Shaun Livingston
writes ... |
Shaun's articles are as follows : -
13.4.2001
- The season so far
22.4.2001 - Sunderland & Chelsea
27.4.2001 - A little bit of quality
6.5.2001 - Leicester City
9.5.2001 - Darren Anderton
16.5.2001 - Coventry City Reserves and Sol
21.5.2001 - Kor he's good, transfers and youngsters
11.6.2001 - Leaving SOLely for Europe ??
18.6.2001 - Sheep in Wolf's clothing
22.6.2001 - New Fixtures, New Tottenham
28.6.2001 - Campbell, Bunjy and Bill
3.7.2001 - Walker, a 1 in 30
million chance and New Arsenal defender
29.7.2001 - 4midable back 4
12.8.2001 - Fiorentina
& the lightweight midfield.
21.8.2001 - Unfortunately
Predictable
13.4.2001
I think I speak on all Spurs supporters behalf when I say that this has
not been a good season.
Former Arsenal boss George Graham had spend £16m in the summer on three
players. Neil Sullivan came from relegated Wimbledon on a free transfer,
which went relatively unnoticed in the shadow of Ben Thatcher's £5m
move from the Dons and Ukraine striker Sergei Rebrov's £11m arrival.
This gave many Spurs fans optimism for the forthcoming season. We
had smashed our transfer record to get the talented Rebrov, who used to
play alongside current Milan superstar Andrei Shevchenko at Dynamo
Kiev.
And many
felt Ben Thatcher just needed a big club to realise his
international dreams. He was one of the few naturally left sided
defenders in England.
As it turned out, it wasn't either of these two who proved to
be our best signing. Thatcher hasn't got near the England squad and has
been dogged by injuries for lengthy periods, and Rebrov has failed to
set the Premiership alight, showing only flashes of his obvious talents.
Neil Sullivan, however, must be a strong contender for signing of the
season. So many times we could have been crushed by a large margin if it
was not for our goalkeeper. His most notable performances were both
against Arsenal - at White Hart Lane and at Old Trafford. Ironically,
the team that seemed to be
playing the "Tottenham" way were wearing red shirts.
With our league form mediocre, including only one league win
away from home all season and defeats by Coventry, Derby and 3-0
capitulations to Ipswich and Southampton, it seemed our only hope for
success would come in the cup.
Worthington Cup hopes were wiped out when a near full
strength side fell to Nationwide League Birmingham. Although Birmingham
went on to be eventual finalists, it really was the low point of the
season.
So we turned to the FA Cup. A standard 1-0 win away to Leyton Orient was
followed by a magnificent 4-2 win away to Charlton. With the year ending
in 1, could it be our season? Next up were Stockport, easily beaten 4-0,
with a brace from youngster Simon Davies. Then came a tough test. West
Ham at Upton Park, the conquerors of both Man United and Sunderland. A
touch of rare magic from Rebrov, dogged determination from Doherty and
Ferdinand, and some vintage goalkeeping from Sullivan gave us a great
3-2 win.
Then came the real test, against one of the Premiership elite.
Arsenal.
But first, Graham was sacked. The reason given by vice chairman David
Buchler was that he leaked details of a private meeting to the press and
defiantly refused to apologise. The news divided Spurs fans everywhere.
Some felt it was awful timing, just before the most important match of
the season, but others were just glad to see the back of the ex Gooner.
My personal thoughts were that he should never have been appointed, but
since he had been, we should have at least waited 'til the end of the
season if we wanted to get rid of him. This would unsettle the team,
ahead of one of the most important matches of the decade. But, there's
no point crying over spilt milk, and we had to loom forward to the
upcoming match at Old Trafford.
Build-up to the match consisted of 1991 nostalgia and the "will
they play, won't they" sagas regarding Campbell and Rebrov. I was
one of those who breathed a huge sigh of relief when both names came up
on the team-sheet, as I sat watching Sky TV.
The match started. It seemed pretty even, and suddenly, Les
Ferdinand, broke free from two defenders in the area to fire in a shot
that Seaman did well to block. A fluffed Iversen rebound shot bounced to
the head of Doherty who simply nodded past Seaman. I, like Spurs fans
all over the country, jumped up in ecstasy, but I was probably only one
of a few who managed to fall awkwardly, twisting my ankle, to prevent
any further jumping in the match, and for a couple of weeks after that.
Well, maybe I was the only one to do that!
Obviously, someone above took pity on my ankle, and gave me no further
cause to jump up, as Arsenal began to dominate. The rest afforded to my
ankle was more than made up for on my nails, or the lack of them
afterwards. It was inevitable that Arsenal would score, but first Sol
Campbell had to be taken out of the game, which he managed to do
himself, obviously hurting his own ankle in a challenge on Parlour. Now
with Campbell out of the way, and a free kick given against him for all
his troubles, Patrick Vieira was free to rise and head the free kick
past Sullivan.
The came chance after chance after chance for Arsenal. At
last they got that elusive second goal, Pires sliding in to convert a
low
cross. It wasn't long 'til the final whistle was blown for time. The
whistle
called time on the match, and time on our season.
Now, all we can do is look to next season. I for one, though, think that
we can make our mark on the league next season. We have
one of the best goalkeepers in the Premiership, and in Rebrov, a
potentially lethal striker. Think of the best strikers in the League
right now. Heskey? Henry? Cole? All of these strikers took time to
settle in at their new clubs. Remember our first impressions of these
players? Heskey was an expensive flop who just fell over all the time.
Henry? He was simply an ineffective replacement for Anelka. Cole? How
could £7m be spent on a striker who couldn't hit a barn door? Now, who
wouldn't want these players in their side?
Rebrov will be a success, and next season, I think he can
really terrorise defences.
As well as these two, we have the best right back in the
League in Steve Carr. I am resigned to seeing Campbell leave, but Ledley
King can become a replacement. He has done really well this season, and
I think he can become one of our best players. Gary Doherty also has
masses of potential.
We also have a manager who loves the club, and has taken a team who
traditionally flirt with relegation to the brink of Europe. I don't
think anyone would disagree that he needs to make a few summer signings,
but if he gets a few decent players, Spurs can become a force again.
Personally, I think he should check out the availability of Beni
Carbone, a skilful attacker who would cost nothing; John Hartson, who
has proved himself to be up to the Premiership, and will want to leave
if Coventry go down; Frank Lampard, who may cost a lot, but would really
be worth it; Seth Johnson, an excellent young defensive midfielder and
Stephen McPhail, currently not
getting a game at Leeds, but a great talent.
Spurs can be a force, and Glenn Hoddle is a great coach. Next season, we
should qualify for Europe.
By Shaun Livingston (15)
If you agree or disagree with anything I have touched upon in this
article,
email me at:
Just_shaun@hotmail.com |
22.4.2001
It
was an absolutely magnificent win against Sunderland, wasn't it?
2-0 down at half time, and a clever change of tactics from our new boss,
and our injury-hit side responded by hitting back three times to make
sure that our first away match under Glenn Hoddle would be a success.
Gary Doherty again, proved to
be our inspiration, and you may remember that I said before that he had
masses of potential. He is showing us this time and time again, and
although we've said "goodbye" to GG, we must remember his
"good buy", equally comfortable upfront as he is in defence.
His versatility is an added bonus to his obvious talents.
It will take a while for
Glenn Hoddle to settle in and make his presence felt at Tottenham. His
team is far from perfect, as the following 0-3 defeat to Chelsea showed,
but he does seem to be making a good impression on his players,
particularly the youngsters.
21 year old John Piercy spoke
earlier this week of how he felt Hoddle had given him a new lease of
life. Under George Graham, he never got to play, but Hoddle is giving
him a chance. It is nice to see that Glenn Hoddle is carving a
good relationship with his players, many of whom have praised him or
voiced their excitement at the prospect of working with such a legend,
but I don't think it is fair to condemn George Graham. John
Piercy's recent flirtation with the first team has more to do with
injuries getting even worse since Hoddle's arrival than Hoddle spying
untapped talent in the midfielder.
