|
Coming to the end of
2001, an awful lot has happened at Tottenham. A new board, a new
manager, new players, old players and an old style returning too.
With this has also come the old Tottenham inconsistency, but these are
early days in the Hoddle reign and these setbacks will occur as the team
finds it's feet. However, if the club are serious about getting up
the league and into Europe, they cannot keep losing to the likes of
Ipswich and SCBC. With the situation so tight at the top and teams
taking points off each other throughout the division, losing such points
and the two to Aston Villa yesterday, mean that we are losing ground,
whereas we could have moved closer to the top 6, who are now pulling
away.
A lot of this has
been down to not taking the chances that are created during the
matches. Sometimes, everything goes to plan and we notch a few
goals, like Bolton and Fulham, but others see us spurn the opportunities
we make to drop important points. The win over Bolton in the
League showed how we took the chances made and won out in the end.
The amount of possession and opportunities we made against Ipswich
(despite playing with ten men for a long time) was not turned into
goals, thus leaving us to be sucker-punched at the end and to come away
with nothing from the match.
This matter is
further exacerbated by the continuing speculation over the future of
Sergei Rebrov. As an international striker, he must have abilities
that would make his a benefit to any team. However, since Glenn
arrived, it has seemed that his first choice pairing would be Les and
A.N.Other, who turned into Teddy when he was signed. However,
Rebrov has shown in his limited time on the pitch that he can bring a
different aspect to the team's play. His speed of thought and
technique are undoubted, viz his goal against Fulham, but obviously he
does not figure in Hod's starting line-up plans. So, what is to
become of him ? Lazio are sniffing around with the carrot of Ivan
De La Pena as part of the deal. Spurs have been linked with him
for a while too, so it will be interesting to see if Glenn goes for the
little Spaniard or takes the money, to fund the purchase of Jamie
Redknapp/Kevin Phillips/Bobby Zamora.
It is obvious to most
Spurs fans that what is needed up front is a poacher style player, who
will notch 25 goals a season. Someone to get on the end of the
moves that have been built up patiently. Someone to be in the
right place at the right time. There are few options in the
current squad for players to fit into that role. Steven Ferguson
might develop into it, but not quite yet. Iversen is not that sort
of player, nor will we probably see the injury hit Chris Armstrong play
in that position again. So, it means that Hoddle will have to buy
in the talent to put the ball away and may well have to sell to buy.
The commitment to
getting Tottenham back where they belong by ENIC was pushed strongly at
the AGM in early December. They neatly sidestepped the issue of
money to back up their belief and you got the feeling that the piggy
bank might be rattling in a hollow manner. They have made all the
right moves and said the right things, but as an investment company,
they will want to protect their investment, although to increase it
would be more advantageous to them and that would mean the team doing
well on the pitch.
The chance for the
team to make important strides in that direction was over the Christmas
period. Two sides in the bottom four and another just next to us,
but with money problems and fan unrest going on in the seats. One
point from the nine on offer is not the sort of form needed to push into
the top echelons of the Premier League. Was it too much Christmas
cheer ? Unlike other Premier League clubs, Tottenham's Christmas
parties (one at the Grosvenor Hotel, I understand ... and another in
Dublin !!) didn't hit the headlines, but perhaps they did hit the
waistlines.
With the next month
determining the success or otherwise of this season, let's hope we see
some better performances in the League and both cups to make it a Happy
New Year.
Keep the faith.
MY EYES HAVE
SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
AND THE SPURS GO MARCHING ON.
BRUCE
CASTLE |
