely honest they would rather buy a world class striker like Morientes in the summer, than buy a player now who used to play in Poland (Ricketts at Warsaw).

I also feel by not bringing second rate foreigners to plug a gap, we will see some of our good youngsters break into the first team. Two of which, Blondel and Ricketts after seeing them in the reserves look great prospects.

Finally, however much Steffen Freund gets the crowd going and gives his all, I think the right decision has been made to let him go. When you see Spurs play and especially live at WHL you will see Steffen starts many of our attacks off, and is he the type of player we really want to do this ?  Even though I feel it is the right decision to let him go, he will be missed.

Richard - a Spurs fan who should have been doing homework.

Ed : - Ricketts could not have been one of Hoddle's top targets, otherwise, I think we would have got him. Hopefully, Glenn is saving his money for the summer and has some signings lined up for then.

Sir,

5 year plan ?  Phah!  Hoddle and the board have made some fundamental mistakes this season.  If you (Hoddle) were not going to play Rebrov why didn't we sell/loan him out at the start of this season and the second point is, why let Ferdinand go before we had a replacement ?  Hoddle's attitude towards Rebrov and Ferdinand's age meant that we needed at least two strikers and the way Iversen is, we really need three. 

This transfer window was a golden opportunity to catch up with and cement our credentials for Europe, by buying/loaning affordable quality players. That has gone, and all we can hope for, is West Ham to go down, United to win the league and a top half finish for ourselves.
M Sergides

Ed : - There is a certain amount of frustration among Spurs fans about the way that transfer dealings have been conducted.  Mainly through the Press, but also in what Hoddle has said about players.  Remember his comments on Keane ?  Perhaps they are putting their money away for a rainy day ... or more hopefully, a sunny one in the summer !!

When did we sign the 'Young lad with great potential and a killer finish' (Gerry Francis quote)  ?

Steffen Iversen is dire.  Surely we can do better than this 'log'!! 

Maybe Jurgen would be prepared to make another comeback....

Darren, Milton Keynes

Ed : - Whatever we think about Iversen, it appears Hoddle has the same view as Francis.  And to replace him ,we will have to wait until the summer anyway. Let's face it, he is all we have apart from Keano upfront !!
And anyway, I thought Hoddle got rid of all the "deadwood" !!

I don't know about you but I am speechless why we haven't signed a new striker.
The penny-pinching attitude of Levy and ENIC is really beginning to rile me and I hope our European hopes do not get dashed because of the over-prudent attitude of the Board.

Regards
RICHARD PORTER

Ed : - There were parts of the squad that needed to be bolstered. The forward line was one.  We are all aghast that the board's pecuniary attitude has left us one (or two) strikers short.

Might I suggest that instead of ridding himself of Rebrov, Sherwood and Ferdinand, we might have been better served by seeing the departure of Glenda who has proved to have a petty mind which penalises any player who does not fit into his plans.

Now he appears to have turned his petty attentions to arguably one of our best defenders (Steffen Freund), who at least has never given less than 100% in all his appearances ... which is more than can be said of some whom I will not mention. 

Hoddle has shown that he can at no time inspire the team when it is needed.

As a long time supporter and a Season Ticket holder (West Stand Old and New) for more than Fifty years, I see no hope of us entering Europe this season, as we are short of at least two goalscoring forwards.

Sorry to sound a pessimistic note but that's the way I see it.

Jeff C. 
Upper West Stand

Ed : - Controversial stuff Jeff !!  Freund might not be Hod's (long term) cup of tea, but at least he ahs brought in someone in that position, before the German leaves.  Something he hasn't done with the forwards !!

As for his tactical ability, there have been question marks over his man-management and his use of substitutes.  I suppose his dealings are to try and formulate "his" team rather than the players he has inherited and then he will be asked to be judged on that.  Whether he gets the luxury of the time for that to happen, as he said the target this year was European football, remains to be seen.

Enough is enough.  And I have had enough.  After tonight's result I am totally fed up with it.  

I got my first inkling when I read Hoddle saying Rebrov had been given a chance. Which five minute appearance constituted his "chance" Glenn ?  And THEN he goes and says, Ferdinand would only be allowed to leave when a replacement had been signed.  Moving along a couple of weeks, Ferdy and Rebrov leave WITHOUT said replacement arriving, Robbie Keane does his ankle tonight and by God didn't we look lightweight on the bench ! 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !  Hoddle, you didn't give Rebrov a fair crack, we all know it, so stop putting you considerable ego in front of the good of the club.  WHERE IS THE REPLACEMENT ?  We need a decent striker, one article quotes Hoddle as saying "We are working really hard toward bringing someone in, but the game has changed, it really has."  What a load of bull !  Fowler was on the market, Dugarry WAS on the market, Ricketts IS on the market, Morientes IS interested in a move, so football hasn't changed Glenn, it really hasn't.  

Another thing that hasn't changed is our standing within the game.  Still mid table, same old goal difference, same, same and more of the same.  Where is the improvement ?  It is now becoming increasingly obvious just how limited the ambition really is at White Hart Lane.  Everybody knew the rules when this new transfer window was implemented.  A window would open in January and are the fans the only ones who seem to think that the ground work for bringing in a new signing should have been done in November/December, which would then have had any new signing to arrive on New Years Day or as near as dammit ?  

