The fans on the Fulham message boards are generally not confident about this one. Both teams had a mid week Europa game, Fulham won, and Spurs lost, but Fulham played their full team, whilst ours stayed home in the warm. They think that this, plus the fact that Modric and Parker are dominating teams at the moment will see Fulham defeated.

My, the hardworking folk at The Mirror have been a busy lot this morning; none more so than resident ink-slinger, Darren Lewis, who's been cooking up a spicy bit of gossip concerning that of Liverpool Football Club and one Thomas Andrew Huddlestone. Despite the Merseyside club having more central-midfielders than I've got angry red letters from the council- not to mention Liverpool's position as ‘direct rival' in the hunt for those precious Champions League spots- the story's author seems fairly determined to make it stick.

My, the hardworking folk at The Mirror have been a busy lot this morning; none more so than resident ink-slinger, Darren Lewis, who's been cooking up a spicy bit of gossip concerning that of Liverpool Football Club and one Thomas Andrew Huddlestone. Despite the Merseyside club having more central-midfielders than I've got angry red letters from the council- not to mention Liverpool's position as ‘direct rival' in the hunt for those precious Champions League spots- the story's author seems fairly determined to make it stick.

A show of hands then, for all you honest souls who just a couple of weeks ago had descended into a panicked frenzy, charging around wailing prognostications of doom before leaping headfirst through the nearest window, as our lot lost the opening two games with all the gloomy emphasis of gravitationally-obsessed lead balloon.

As 11pm came on Wednesday there was a palpable sigh of relief from many Spurs fans. Finally all the press speculation about who was on their way in and out of the club could be put to bed and now the focus would be on the football. At least until December, just before the next window opened.

News of Hutton's departure had quickly reached the players4-2-3-1: Friedel; Walker, Dawson, Gallas, Assou Ekotto; Parker/Huddlestone, Modric; Lennon, van der Vaart, Bale; Adebayor. Has a nice ring to it, does it not?
The transfer window didn't so much slam shut as it did gently but firmly close last night and Spurs have been left, once again, to rue a couple of deals that got away.

Emmanuel Adebayor is unavailable for Sunday's game against Manchester City so for now at least, the usual question of who plays up front remains.

Luka Modric has fully recovered from a hamstring injury and according to Harry Redknapp should be involved however the club are still without Peter Crouch, Ledley King, William Gallas, Sandro, Wilson Palacios, Steven Pienaar and Danny Rose.

Thursday nights 2nd leg of the Europa League playoff was hardly a memorable affair. In all honesty with a 5-0 lead from the first leg and both teams looking to rest players there was always the possibility that it would go the way it did. With the much bigger news of Adebayor signing along with a massive game in the Premier League on Sunday I'm not going to go into too much detail but would like to make a few points about the match.

An early preview, as I'm off gallivanting for the weekend, and for the second time in a week this all looks rather ominous. City's charming social experiment into whether money can indeed buy you everything has turned them into something approaching the equal of the United side that so emphatically dismantled us last week.

Supporters' etiquette dictates that we ought to be mightily supportive of the emergence of home-bred talent into the first team, but here at AANP Towers constructive criticism of the various whippersnappers is obscured by outrage at how unfeasibly young they all are. With their trendy haircuts and no doubt listening to music that would simply sound like noise to the bastions of AANP Towers, Townsend, Fredericks and Kane appeared to have been plucked from the fresh-faced crowds milling around collecting their GCSE results earlier in the day.

Having brought Harry Kane, Tom Carroll and Andros Townsend into the 18 man squad for tonight's return leg against Hearts, the exact line up is harder than most to predict.

What we do know is that Huddlestone and Modric are doubtful while King, Sandro, Pienaar, Rose, Gallas and Palacios are definitely out.

After last week's emphatic 5-0 victory away to Hearts you could have been forgiven for assuming that Spurs would go into the home leg with a changed side to give some fringe players a run out. With a crucial game against Manchester City coming up on Sunday and the tie in the bag, it's a good chance to look at some youngsters but according to Joe Jordan, the strongest possible team awaits our opponents.

It's difficult to be positive following a three nil defeat to team deprived of its star centre backs, and with an average age of twenty-three, but I guess as a Spurs fan I should have known better than to expect anything different.

I honestly believed we could take our Europa league form to Old Trafford, expose their young defenders lack of experience, and put an end to our twenty-two years without a win.

Another season, another defeat at Old Trafford. The experience might be familiar, but we did learn a few new things last night (or at least had our memories jogged).