Although I must say that I am glad to have GH at the helm, GG did a lot
for Spurs. I don't think he should have been appointed in the first
place because of his Gooner connections, but when he was appointed, he
got the side out of relegation form, won the Worthington Cup (dubbed the
"worthless" cup when Leicester or Spurs win it, but when
Liverpool win it, it signals their return to the big time) and signed
some great prospects for the future, such as Doherty, Gardner, Davies
and Etherington. Sullivan on a free transfer wasn't such bad business
either.
Although GG never made
the kind of progress that he would have liked at Spurs, he still helped
us through a difficult period, and although perhaps at the end of the
current season, his time may have been up (depending on if he had won
the FA Cup for us), I don't think it is right for any Spurs fans, or
players, for that matter, to criticise him after all the good work he
had done for us.
Moving on to the Chelsea match, we had so many players missing against a
hugely talented Chelsea team, we never looked like winning it, on paper,
or on the pitch. The harsh decision to send Korsten off effectively
ended our chances of getting anything from the match, and any faint
hopes of sneaking into Europe by finishing 6th or 7th. Glenn
Hoddle had hoped to end our Chelsea jinx, but with the players
available, it was always going to be an uphill struggle, although to
lose by three goals to nil, at the supposed fortress that is White Hart
Lane, was still disappointing. Hoddle will have a lot of work to do in
the close season, not least to increase our strength in depth.
After the match, vice-chairman David
Buchler tried to console dejected fans, and made all the right noises,
although next season, the football should do the talking. He
promised that Tottenham would never again suffer the huge gap that
exists between them and their London rivals. He also said, most
encouragingly that the club will pull all the stops out to ensure that
Sol Campbell would stay at the club, although I myself think that he
will leave at the end of the season. But at least they're trying.
Many fans may be disheartened that he
appeared adverse to sending Hoddle on a spending spree, saying that it
is possible to get quality players without spending "many millions
at once." To be honest though, I can see Buchler's
point. While I don't think for a second that Spurs don't need a lot of
new players, rashly spending millions on any old Carlos Kickabals may
backfire on us. Cast your minds back to when Spurs last delved into
Europe for new recruits. Tramezzani, Vega, Saib, Berti, and worst of
all, Christian Gross, still make me shudder when I think about them.
I think that GH needs to carry out thorough research on any possible
signing before getting the chequebook out. He needs to check that they
are not injury prone i.e. Korsten, Thatcher, the price is not too high,
i.e. Ferdinand, Thatcher and most of all, that they aren't absolutely
useless, i.e. Vega, Saib. Even when we have stayed in England to
find players, we have failed miserably to buy players who produced the
goods. In fact, we seem to have wasted the most money buying players
from the UK. Remember £4m Ruel Fox? An expensive Newcastle reject, who
proved why he was a Newcastle reject. What about Andy Sinton? Although
it cannot be said that he was a waste of money, (he came on a free) [Ed:
- I think we did pay money for him - about £1.5.million], he was a
waste of time and space. Chris Armstrong cost £4.5m, and although he
scored a few goals for us, he's languishing in the reserves now.
Thatcher cost £5m, and this season, it seems the transfer fee was £500,000
per game played. Even Les Ferdinand's price tag was far too high,
between £4 and £6m, when he was 30 years old. Although now he is doing
OK, I am sure the big man would be the first to admit that he has not
really justified the sum of money paid for him.
In fact, we're almost as bad as Middlesbrough!
Respond to Shaun's column by e-mailing us
here.
|
27.4.2001
It is obvious that Spurs need some quality signings urgently in order to
be able to challenge for honours next season, but having more than five
or six new players would probably work against us, as it would take a
lot of time for each player to individually adapt to the Premiership
(assuming we haven't signed them from the Premiership), and even longer
for the team to gel together as one.
The names we have been linked with
are very exciting, e.g Guardiola, Petit, Shevchenko, but at the moment
its all speculation. I can't think why any of these players would really
want a move to Spurs. I know both Guardiola and Petit are unsettled at
Barcelona, but would they really want to go from a team who just missed
out on the UEFA Cup final, to a team who look likely to just miss out on
a top ten finish? As for Shevchenko, I have heard he wants to play with
Rebrov, but would one of the best players in the world really want such
a relatively small stage to perform on? I would love to sign this trio,
but I am also a realist. Although Guardiola is a small possibility, we
can forget Petit and Shevchenko.
As I have said though, we don't need to sign more than five or six
players. We do have some very good players at the club. Our fringe
players must replace many of our first team players though. I would love
to see Simon Davies given a more active role next season. He has done
very well whenever he has been given the chance, and I think he, along
with Ledley King, Anthony Gardner and Gary Doherty can emerge as a star
next season.
Against Liverpool, we showed that we have some
great talents, and we simply need to utilise those talents, by giving
them more chances next season. To do this, some regulars will have
to make way. Out with the deadwood and in with the youngsters. Tim
Sherwood, Oyvind Leonhardsen, Chris Perry and Steffen Freund are all
players who need to go. It is not as if we don't have anyone to replace
them.
Our main weakness this season was our midfield. They simply did not pass
the ball well enough, and were devoid of any creativity. Our defence is
not too bad, with the classy Stephen Carr, the determined Gary Doherty,
and of course, Sol Campbell.
And of course, any attack that boasts Sergei Rebrov can be considered to
be a force. I don't think much of Iversen though, who has been "one
for the future" for too long now. The future is fast becoming the
present, and I think we need to leave the feckless Norwegian in the
past.
This season, we have had more than our fair
share of injuries (I remember a quote from a TV programme about going on
tours of White Hart Lane, and they said "you might just bump into a
Spurs player on your tour ... but be careful, they'll probably strain a
ligament!") and that has contributed to a mediocre season, but some
of the first team regulars mentioned are just not good enough. When we
had a "full strength" side against Arsenal in the FA Cup, we
capitulated against our North London rivals. Some may point to the
fact that we only really went down when we lost Sol Campbell, but the
likelihood is that the England international is on his way out of the
Lane. We will have to cope without him, which is why Glenn Hoddle must
put a centre half at the top of his shopping list this summer.
Hoddle himself has said that he sees the
basis of a very good side at Spurs and with the likes of Davies, Doherty
(man of the match in Ireland's recent world cup qualifier against
Andorra), Rebrov and Sullivan in our ranks, I think he just may be
right.
Spend
wisely Hoddle, and the future may just be white.
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here.
|
6.5.2001
I have heard
through a reliable source (well, a tabloid newspaper) that Alex
Ferguson, hurt by his Manchester United side's European KO is ready to
try and lure Stephen Carr to Old Trafford. Well, with Gary Neville
currently occupying the right back slot at United, it is hardly
surprising that he is looking for a replacement, but anything less than
an outright refusal to negotiate over selling Carr from Spurs will
be unacceptable, just like any bid for Stephen Carr.
We are
currently, at best, a mediocre side, and if we lose one of our best
players in Carr, the best right back in Britain, as well as Sol
Campbell, I fear we may be dragged into a relegation dogfight, and
although even without Campbell and Carr we are too good to go down, a
season any worse than the one we have just had would be too hard to
stomach.
Carr
is not for sale at any price.
Saturday saw our makeshift side lose 4-2 to Leicester, ending their run
of nine successive defeats. Glenn Hoddle blamed poor defending and
claimed that Leicester's penalty, which got them their fourth goal was
earned by a dive from Calum Davidson. However, he did acknowledge
that Leicester deserved the win, saying that his forced usage of
inexperienced players showed. He refused to criticise our youngsters
though, who are showing a lot of promise. He also says that talks
with Campbell are going well, and he praised old friend Peter Taylor for
Leicester's convincing performance.
Leicester were, by far the better side, although Hoddle is right when he
says that the inexperience of our players showed. If our injuries
weren't so bad, we could have condemned Leicester to their ninth
successive defeat with ease. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise, because
a lot of fringe players are now gaining valuable experience that will
stand them in good stead if they are required to play a bigger role in
the team next season. Players such as Gardner are giving Spurs
fans a lot of hope for the future, and games like these can only help
them mature into better players. We are neither challenging for
Europe nor fighting relegation so might as well give the kids a chance,
which we have been forced to do anyway.