It has been 10 days since our last game, 10 wasted days.  We could have had a new striker playing tonight.  So now, the powers that be at Spurs, you geniuses you, let Sherwood, Rebrov, Clemence and Ferdinand leave the club, no signing has arrived, Freund has been told to find a new club, lovely.  NO ambition.  Has anyone actually sat down at Spurs and thought a strategy out for signing players under the new system ?  It appears not.  That is negligence, a sackable offence is almost any job you care to mention, except at Spurs, where the guilty party can be assured a long and continued employment.

You can stick renewing your season ticket where the sun don't shine.  Last summer the "leaked" news was Rivaldo !  Who will it be this summer ?  And for how long will we stay this gullible ?  WHERE ARE THE REPLACEMENTS ?  Freund has to leave, and he really CARES about playing for Spurs, yet Iversen continues to be employed by us !  It now seems we have to accept that we are mid table dross, no better than a Southampton or a Charlton, the men running our club seem to have already done so. It makes you want to cry !!

Anon

Ed : - There are a number of good points there.  Just like we could have had three points tonight, if we had had a decent striker on the bench or in the team.  Many people are losing their interest in an ENIC run club and it is clear to see that there are many who believe that they are just there to take the money from the fans by whichever means necessary and then not put anything back into the side the supporters pay to watch.  I feel the remaining part of the season might get a bit lively.

Sod's law really.  You get rid of two strikers in a week and end up challenging for Europe with a mediocre centre back up front !  Quality up front this season really will be the difference between success and failure this season, and with no depth, we will struggle to stay in the top half. 

Spurs didn't play that badly at all last night, although we struggled down the left with two right footers - both quality players but handicapped by their role. 

So no Perry, Thatcher, Etherington or Iversen on the bench.  Does this mean that a combination of them could be off to Bolton ?  Whilst I'm relieved to see some squad players move on, I'm not convinced that Ricketts is worth the sacrifice of Iversen and Perry.  Perry is always useful and I can't see how Ricketts is any better than Ivo.

Best wishes,
Alex

Ps. I'm sick of the Vieira song - he's still there, still top of the league and you can see how the likes of Carr are annoyed by it - boring.

Ed : - There was not quite the pace or flow to our game against Newcastle that there has been when we have been playing well.  even so, there were enough chances to win.  And the injury to Keane was always on the cards.  Iversen was also injured apparently, while we are light on experience beyond him in the striking department.
If we bought Ricketts would we be changing one striker who had potential for another who has potential ?  Glenn might see him as a straight replacement for Les rather than Ivo ??

Great Website!!

But , The "Freund in Need" article ? 

To say that Freund was a "ball-playing, instinctive, inspirational leader", could not be further from the truth have you ever watched him play ?  "No skill, touch or vision, but a blocker" on the other hand is far more accurate.  As much as I admire his commitment, he is a below average footballer and Glenn Hoddle is doing the right thing by letting him go.

A final point as talented as Ledley King is play him in midfield instead of a liability in defence. Maybe Tottenham could also think about pulling their finger out and signing Ricketts, Morientes, Cisse, Fowler etc ...  We have cut Ferdinand, Sherwood and Rebrov from the wage bill now can we spend some ?  Get rid of Steffen Iversen perhaps?

Chris Baker (16) , A true Tottenham Fan

Ed : - The thing with Freund was probably his age more than anything.  While another consideration is that he was a GG signing and Hod perhaps wants to clear out those who he did not bring to the club.  Whether that includes Iversen (who was a Francis signing) remains to be seen. 

Dear MEHSTG,

I have been a Spurs fan for 25 years, through the good times and the bad, I have always believed that we have some of the most loyal and intelligent supporters in the game. God knows we have had to be, anyone who accuses us of being fickle confuses it with our desire to do well and recover the lost ground over the last 15 years, if we were fickle we certainly wouldn't keep selling out home games (look at the prices) and travelling the length and breadth of the country (look at the results). Recently however I feel that I may have to revise my opinion of our fans, I am sick and tired with the homophobic dirge that constantly emanates from our fans. This is not Nazi Germany, why should someone's sexuality be an issue, a target of abuse. How do you feel when clubs come out with anti-Semitic trash directed against us ? Yes, it does still happen, (Leicester away last season, Sunderland this, Chelsea, every game) … you know who I am referring to of course, and what the chants are, apart from being offensive it is boring and shows us up to be small-minded and bigoted, not epitaphs we want surely. If you want to get Campbell's and Arsenal's back up surely sing up for Spurs and laud our own players, show them that they can have him and are welcome to him, Deano has been nothing short of magnificent this season and in Ledley and Tony G, we have two outstanding prospects, so forget him. What are others views on this, are we prepared to let a minority tarnish our great name or are we going to move on?

Wael Abdullah

Ed : - It's a lot of the problem with Spurs fans who seem to concentrate on slagging Arsenal rather than getting behind our side ... even when we are not playing them !! I would prefer a "wall of sound" that helped our players terrify the other team. Interestingly enough, the editor of WBA fanzine "Grorty Dick" wrote saying how quiet it was at Spurs, although Arsenal and Newcastle were worse. Let's make it a place to be feared and support our players.

