Monday, March 19, 2007

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

The stage is well and truly set.

We beat them here in the league and had the DVD released before you could say 'season ticket price hike'.

Then of course we provided (every neutral in the country) one of the games of the season so far. A six goal thriller at Second Hand Fridge where Maureeniho demonstrated his managerial class and where BMJ demonstrated why no sane person would actually want his job...

Team news for tonight is good. Barring King of course, Jol is able to field Jenas, Lennon, Keane and Berbatov.

This game is huge. If, we are able to replecate the energy, talent and resolve that has marked our fantastic performances of late, then we will do more than give this lot a run for their money.

Chelsea are strong. Physically and mentally.

Our defenders MUST get it right. Lampard and Drogba are too bloody dangerous to be handed free kicks and penalties. .There is no room for naivety tonight.

The £30,000000 Ukrainian waste of space has evolved into an altogether more sinister cheat. Unable score against decent teams he has developed a whole new repetoire of barges, fouls, obstructions and dives.

If our lads can weave their way past these deceits and cheats, we can outplay them and win. A big ask, but as some people are only just realising..... We are a big club.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

1 million-lennon will skin 21 million-SWP

Unknown said...

Good luck lads, try not to put too much pressure on our hearts this time... Not sure if I could take another game like the first Chelsea match or the West Ham game!

Anonymous said...

"BMJ demonstrated why no sane person would actually want his job..."

Going on the counter-attack against an all out attack team instead of trying to defend for 30 minutes is what any sane person would have done in Jol's position

Anonymous said...

anonymous 4.32 - shut it.
7 wins and a draw, 27 goals, stop whinging!

Anonymous said...

great day to choose to give up smoking :-(
come on spurs, a comfortable 2-0 win will do, none of these 4-3 thrillers please............

we're gonna stuff 'em tonight.

Anonymous said...

It truly is unbelievable that this same Spurs team looks so much different than it did mere months ago.

I have never adhered to the dictum that players need a season to settl(here of course I mean mere mortals the likes of Drogba and co. not Berbatov). But it must be true what else could explain the difference in the intensity and skill and determination we are displaying?

Right Berbatov has stepped about five gears, Keane and He have a fantastic understanding as they share football brains. Lennon hasn’t been consistently scintillating, as we know he can be. So what is it that will see us through tonight?

Rather who? Didier Zokora. When he first arrived I thought he was a waste of the £8m or so we spent on him. He was one of those who “needed time to settle”…I raised my brow and shaked my head. This Zokora couldn’t pass the ball. Sure he ran once or twice but his distribution and positional play seemed awry.

But over the past few games I have been watching him more carefully. In an attempt to understand what has changed in the midfield to suddenly give us that extra craft, that extra space to play the cultured brand of football we have been displaying of late.
And it occurred to me that Zok IS settling in. He runs with aggression, looks up a bit more and though the distribution is still not what it could(perhaps should) be..he now starts to look like Vieira when surging forward, maizy runs, goes past people BUT most importantly takes play into the final third and brings the strikers into the game. When he settles in further and works on his passing game a bit he will prove a good buy…

A run from inside our half, dispossessing a perpetually ponderous looking Ballack(say after me: money doesn’t buy you love! And greed? puh!) cutting a confused midfield to shreds with razor like dart, feigning a pass to the decoy run of Berba and curling one in off the far-post for good measure…

Come on Didier give us a goal tonight…

mikethfc said...

come on you spurs! do us proud tonight! mikethfc's prediction = chelsea will take a first half lead, drogba the scorer, then a berbatov brace will seal our victory and our road to wemberley!

when you see, at wemberley, the cup that every club play football for. now in 2007, with martin jol's 11, we're guna do it once more!

COME ON YOU SPURS!!

Anonymous said...

Great day to choose to give up amphetamines :-(

Heart says “It’s a one off game and we can win”

Head says “We had our chance… “

COYS

Anonymous said...

I thought we looked better at half time....

Anonymous said...

can,t watch anymore... 0-2

such is life :-(

Anonymous said...

Well that's that then

Too many of our lot were indifferent, can't blame 'em but we didn't create enough.