The high point
of the match was definitely Carr's magnificent free kick, a feat he
should be repeating for SPURS next season. (Anyway, would Beckham
really let Carr take any free kicks?)
Before the
match, I was looking forward to seeing Steve Guppy play, a player I have
always admired and hoped that Spurs may sign. As it was, he easily
outshone our own left sided player, Clemence. Guppy would really be a
useful addition to our squad, with his pinpoint crossing, and
really almost anything would be better than Clemence.
Anyway, to sum up, it was a learning curve for our youngsters, and in
the end it will do more good than harm. As Hoddle said, we performed
better in the second half, and really this result was meaningless for
both sides in terms of League position. I accept that Leicester's win
did mean huge psychological relief for Peter Taylor's boys. Roll on next
season. A bigger squad next season will mean injuries won't hit us
as hard. On the subject of injuries, Ledley King is on the road to
recovery after damaging his cheekbone in the 3-2 win at Sunderland.
It'll be good to have the combative young midfielder back in the side.
He is one of the most promising of our current crop of youngsters, along
with Davies and Doherty.
The only League match left is
at home to Man U, who also have nothing to play for, although in a very
different way to us. Lets hope Carr (put in the PFA team of the season
despite being injured for lengthy periods) puts on another superb
display, just to rub it in United's faces that we do have a at least one
player that stands head and shoulders above any United player in his
position.
This Carr is remaining parked at the Lane.
Respond to Shaun's column by e-mailing us
here. |
9.5.2001
Darren Anderton has signed a new contract
which will keep him at Spurs until 2003, worth a reported £30,000 a
week.
I remember when Anderton was one of our
biggest assets, as well as essential to England's plans. The flying
right winger ranked among the best in the country, (before David Beckham
arrived onto the scene) and was loved by Spurs fans. He was my favourite
player. Apart from his great talent, he was also very loyal, deciding to
stay at Spurs when Manchester United were eyeing him up.
Unfortunately, as we all know, his career
has been plagued by injuries. This has resulted in a big loss of form,
so although the Darren Anderton of a 2 or 3 years ago would warrant £30,000
a week contract, now this could turn out to be a big waste of money. We
just have to hope that "Dazza" returns to full fitness,
because if he does, and plays like he has the potential to, he can get
back into the England frame, although I doubt he will manage to win back
his once regular place in the side, with Beckham and McManaman also
vying for his position on the field.
On top form, Anderton is a crowd's favourite
and a class act. Let's just hope that he can gain his fitness again. Les
Ferdinand, who last week, signed a new contract, would really benefit
from his crosses.
We are also meant to have made a £7m bid
for Petit, which has been accepted, and apparently we are just waiting
to see if he wants to come. I don't believe a word of it. Although he
would be a superb addition to the squad, the chances of him coming are "très
Petit"
Anyway, the FA Cup final
looms, and I think it would be rude not to mention it. George Graham,
free of his Tottenham links can concentrate on supporting the Scum. On
the outcome of the match, he says that whoever scores the first goal
will win. My prediction? 9-0 to Liverpool, and Barmby (a former
favourite) scores all 9 of them. My real prediction? 1-0 to Liverpool,
and it's an own goal, or a penalty or something like that. I also
reckon/hope Vieira will get sent off.
Well, I think that's enough of my sour grapes. Roll on next season,
when maybe we can go one step further in the magical FA Cup. Then,
maybe we can wipe the infuriatingly smug grins on the faces of
idiotic people who say "I thought you won things when the year
ends in one? Perhaps, also, you don't win things when the year starts
in two?" Pathetic!
Anyway, so Anderton and Ferdinand have signed new deals, so who is the
SOL contract rebel? Well, Buchler says that Spurs will fight all
the way to keep him at the club, and that Barcelona, the latest club
linked with Campbell's signature, will have "a hell of a
fight on their hands" to get him. Unfortunately, I think
this fight will have the same result as the fight Harry Redknapp
(who's parted company with the Hammers, today, incidentally) put up to
keep Rio Ferdinand at Upton Park, except it will include 18 million
pounds less than with the West Ham's situation. It sounds pretty
sensational, but if Barcelona are interested in Campbell, who is
definitely leaving, folks, (I mean, what would keep him at White Hart
Lane, the new contract being signed by "Sicknote" that
signals our ambition? Maybe a cup or two would help, but its too late
now), and we are reportedly interested in Petit, how about a little
swap deal?
It'll never happen, but it sounds interesting.
*If you agree or disagree with anything I
have touched upon on this article, email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
16.5.2001
Although we have had another painfully mediocre season in 99/00, one
tiny consolation has been our form in the reserve league. On Tuesday,
we just needed a win against Coventry's second string to cement second
place in the league, behind champions Derby. (Maybe the Rams ought to
take a closer look at their reserves?) We lost. 2-1. We didn't play
very well and the Sky Blues deserved their win, our goal coming from a
flukey, mis-hit Toner shot. But the really sad thing is that Walker
and Etherington got themselves sent off. Not for bad tackles or even
good tackles that the shortsighted ref deemed to be illegal. Not
for handball inside or outside the box respectively, but for
using foul, abusive language.
Now any player should be ashamed of being dismissed for this kind of
offence, but for these particular players, they should be even
more determined to concentrate on letting their football do the
talking. There's Ian Walker, who has moaned all season at not being
given a fair crack of the whip, although Sullivan's form
throughout the season gave George Graham no choice but to stick with
the Scot. However, Walker still thinks that he should be the man
between the sticks. This kind of behaviour will really not help him wrest
the goalkeeper's jersey from Sullivan. He will be an absolute
liability if he acts like this, especially added to the
fact that he is prone to silly mistakes sometimes.
And what about Etherington, an exciting young prospect signed from Peterborough
along with Simon Davies. Since joining, Davies has broken
into the first team squad whilst Etherington has only had a
few cameo roles. Now, I cannot say that attitude has helped each
player get to their respective status at Spurs, because I simply don't
know, but it does seem interesting that the one sent off for abusive
language was the one that has not got into the first team squad. Was
it previous examples of this kind of behaviour from Etherington that
has sidetracked him in his bid to get into the first team squad? It is
not certain, and I am not saying that he has done anything
like this before, but am suggesting that if he has, then it could
have helped to deny him access to playing in the Premiership
for Spurs.
Both
will receive suspensions at the start of the season, which means
that Walker won't be given a chance at the start of the season,
because he himself has blown it and Etherington won't be allowed to be
in the squad, when maybe, if he worked hard over the
summer, he would have been allocated. I am sure that the suspension will
make the pair learn their lesson. If they do continue to behave
like this, they will never get a chance in the squad because of
suspension and the gaffer's concerns that if he does use
them, he will end up with 10 men on the field.
Anyway, onto the first team, Chris Perry has become the latest person
to offer his opinions on Sol Campbell. He says that Tottenham
should break the bank to keep Campbell. Thanks, Chris we didn't think of
that.
Barcelona and Chelsea, amongst other interested clubs can easily match
or even beat whatever salary we offer Campbell, and the only way we
can get him to stay is to convince him, as Perry also says, that his
heart is at White Hart Lane. However, I think the key to this is
cups, and Sol is no mug. He'll leave alright, so brace yourself.
He wants a side that can win silverware, and unfortunately, Tottenham
are not good enough for honours yet. Maybe some shrewd summer
signings from Hoddle can change that, but I think it is already
too late to convince the defensive rock to stay. It'll be
heartbreaking to see him leave, and I just hope we'll be able to
plug the huge gap he'll leave behind.
Arsene Wenger says he admires Campbell. Good, good. Not many Spurs
players are admired by Arsenal. "But", says Arsene,
"it is too early to decide whether I'll try to sign them".
