Hey Bobby

In the recent media melee, the guns have been firmly pointed at Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas, and generally unnecessarily in my view.

Yes results have not gone in the right way, and some questions have to be asked about why the £100 million worth of new signings have not settled yet and why there is no idea of the best first eleven or a plan B when things go wrong.

However there is no escaping the fact that the problem is a lack of goals. Last season Spurs fans were clambering for a new striker; there was huge frustration when no one was signed in the January transfer window with the board and management seemingly happy to persist with Adebayor and Defoe. It was this move that many fans put down to the failure to achieve Champions league football this season.

However the problem was partly solved this season as £26 million was spent on Valencia's Roberto Soldado. He started brightly, proving his capabilities from the penalty spot, however his prowess in front of goal is yet to be proven.

Firstly there is the obvious point - he has no service and is often isolated up front on his own. This is easily solved and in the recent Manchester United match, Chadli and Lennon were played to offer that service. 

However he still didn't manage to score, and now questions will be asked of the man. Jermaine Defoe has proved more than capable of scoring against lesser opposition in the Europa league, while Adebayor has had a viewing point for the most of this season.

Questions will continue to be asked of AVB and his best eleven, and also on whether a 442 can be played with A partnership of the three out and out strikers. However as was sang about striker Yakubu at Everton and Blackburn among others, "feed the Yak and he will score". If the Spurs midfielders feed Bobby, will he score? If not there may be comments of "Hey Bobby, what's the Spanish for score a bloody goal?"

13 seconds of fame

I write this a few days after the delight of the Manchester City game.

I call it a delight, well I don't need to explain my sarcasm, but instead you have to look at what you can learn from a mauling such as that by City. Yes Spurs lost 6-0, yes we played well for 10 minutes and yes, we had excellent possession considering.

However the negatives take too long to write and are well covered elsewhere - AVB's lack of a plan b, the mistakes made by an otherwise excellent goalkeeper, defenders who cannot defend, midfielders who don't know each other and a striker who relies on service and gets none.

As for me, well as I tweeted during the game I had no plans to switch off as the torture will weigh heavy until we can turn it around. I saw lots of comments around giving up, switching over to the F1, and attention being elsewhere. Ok so I am guilty of the last one, but Twitter is permitted!

You stick by the team you chose. Whether it is Barnet languishing in the conference, or Arsenal surprisingly at the top of the Premier League, you have to take the rough with the smooth. 

For Spurs fans, the late 1990s were a process of endurance of bad players and misinformed management who seemed out of touch on what Campbell and Co could achieve.

For the current crop, the excuse will long be used that the current team with so many new names is still "bedding in", well three months in and we need to see progress. We have looked organised and are scoring goals in the Europa league, but we took Hull City to penalties in the league cup and looked assembled in the league before Sunday. 

This weekend champions Manchester United visit, another team in transition. If we can put the right team out and play as a unit, as United seem to be able to do so far this season albeit not as impressively as they were under Ferguson, then this will be a success. Lose, and we'll be a long way off the lead.

Holding out for a three lions hero 1994-2013

A simple bit of Googling revealed something which made me feel a tiny bit happy and rather old the other night. 

After England qualified for the 2014 Brazil world cup, I realised that it was 20 years and two days since that night in Rotterdam when England lost to Holland. 

Yes good memories are still fresh: Ronald Koeman dragged down David Platt who was clean through on goal, referee gives a free kick to Holland and a yellow to Platt. Graham Taylor loses his Turnip head and shouts "what have they been instructed?" Thankfully we had Fantasy Football League to cheer us up on this incident (look up Koeman phoenix from the flames on YouTube).

Then of course we cared about England and its team of Geoff Thomas, Carlton Palmer and smatterings of the Arsenal defence. Now with a mis-firing front line of Wellbeck, Sturridge and Rooney, it was down to Tottenham's emerging great Andros Townsend to save them in both games :-)

The problem with England isn't that there are too many foreign players in the Premier league, it is who is there just isn't of interest. That 1993 team who didn't go go USA 1994 wouldn't have stood up against the then powerhouses of Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Nigeria and of course, Bulgaria.

Now there are likely to be as many England fans supporting the Real and Barca laced Spanish side, the new stars of Brazil or the Premier League eleven of Belgium. 

England sadly find themselves with one option in goal, few options at centre back and the reality of a last tournament for Gerrard and Lampard.

The question which is in my mind is how this has happened when the under 21 side looked so good a few years ago? Tottenham's stars then of Danny Rose, Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore are all playing regularly, but promising players like Connor Wickham and Tom Cleverley have failed to show their potential in the big league.

One prominent player of four of the five world cups England qualified for since 1998 was a player who divided opinion but had unbelievable talent and is known for being a great ambassador for the English game - David Beckham. Do England need a new goldenballs, Gazza or captain Marvel? England need a player we all love, and while club loyalty outweighs national responsibilities for most, a superstar would carry the nation's hopes next summer. 

Naturally you're expecting me to name Townsend as that player, but that would be silly after a great half season for QPR and a great run for Spurs in absence of Aaron Lennon and with the new stars breathing down his neck. Someone will emerge in the late season, metatarsals depending. 

Spurs spending spree - We should be so lucky

I recall the summers of 1988 and 2004 as a Spurs fan, because they were notable for being those with major spending sprees.

In 1988 I was only a year into supporting Spurs and while we had waved goodbye to Waddle, Hoddle and Gough, we welcomed Paul Stewart and most notably Paul Gascoigne into the team.

In 2004, in a team led by new manager Jacques Santini, assistant Martin Jol and sporting director Frank Arnesen, we made a huge number of signings including left back Erik Edman, left winger Reto Ziegler, central midfielder Timothee Atouba and centre back Nourridene Naybet. The latter was the most notable as he filled the position in the centre and taught Ledley King all he knew (his words).

Now we can mark summer 2013 into that list too, with seven new names in the squad. Not major world stars (yet) admittedly, but the price tags of Soldado, Paulinho, Lambela, Erikson, Chadli, Caboue and Chiriches (thanks for nicking my original headline Spurs Show btw) show that the management mean business.

Yes we have had to say goodbye to a world class player and some other loyal players to afford them, and analysis has showed that despite being the Premier League's top spenders this summer, we have actually ended up in credit by around £2 million.

