The Spinal Countdown

This post was originally going to be about the lack of Tottenham players in the England squad and then Spurs went and sacked their manager.

Yes Tim Sherwood only ever was an interim and his lack of media training and lack of a plan B ultimately worked against him. In a way those two stories do work together as Sherwood did do more in getting the youth team up to standard than any other manager in recent history. The addition of Bentaleb was a good move but ultimately it wasn't clear when the player's form had gone and how much this affected his confidence.

Also other youth team players saw their chances come in the last 8 months and wherever their playing careers lay, at least they got an opportunity.

This ties into the England idea as most of these players are English and could present good opportunities for England at future tournaments. However it was with a heavy heart that I looked at the England squad for the 2014 World Cup and saw not one Tottenham player.

Our four most viable options were Kyle Walker (injured), Andros Townsend (also injured), Jermain Defoe (sold to Toronto FC) and Aaron Lennon (a huge lack of form this season). Sadly only Lennon was a Spurs contender and to pick him would see the absence of a worthy player like Sterling or Milner (the only Englishman to score for the English Premier League Champions this season). 

There were days when the Spurs spine was that of the English team, and last night I attended Ledley King's testimonial at White Hart Lane, where notable players of King's Spurs career played including Englishmen Sheringham, Anderton, Robinson and Crouch. Sadly those days are gone, for this summer at least.

There will be plenty of speculation about who comes into Spurs to replace Sherwood; the smart money is on Frank De Boer from Ajax, Southampton's Pocchetino, but Napoli's Rafa Benitez or (shudder) David Moyes, but whoever takes the hotseat, youth has to be a priority. 

Last summer the club spent over £100 million on some players who came good, some who we will wait and hope on and some who may go, but I would love to see the 2014/2015 squad be one made up of experience, 1 or 2 marquee signings and the cream of our youth team. Only this way will Spurs dominate the England setup once again. 

The final straight - The Premier League run in.

Barring some miracle or footballing scandal, the title race will see Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City battling for the Premier League crown. City are favourites as Liverpool take one game at a time and Mourinho intends on ruling out his side to take the glory.

Liverpool who have shown a desire and attacking belief not seen for quite sometime, will find themselves with the destiny in their own hands. Both Man City and Chelsea have the trip to Merseyside and given the performances of late, the red half of Merseyside will be in no mood to lay down for anyone who visits their patch. Liverpool have been returning their home to the fortress it once was. With three games to go, they could be heading for their best home record return in the Premier League era. Not since the early days of Rafa Benitez have Liverpool looked so dominant at Anfield. Whilst they have been notching the wins at home, they have also been bagging the goals. Not since the home win against Manchester United have home wins been narrow 1-0 victories. It would also seem that Liverpool like to beat their London opponents with great aplomb. In the games against Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace, Brendan Rodgers' teams have notched 20 goals and conceding just 3.If Liverpool can avoid defeat against Man City and Chelsea, a first title in 24 years will become very much a reality.

Chelsea, who have inflicted City's first Premier League defeat of the season at the Etihad, have found themselves looking like they dont necessarily fancy winning the title. Defeats either side of the 6-0 thumping against Arsenal, have causes Mourinho to give up any hopes of bringing domestic silverware to the Bridge this season. A win at Stoke though has kept their ambitions very much alive as they head to Swansea next week. Does Mourinho really think it's over or is he playing mind games.

Title favourites Manchester City smashed Southampton at home as they closed the gap on Liverpool to one point. They blue half of Manchester look to win their second Premier League title in three seasons, as they also look to make themselves the dominant force in Manchester as their neighbours united struggle. City will be hoping to take the form to Anfield and get a result that helps steer them to a League and League Cup double. They hope to have Aguero for the trip to Liverpool. It would seem that they would need them as Liverpool have the knack of outscoring their opponents.

Whoever wins the title, we will be seeing one of the most exciting title races for quite sometime.

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."