Mr. Wenger, do not even go there. Sol Campbell has been at Tottenham
for a very long time now, and must have picked up on our feeling
towards your club! I do think Campbell values the big fan-base he has
at Spurs and would be loathe to risk it by moving
to our most hated rivals. It is not too early to decide whether you
should try to sign Campbell, Mr. Wenger. Make that decision now.
Don't. I know that your defence is rapidly ageing and will crumble
imminently, but don't try and get Campbell. You do not stand a hope in
hell.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in the article above, feel free to
email me at
|
21.5.01
Well, at least we ended another instantly
forgettable season on a high note. A 3-1 win against a Manchester
United side, who, despite having nothing to play for after their title
rivals fell way short of them months ago, looked like they were up for
a battle at White Hart Lane. However, Willem Korsten turned in his
best performance since signing for Tottenham and we won convincingly
3-1. Hoddle was delighted with his side, praising his
"inexperienced team" generously.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, a lot of which
should be carried out in the summer, but the young guns coming through
give us a lot of reason for encouragement. Gardner, Davies, Doherty
and King are just four youngsters who look like they have bright
futures ahead of them. All have international experience, be it for
their respective under-21 sides, or the senior side, except Gardner,
who has recently been drafted into the England U-21 squad. Davies
has been picked for the first time in the senior Wales squad
after great performances for the Wales U-21s and Spurs,
Doherty is now an established member of the senior Eire squad, and
King is a key player in the England U-21s.
Although in Hoddle's seven league games so far, our results
have been dubious (10 points from a possible 21), he can hardly be
expected to start working miracles just yet. Next season, when he
is with us from the start will test his managerial talent. I
think he can rise to the challenge and have us playing in
Europe in a couple of years.
Willem Korsten is finally starting to look fit, and dangerous. I really
think that next year he can make the left flank at White Hart Lane his
own, and that he will start to look the player that had Leeds falling
over themselves to sign after a loan spell at Elland Road, with
Tottenham nicking him from Leeds' jaws at the last minute.
We do seem to like nicking potential Leeds signings,
incidentally, like John Scales, and Ramon Vega, although Leeds
have probably seen, with hindsight, these three players moving to
Tottenham instead as blessings in disguise. Hopefully, Korsten
can prove his worth next season. His two strikes against United
were good goals, and he had a fine all-round game.
As I have said many times before, a few decent signings, and we
may have a team capable of finishing in the top six. A creative
central midfielder, a predator in the box and a central defender
should be on our list of priorities.
Les Ferdinand has signed a new contract for two years, and although he
has not been one of our best signings in the past few years, he is
still a useful squad player, and I imagine that the younger players
would look up to him, because although he has not spent his best years
at Tottenham, his achievements at QPR and Newcastle were fantastic, in
terms of goals, and perhaps he could become a coach when he does
finally hang his boots up.
Anyway, this summer, Hoddle needs to be busy, looking for players to
improve the side. Apparently we're close to signing Yugoslavian
defender, Goran Bunjevcevic, and although he is a relative unknown, so
was Franck Leboeuf, Sami Hyppia and Lucas Radebe when they arrived on
these shores.
Other
players we have been linked with, such as Petit, Guardiola and
Lampard, seem to have not much substance, but we shall see.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
11.6.2001
So, Sol's upset about how Tottenham
have treated him?
He's upset that we have made his wage demands public, and denies
asking for anything like the amount that Spurs have said that he is
asking for.
If, like he claims, he is not money mad, then he will settle for a
"paltry" £50,000 a week at Liverpool or Manchester
United. There, he will get Champions League football, which, of
course, is why he is leaving.
He makes a point of saying how loyal he has been to the club, but
when asked if he is going to move to deadly rivals Arsenal, he says
"I have not decided yet". Not, "Having been a
Spurs player for a decade, I would not consider moving to their arch
rivals", but "I have not decided yet". Besides,
it was hardly loyal to keep the club guessing for two years as to
whether he was going to stay or not. I myself, had made my mind
up at the start of this season that he was going to leave at the end of his contract, and I think that Campbell also knew that he was going
to leave. But,
instead of telling us before so we could have
offloaded him for a hefty price, he decided to wait, and wait, keeping
us guessing, but always knowing what he would do in the end.
So now, we are going to lose our best player, and easily one of the
best centre halves in the country, for nothing. He has hardly
been loyal. He has behaved disgracefully, and has lost the club
a potential £10m+ sum. If he does decide to go to Arsenal,
which I am still hopeful that he will not do, he will have become
Public Enemy Number One at the Lane, if he is not already that now,
and would not enjoy
an easy ride whenever he returned to the Lane.
Let me make it clear that I do not begrudge Sol wanting to
leave. A defender of such quality deserves to play in Europe,
and we have not been able to offer him European football, except for a
brief period in 98-99 when we fell at the second hurdle, albeit in an
extremely unlucky fashion.
But what I do object to is the way he has gone about it. Instead
of mucking us about for so long, not saying anything about his future,
he should have shown some loyalty and told the club he was going to
leave, before his contract had expired. I remember reading Spurs
Monthly magazine about 6 months ago, and it featured an interview with
him, in which he was asked directly if he was going to leave the club
at the end of the season.
However, he simply avoided the question totally. In reply to a
"Will you be leaving Spurs at the end of the season", he
said "No one can deny that I have played my heart out for the
club. " I'm sorry, did you not hear the question. Well, perhaps
he misheard the question to such an extent that he heard it as
"Can anyone deny that you have played your heart out for the
club?" Or perhaps not. Perhaps he was just trying to
string us faithful, adoring fans along, giving us a straw to
clutch at, which he has mercilessly yanked out of our reach, and
hurled to the dusty floor (A bit over-dramatic, but you get the gist
of it).
And, we don't need people like Darren Anderton condemning the club for
not doing enough to keep Campbell. Does he not think that his
energy would be better spent trying to prove to the club that he is
worthy of a place in the team than pushing his luck with a club that
has remained so loyal and patient towards him during his injury
nightmare. He is a good player, and I think he can prove it this
season, but we do not need someone talking before he is even walking.
In other words, shut up and get fit.
Anyway, on a lighter note, the signings of Sheringham and Poyet have
been encouraging, Poyet in particular. Sheringham is 35, but
still has one of the shrewdest soccer brains in the business, and he
even rejected a last minute plea from Fergie to come back to
Spurs. No one can deny that his time was better spent at United
than wasting his prime at aimless Spurs, but it is good to see the
clever striker back. Although his role has been transformed at
United from the goalscoring predator he was at Spurs to a chance
creating attacker at United, he will come in very useful to us
and should help Rebrov with his intelligent running and passing.
Gustavo Poyet is just what we need, a creative, goal getting
midfielder, to play in the centre. I am sure Tim Sherwood
and Steffen Freund have their attributes (!), but we really need some
creative influence in the middle of the middle. He gets a lot of
goals, and really is a force coming forward. I don't know
what possessed Ranieri to freeze
him out, (probably the same
thing that possessed him to leave out sublimely skilful
Dane
Jesper Gronkjaer), but Poyet has been magic for Chelsea when he has
played
for them. He is 33, but at a reported £1.25m, he is
good business, especially when you consider that we sold 33 year old
Ginola to Villa for £3m, and what a good piece of business that has
been! I always knew his natural position would be in the sweeper
role!
Hoddle
is starting to shape the team the way he wants it, and so far, it
looks good. Hopefully we can shore up the hole that "mud"
will leave, Anderton will stop whingeing and start crossing, and Rebrov,
alongside Sheringham will fulfill his obvious potential.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
18.6.2001
Arsenal fans were left gutted on
Sunday as a Rivaldo inspired Barcelona crushed rivals Valencia to
secure qualification for the Champions League. The world class
Brazilian scored a hat-trick to ensure that they will be playing in
Europe's top competition next season, and will have Sol Campbell on
their books to bolster their campaign.
I'm glad that he's
going abroad, so we don't have to see him much, although the English
media will be desperate to record his every move in Spain, at
least for the first few months, but the arrogance of the man defies
belief.