As they arrived it was rather unbelievable to see the transfer record broken three times, especially on Friday August 31st when three players all signed on the same day.

How these new players fit together with the existing team is a bit of a mystery not only to us fans, but also to the players themselves I expect. I write this 48 hours after Spurs lost the north London derby 1-0 and at times, looked like strangers.

With no opportunity for a pre-season together, this may take time to figure out and it is a harsh comment, but 24 hours after we saw last season's first choice left back and our most promising youth player loaned to QPR, this team may look a lot different come the end of the season as formations and combinations are sorted out.

However there is no doom and gloom, as this is exactly what we have been calling for as we have a new striker, midfielders who can score and a viable central midfield. With an international break now upon us the team has opportunity to train together ahead of a busy schedule on late September, but I have faith in AVB and Levy, and I'm never gonna give that up.

Bye Bye Bale

Sunday the 1st September brought to an end one saga which has dominated the summer's sporting headlines - Gareth Bale's transfer to Real Madrid.

Six years after the Welsh wizard moved to N17 from Southampton, where his talent as a left back was being noted as the reason for a £10 million transfer, he leaves White Hart Lane for more than eight times that amount. Obviously I am disappointed to see him leave; his form over the last two seasons has been incredible and his heroics in the Champions League a couple of years ago, mainly against Inter Milan, will live in the hearts of Spurs fans for a long time.

In the same vein, I don't think Bale will be hated for this transfer. Like Cunningham, Beckham and Ronaldo before him, they left English clubs to go to the Spanish royals and walk in the shoes of Eusebio, di Stefano, Puskas and Zidane, and I hope that moving from the medium sized pond to the enormous water of the Bernabau will benefit him.

The other reason Bale will not be hated is because his transfer fee has permitted the signing of seven new players (at the time of writing) and generally, his fee has covered that of Roberto Soldado, Eric Lamela and Etienne Capoue. Last season we were accused of being a one man team; this season we have almost filled the gaps that were so evident in our squad and look stronger than ever. Yes on the last day of Bale's employment as a Spurs player he saw us lose the North London derby, but would we have won with him? 

The final reason Bale will not be hated is because he chose to play abroad. Had he moved to Chelsea, Man City or Man United (my suspicion was the latter due to him being a natural replacement for Ryan Giggs) he would have faced the reception that Sheringham and Berbatov did, or the many departing Gooners to the Etihad. Instead he has gone to Spain, a move overall that is bad for the Premier League as it loses one of its leading lights, and for commercial reasons as Bale was one of the faces of BT Sport's promotions. 

I'll remember Bale fondly as the generation before me remembered Glenn Hoddle - a natural talent who saw a move to the continent as the way to improve himself and not as a sly upon Spurs. The 2012/13 season will be his Spurs epitaph and it will be a strong one, ending with Footballer of Year of the awards from all.

In the words of Freddie Mercury, Gareth Bale "You made us laugh, you made us cry, you made us feel like we could fly."

It's been a while

The FA Premier League returned Saturday lunchtime with Liverpool's victory at home to Stoke. The game saw Liverpool debuts for some of the summer signings and the first league appearance for Daniel Sturridge since his injury,  in a week that saw the Suarez situation seemingly come to an end.

The game at Anfield also saw the return to management of Mark Hughes, who had been out since his departure from QPR. A deserved win for the home side although were it not for Begovic being on top form, it could have been much worse for Stoke City. A well taken shot from Sturridge was what it took to beat the Stoke keeper. A handball from Agger late  on saw a penalty given to Stoke. Walters v Mignolet for what would be a home win or an away point. Mignolet dived right and pulled off a penalty save and then was on hand to pull off a rebound save to keep a clean sheet for his Reds debut and an opening win.

For Arsenal it all started brightly as they took the lead but then like their summer transfer chasing, it all went downhill. Villa though were helped by questionable refereeing decisions. Villa who were hoping to have a better season got their starting wish especially with Benteke committing to the Midlands club. The Gunners though will hoping of a signing and a first win next week.

Everton under the guidance of Roberto Martinez came back from a goal down in their trip to Norwich, they weren't though strong enough to hold on to the lead and their opening game saw two points dropped as Van Wolfswinkel netted on his Premier league debut.

Having the better stats in a game proved for Sunderland that it counts for nothing when they were at home to Fulham. Failing to convert possession and shots into goals enabled Fulham to steal a winner and all three points.

West Brom looked like following up last seasons Liverpool victory at the Hawthorn'opener, with another clean sheet at home to Southampton. Sadly for them a last minute converted penalty from Rickie 'It's a wonderful week' Lambert saw the Saint's walk away with a fortunate three points.

New boys Cardiff were welcome to the Premier League with a thump as they lost 2-0 away to West Ham. A goal in each half was enough to secure a win for the Hammers against a team that failed to trouble Jaaskelainen in goal for West Ham. For Cardiff they would have hoped to have come away with some result as they face Man City at home this coming weekend. For West Ham its a positive start as they look to have a positive season.

Champions Manchester United had seen their manager David Moyes previously complaining about the fixture list. I would imagine complaints disappearing after Welbeck and Van Persie each put two past Swansea to start their defence with a win. Alleged want away striker Wayne Rooney appeared for 30 minutes and received a reasonable reception for the travelling United fans. The lack of big name signings by Moyes seems a bit of a  over concern but of course an away win at Swansea doesn't guarantee anything.

Chelsea hosted newcomers Hull on the Sunday and the first Premier league game with Mourinho back in charge saw the blues open up with a home win despite a missed penalty from Lampard. Lampard did net the second in a 2-0 win although Lampard's free kick was fortuitously won after Fernando Torres dive.

Hull weren't the only new boys playing on  the Sunday. Crystal Palace entertained high spending Tottenham. Whilst the visitors were piling the shots in, they couldn't put them away and at times seemed that they wouldn't get that breakthrough but then a penalty was awarded after a Moxey handball. Defoe missed a chance for a second, but could only send his shot wide.