6th place has got to be the priority now

Anonymous said...

we lost because too many of our players didn't perform. lennon and berbatov proved they are human, shame it was both together tonight and keane was anonymous. nuff said. can i have a fag now ?!
sigh :-(

Anonymous said...

Shevy's goal was a cross and they were too strong...

Dawson was class, Rocha earnt his Spurs and Steed was very very good.

My one regret is that we didin't see Thud......

Harry Hotspur said...

Permission to smoke...

Where's that UEFA cup, I wanna trophy!?!

Anonymous said...

I want 6th place, would have taken that at the start of the season and nothing's changed.

The future is bright, the future is Lillywhite :-)

Anonymous said...

As predicted: no great team, no great manager, one great player, but one man doesn't make a team.
AND...Berba is human afterall ? who would say that after all the bigotry these last weeks. he's humman, he's tired AND he's injured and if he doesn't stop right now and rest and have that groin taken care of this could be very bad for his careeer.
and tonight those who love him, truly love the man who was suffering and struggling to perform, those few, like me, send him all our best wishes and love.
sleep well and get well soon.
Nemesis

Anonymous said...

we got 5th place last season. no point in just qualifying for europe, u gotta win it! and by winning it, you qualify for europe again. erm need i say more?
hampden park here we come......
coys

Anonymous said...

oi nemesis - fuck off

Anonymous said...

super tottenham!

Anonymous said...

Really disappointed in the execution from our boys tonight.

We managed to get past a few but then the killer punch just couldn't be landed.

Plus Lampard bobbed and weaved superbly to avoid it so you have to give them credit. Could you hate anyone more than Cole, Drogba, Terry and co. at the moment? What a day to give up contract killings!
If it's accepted that Drogba put the boot in then by law he should be done. If anyone did that in the street, pub etc. and got caught on cctv it would be curtains. The man is the biggest piece of cheating dirt to ever play football in England. Disgrace.

Regarding the first part of this post, we lost to 2 good goals, the first a blinder. We had just started to get into them and when the second happened (long ball from cole and swp volley, not unlike recent spurs goals) it was a real kick in the nuts. Lennon couldn't get the better of Diabby who played well all night and showed inexperience. Berbatov spat the dummy too early and Keane was a headless chook. Didn't create enough, Chelsea stood firm.

We all know we blew it in the first game so I'm more philosophical than down. Still alot to play for this season so let's hope we can get back on the horse for the next game (Reading at home? big six pointer.)

My old man said be an Arsenal fan
I said "please don't say that afterall, you're a chelsea fan!'

Anonymous said...

Dammit I thought we could have won that.
Oh well the cartel that is Man Utd & Chelsea continues onwards. Ho hum.

Anonymous said...

ahahahahah
Seville is your next kick in the ass. what else is news with spuds? no cups, no europe, no nothing.unless that berba is al oonie he'll leave coming june. back to the dust bin you go.

Chelsea forever!
Stand up for the special one !

Anonymous said...

11.13

you're pissed, idiot !

Anonymous said...

"we got 5th place last season. no point in just qualifying for europe, u gotta win it! and by winning it, you qualify for europe again."

Gradual but consistent improvement is what I’m looking for not just flash in the pan success.

Last year we finished 5th but only played 2 cup games, knocked out by lesser opponents, this year, Semi-final (drawn after 180 mins), quarter final (lost to the fantasy football team in a replay) still in Europe and chasing qualification by league position.
Oh and playing exciting football in the process. But all that is for nothing if we can’t secure 5th or 6th place in the league (the big four are still out of reach like it or not….for the moment)

If we can keep the squad together and make 1 or 2 good signings in the summer I think we could be knocking on the door of the Champions League next year.

League position is where it’s at if we want to change it to a “Big Five”

Anonymous said...

Ashamed by that performance, on and off the pitch. Berbs and Lennon shackled by a 19 year old, no-one had a clue what to do against a big team, random monkey noises among the boos for Cashley, aimless long balls for the last 2 minutes, two piss-heads bringing even more shame on the club at the end. Outplayed in every part of the pitch at home. It doesn't get worse than this.

Anonymous said...

"It doesn't get worse than this."

Either you have a very short memory or you’ve only been supporting Spurs for 2 years.

Bar the monkey noises- find em and ban em!

Don’t get toooooo down about it, we’re getting better a bit at a time. :-)

COYS!