He failed to turn up to a
meeting that Liverpool had arranged privately for him to discuss the
possibility of moving to the club. Then he tells Barcelona that he
will only consider joining them if they qualify for the Champions
League. Although when you consider that Liverpool beat Barcelona on
their way to the UEFA Cup final, perhaps he would pick up more
silverware at Anfield. But if Barcelona can offer more money, who
cares about cups? That's not really what football is about. Football
is about earning as much money as possible and making as many
enemies as possible.
Though I don't
really want to talk much about him any more. He doesn't really
deserve any publicity, I will say this. Campbell is Tottenham's very
own Nicolas Anelka. "Nicolas who?" I hear you all cry.
Well, Nicolas Anelka was once an Arsenal striker, who demanded
an obscene amount of money to stay at Highbury. Wenger
flatly refused, and sold him to Real Madrid for a cool £23m. I
hate to admit it, but a shrewd piece of business by Wenger, who
bought the troublesome frog for £500,000. Anyway, Nicky
obviously wasn't as good as he thought, and he failed to live up to
expectations at the Bernabeu, and is now living a relatively low
profile life at Paris SG, who finished mid table in the mediocre
French League last season.
I expect Sol to
suffer a similar fate. Whilst everyone has something to say about this £130,000 a
week saga, an important fact has been overlooked. Whisper
it, but Sol Campbell is not that great a player. This guy,
who thinks he is worth £130,000 a week, is not even the best defender
in the Premiership. Campbell or Stam? I know who I'd rather have.
Campbell or Les's cousin, Rio? I know who I'd rather have. Campbell or
Hyppia? I know who I'd rather have. And, being
so hated by everyone, I predict he will suffer a massive loss of form.
But Sol was never one of the best in the world anyway.
Although he
is a superb shot stopper, he is not very good at bringing
the ball out of defence. So, although his tackling is probably
second to none, his ability to actually keep the ball once he has
got it really does leave a lot to be desired. And its
certainly not worth £130,000 a week. £130 a week best sums up
the defender's ability to bring the ball out of defence.
Finally, if
he is worth that £130,000 a week, then what are players like Rivaldo,
Thuram and Raul worth? Sol is good, but is not world class, by any
stretch of the imagination. He is certainly not worth £1.3m every 10
weeks. Especially when you consider that with around that amount of
money, we have signed the Footballer of the year, and the
classy Gustavo Poyet.
Anyway, he is in
the past. A possible newcomer is Christian Ziege. Anyone who saw
the full-back play for Middlesbrough will be satisfied of his quality.
He has lost his way at Liverpool, but is a quality player.
Besides, we have a tradition of signing Liverpool rejects
and turning them into... Tottenham rejects (Scales, Leonhardsen).
However, the difference is that Ziege is a quality, experience
international player whilst it is hard to define the other two.
If we did get Christian,
it would spell the end for the Spurs career of the thuggish Ben
Thatcher. Although he has said he would welcome the challenge of
a fight for his place, he does not come close to the classy Ziege.
Whilst Ziege's best assets are his tricky feet, Thatcher's best assets
are his elbows. The time has come for Big Ben to
leave. He was never worth £5m and there is no way we could
recoup the money by selling him, but I think we should cut
our losses, because he is a liability.
Our other
full-back, Stephen Carr, has been linked to Barcelona. Not so
long ago, he was linked to Manchester United. Carr is going
nowhere. The Catalan giants are welcome to the arrogant Sol, but
Carr is one of a few potentially world class players we have at the
club (Rebrov and Davies would complete this list), and there is
no price at which we can sell him. He is classy and consistent,
and next season, I would give him the captaincy. That, somewhat
bizarrely, has been promised to Tim Sherwood, to try and prevent him
from moving to Wolves. With this baffling gesture comes a statement
form David Buchler that Hoddle will build the team around Tim.
A captain must be
influential, respected and vocal enough to get his thoughts heard.
Whilst I would not fault the former Blackburn player on the last
attribute, I cannot see how he can influence the players to up their
game when he has been so awful for the past season. The same goes for
having the respect of the players. How can the players respect him
when he has done nothing of note to help the team since his
arrival?
Throw him to the Wolves, I say.
Hopefully Sherwood will show a bit of heart, and feeling for Spurs...
by leaving, although this good deed would probably be cancelled out by
the cruelty he would impose on Wolves. But, we're in the Premiership,
and so deserve better!
With him gone, I
think Poyet and Davies in the centre could be a potentially lethal
combination, who will provide plenty of chances for Rebrov and
Sheringham/Ferdinand upfront. You will see there is no place for
either Steffen. Neither the dull German nor the dizzy Norwegian (ruled
out for the whole of next season after a series of concussions) are
good enough for Tottenham, and we must try to sell both of them.
We may get
some poor suckers who remember Freund from his Dortmund days, when he
looked a little like a football player, but unfortunately, it looks
like we're stuck with Iversen. A club is hardly going to want someone
who cannot stay conscious. Why didn't we sell him to PSV, who came in
with a generous £5.5m offer a year or two back?
My
message to Hoddle is, sign more players, and get rid of the deadwood.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
22.6.2001
We will kick off the season at
home to John Gregory's Aston Villa, where we will finally see the new
look Tottenham playing a competitive match under Glenn Hoddle. Villa,
like Spurs, had a mediocre season, and like Spurs, will be looking to
bolster their squad with a few decent summer signings. So far, former
Spurs target Hassan Kachloul has been added to their side, and
chairmen Doug Ellis promises there are more to come.
I think that there will be a lot of new faces coming in and out before
the big kick-off at both clubs, but it certainly won't be the easiest
of games, although it is good that we start the season at the Lane.
They are very resilient, and we drew 0-0 to them in the same fixture
last season.
We then travel to Everton and Blackburn, both of whom will probably be
fighting relegation next season. All in all, not too demanding an
opener, and hopefully we can get off to a good start, which will give
us confidence for the rest of the season.
But, before the start of next season, we need a few more players.
Christian Ziege now admits talking to Glenn Hoddle about a possible
move to Tottenham, and he says he was impressed, but had not
decided his future yet because there were two other clubs trying to
sign him. One of these two clubs is reportedly Bayern Munich, and to
be honest, if I was in Christian's position, I think I'd opt for the
best club in Europe. (And no, I don't mean Tottenham!) However,
hopefully Hoddle can persuade the classy German to join, if only to
keep Ben Thatcher out of the side.
Although David Buchler has promised that more big name signings will
be on their way, at the moment there don't seem to be any more deals
in process, and if there are, they have been kept top secret. But,
there is no need to worry. The big kick-off is almost two months away,
and there is plenty of time to strengthen the squad with at least 3
new signings, excluding Ziege.
However, we do seem to have quite a good side at the moment. Sullivan
is undoubtedly a quality keeper, whilst Carr, Doherty and Bunjevcevic
are 3 very good defenders. Thatcher is a liability, but hopefully
Ziege will have his position. If not, then we must look for another
left back, or resort to Luke Young, although his best position is in
the centre.
On the right wing, Anderton is getting himself fit, and I think he
will get better as the season goes on. We probably need cover for him
in the unlikely event that he gets injured (!), but if he stays fit,
his passing and crossing is a real asset to us. On the left,
Korsten still has to prove himself, but I think he may prove himself
up to the challenge. After all, there was a time when Leeds were
desperate to sign him., (although there was a time when they were
desperate to sign Ramon Vega and John Scales!), so he must have some
degree of ability.
I think that in the centre, we should have Poyet, whose class and
experience must make him one of the first names on the team-sheet,
especially regarding our total lack of creativity last year, and
Davies, a fantastic young player who is destined for great things.
Upfront, we should have Sheringham and Rebrov. Due to his age, we
should probably rotate Teddy with Ferdinand. They both have their
different assets, and it would be a healthy mix to rotate them
sometimes.