The final game of the opening weekend saw Manchester City take on Newcastle. The Magpies hoping for a better season would at least be disappointed by their start. City of course in their first Premier league start under Manuel Pellegrini off to a great start. Within 20 minutes City were  2-0 up. Things weren't helped for Newcastle when they lost Guiterrez through injury and Steven Taylor sent off just before half time. The visitors  who left Premier League survival last season late on, saw their opening game go from bad to worse to even more dismal. They say it has to get worse to get better, well they'll be hoping that next weekend will be better for them. Next Saturday sees the first of two home games where they notched up nine home wins compared to  the dismal away form. If they can get two wins in their first three games, the Toon may very well look like making some progress.

They say the title is not won after one round of games but you can often tell by the minor things how a team will look. United seem their usual self, Chelsea off to a home winning start, Spurs doing an Arsenal and winning 1-0. Arsenal on this basis whilst the world seems to be against them starting off slowly. Liverpool with an opening day win for the first time since 2003 in a game that had it been last season may have seen a draw or a last minute defeat. Newcastle looking bleak but who knows if they can turn it around. 

Out of the newly promoted teams, all of them lost but Hull and Palace did give some trouble to their opponents. Cardiff will hope next week to get some shots on  target and even maybe hitting the back of the net

 

Almost here - Part One

With the Community Shield done and dusted, we are now on the final straight to the start of the FA Premier League. The opening games sees a changing Liverpool against a Stoke City with a new manager. Liverpool of course will hope the new signings will give Liverpool a better start to the new season. Of course Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that the Suarez saga is closed before the transfer deadline day although the Northern Irishman will be hoping to add a couple of more signings before the transfer deadline. 

Stoke on the other hand will be heading into new territory with Mark Hughes in charge. Stoke have been quiet in the transfer market with two players in and Pennant signing a new deal. It will be interesting to see how Stoke fair under the leadership of Hughes and a different move in tactics.

Arsenal fans will be hoping to see Wenger acquiring some new players before deadline day. Summer target Luis Suarez looks certain to remain a red past the 2nd Sept. Failure to sign Suarez or a big signing before deadline day will leave Arsenal fans wondering what is going on especially with Wenger having money to spend. 

Aston Villa fans will be hoping to have a better season especially knowing that Benteke will be in their side. Lambert made a few signings but none will be as vital as knowing Benteke put pen to paper. They will be hoping that they start the season with at least a point.

Norwich City host a Martinez lead Everton. Hughton was busy in the transfer market. Hughton may have raised eyebrows allowing Grant Holt to go but he brought in Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper to bolster the striking line. 

Everton under Martinez may look to head into the season still with Fellaini and Baines in their squad. Martinez signed Kone from Wigan and Deulofeu on loan from Barcelona. The Blue half of Merseyside will be hoping to continue their upward progress but it will be interesting to see if Everton will be a Wigan type of Everton or a Moyes style Everton or whether the club will also lose two key players.

Part two to follow in the week.

Farewell Tevez

This week saw the end of a saga in English football which has dominated the last seven years.

Arriving on transfer deadline day direct from the 2006 World Cup from Corinthians to West Ham, Carlos Tevez has remained an enigma since that day.

Why gritty east London? Why there, and the questions we would ask later - why did it take you so long to score your first goal and who actually owns you and your contract?

The former seemed to be sorted once he scored his first goal against Spurs, the second resulted in a £5 million fine and some would argue, the relegation of Sheffield United.

His move to Manchester United was undoubtedly a success, paired with Rooney and Hernandez he was a part of the team who won the 2008 champions league and he played in the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

His move to noisy neighbours Manchester City didn't work out so well; yes he scored, but he lost his crazy man image to Mario Ballotelli, had to battle for first team places with Aguero and Dzeko and the Bayern Munich incident and subsequent strike lost him more fans.

Now he will be wearing the black and white of Juventus, and he will wear the number 10 formerly worn by legend Alessandro Del Piero. It's a loss to English football no doubt, as he leaves a mould of a scarred, battle hungry footballer who most teams (mine included, rumour was Spurs tried to sign him in early 2012) wanted in their starting eleven.

More than 30 years since the Falklands war, it seems that we love Argentinians again - from Ardiles and Villa to Aguero and Messi, not missing Maradona, they bring a certain panache of dogged spirit to the game without the career decline seen in so many brazilians.

Farewell Carlos, here's hoping you keep the silverware coming back to Turin.

Things are on the up - an optimistic look at Liverpool this past season and future.

Cast your mind back to last summer. Liverpool had parted company with Kenny Dalglish. Finishing eighth,winning the League Cup and reaching the FA Cup Final was clearly not enough for the Liverpool owners and so a search for a new manager had begun. Many names were mentioned but it came to being the manager of Swansea FC, one Brendan Rodgers. Many people saw it as a strange choice but ultimately a brave choice.

He took some risks during the summer and notably the transfer deadline day debacle which saw Andy Carroll go on loan but no other striker brought in albeit not for the want of trying. This had left Suarez as the main goalscorer.

Rodgers had a vision and wanted to restore pride to the club. The famous This is Anfield sign from the 74-98 era was back up on the tunnel. This vision to restore the club back to the dizzy heights of success may not be an overnight return but a journey that even took the great Bill Shankly a period of time.

The season ended with Liverpool finishing seventh but ultimately another striker purchased before deadline day would have seen Liverpool further up the table. In fact from the start of 2013 Brendan Rodgers Liverpool side suffered only three Premier League defeats which saw Liverpool finish on a run which included sticking 6 past Newcastle United in one of the games with Suarez banned.

Liverpool's home record seems to be steering in the right direction. Whilst the loss column may have gone up one to four since the departure of Benitez, the win column appears to be more than the draw column. This may be Rodgers first season, but the signs are optimistic. Anfield remains a tight ship defensively. The goalscoring issue that helped to cause so many home draws looks like disappearing. Liverpool bagged 33 which was more than the previous season where the reds at home only managed 24.

The away form which hadn't seen a positive win loss record since the club finished second in 2008/09 season, saw Liverpool under Rodgers halve the defeats and finish with a record of 7 wins, 7 draws and 5 defeats. Notably though was the number of goals scored. Liverpool bagged a record 38 goals scored on the road. This was two more than the Benitez side that finished second.

Despite all those willing to aim cheap shots at Liverpool during the last season, Liverpool's transition upwards may well be comfortably in that direction.