Harry Hotspur said...

"Either you have a very short memory or you’ve only been supporting Spurs for 2 years."

Well said.

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you why it doesn't get worse than this. When we were really shit it was no surprise. Nw we think we might be getting somewhere, to be slapped down so comprehensively destroys hope. I don't mind losing so much, but when a hope is dashed it's far more demoralising. In the first game, it felt like a defeat. Never in the running for this one.

Anonymous said...

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Pt. 1 We weren’t played off the park, and for a couple of periods we were the better side, and let’s not forget that was the fantasy football billion dollar team.

Pt. 2 “The Special One” was concerned enough to play it very tight which means Spurs have moved on enough so that the big four don’t see us as 3 easy points or a bye in the cup. Was that the Chelsea staff longing for the final whistle? I think it was.

Pt 3. We’ve still got the UEFA cup and our three best players have got their bad game out of their systems.

Pt 4. This team will only get better!

Hit them with the Berba stick


COYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Berba is injured and this is no rumour.I don't believe he'll play for Bulgaria next week.

Don't count on beating Seville and if UEFA doesn't change the date of the fixture, that Thursday is the day Death walks the streets down there. I feel chilled already just to think we'll be playing that day.

And Mourimnho showed why he's the best manager in the world of football: we showed how poor our manager and players are at the Bridge and a bit yesterday. The best team won and I have a feeling Man.U is not getting this one. Mour will.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! You must be a bundle of laughs on a night out

#1“Bet the taxi doesn’t turn up!”

“If it does the driver will be a serial killer”

“And even if we do get to the club, all the women will be blokes in drag”

“But they’ll look so good we wont be able to tell…. And end up snogging one of em”

“And getting some mutant form of Herpes that will eat your knob away”

“And even if we get out of the club in one piece we’ll cut to pieces by a gang of super ninjas fighting over the Chinese restaurant that the serial killer taxi driver told us to go to”

“And…………”

#2“Ok, so you’re not coming then?”

#1” Oh that’s bloody lovely that is, you didn’t really want me to go at all did you…..”

#2 Click…………………………..

Anonymous said...

Only one cup left to go. I'm being paranoid or are you being an idiot?
Wake up !

Anonymous said...

hohohohohoh

check this out, Harry, dear.

"Sofia: Bulgarian National football team’s forward Dimitar Berbatov said minutes after he arrived at the airport in Sofia that there was no conflict in the team with Stiliyan Petrov for the captain’s position, a reporter of FOCUS News Agency informed.
Tottenham’s player said he felt tired after the difficult games he played for the ‘Spurs’ during the last several weeks.
‘There is absolutely no conflict in the team after the return of Stiliyan Petrov. It is not important who will be the captain. We will decide this afterwards’, Berbatov said.

It's the return of the curse of the armband (this time the real thing, the only armband worth fighting for). God does have a sense of humour !

Anonymous said...

5.55

I was born an idiot and I see no reason to change.

Only thing is I'll die smiling :-)

Don't think you're paranoid just a little pessimistic. Just think of "the little train that could"

Anonymous said...

anon 6.03pm obviously a gooner scum or chavski ?!
get on your own site, twat

EL said...

So far this season we've played chelski 3 times and one win each and a draw means we're even. I'll take that over a couple of years ago. We were beaten by a stronger, cannier team with top quality in every position. Our squad is clearly gaining in confidence, experience & belief. I'm still really enjoying the season. Uefa cup is a big ask but someone's got to win it. 6th place? Nah, I'm hoping for 5th again.

Go on the Spurs!

Anonymous said...

6:40
so, let's talk about trains.

Seville is very much connected to Death and the Devil, and not only during the Holy Week, when the game will take place. Chris de Burgh knows that and wrote a wonderful song years ago called "The Spanish Train". Please check the lyrics (perhaps you'd like to post them, Harry).It's the train where the Devil is playing with the Lord for the souls of the dead. The Devil is cheating and winning. The Lord is doing his best and losing.
The chorus goes:
"Lord, oh Lord, you've got to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is still on time, oh my soul is on the line,
Oh Lord, you've got to win..."

Winning in Seville has got a very special taste.Indeed !

Enough culture for now, I think, or is there anything else I can do for you?

