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It doesn't seem like
three months since I last wrote an editorial, but the main problem has
been getting the enthusiasm up to find something positive to put down.
Back then, Hoddle was manager, we had brought in Konchesky on a month's
loan and Dalmat was a new arrival. Well, one out of three still
being at the club isn't bad I suppose !!
The removal of Hoddle
from the manager's office has been covered elsewhere at length and the
pros and cons have been gone through, but the lack of an immediate
replacement means we have to struggle along with Pleat in charge.
He initially stabilised things, but now we need to get moving up the
table. Some of his selection decisions cause concern, in that the
reliance on the experience of Poyet leaves us short of runners in
midfield and this is no time to be playing the beautiful game.
When we need to strengthen up in that area, why has Mabizela been
omitted from the bench ? While he may be a more natural centre
half, he has shown he can do the holding midfielder role and while he
might be a bit impetuous in the tackle, he should be alright coming on
as a sub. Alternatively, he could double as a replacement central
defender for Richards, who is looking slow and is supposedly carrying an
Achilles injury. It just goes to show how light we are in this
area of the team, that he has to play on, because we have nobody in the
reserves to come straight in to take over from him and give him the
break to recuperate that he obviously needs. I wouldn't have
thought he is training every day if he's suffering with this injury and
that means his overall fitness will not be 100%.
But then fitness of
players has never been a strong suit at Tottenham. Remember Jamie
Redknapp ? Only just ?? September was the last time he
played and in the three months since the last "View", not only
has he not featured in the first team, but if it wasn't for his column
in the programme, you might have forgotten about his existence
altogether. Zamora has had two injuries since he joined; Kanoute
missed a month with his ankle injury thanks to Izzet; Robbie Keane
missed the same length of time away; Anderton is getting knocks here and
there; Ziege gets one injury after another and Davies is being missed
more than anyone else, but his injury makes few lead stories on the
Spurs website - save for a few sentences saying he is missing
playing. Well, we are all missing seeing him play !!
Hopefully (and it is
a big hope), we will have some of these players back soon to bolster the
squad and help us climb back up the table. We have some games
coming up that we should regard as winnable, but Charlton and Birmingham
will be more difficult than the team probably think and last season we
only got a home draw with Charlton while managed to beat Birmingham,
thanks to Keano's sneaky goal. Tottenham must realise we have to
grind out results and seeing as we are picking up virtually nothing away
from home, we need to get home points. The problem is that we
still have Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle to play at
home. Therefore, the away strategy needs to be looked at, because
going for a point doesn't look likely to achieve that. It looks
more like we are going to limit the damage from the start.
Off the pitch, things
go from bad to worse too. Directors resigning and leaving through
mutual consent makes the board look bad and the AGM was a pantomime
played out by Baron Hardup ("Daniel Levy gave a performance of
quality sadly lacking by those who run out on the pitch" - The
Tottenham Gleaner) and Widow Twanky ("For all his experience in
financial circles, David Buchler should really take up being a merchant
banker after this fine display of such Twankery" - The Haringey
Bugle). Buchler's "Never Mind the Gap" comments are just
hot air and I don't know if he thinks this is what the shareholders and
fans want to hear, but if he does, he is sadly mistaken. What they
might prefer to hear him say is "The club have not achieved the
level of success I had hoped for during my tenure and I am stepping down
to allow someone who can do the job more competently step in."
As for Levy, he would
be lost without Buchler acting as a mouthpiece for the board. He
is timid and appears not to like the fact that people can ask direct
questions of him. But then if the club were successful, the hard
questions wouldn't be forthcoming. Straight answers are not always
possible, we appreciate that, but we would like some semblance of an
indication where the club is going. You get the feeling that it is
heading Eastwards to Stratford if the Olympic Stadium is built. No
commitment to the current stadium will be made until the local Council
and the Greater London Authority commit time and money into developing
the transport link that Tottenham want. When London Underground
have already said it is not on, that probably tells you what the future
holds for Spurs. A move into a new stadium, although the board
have had the sense to definitely state that we will not ground share
with Arsenal at Ashburton Grove ... carefully leaving out the statement
that we will never share a stadium with them somewhere else !!
The way they are
raising money for the £15 million transfer fund is also fraught with
unspoken strings. Not a straight share issue for THFC ... No
!! This is a interest free loan on the £250 a piece shares, with
interest payable only after three years in the normal way or there is
the ability to make them ordinary shares if the shareholder
wishes. It was this share issue that Howard Shore resigned
over. Is there a market for football shares at the moment ?
I wouldn't have thought so. And ENIC are underwriting the issue,
so there must be £15 million in their coffers to do so, in case nobody
is interested in buying the new shares.
The news that the
club "lost" £1.75 million on the proposed Academy site at
Abridge came as a bit of a shock. However, the plans for the
development are still viable to be applied elsewhere, if the club can
find a site that WILL (instead of "all indications showed we
would") get planning permission. The money for capital
projects is solely available for that and the ground expansion, so the
£15 million for players will be welcome, but is £15 million enough
? I would like to think that it will bring in some quality players
to help us make the jump into Champions League contention, but at the
moment, the focus is on the jump into mid-table security. The same
players will not figure in this equation.
Michael Brown is
coming in on 1st January 2004 and if this is the way our signings are
going to go in the New Year - goodness help us. A solid enough
performer in the Nationwide, but the man to galvanise our fortunes
?? Wouldn't have thought so. In fact, his early career was a
bit of a flop at Manchester City and while all players develop at
different speeds, Brown hasn't proved anything in the top flight.
At £500,000 he's not going to break the bank and at that rate, we will
have a new squad of 30 players with the £15 million to be raised by the
share issue.
The other thing that
is at the back of many Spurs supporters minds is that the buys we make
now might not be to the liking of the new manager when he arrives ...
whenever. Or is he pulling those strings behind the scenes ?
And how is he ? Rumour indicates Martin O'Neill, but if Houllier
drags Liverpool down any further, the vacancy there will appeal more to
the Irishman and he might decamp in Anfield, rather than become the King
of White Hart Lane. Jose Coutinho of Porto has been mentioned as
an outsider and although Tottenham didn't really take to Gross, another
fling with a Continental coach might be on the cards, after failing with
an old hero of the Lane.
With the Premier
League not allowing us to tell you who we are due to be playing and
when, we hope that the mystery of the league programme brings you some
cheer in the 2004 of the 2003-2004 season (I think we are allowed to
give that much away) !!. But
while we keep thinking things can't get worse, the current predicament
does not bode well unless the team pull their collective fingers out
soon. The phone-ins are crammed with people saying we are too good
to go down, but on current form we are not good enough to stay up.
One point from teams in the top ten we have played this season is not
good enough. The fact that we have also lost points to those
around us (Bolton, Blackburn, Boro) means that our predicament is
exacerbated, because we are not putting any distance between us and
them. We are becoming them and that is the great fear.
Although it always
seems hard. 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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