In a season which saw Fergie retire, Mancini sacked, Mourinho return to Chelsea from the Real Madrid saga, Moyes appointed Everton manager. I wouldn't be surprised to see Liverpool pushing their way through.

To those Everton fans who think that the blue half of Merseyside is the dominant force in Liverpool, I would think again. 

It's not the end of the world

It's hard to summarise an entire football season or the emotions I am feeling 24 hours on (at the time of writing, it is 5.25pm on Monday) but in word it is: positive.

In truth I didn't expect Spurs to finish 4th, there I've said it. We are better away and Arsenal are better at home, but they did what was required and so did we.

As usual we can pintpoint the problem of not finishing in the Champions League qualification spaces to several factors: not signing a striker in January; Adebayor's poor scoring form through 3/4 of the season; too many draws when we should have won; too many dropped points at home; the loss of influential players like Kaboul and Sandro - I could go on.

I'm positive because we did what we had to do and win, Bale's finish was utterly sublime. We left ourselves hoping Newcastle were going to do the job, they didn't, and should have scored more against a very mediocre Sunderland side.

I was at the game and saw what we were up against from pitch side, including 2 legitimate penalty claims, the first of which was seen by all.

Overall I am positive about the huge points haul of 72, enough to have comfortably secured a top 4 spot in previous seasons. I am also positive about the overall form we showed under a new manager who is now among the longest serving in the premier league. 

Finally I am positive about Gareth Bale staying at the club. We showed determination to build a side around him, to play the best football in years in an improving squad. 

I am also confident that Bale will see Spurs as the best option in England for him - the top 3 all change their managers this summer and aside from a step down to Liverpool or Everton, his only option is Arsenal. That would never happen, would it?

End of Season nail biter - The Arsenal viewpoint

Arsenal have had a dreadful season. At least that is how we felt at Christmas, that's how we were feeling when we got knocked out of the League Cup by Bradford and the FA Cup by Brighton. It's how we felt a few months ago when we were 8 points adrift of Spurs, 10 adrift of Chelsea in third, and we had to watch our former captain and star striker score goals for fun each week for eventual Champions Manchester United. When we were beaten at White Hart Lane in early April, most of us assumed that Thursday night football was inevitable.  Cries of 'Wenger out!' and 'sack the board' were heard at the Emirates, and in private many supporters were questioning our wage structure, our transfer policies, and suggesting that our manager had, frankly, lost his touch. 

Yet here we are, with one game remaining in the league, unbeaten since that Spurs defeat, and once again Champions League qualification is in our hands. Not only that, but coming third is a real possibility (although relies on an Everton away win at Stamford Bridge). 

So what changed? I don't think I can pinpoint a single game that reversed our fortunes, and I can't even use the reason for last season's qualification (Tottenham's absolute collapse following their trouncing of Newcastle in February). Something certainly changed in our defence, namely the gelling of Koscielny and Mertesacker, who remain an unbeaten partnership. We've seen in recent weeks that anyone can score, and rather than relying on one talismanic goal scorer,  nine of our regular players have got on the sheet. We've seen Theo Walcott return to form, having spent the first half of the season failing to put in a decent cross, and we've seen our midfield play as a team, with fantastic performances from a rejuvenated Rosicky, Arteta and a frankly brilliant Santi Cazorla. The cry now is 'why didn't we play like this all season?'

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Arsenal simply play better when they are the underdogs. This was demonstrated most clearly in our Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich, and I think that game made our players decide to just go out and play and see what happened, rather than feeling pressured to win. Perhaps the defeat at Spurs took the pressure off, as from then there really were no expectations of Champions League qualification. 

We've still played terrible football on occasions - last week's defeat of QPR being a prime example. But as a wise man once said - I forget if it was Alex Ferguson or Brian Clough - the sign of a good team is to win matches even when playing badly. 

It's 9 years to the day since 'The Invincibles' lifted the title. We'll never see a team like that again, and it's time that Arsenal fans realised this. I think the players finally have. What we need to do to finish fourth is to beat Newcastle on Sunday. We don't need to play like Brazil, we don't need to be tricky and play a beautiful passing game, and we don't need to score flashy goals. A plodding, solid, 1-0 will do. Play well, play badly, I don't really care. As long as we win. And as we showed against QPR, against Wigan last night, and against Fulham in April, we can certainly do that.

Victoria Sharkey

Has it come to this?

Last night's 4-1 defeat and relegation of Wigan by Arsenal has set the last day of the season up for a 2006 nail-biting repeat.

Except I won't be biting my nails, well I hope not anyway. The situation Spurs have found themselves in, with Champions League football next season dependant on other results has come from a number of factors I have detailed previous to this blog.

The fact is if Spurs lose to Sunderland on Sunday, we don't get to play in the premier tournament next season and will face Europe's second best in the Europa league for a second season running. Yes it is better than nothing, but there are implications of our best players being lured away, the financial investment and memories that Champions League football can bring.

What the biggest concern is, for me, is how this situation has occurred once again, with us taking it to the last day of the season and being reliant on other results once again.

In 2006 we were reliant on Arsenal losing to qualify, and a lasagne and 'missed' penalty by legend Teddy Sheringham was not enough, while last season we had to watch Bayern Munich play like fools in their own stadium and lose to Chelsea, meaning no qualification once again.

I think we deserve to get into the Champions League, but then I would say that. We have played some fantastic football, have one of the best players in the world in our team and are forming a magnificent spine through defence and midfield.

Failure to qualify will come down to us looking at where points were dropped and the failure to add the right talent to our squad, but we will get no sympathy if we fail to do it again.

Although, I suspect no blame will be put on AVB'S door. A few early season teething errors and a few questionable selection decisions aside, this has been a good debut season for Andre and to have that rewarded with him, Bale, Vertonghen, Sandro and co playing Europe's best in 2013-14 seems fitting.

It can be done!

What is the secret behind Gillingham’s success?

To say that this season has been memorable as a Gillingham fan is an understatement. It has been truly unbelievable.

So often over the past few seasons we have lost out at the death: Eugen Bopp’s goal at Nottingham Forest relegating us from the Championship in 2005, the capitulation at Wycombe when 4 results went against us to send us down and the defeat at Chesterfield in 2011 were all recent, painful memories. Yet we didn’t need to rely on the final day this season – it was all settled before then.