Have a nice journey South, dears.

Anonymous said...

"Chris de Burgh knows that and wrote a wonderful song...."

I shall stop reading there as you are clearly insane, and not in a good way. "Chris de Burgh" and "wonderful song" are words that should never occupy the same space or time continuum. Putting them together in such close proximity shows a recklessness beyond comprehension. It’s like trying mix matter and anti-matter or Jade Goody and intelligence… impossible!

And if that wasn’t enough he put words to a putrid selection of unmusical notes and called it “The Woman in Red”….. The bastard’s an Ars…. FAN!

As Einstein stated in his theory of mega crapticity “That Chris de Burgh bloke is a complete cunt”

Anonymous said...

2: 15

I said ONE song, ignorant prick! ever heard it? you better do it, Seville is waiting...

Anonymous said...

6: 03

what is amazing is that after proving he doesn't give a damn about his country national side
(he said he was retiring because he didn't want Stoichkov as manager) Petrov now returns and still finds himself a worthy and reliable candidate to be the skipper...
It's nice to know him and Berba are friends (until now, at least, they were).

Anonymous said...

"ignorant prick!"

Ooooops, thought you were just using the CdB song to make a poin.. didn't realise you actually liked it. There's no right or wrong with musical taste just different.

Many apologies :-)

Anonymous said...

Have a look at 'the Jol Verdict' on the official website this afternoon. I think he sums up just nicely exactly how far we have come in the last couple of seasons. Come on the BMJ! COYS!!

Anonymous said...

Looking forwards to the Sevilla game, just been doing some research. Gulp!! 2nd in the Spanish league, level on points with Barcelona, Kanoute with 20 goals in 30 starts (that is phenomenal form - do you think BMJ regrets letting him go?) and take a look at the stadium! That game will be a massive test and will see just how far we have come.
Who said the uefa cup is 3rd rate ???

COYS

Anonymous said...

I'm very concerned with these references to Chris De Burg songs. I'm even more concerned that Anon ( I would remain anonymous if I admitted to liking CdB ) knows the words. (Come on Harry, you know the words!) I find it very strange that some people look to the lyrics of CdB for predictions in football matches or am I missing something? Are there any other recording artists besides CdB who could predict future sporting fixtures? Is it true that if you play Kylie backwards she can be heard saying 'Flintoff! don't get on that pedalo!"

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmn.... now you come to mention it isn't there and old Russion folk song that translates

"Play Shevchenko or you'll sleep with the sturgeons"

Anonymous said...

"chris de burgh".

"that's enough culture".

???!!!

Anonymous said...

Freddie could never quite cut it in the Prem.

He should have gone to Europe earlier.

However it would have been good to see him mixing it up with the Berba-man.

Anonymous said...

Doh! only just realised that the Reading game is on april fools day

:-(

Anonymous said...

So, Harry, the hunt is on again, this time to find the words of praising for Berba by ( guess who?) the Mour ! Can't find them anywhere but I bet I'll beat you to that too.Or will you prove me wrong?

Anonymous said...

Well, justice was done:


"Dimitar Berbatov is the captain of Bulgaria's football team, reported the national team coach Hristo Stoichkov.

The Tottenham striker will take the position in spite of the return of the former captain Stilian Petrov to the squad.

Stoichkov commented that the FC of Aston Villa is not good enough for Stilian. The coach added that Petrov had great expectations but was disappointed."


And Levy and Comoli, why don't you buy Petrov from Villa? Our midfield sucks and the guy is good (not as good as Berba, but Berba is...god, isn't he?). Maybe Spurs need some more Bulgarian blood !

Anonymous said...

where are the pics and the clips? is the magic gone? is it all over? looks like it. it had to be Mourinho to do it.

Harry Hotspur said...

No pics and clips at present, Harry's having an international mini break...

Anonymous said...

oh yeah, you bet...

Anonymous said...

piss off chav

Anonymous said...

Hello, thought you'd like to know that Berbatov has to stay for two more years with Spurs: that's Fifa's Protective Period of contracts for under 28: 3 years. To leave before, this year or the next, only if Spurs allow it, of course for a load of cash. Therefore I don't understand why his agent keeps saying he's staying one more year only, unless he really wants to leave right now. Logical, right?