On the subs bench would be Ian Walker (still an OK shot stopper,
although he looks extremely dodgy on crosses), Anthony Gardner (an
exciting young prospect, who can succeed Sol Campbell
eventually), Ledley King (a tigerish young defensive player), Oyvind
Leonhardsen (Sub-standard midfielder, but we don't have any better
ones) and Les Ferdinand (or Sheringham, depending on rotation).
Some players are just surplus to requirements. Chris Perry looked a
great player at Wimbledon, but just looks out of his depth now.
Perhaps he has been overawed at being at such a big club. Ben Thatcher
is a thug, and doesn't deserve a place in any team. Besides, he can't
defend anyway. Steffen Freund, for all of his determination, just
can't play football. He can't pass, tackle, dribble or do anything
that once made him a key player for Dortmund. The same goes for
his English equivalent, Tim Sherwood. My analysis of him would be the
same as the one for Freund, except replacing the word
"Dortmund" with "Blackburn." Steffen Iversen, who
says that he is actually not going to miss the whole of next season,
and that he is going to pre-season training as normal, is just not
really up to the Premiership. He misses too many chances, and never
looks very lively. As I have said, we should have sold him when PSV
came in for him. We rejected the bid though, and he has repaid our
faith in him with.. endless mediocrity and concussions. And, Chris
Armstrong, needs to go too. One of the biggest wastes of money at
£4.5m, he was an OK player at Crystal Palace, scoring about nine
goals for the Eagles when we signed him, so what one earth
made us think that he would be any good for Spurs. Although he briefly
made the critics eat their words with a goal spree, they quickly came
spurting back out when he went back to appalling mediocrity.
If
all of these players were sold, then we would get a hefty sum overall.
Perhaps about £15m, or even higher, if some poor mug comes in with a
high bid for Iversen. This money could be put to great use by Glenn
Hoddle. Sell them, Glenn! And leave Sherwood to go to Wolves. When a
club comes in with a bid for one of your worst players, do not reject
the bid, offer him the captaincy and then promise to build the team
around him! Just accept the bid! I think it was Buchler who did this,
but hopefully Hoddle will decided to offload him, and the other seven
people I have cited as surplus to requirements.
We have got too much deadwood, and Hoddle needs to get rid of them
just as much as he needs to sign new players. Go on Glenn.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
28.6.2001
We have finally obtained a work permit for Yugoslavian defender
Goran Bunjevcevic, and his £4m transfer from Red Star will be a
mere formality now. Although he is hardly a well-known
player, Franck Leboeuf, Sami Hyppia and Ronny Johnsen were all
unknown foreign defenders who came to their clubs and did a good
job. £4m is quite a hefty sum for a defender, so hopefully he
will plug the gap that C*mpbell will have left when he leaves (for
Barcelona hopefully).
At
the moment, Spurs have been finding it hard to talk to new players
about coming to White Hart Lane. At this time, nearly every player
is soaking up the sun, and blowing their extortionate wages on
various luxuries, on holiday. However, Hoddle's assistant John
Gorman says that at the start of July, Tottenham will step up a
gear in their search for new players.
We
still need a top goalscorer, hopefully a proven one that will
settle in quickly. We do not need another Rebrov, not in terms of
adaptability, anyway. The little Ukrainian had a torrid
time in his first year at Spurs, but he obviously has talent,
and hopefully has settled in well enough to start
showing in regularly. Steffen Freund has backed him to
score a hatful of goals next season, and with Freund
behind him (not on the pitch, though), I am sure that he will have
the confidence to do just that. Lets just remember how long it
took the likes of Bergkamp and Henry to settle in at
Highbury.
Another
centre half would not go amiss either. Though we do have a lot of
talented youngsters who can play in defence, a proven, experienced
defender would help the likes of Gardner, Doherty and King
immensely. Also, we need a bigger squad, because it will come in
handy in the unlikely event that we get injuries(!)
But, at the moment, all is quiet on the Tottenham front. It is,
however, refreshing to see the latest goings on at our dear
neighbours, Arsenal, who once again (remember Nicky Anelka?) ,
have a talented, but moody Frenchman on their hands. It has been
great to hear Vieira slagging off the club, and saying how
they lack ambition. Hopefully, his prophecy that they will not
finish in the top five next season will come true. But, with
Arsenal fans all laughing at us for the C*mpbell situation,
it is nice to see it happening to them. And, Patty is truly their
most influential player. If they lose him, I honestly cannot
see them reaching the Champions League next season. In fact, I
can see them going through a sad decline, and they will be playing
in Division 2 in 5 years. OK, that's a little
optimistic, but I can't see them challenging the other
reds for the title next season, the season after next and so
on. Wenger would probably kill for our talented young
defenders, when he looks at his ageing stoppers. Buying a jug
eared attacker who's price works out at 1.33
million pounds per goal last season, probably has not
got Van Nistelrooy's side quaking in their boots.
Moving on, once again, Bill Nicholson has been criminally
omitted from the Queen's Birthday Honours. Who does she think she
is? Or, perhaps, who does she think Bill Nicholson is? Obviously,
she can't know that he was the man who's side achieved the first
League and Cup double, or she would have been falling over herself
to give the man a knighthood. Never mind, Bill. You'll always be a
knight to us Spurs fans. The Queen just doesn't appreciate a
decent manager. She may be the Queen, Bill, but you are the King!
Nicholson is more than a good manager. He is a credit to football.
In an age when greed and corruption rules the game, there remains
only a handful of good, honest hard working individuals, and they
don't come more honest than Bill Nicholson. All Spurs fans, go to www.geocities.com/harryhotspur61
and sign a petition to give one of the most honorable figures in
the game a prefix of Sir in his title. 65 years of loyal
service alone should warrant some kind of reward, so for shaping
one of the best, and most legendary sides of the last half century
deserves nothing less than a knighthood.
Anyway, back to the current side, and Spurs fans not travelling to
away games will be able to see the side play at Goodison Park live
on Sky TV. The match will be our second of the season, and the new
look Tottenham will still be finding its feet. It is a good chance
to show other fans what a force we are, and I am sure that we can
impress viewers and comfortably beat an Everton side who have
already lost Jeffers, and will be losing Michael Ball soon. I
would be surprised if the Toffees finished higher than 15th next
season.
Come
on you Spurs.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
3.7.2001
Well, Shevchenko has signed a new contract at Milan, to quell
rumours that we were supposed to be signing him for £30
million. We had high hopes of signing him, because we had his
Ukrainian strike partner Rebrov and thought he might like to
join him. A tad optimistic, perhaps? Whilst Shevchenko may like
playing with Rebrov, I am sure he also likes winning things and
although things are looking up for Spurs with Hoddle at the
helm, I don't think Shevchenko will have heard of the up and
coming youngsters Doherty, Gardner, King and Davies, nor
will he have observed the shrewd signings of Sheringham and
Poyet, so he knows nothing about our ambition! Why would he want
to join a team who failed to finish in the top ten of the
Premiership last season? Why would he leave the beautiful city
of Milan for London? Why would he want to play in a
team that could possibly contain Chris Perry? I think I've made
my point.
I like fantasy as much as the next guy. In fact, it
plays an important role in my life. I will not go into further
detail, but my point is that fantasy should never be portrayed
as fact. That is unforgivable. So when the press start saying
that we are going to sign Shevchenko and trying to make Spurs
fans believe this silly story, I really do get quite annoyed.
Then to top it all off, they make it completely unbelievable by
saying that Milan would want Iversen in exchange! What do
they take us for? I am surprised that Cinderella and
Rumpelstitskin have not entered the equation yet. It is pure
fairy tale.
Looking more realistic, though, is the imminent transfer of Ian
Walker to Leicester. Its beginning to become clear why
Taylor was so much better at managing the England Under 21s than
a club. Transfers. He spent £5m on Heskey wannabe and fail-to-be
Ade Akinbiyi and now is offering a reported £3m for
Walker. Lets us pounce on this gift right away! Sell him
now! One of the worst keepers ever to wear the England jersey,
Walker has become disillusioned at losing his place to Neil
Sullivan. We must thank Graham for the superb move of signing
Sullivan. Not only did it net us a brilliant goalkeeper for
free, but it also made the erratic Walker want to leave.