But it was all settled before the final day last season too. Does anyone remember Charlie Lee’s double against Morecambe on Saturday 5^th May 2012? Of course not. That’s because this season has eclipsed anything most of us have seen before.That game against Morecambe proved to be Andy Hessenthaler’s last in his second spell as Manager. The club underwent a lengthy process to replace him, and by the start of pre-season we still hadn’t got a Manager. But then Martin Allen walked in and our mindset changed. He had an instant impact.

His first task was to shore up a leaky defence. The additions of goalkeeper Stuart Nelson and captain Adam Barrett, the reinvigoration of right back Matt Fish and consistency of left back Joe Martin all played their part in a fantastic start to the season. By the end of September we had collected 22 points from our first 9 games and were already 6 points clear of second place. The rampaging full backs and solid centre backs were the foundation for this successful season with a series of clean sheets and impressive defending.

It was this solid base which allowed us to record our record breaking away form. The most number of away wins was broken in February at Chesterfield, only 1 defeat was recorded away from home in the first 21 away games and time after time we would go to grounds, defend stubbornly and walk away with a point of three.

We performed when it mattered. This was epitomised by quality in the midfield. Before his January departure Jack Payne controlled games with ease. Loanees David Wright and Romain Vincelot added quality; in the latter’s case an important winner at Wimbledon at the end of October. Chris Whelpdale stayed fit and showed his undoubted class with numerous crucial goals – not least at Southend and Bristol Rovers just after Christmas.

It had all come together nicely. Allen had assembled a top quality squad, more than capable of winning promotion. The likes of Leon Legge and Steven Gregory, signed in January, helped push us over the line. If a player was underperforming then there was no hanging around – the way Lewis Montrose, Ben Strevens and Connor Essam were pushed out of the club may have been ruthless, but it was proven to be for the good of the club. 

The club was central to everything that was done this season. We’ve undergone big changes in the recent past – not least when Mark Stimson replaced an entire League 1 squad mid-season with non-league players in 2007/08. But Allen proved he was doing the right things by placing an emphasis on team spirit. The whole squad clapping the fans at the beginning and end of each game, Fitness Coach James Russell’s innovative warm ups and Assistant Manager John Schofield’s now legendary set piece clipboard provided both amusement and results. Everyone bought into this way of doing things, not least our number 13 – The Rainham End.

Not since the Championship days has the support been so vocal. Even when we were going through a rough spell of home form in January and February, the crowd stuck with the players. Yes it was disappointing to draw at home to York and lose on our own turf against mid table Wycombe and Oxford, but we recognised the progress made and how close we were to getting over the finish line.

How fitting it was that local boy and lifelong fan Danny Kedwell scored the goal at home to Torquay on a Sunny Saturday in April to send us up. As the song goes, Kedwell is “one of us”. Nobody works harder for the team than the former tarmacer who fired AFC Wimbledon into the Football League, and his scruffy strike ensured that we would have a month of celebration to remember this outstanding season.

The title was secured on the penultimate day at our final home game against Kedwell’s former employers. It was he and strike partner Deon Burton who scored that day – 36 year old Burton proving to be one of the signings of the season with his composure, physicality and important goals helping us add many points to our total. It was Burton being elevated into the air during the ensuing pitch invasion that provided one of the moments of the season – the realisation that we would be seeing something for the first time since 1964.

A Gillingham Captain lifting a League title.

The memory of Adam Barrett raising the trophy will live with us all forever. It confirmed the culmination in a remarkable season. From Fleetwood, to Plymouth, to the good old Priestfield Stadium we had seen off all our opponents. No team did the double over us and we were worthy winners. For once we didn’t have to go through anymore last day heartbreak. The 3-2 defeat at Burton was the best defeat we’ve ever had. 

Nobody cared about the result – it was party time. A brand new repertoire of chants emerged:, especially entertaining were “he plays when he wants” directed at reserve goalkeeper Tommy Forecast and “Ohhh Nathan Nyafli” to the 18 year old striker who scored with his first touch in professional football having been released by us 2 months previously, only to be asked back the next day.  Even the senior players left out for the dead rubber, sitting among the fans joined in. It summed up the team spirit that Martin Allen had drummed into the players. It typified our season as one we shall never forget.

Thank goodness it didn’t go down to the last game again! 

The Champions League chase for fourth

Chelsea played Spurs in a game that could have made a difference in the chase for the final Champions League spot. A Chelsea win would have more or less made third spot secure but a win for Spurs would have seen them leap above their North London neighbours Arsenal a point ahead with two games to play. The end result was a 2-2 draw at the Bridge with Spurs coming from behind twice to share the spoils. The final fixtures will be interesting especially with Chelsea facing an Everton whose manager will be heading east to Manchester United come the end of the season. Chelsea travel to Aston Villa looking to repeat the result that they got at the Bridge earlier in the season. One thing is that it wont be 8 for Chelsea but it will be much closer. If the powerful Benteke is feeling it on Saturday, he could easily give the Chelsea defence a run for their money. Chelsea know that a draw is not the result they need especially if Arsenal and Spurs win both their matches. 

Spurs travel to Stoke City again needing to avoid a draw as that could end their Champions League hopes and given Spurs late win against Southampton in a game where Southampton were unlucky to get a point, if Stoke can shackle Bale, it could be another long night for the North Londoners. Their neighbours Arsenal get an extra few days thanks to Wigan playing in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Arsenal could have a greater advantage as they wont play till midweek. That's not to say that Arsenal are guaranteed a win. Whilst Arsenal have been getting wins and not playing well, we all know that Wigan dont like to conform and given their latest form in the league it is hard to predict which Wigan will turn up. Will it be the Wigan that comes back to win or the Wigan that looks like the keystone cops.

Tottenham's final game of the season is a home game against Sunderland. This should be a three pointer on any normal day. This of course is no normal day. It's the final 90 minutes of the domestic season. Spurs playing for Champions League and Sunderland playing for Premier League security. Whilst Wigan look the favourites to win, Paulo Di Canio's team will certainly not sit back and relax. They have beaten Everton this season, but at the same time lost to QPR and Reading and of course more recently given a pasting by Aston Villa so nothing can be taken for granted.