All,
Reading this mornings tabloids fills me with dismay. I'm praying we don't sign Ricketts. Over the years we have signed some great strikers, i.e Klinsmann , Lineker , Sheringham etc ... and some who proved poor signings for various reasons, i.e. Rebrov, Dumitrescu , Durie etc.  However, all the "failures " came to us with impressive "CV's" . Ricketts , if you believe the Press , has been fined four times for carrying too much body-fat , has attitude problems , and his strike rate is relatively poor , particularly when you consider he's Bolton's penalty taker. He feels like the classic one season wonder who's been found out . 

Signing other clubs reserves hasn't usually been successful. I'd prefer to gamble on someone from the lower divisions . We've had a lot of success in the recent past with the likes of Davies ,Gardiner ,and to a lesser extent Doherty and Etherington . Perhaps a purchase of Bobby Zamora and/or Dean Ashton might be a much better bet.  Both have been capped at Under 21 level . 

Also if Fowler is worth 7.5 mil. then Ricketts is worth a lot less than 3mil. 

Let's hope the squad we've got will enable us to qualify for the UEFA Cup , thereby attracting greater TV revenue and maybe better quality players in this summers transfer market.
Come on you Spurs!
Fran

Ed : - Looks like that deal is dead for the time being ... with Spurs looking at "other targets".  Not many classy strikers who are out there who are cheap, so not sure who we might end up with,  Ashton is a good call and I think Zamora could link well with Keano.  Also, recent rumour has us watching Nathan Ellington of Wigan Athletic.  He and Zamora were together at Bristol Rovers, so it might be a pairing for the future ??

Hello all,

What a fantastic result today against the Villans.  I still find it astonishing that  we hadn't beat em on their patch since Ardiles and Hoddle were running the midfield.  I think it's a good win 'cos Hoddle still hasn't been able to put out what I believe is the strongest team yet. 

If everyone was fit, would Bunje, Poyet, Taricco or Freund even be in the squad ?  It's about time Hod gave a chance to the likes of Blondel, Ricketts, Jackson and perhaps Lee Barnard.  Alton Thelwell deserves a recall for Perry and Acimovic could be a factor also.  My team:

(3-5-2) Keller, King, Richards, Gardner, Carr, Anderton, Ricketts, Redknapp, Ziege, Barnard, Keane
Subs. Sheringham, Sullivan, Blondel, Davies, Etherington / Thelwell

Yours sincerely,
Barnet Yid

Ed : - It is a line-up which a few people might like to see, but can you really imagine Hoddle putting that side out ??  I think the team you have chosen has some merits (i.e. Blondel, who is a favourite of mine too), but Davies on the subs bench ?  I also think that Ricketts and Barnard will get their chance (Ricketts being slightly in front of Barnard at the moment), but can't see it happening for a while.  Hoddle will still ant the experience in the team for the rest of this season and should we qualify for Europe, we might see some slight changes.  Bunjy was a player that Hoddle brought to the club, so I can't imagine Glenn outing him yet.

Why no interest in Fowler !?!

Simon Dean

Ed : - Probably too much in transfer fees and salary for Spurs to afford !!  Fowler's missus has also just moved back to Merseyside, so a move to London is probably out of the question on that front too.

I tend to agree with Peter Lis (30.12.2002 see below).

Ledley's been found out a bit this season.   The defence looks all at sea without Deano.

Perhaps, with all the Hoddle bashing that has been going on recently (and I grant you there has been a little cause recently), we should remember that his signings have generally been quite successful.

Robbie Keane  - steal of the century
Jamie Redknapp - pure class, if fit (big if I know, but hardly Glenn's fault)
Ziege - can't defend, but what a wing back
Sherry - did the job he was brought in for.  Time to call it a day now
Teddy.
Gus - See Sherry 
Bunjy - great unsung hero in my view. 
Acimovic - errrr....who...??
Deano - see above

Give him the money ENIC!!

On a negative point, whilst I never really bought the idea that Rebrov was the answer to our prayers, there is something very wrong when he can't make the bench and that clown Iversen is in the side.  What the F*** is going on there ??   Whatever the problems between Hoddle and Rebrov, surely the team should come first.    For years we have been waiting for Iversen to fulfill his 'potential'.  I dislike knocking players when they are down, but he's been down since he came to the club.   He is quite frankly, useless!!   What does he contribute exactly and how much are we paying him.  He is to Spurs, what Jokanovic was to Chelsea.  

Sergei has been treated extremely badly by Spurs and the fans deserve some answers.  If he didn't fit into Glenn's plans, he should have been up front and put him on the market ages ago.  I think that there is a great deal more to learn about this issue.

Darren Wilkins, Milton Keynes

Ed : - Again, how Rebrov fails to make even the bench is a thing that only Hoddle knows the answer to.  As for Iversen, Glenn can see something in him that nobody else can.  I would hope that ENIC do cough up some cash for a signing or two, but I'm not holding my breath.