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Losing to Chelsea was
no real surprise. Losing in the way we did was a surprise
though. The experienced winners that Glenn had brought in over the
summer, didn't do it in the two of the three biggest matches we had this
season. The Worthington Final and this match were what our season
came down to.
Not gaining a
European place will mean that we will have slipped even further behind
the top teams and have not outstripped the ones around us. The
money alone from that sort of competition is worth a lot in keeping pace
with the leaders of the Premier pack. Let alone being able to
bring new talent to the club. Leeds can't hold on to what they
have got because they cannot get into the Champions League next season.
So, while next season
is important, the summer is even more so. The money that needs to
be injected into the team must be brought out of mothballs. I can
only see the money that is raised from transfer outgoings being made
available to Hoddle. The £8 million on Richards looks just what
it did at the time. A fee over the odds just to secure a player
against the will of his club. That emptied the coffers then and
anything like a big signing in the summer will do the same again.
The more likely option seems increasingly that we will look to snap up
the up-and-coming younger players and try and mould them into a side
worthy of a challenge on the league. The cups will be important,
but Hoddle's premise for long term success is to achieve regular
European football and you will not win a domestic cup every year, so it
has to be league consistency that he is aiming for.
With five London
derbies left, three games against the top five, two games against the
bottom four and a possible thirty points to play for, the season might
not yet be over. If nothing else, the side should show that the
result against Chelsea in January wasn't a flash in the pan that it
looks now. The side have not played well since before Christmas
and there needs to be some indication that there are places that can be
claimed for next season. Players have to show that they can
motivate themselves when there is seems to be nothing to play for, while
the management still claim that European qualification is still an
option. Not so sure about that, as if we can't beat Blackburn or a
Chelsea side that has lost to Swiss and Israeli sides in the last two
seasons, Europe would offer some much stiffer tests than that.
Maybe Rebrov will be
put in the shop window, Simon Davies will get a run in the side as
deserved and if they are right, we might see Doherty, Carr and Armstrong
back in contention. Etherington should get more opportunities to
shine, as the oldies look like they have played a few games too
many. Let them have a deserved rest and blood the
youngsters. Gardner has benefited from the matches he has played
and they all have a lot to learn ... both good and bad.
Like the Chelsea fans
who actually stayed to the end of the Cup tie this time, let's go all
the way with the side and not slip away early, even if the team do just
that. Let's get behind them in the last remaining games, as even
if there have been disappointments, there has been more enjoyable
football this season, than in many a season at the Lane. The bad
times will make the good ones seem all the better when they arrive.
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
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