Arsenal finish their season against Newcastle United. This Newcastle team has seemingly gone from being a top four  chasing team to a team that has flirted briefly with the relegation trapdoor. For loyal Newcastle United fans, it has not been a season to remember. Notably the departure of Demba Ba to Chelsea. Yes they have suffered injuries, but then so have other clubs. What must worry the fans is the fact not only did they capitulate against Sunderland but they went missing against Liverpool in a game which saw them leak six goals. Arsenal and Newcastle have produced some good games, but this time I think the Arsenal will come through.

So who do I think will qualify for the Champions League? I believe that despite everything that had been said about Rafa, he will secure the third and final automatic Champions League spot. In that final fourth spot in what is a battle of the North London clubs, will be Arsenal. Having sold Robin Van Persie in the summer, it would always be a testing season. They would be written off and after a dismal League Cup exit of Wenger going would be greatly talked about, but like always, Arsenal like always seem to pick up in the league after Christmas.

Some people may think that Im leaning towards Arsenal, which is risky as some of my great cousins are Spurs fans and would hate to get ditched in the Thames....only joking. After beating Arsenal, Spurs should have cruised to third but a run that saw nine points taken from a possible 24 seems to have been their downfall. Arsenal on the other hand went the opposite way. An inspired performance against Bayern Munich kicked their season again and twenty points from a possible twenty four looks certain to see Wenger finish once more in the top four.

With the penultimate weekend hours from kick off, it will be interesting to see what happens.

"He was born to play for Spurs"

I would like to think that the PFA had read my blogs on how Spurs are not a one-man team.
 
Last night they awarded Gareth Bale with the player and young player of the season awards: the first time a Spurs player has achieved this in my memory (mental note to check Gascoigne in 1990).
 
The young player award is Bale undoubtedly deserved. Bale has been one of the finest players overall this year and was undoubtedly the finest of the selected shortlist.
 
However, the problem with the shortlist is that it was generally weak. The best young players were really those who had suffered injuries that had hampered a large part of their seasons:  Sterling, Wilshere, Shaw, Cleverley, Henderson - who just did not make the impact that Bale did.
 
Of course it is deserved; his season was a slow starter, but no one player in his age bracket has made such an impact.
 
Well, maybe apart from Robin Van Persie and Juan Mata, whom he also beat to the player of the year award. This is likely to cause more debate, as Mata for me (and my fantasy team) has been a fantastic player, while RVP has been the difference between this year and last year's champions.
 
You'll never please all the people all of the time, but Bale did just that and did a great job of it. He was named alongside Ronaldo and Messi by some critics and turned games around for Spurs (Sunderland and West Ham to name two).
 
The talk will now move to his potential movements this summer and where he will playing next season. For now, let's just enjoy the moment.

A bit of four-sight for the end

At the time of writing, I am watching Arsenal held by Man United after seeing Spurs held and Chelsea win in the battle for Champions League qualification.
 
This weekend's draw with Wigan has put Spurs in a dilemma; we didn't necessarily expect Spurs to turn them over the way we did Man City, as Wigan generally hit form at this point in the season and Spurs are generally hit and miss.
 
The postponed game against Chelsea is proving to be a play-off for the final Champions League place, with Arsenal looking to take another place with a less challenging run-in. We never expected this season to be easy - the loss of Modric and Van Der Vaart, and the failure to sign another striker and loss of Adebayor's form overall has combined to leave Spurs looking at the end of the season with anticipation.
 
Of course Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea (and their fans) would all love a crystal ball to know what will happen in mid May, as this is classic squeaky bum time.
 
For fans of those three teams, life will not be easy and with champions and 2 relegations sorted in the Premier League, not to mention the fate of other 'second' teams (bad luck Barnet), there remains little in the way of 'nothing games' where every kick counts.

Worst Liverpool XI

Goal Keeper ­– Charles Itandje

 Absolutely rubbish and was caught laughing during a Hillsborough Memorial                           

Right Back -  Jan Kromkamp

Im not sure why we signed him, he was meant to be good, but this was questionable.

Centre Back – Julian Dicks

Signed by Graeme Souness. We David Burrows and Mike Marsh for him…..He didn’t last too long a season in fact.

                               

Centre Back –  Torben Piechnik

A defender again signed by Souness equally as bad as Mr Kozma but somehow managed to win a medal playing for Denmark’s Euro 92 Championship winning squad. Not one of our best Danish signings

Left Back – Paul Konchesky

This was Roy Hodgson's transfer, yes an awful player who is not a Souness signing. Most useless of useless. Only Roy Hodgson can tell you why he signed him.

Midfield – Istvan Kozma

A Hungarian international so bad he only made 6 appearances….Signed by Graeme Souness

Midfield – Paul Stewart

Allegedly a striker signed from Spurs, made 32 appearances and scored 1….no it’s not a typo, he scored one. No need to work out who signed this idiot.

Midfield – Igor Biscan

Sounded like some dodgy Bond Villain, played like a dodgy Bond villain...if they ever took up football

Midfield –  Antonio Nunez

We swapped him in part for Michael Owen going to Real. How the Spanish club must have been laughing.

Striker –  Sean Dundee

A waste of money and just croc, nothing more to say.

Striker –  Fernando Morientes          

I assume he had an aversion to the colour red. Twelve goals in sixty one games, although still better than Sean Dundee which isnt hard.

Subs

Mike Hooper 

Back up to Grobelaar, easy work for a rubbish goalkeeper

Rigobert Song 

Another rubbish defender. A case of why?

Sebastian Leto

Im not really sure about the point, he was very much out of depth. 

Frode Kipp

Not one of Norway's finest exports, made a sub appearance, but did get loaned to Stoke twice before being shipped back to Norway.

El Hadji Diouf

Arrogant, annoying, offensive and he was a waste of money. Not a sociable team player either

An English couple attending the Roma v Lazio derby

 Disclaimer - I wrote this on the plane on the way back from Rome, and only found out about the violence before the game when I landed back in the UK.

Following our footballing trip to Hamburg at the beginning of February, the second holiday-football trip combo saw my wife Victoria and I attend the recent Rome derby.