Walker came
up through the ranks to get into the first team at Spurs.
He even went to Lilleshall (the FA's school of excellence), but
somewhere it all went wrong. A colourful array of errors
over the past couple of seasons has always made Tottenham want to
look for another keeper and finally we got one last year.
Walker wants first team football to help his international
dreams (!), and who are we to stand in his way. Good luck Ian,
and hope to see you between the sticks when Leicester
visit the Lane. No, I really do. With Walker in goal, we'll
have a lot of fun.
Our hopes of signing Ziege looked to have been dashed when
he said he would prefer a move to Schalke. However, they say
that his wage demands are too high and so are not going to
buy him. I am not sure if that leaves the door open for us to
sign him again and I don't even know if Hoddle will be too hurt by
his initial rejection of Spurs to try and get him again.
Hopefully he will, because he is a quality left back and we
don't have any of them at the Lane. If we don't get him,
perhaps we could go for John Harley? I know Chelsea want to keep
him, but he may want to leave if Graham Le Saux keeps blocking
his path to the first team. Otherwise, we could try and get
Michael Ball from Everton. He looks to have a great
future ahead of him, and although he may cost a bit, he would be
worth it, if only to keep Ben Thatcher out of the side.
I think that our priority must be to sign a left back,
because in all other positions, we have capable, or
just about capable, players, although we must add to our strength
in depth. We must attend to this urgent problem before then
start of the season. We need Ben Thatcher like we need a hole in
the head, which he'd probably punch, given half the chance. Its
an old joke, but his position is "Left-back in the changing
rooms".
Darren Anderton reckons he has nothing to prove to Spurs fans
after signing a new contract. Well, there probably is at least
one thing he has to prove. His fitness. The guy has not played
for the last two years. People have probably forgotten what he
looks like. On a new £30,000 a week contract, he has a lot to
prove. He has to prove he is worth that kind of money.
I think, that when he plays like he is capable of playing, then
he will be worth every penny of it, but he does have to prove
that he can play like he used to, week in, week out. Really, he
should keep his mouth shut and let his football do the
talking. He's not the master of tact. He hardly endeared himself
to fans already weary of his constant injury problems, by
criticising the club recently and saying he may leave, and now,
he is being defiant. Shut up, Darren and start playing football.
Its what you're best at.
Hey, has anyone heard about the new Arsenal signing? Apparently,
they've broken their wage structure to sign some loser
of a defender who thinks he's a lot better than he really
is!
Football's a funny old game. But I'm not laughing.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
29.7.2001
I have only just come back from Israel,
the birthplace of the great Ronny Rosenthal, where Maccabi Tel-Aviv
have won the League, and may be playing Liverpool in the next round of
the Champions League Qualifying Round, and where on average, a bottle
of coca-cola costs 12 shekels (£2).
Anyway, on arriving safely home in England, my first thought was...
well never mind, but my second thought was Tottenham. In Israel, they
don't have English newspapers, and infuriatingly, all BBC World in my
hotel room would tell me, about football, anyway, was that
"Valencia wasted little time in finding a replacement for Gaizka
Mendieta by signing Someone or Other Dos Santos from Malaga for
9.2m". I almost know the damn thing by heart.
But anyway, a look at "White Hot Lines" and Teletext gave me
some of the information I so craved. It seems like a lot of
things have been happening at Tottenham lately. I will include the
things that interested me the most.
First of all, Ziege. A great signing, and at last we have signed
someone to keep Ben Thatcher out of the side. Not only that, but Ziege
is an experienced international, who just lost his way a little at
Liverpool. There can be little doubt, though that Ziege is a quality
left back. His play resembles that of Carr, except of course, it is on
the left. He's pretty handy with set pieces as well. If we
have paid less than £4m for him, then I think it is a
bargain, especially when you consider that we have sold Young for £3-4m.
Young was a promising.. well, young, defender, but was never
going to dislodge Carr at right back, and with Doherty,
Bunjevcevic, King and Gardner all vying for centre back slots, it
would have been pretty difficult to get a place there. I would have
been happy for him to stay at Spurs, but the price we have
got for him is a very good one. Young is a good defender,
and I think he can form a formidable partnership with Richard Rufus at
the Valley. He never gave us much trouble, and perhaps would have
been a more integral figure to us had he not got injured. I wish him
all the best. It is a good career move for him. Tord Grip, (S.G
Eriksson's assistant), said that it is good for young
English players to move to get regular first team football.
With
that left back problem finally seen to, we now need a
reserve keeper. We have, reportedly, gone for Alan Kelly, and
Matt Clarke. Given the choice of the two, I would plump for
the latter, but it doesn't matter too much, as long as we don't
pay over the odds. £2m is a bit steep for Bradford's reserve keeper.
As long as we get a goalkeeper to deputise for Sullivan, it will be
OK. If we get a really good goalkeeper, it is unlikely that he will
want to play second fiddle to Neil. So, Alan Kelly would be fine. I
think someone like Hedman would be too expensive, and he wouldn't
settle for a place on the bench. As I have said, we just
need any goalkeeper, really, because he won't play much. Sullivan
missed only a few matches last season, and we can do without
him for one or two matches. I don't think we should search high
and wide for a goalkeeper. Just go for someone's reserve
goalkeeper. Kelly, Clarke, Arphexad, Myhre. Any of these 4 would
be fine, but anything more than a million would be too steep.
In
front of the goalkeeper, we look to have quite a good back four.
Ziege, Doherty, Bunjevcevic and Carr are all good players. Hoddle has
said that there is still work to do on the defence, but you can
understand that, since they have not played together once as a back
four. Ziege is probably lacking match fitness after spending so
long on the bench at Anfield, Doherty is still inexperienced and
Bunjevcevic has just come from Eastern Europe, having never
played in England, except against Leicester in Europe. Carr,
of course, has a lot of experience in the Premiership, and I think
must be considered for the captaincy.
All four are internationals, and Carr and Doherty play together
for Eire, so I think they can gel. As Hoddle says, there probably
is a bit of work to be done, but I am confident that they can gel as a
quartet.
I still think we need a striker who can score 20 goals a season,
and Villareal's Victor Fernandez has been mentioned. I have never
heard of the guy, but the price of £10m seems a lot. I wouldn't
want a Juan goal wonder Pablo Angel in my side, but if he can
score goals, then I think it would be money well spent. Does anyone
know anything about him? Is he any good? How many goals did
he score last season?
As for our current crop of forwards, Sheringham has been
saying how he wants to manage Spurs in the future. He has a coaching
position reserved for him when he hangs up his boots, but lets
stick with Hoddle for now as the gaffer. If Sheringham
proves himself to be a decent coach, he could be a possibility,
but he'd better not f*** off to Man United for a few years if he gets
bored!
Then
there's Iversen, who is saying how much he is enjoying
pre-season, and that he is scoring a lot of goals. Forgive
me if I don't wet my pants in excitement. I recall last season
that Spurs were sweeping all before them... in pre-season
friendlies. I don't really think that it has any bearing on League
form, and besides, if we are playing sides like Portsmouth, then we should
be beating them comfortably. Iversen scored a hatful of goals
last pre-season and then, inexplicably, didn't in the actual
season. I still want him to leave, no matter how many pre-season goals
he gets. He's not good enough. He misses too many chances, and I
just don't think he should feature in the first team.
Likewise Oyvind Leonhardsen. I have no vendetta against Norway,
but really, we do seem to get crap Norwegians. There were
reports that he was going to Southampton for a cool 1.5m, but
they have denied it. I can only pray that the Saints change their
minds and take this awful player away. If we don't manage to
shift him, then we must keep him away from the first team. If we even
put him in the first team squad, it would be an insult to players
like Davies and Poyet to have to play with "Leo."
