Jesus H Christ Almighty that was a dire performance. Granted, we're through to the fifth round, a win is a win and all that but for the majority of the match, not only did we look like the championship side, but a championship side with only 10 men still on the bloody pitch! Never mind, they were obviously saving their energy for the thrashing of Wigan on Tuesday.

Switching from the all-conquering, award-winning, glitz-laden superstars of our rollicking Premiership campaign to the prepubescent kids and want-away squad members on our midweek Europa jaunts is somewhat akin to putting down the Dumas novel in order to tune in to Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds – nobody in their right mind would dispute that it remains quite magnificent entertainment, but the whole forum is perhaps a little more frivolous.

It's back to the second string tonight in a game where Spurs need to grab at least a point in order to ensure qualification for the next stage of the Europa League.

The big news is up front where officially, Harry Redknapp has declared Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gio Dos Santos to be ‘struggling' while in reality it seems likely that neither will make it.

THFC1882 welcomes back guest writer Mike Hooley with a preview of Wednesday's Europa League game:

So, Tottenham Hotspur play a European tie on a Wednesday once again, in what all Spurs fans hope will be a prelude of things to come next season.

However, the fantastic current league run – nine wins and a draw since the Manchester City defeat – is put to one side this week with the return fixture against the Greek outfit PAOK Salonika, current Group A leaders.

More dedicated followers of AANP will be well aware that when I do eventually conclude fighting the good fight and prepare to meet my doom, ‘twill not be in a hail of bullets or blaze of glory, but coronary failure sustained while watching our heroes. While cheering the news that the various pokes and prods to ‘Arry ‘s cardiac area proved successful, I rather fear for him if he observed on the telly-box the inept tomfoolery of Monsieur Bassong in contributing to our downfall.

Rarely do I expect our heroes to lose – away to the Manchester clubs are about the only fixtures this season in which I would regrettably project nul points - but to that roll of dishonour let the epithet "Rubin Kazan. Away. And With Kids" be added. Those Russians can rightly feel a tad aggrieved at having to slop back off to Siberia with nothing but commemorative THFC thermal underwear, for they had the woolly mammoth's share of possession and chances that night, and are likely to cause us a fair degree of bother on their own patch.

Presumably there were some onlookers last night so enraged by our inability to score as the game wore on last night that they tore up their season tickets at half-time, their apoplexy no doubt reaching such levels when we actually fell behind that they chopped off their own feet and howled for the entire team to be sacked.

Although many would love a go at managing Tottenham, Harry Redknapp's current predicament is unlikely to arouse much envy at the moment. Tax evasion allegations aside, the gaffer's biggest headache regarding the club is a great deal more positive, yet still troublesome.

The problem in question is that of deciding who, out of all of the fantastic players the club employs, gets the nod in the first team in the Premier League, the Europa League, and possibly even the FA Cup, if Harry decides to give it a real go.

Europa League Group A Thursday 16th September 2011

Spurs Team: Cudicini; Walker; Corluka; Bassong; Townsend; Falque (Fredericks 81); Carroll; Livermore; Dos Santos (Parrett 92); Kane; Pavluchenko

'The kids are alright' So sung The Who .

This is probably the hardest team to predict so far this season as we have been promised as many as ten changes for tonight's match against PAOK.

"We've got a lot of senior players injured," said Harry Redknapp. "William Gallas, Michael Dawson, Danny Rose, Steven Pienaar, Tom Huddlestone, Sandro, Aaron Lennon, Rafa van der Vaart, all not fit.

Tottenham belatedly kick off their Premier League campaign tonight with a visit to champions Man United. The record books imply that this will be three points in the bag for United, and Spurs have been on the receiving end of some shocking decisions at Old Trafford in recent times.

Roy Carroll must still be wondering how that linesman didn't allow the Pedro Mendes goal to stand, and the farcical goal Nani scored last season did appear a little harsh on Gomes, even though the unpredictable Brazilian did play his part.

Football's best backup goalkeepers: Ogrizovic at Liverpool, Cudicini at Chelsea and Sorensen at Man City?

A solid no.2 is always a good thing

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-07-26 12:52:24 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Finally, I am writing about a football match. Not a good match but a match nevertheless.

Tottenham's pre-season tour of South Africa, under the guidance of Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan, started with defeat as George Lebese's stoppage-time goal earned a 1-0 win for Kaizer Chiefs.

Sidelined for almost the whole season in favour of Heurhelo Gomes, the 37 year-old veteran keeper has arguably gone beyond the call of duty when asked to stand in for Heurhelo Gomes for two brief periods during the season when the No. 1 was hit firstly with a match ban and then more recently was ruled out with a back injury.

Lineups are in:

Tottenham: Starters: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto, van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko Bench: Cudicini, Kaboul, Bassong, Lennon, Sandro, Pienaar, Defoe

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Walcott, Cesc, Nasri, RVP Bench: Lehmann, Gibbs, Squillaci, Wilshere, Arshavin, Ramsey, Bendtner

Do I need to say anything about this one?

Today's news roundup features one thing in common: the future is hazy for nearly everyone.

A Tale of Two Fratelli

Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani were once the crown jewels of Roma's youth academy, two midfielders who complimented each other perfectly. Now, both face uncertain futures.

The Physio room at Tottenham is becoming ever more crowded as Steven Pienaar joined a growing list of casualties after a head injury picked up in training. Pienaar clashed heads with fellow new signing Bongani Khumalo and was reported to have been knocked unconscious. He is expected to be out for two weeks.

All in all this has been a bad few days for us fans of FC Hotspur of Tottenham, or whatever the inevitable spin-off movement will be called once our heroes have moved off to Stratford, or Geneva, or the moon. One point for our lot, but wins and goals galore for the other Top Four-ites (bar Man City, sunk by Darren Bent, most entertainingly) means that the 50th anniversary of the Double won't end in a Disney-esque finale with Ledley emulating the great Danny Blanchflower, hoisted aloft team-mates' shoulders, gleaming trophy in his mitts.

Apologies for the delay –since the final whistle sounded on Sunday afternoon the denizens of AANP Towers have spent every waking minute traipsing the country searching for anyone – anyone – willing to buy Peter Crouch from us. It does not have to be the chairman of a football team. He could be bought by a British Basketball Association franchise, or shoved into a museum for small children to gawp at.

By Ollie Irish

The new kid, No.77, put through his paces at Tottenham's training ground in Chigwell (wonder if anyone will be ballsy enough to cut up his underwear?):

Notice how delighted Becks' new (temporary) team-mates look.

And now for something completely different. At third (and, later fourth) round stage the FA Cup hardly constitutes fixture congestion, so the question of where it stands in our list of priorities can probably be deferred to another day.

Bingo cards out then, as we look to cross off the names of various squad members last season posing merrily in the club photocall back in August.

And now for something completely different. At third (and, later fourth) round stage the FA Cup hardly constitutes fixture congestion, so the question of where it stands in our list of priorities can probably be deferred to another day.

Bingo cards out then, as we look to cross off the names of various squad members last season posing merrily in the club photocall back in August.