Although on an 'escape the British cold weather' visit, we spent nine fantastic days in Italy which culminated in four nights in the eternal city. Tourist tales and verbal slides aside, we managed to score tickets for the 'neutral' zone (more on that later) at the Olympic Stadium and despite the Gazza connection between Spurs and Lazio which have probably been erased after the troubles which marred our Europa league game, we decided to back Roma.

As I said, we were in the neutral zone which contained some Lazio fans, but was mainly filled with cursing Roma fans. Also it is a little safer to back the home team in such a game, and I recall laughing at the double-entendre of Totti, probably while Loaded magazine (which I read at the time) did the same in the mid-1990s.

The match day experience is everything you expect from one of the world's most bitter and controversial cross-city derbies: flares; giant banners; passionate fans; and a blatant disregard for no standing or smoking inside the ground.

Encountering one of Rome's many obelisks, the one in front of Stadio Olimpico bore the name of Il Duce Mussolini, which was so surprising that it was not torn down after his disposal and public flogging in death, or removed for the 1990 World Cup or recent Champions League final.

The stadium itself is a marvel, two 'curva' ends, with the rival fans in either, although a shortage of toilet facilities is a problem. A major consideration for the fans is the quality of the finishing and passing, although Lazio had the better play in the first half and Roma in the second.

The game itself was not without incident either - a penalty for both sides; Totti scored Roma's while Hernanes missed just after half time for Lazio. There was a whistle-happy referee, a red card for Biava and it finished 1-1.

Delightfully I can report that I saw no trouble either inside or outside the game, although this may be down to to the vast numbers of police in riot gear that we saw throughout Rome and on the approach to the stadium. Inside there was flare-lighting and throwing on to the section between the curva and goal (which is adequately protected by firefighters) but despite the predictable banter, the mood was not nasty but remained loud.

The whole event was slightly tainted by the challenge of getting home when the trams had mysteriously stopped running and no buses ran to the city centre's main points, meaning we were among the other fans stranded in a distant corner of Rome. However the discovery of a bus ahead of the rain and a can ride meant our memories were generally very positive.

Overall, as someone who saw Serie A as the place of the superstars and was generally disappointed by the standard and quality of the games when they were broadcast by channel 4 and presented by the excellent James Richardson (I once fell asleep during an AC Milan v Juventus league game), not much has improved. This was my and our first Serie A game, and atmosphere and some individual performances aside, the game was not a great spectacle.

Despite the drama, the referee blew for what seemed to be every infringement, the pace was medium and passing pretty woeful. Italy has a great reputation for football and while the World Cup win in 2006 boosted its coverage and confidence, it seems that it is struggling to match its history and competitors in England and Spain for quality.

I realise it is sweeping to criticise an entire league on the basis of one game, but where former Portsmouth players and Manchester City rebels are seen as stars, you do wonder what the arrival of Neymar would do for Serie A.

World Cup Qualifiers - Time for Change in Europe?

So another round of World Cup qualifiers took place over the last week and the same subject airs once again. Yes the question of the lower rank teams and their place in the World Cup Qualifier. San Marino, Liechtenstein, Faroe Isles, Malta, Luxembourg, Andorra all find themselves finishing bottom of their respective qualifying groups.

What does a nation gain from playing against Malta apart from improving the goal difference and guaranteeing themselves 3 points from the home and away ties to add needless injury possibilities? The answer is nothing. The bigger nations aren’t tested and therefore apart from the minnows getting a bit of extra cash and tv coverage they wouldn’t get, the only thing they really see is a severely negative goal difference.

There is no real reason for the smaller sides in the European qualification zone not to have to go through qualifiers to take their place. Fifa place other smaller nations in prelim qualifiers around the world, so why should low rating European minnows be exempt. I’m sure Club managers would be rather happier knowing that their players would be playing two less meaningless international games during the season. There are 53 member nations that take place in the draw and in reality that should be down to 45 who take part in the qualifiers for the World Cup. This could see the lowest 10 nations in UEFA playing to qualify for two places in the qualifiers.

If this were to happen,  come the next UEFA qualifying draw we would see the following nations taking part in a qualifying round.

Azerbaijan

Moldova

Cyprus

Kazakhstan

Malta

Luxembourg

Faroe Isle

Liechtenstein

Andorra

Monaco.

Some people may say that this would penalize the part time nations as we know they would not be good enough, but at the end of the day we want matches and tests, we don’t want walkovers and three guaranteed points. It may also change the face of qualifying and make things a little more interesting without the teams who supply nothing but goal difference bonuses. Admittedly this is something that I cant see happen, but we can always hope.

Time for the final egg-citement!

Bad punny headlines aside, the arrival of the recent England World Cup qualifiers proved to be a major distraction from the weekly race for Premier League achievement.

Of course the issue now is one of a race to the finish, and FA Cup semi finals an European competition (for Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea fans alone) the only distraction, this weekend could prove to be a vital one in the last leg of the 2012/2013 season.

For Spurs, the challenge is on to bounce back from three straight defeats and capture Jermaine Defoe's goal scoring form for club. Admittedly Swansea are rather better than San Marino, but the way I see it - a goal is a goal, and if confidence is the problem for our misfiring marksman, then this may be the spark that he needed.

I don't like to predict (mainly because I predicted we would beat both Liverpool and Fulham) but with only the unpredictable trio of Manchester City, Everton and Chelsea to come among some 'winnable' games, the run in SHOULD be not too challenging for Spurs.

However having watched Spurs for more than 25 years and with memories still fresh from last season's end, something had better go right this time.

Ok so we don't have a manager whose head is being turned by a possible international job, but we also don't have the talismanic midfielders in the shape of Modric and Van Der Vaart, and the likes of Dempsey, Sigurdsson and Parker really do have step up and drag is through the next eight games. Because we cannot end up reliant on other results like last year.

A fond ‘farewell’, to the ground where it’s always downhill second half

An Easter treat from the wonderful Victoria Sharkey, Arsenal season ticket holder and Barnet Bees fan. Victoria is a great friend and the wife of our Spurs correspondent Mr Dan Raywood. I hope you enjoy and I hope there is more to come

Barnet Football Club, currently in another battle against the drop at the bottom of League 2, move from Underhill at the end of the season.  Their home since 1907, the club must move due to primarily to the local council refusing permission to develop to the standards now required of a league club.  The Bees will be moving to The Hive, currently their training ground, situated in Edgware… controversially not within the borough of Barnet.  Many hope that one day the situation will change and that we will at least be able to move back to the Borough at some point in the future, perhaps even to Underhill.  It would really only need a more progressive and supportive council, and a small injection of cash; at the moment, the former looks unlikely to happen.  But the latter is a real possibility.