Finally, Rebrov is reportedly unhappy at Tottenham's lack of trophies,
and may want to move if they don't start spending. Hopefully, he will
decide that we do have ambition, and will stay. He is a very talented
player, and we need his creativity. I think that this season, he will
really start to show the Premiership what Sergei Rebrov is all about.
We must issue a hands off warning to the likes of Fiorentina and
Valencia. Rebrov is going place with Spurs, and going nowhere else.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
12.8.2001
A 3-0 win over a Fiorentina side containing
a good few seasoned internationals sounds excellent, but I can't
help thinking that the scoreline flattered us a little. Certainly
Gary Doherty, Ledley King, Gustavo Poyet and Sergei Rebrov had good
games. King, in particular, I thought, came in with some great
tackles, and I think that he could help banish memories of, oh,
what's his name again? Something to do with a bell? Oh, forget it.
Certainly Les Ferdinand's goal was well taken, as was Poyet's and
Iversen may just prove me wrong if he keeps producing those sort of
quality finishes. Certainly we passed the ball well a
lot of the time. It looks like WHL may be in for some much
more exciting times, certainly, to watch, anyway, under GH.
What
worried me, though, was the way that Fiorentina seemed to be
able to ease through our midfield when they had possession.
I haven't heard anyone else mention it, but the Italians seemed to effortlessly
glide through the middle of the park, with us making little or no
attempt to get it back. A lot of the time, our defenders
made last gasp clearances or tackles to deny Fiorentina when they had
got to our area, but we cannot rely on them all the time.
Although Freund had an OK game, I don't think he is the player
that we should be fielding. We need a really commanding
defensive midfielder, and I think we already have someone who can
fill this role.
Ledley King looked great on Wednesday in defence, tackling
tigerishly and showing his general class. I think that if we put
him in midfield, alongside Poyet, then he would make sure that our midfield
can win the ball, as well as do pretty, creative things with it when
we do manage to get it.
Fiorentina had their chances, and but for poor finishing, could have
had quite a few goals. And, Alessandro Something-ini was
desperately unlucky not to have hit the target with that bullet
header against the post, the last touch before half time. So,
although we did play well at times, I think we need more bite in
midfield, and deadly Ledley can be that bite.
I know that Glenn was disappointed with the anti Campbell chants,
saying that he would rather that we focus our energies on
current team affairs, but I think it will take a lot of time before
the fans get over the ultimate act of betrayal for the scumbag that
is Sol Campbell. I don't think it is such a bad thing if fans
release their aggression and grievances by singing, rather than
beating the crap out of someone, even if it happens to be
Campbell. And, if he doesn't suffer another mystery illness
(White Hart Laneitis? ScaredOfTheAbuseaemia?), like the one he is
suffering now, just before the England game at WHL, it will
help the team if he doesn't play very well against us in November,
obviously. Sol knew what would happen if he left to join
Arsenal from Tottenham and he's going to have to live with it.
I do not condone physical violence towards him and I don't see
why fans should have to live with it, without saying anything.
But, it was a good match, and a fitting tribute to the great Bill
Nick, who looked delighted to be there.
Moving on, does anyone else feel a tinge of envy, seeing Newcastle
and Aston Villa getting easy access to the UEFA Cup, by beating a
couple of mediocre foreign sides? Why did GG not apply for us
to go in for the InterToto Cup? The sides we would have to
play, although mediocre, would be better than the likes of
Portsmouth, Millwall, Stevenage, etc, and would be better
preparation for us for the season. Although we would have to
come in for training early, at least we would get pretty easy access
to the UEFA Cup. Oh well. We'll just have to qualify for
Europe properly this season.
Up the Spurs.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
|
21.8.2001
"Unfortunately" and
"predictable" are the two words I would use to describe
the outcome of our first match of the season against the dour
Midlands outfit that is Aston Villa. We were the only side
to draw 0-0, in a weekend that brought about some exciting
results, notably Bolton's crushing 5-0 win over the hapless
Leicester (that Michael Ricketts can certainly finish!),
Manchester United's 3-2 win over Fulham (a valiant attempt from
just promoted Fulham) and some other side won 4-0.
I didn't attend the stalemate and had to rely on ITV's appalling
"The Premiership" programme to see highlights. As
it turned out, there were only two of them, a header from Hassan
Kachloul (is that how you spell it?) and a superb shot from
Doherty. The match was given roughly 10 seconds coverage,
although we cannot complain, since ours was the only match not to
produce a solitary goal.
The
Everton match was a little more interesting. I saw this
one on Sky and we didn't play too well, letting Everton dominate
most of the match. I thought Sullivan had a good game,
although he didn't have too many back breaking saves to make.
He looked assured throughout the match and did make an
excellent finger tip save from Alexandersson, I think it
was. I also thought Anderton did well, contributing to
much of our build-up play and passing intelligently.
Although he is not back to his best, I think he is getting
there and he should improve over the season.
I
was pleasantly surprised with Mauricio Tarrico's impressive
performance. I had previously dismissed the Argie as
deadwood, but this performance suggested otherwise. He
looked extremely comfortable in possession and often beat a
player with runs down the wing. His crosses looked very
dangerous too and one cross would surely have brought about a
goal, had Steffen Iversen not been so dozy and simply
nodded. Although I can't see him ousting Carr from his
position, the former Ipswich man may just be worth keeping if
he keeps playing like that. However, he must never,
ever repeat the horrendous tackle he executed on Thomas
Gravesen. Gravesen may be out for two months no and really,
I would not have been surprised if David Elleray had sent
him off. Correction. I would have been surprised,
because it would have meant that Elleray had made a good
decision.
The sending off of Doherty was unbelievable, after
he had made a perfectly good tackle. Duncan Ferguson was
only too pleased to convert the penalty to put the Toffees back in
the game and at an advantage that they never should have
had. Doherty had been impressive, especially in the air up
til then and he was a big loss to the side. As was
Poyet. Although he had had a better first half, it was
still a big blow to lose him and although his tackle was very careless,
I think a yellow card would have sufficed. The victim, Steve
Watson, clearly bore no grudge against Poyet and playfully
touched Poyet's face to show that there were no hard
feelings. However, Elleray had to interfere and he
sent Poyet off, which left us with 9 men for the last 25
minutes.
I thought we held out admirably to keep it at 1-1.
Overall, though, it is a slightly disappointing result, although
Everton played very well, especially Steve Watson, who marshalled
his defence superbly and never seemed to lose possession.
I was disappointed at the performance of our strikers Iversen
and Sheringham. Iversen never seemed alert and missed a
golden opportunity to score, when Tarrico's pinpoint
cross came along straight to him.
Sheringham's passes always seemed to go astray and although he
improved a little towards the end, I think we can expect a little
bit more from the Player of the Year. Perhaps we should
consider using him only sparingly during the season to keep him
fresh and sharp, because I would rather have Sheringham at his
best for 19 games than an average Ted for 38 games.
Anyway,
we didn't lose, and so we are still unbeaten after 2 games.
It was also an away game, so let's not get too depressed at
the result. Hopefully, Hoddle's appeals against the sending
offs will be successful.
Off the pitch, it seems that we are getting closer to getting Dean
Richards. He is a good player and reports suggest that we
are going to make a bid of around £6-8m. In today's crazy
mixed up (and expensive) world of football, £8m for a decent
defender is not too steep. Richards is a solid centre half
and I think that a back three of Bunjy, Richards and Doherty would
be quite good.
Reports also suggest that we may be offering Korsten, Perry or
Iversen for him. None of these players are indispensable to
the club, but out of the three, I would be most happy to see
the back of Iversen. Although in the previous article I
said that if he kept finishing like he did against
Fiorentina, he may be worth keeping, he had a very poor match
against Everton and never looked likely to threaten them at
all, even when he was presented with a great cross from Taricco.
Blackburn next. We should beat them. They're a pretty poor side,
apart from Matt Jansen and they'll definitely be fighting
relegation. Hopefully, we're done with 0-0 draws for
now.
Up the Spurs.
If you agree or disagree with
anything I have touched upon in this article, you can email me at Just_shaun@hotmail.com
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