Barnet have featured in both the sporting and the mainstream press this season mainly due to the shock signing of former Dutch international Edgar Davids.  (And yes, the idea of Davids at Barnet still makes me think I am in some strange parallel universe!)  Davids, whose previous clubs include Spurs, Juventus and Ajax, joined the Bees in October in a move which most of us thought strange to say the least.  He was also appointed joint coach alongside Mark Robson, although Robson left the club in December.

As time went on, a few rumours were heard as to why Davids had made this bold move.  He and his family had remained living in North London after he left Spurs, so whatever he did next was likely to involve staying in the area.  When spotted shopping in Cockfosters, most thought that this would mean a return to Spurs in a coaching capacity, but we then heard that he wanted to get into club ownership, rather than simply management or coaching.  We heard that he had spoken to Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthos about taking over the Bees, and this was acknowledged by Kleanthos in the press.  So it suddenly made sense; Davids wants to own a football club, but he wants to own a league club rather than a conference club, and so he is playing and coaching at Barnet without receiving a salary in order to keep us in the league…after which, he will buy the club from Kleanthos.

The future is bright for Barnet, as long as we survive this current relegation battle.  Looking at the clubs in the fight with us, I’d say we are a good bet for staying up.   Davids can then take the club into a new era, with a new ground, new ownership, and can perhaps work some of his Ajax magic into a side who have suffered over the years from poor attendances and an inability to keep hold of our best players (Puncheon, Sinclair, Bailey, I’m looking at you!).

But, what of Underhill?  What of our past?

As a result of my required attendance at a Hen weekend on April 20^th, I won’t be able to attend the last home game, so this Friday in the game against Dagenham & Redbridge will be my last match on the glorious East Terrace.

I first went to Underhill in 1993.  Having just changed schools, I was dragged along by one of my new friends.  I can’t recall the fixture, but I remember standing on the covered South terrace, swapping ends at half time, and as a Gooner who had just seen her beloved North Bank knocked down to make way for seating, I loved the madness of the terrace.  I’ve loved the Bees, and our poxy little ground, ever since.

I made life changing friendships there, went on dates there, had the worst corporate hospitality imaginable, took non-footballing friends there, and of course met star striker (and scourge of Newcastle United fans) Guiliano Grazioli there (and them named my cat after him).  I sang ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘Do you take it up the arse, Martin Allen’, and my all-time favourite football song ‘Hit ‘im on the head with the Barnet Press’.  Most importantly, Underhill is where I met and fell in love with Dan, my now husband (2-1 v Notts County, Ian Hendon with two from the spot, in case you were wondering). 

There has been highs and lows, but winning promotion to the football league (with a 3-1 victory against Halifax that gave us the title) and beating Swindon on penalties in the FA Cup rate amongst the footballing highlights of my life.  I will love the Bees until the day I die…and that is about as long as I will continue to hate Brian Coleman.

Underhill.  I will miss your beautiful slopes.  Thanks for all the memories.

Perhaps, one day, the Black and Amber will play on your hallowed turf once more...?

The Worst XI - Chelsea

Well we all know that it's easy to pick our all time best XI line ups, but some of us footy fans like to go that step further and look at the more difficult challenges called the Worst XI. So last week, fellow football fan and not amused Chelsea fan James Page came up with his Worst Chelsea XI. It's quite an interesting one featuring Chelsea players past and present. Some you'll remember and some you would have rather have forgotten.

Worst Chelsea XI

Goalkeeper: Frode Grodas

Had a name like a hobbit and played like one. Even struggled to make the Spurs team when we sold him.

Right Back: Gareth Hall

Truly useless. Went to Sunderland and a Sunderland supporting work colleague always held me personally responsible for every mistake he made there.

Left Back: Scott Minto

I think he has already made the worst West Ham XI and I guess any Benfica fan would put him in their worst XI too.

Centre-Back: Winston Bogarde

One minute our players were told to attack him as Barcelona's weakest link - the next we signed him and stuck him in the reserves on 40 grand a week.

Centre-Back: Frank Sinclair

A bit harsh as Frank always gave his all but his eye for an own goal and knack for giving away crucial penalties gets him in.

Midfield: David Hopkin

Couldn't pass, shoot or stand up. Seemed to improve a bit after we sold him which happened with alarming regularity in those days.

Midfield: Sasa Jokanovic

Came on as sub and got booked a lot for nothing. It was the only way you could tell the Joke was on the pitch.

Right Midfield: Mark Nicholls

A token failed 'Hot Prospect' from the days of Paul Hughes, Andy Myers etc.

Left Wing: Gabriele Ambrosetti

Labelled as the Italian Ryan Giggs. Turned out to be the Italian Lee Sharpe.

Forward: Robert Fleck

Great at Norwich but terrible at Chelsea, his awful (non) goalscoring record just edges out Paul Furlong, who was crap but at least managed the occasional goal.

Forward: Tony Cascarino

Another awful signing who couldn't even score in Scotland for Celtic.

Subs:

Graham Wilkins 

Looked a bit like Ray, possessed precisely none of his footballing ability but still played nearly 150 games for Chelsea.

Gary Locke

Wholehearted in the style of Frank Sinclair but with less of Frank’s composure. I once saw him stop a free kick with his unguarded testicles followed by being walked round the old running track at half time in an attempt to revive him for the second half. Probably would’ve been better with 10.

Fernando Torres - 

??????

Chris Sutton

Big fee, small goals return. What is it about expensive centre forwards at Chelsea? Quite good as a centre back though.

Mario Stanic

Came with a big reputation but seemed to have an aversion to making sure any of his passes got to a player in blue. Scored a 35 yarder on his debut, it was all downhill from there.

Notably there's some names that I remember and some that I dont or some that I would rather not.  If you think you can come with an even more abysmal one feel free to contribute.

If you would like to contribute with your worst XI email me at Strictly442@hotmail.com