1. Age is merely a concept

The most pleasing aspect of last night's game was the performance of our geriatric goalie Brad Friedel.

Spurs team: Friedel; Walker (Corluka); Dawson; Kaboul; Assou-Ekotto; Lennon; Livermore (Huddlestone); Kranjcar (Pavlyuchenko); Bale; Van der Vaart; Defoe.

Losing to this Manchester United team at Old Trafford isn't the cause to call the Samaritans, in spite of what some Spurs fans would have you believe.

Fútbol México - Fútbol MéxicoFútbol México -

Manchester United vs Tottenham 14:00

Manchester United disputa su segundo partido en la premier league mientras Tottenham debuta en la maxima division inglesa.

Javier Chicharito Hernandez no estara ni en la bancha en este partido, a el se le suman las bajas de Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Owen y Rafael.

Old hat it may be for everyone else, but here at AANP Towers we bounce around the walls like toddlers on a strict diet of fizzy drinks and E-numbers as we await the start of our Premiership season. Still, rather than pacing the corridors, rubbing hands together in feverish anticipation until tomorrow night, it occurred to me that the time is rather ripe for making public the various musings that have echoed around the walls of AANP Towers all summer.

Five goals away from home, five different scorers, clean sheet, no injuries (I think) and run-outs for squad members and kids alike – long may this continue. It could be that Hearts are actually awesome, and we are in fact better than Brazil 1970, but a win that comfortable inevitably points to abysmal opposition.

The pleasure of seeing Spurs play football. White shirts, navy blue shorts, a proper game. That's all I ask. Not so much the victory, not even its emphatic nature, but just to know that our season is under way and a sense of how we are and what's to come.

Monday's cloud of Great Depression, created by an unhealthy combination of high quality mystery drama and an increasing sense of personal anxiety, has blown away.

And so, finally, off we go, in the rather unorthodox settings of ITV4 and Edinburgh. It is a truth universally acknowledged that any Scottish team whose name does not rhyme with either "Beltic" or "Changers" is there for the taking, so first game of the season or not, this lot must be destroyed. ‘Arry has understandably enough made noises about fielding kids and reserves in the Europa League, but while none of us want injuries ahead of the United trip on Mon, it would nevertheless make sense to field a full-strength side tonight.

Football hardly seems important in N17 today. Regards to the families and good people of Tottenham.

Here's part 1 of the season preview an overview. More on Tuesday, earlier if i pull my finger out the best of the rest, tactics and off the field

Season 2011-12 represents a watershed in the modern history of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Our pre-season campaign was rounded off by a 2-1 win over an impressive Athletic Club Bilbao side, who gave us an ideal test before our opening Premier League game against Everton next week. There was an extremely impressive and vocal crowd at the Lane for our only home game of the pre-season.

My shout for a guest report from the Brighton game was answered by Mike Hooley, a man who's first game, at the age of eight, was the '81 Cup Final Replay. Good start! Unsurprisingly for someone getting their Spurs education in the '80′s, his favourite player is Glenn Hoddle.

Here's Mike's take on yesterday's match:

Brighton 2 Spurs 3: Pre-season friendly, 30th July 2011.

Spurs arrived at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg without a win so far in the Vodacom Challenge tournament but still found themselves in the final against the South African Champions Orlando Pirates. It was their second meeting in 5 days after they played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

So the unthinkable now seems inevitable, and Chelsea will probably get their man.

It pains me to say this, as I really do believe that Luka Modric is irreplaceable. Having watched the little maestro dictate the play of games at the Lane on many occasions, it's understandable why Spurs don't want to sell the Croatian international and it he will certainly be a great asset to an ageing Chelsea squad.

In the annual Tottenham/Arsenal sex face competition, Huddlestone was a clear winnerWhat a week that was. In the space of just a few days, Harry's boys played out two relatively high-scoring draws - one, a frenetic, all-guns-blazing, high stakes shootout with the Arsenal that we did well to get a point out of, and the other, a game that personnel, location and logic all dictated that we should have won and we didn't.

North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal played to a very entertaining 3-3 draw in English Premier League action on Wednesday. Arsenal had gone up 3-1 on goals from Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie before the hosts equalized with goals from Huddlestone and Rafael Vander Vaart. The result sees Spurs remain at fifth in [.

Tottenham vs Arsenal 2011 White Hart Lane- Wednesday, 20 April 2011- 20/4/11 Final score:- Tottenham vs Arsenal 3-3 ( Van der Vaart*2, Huddlestone/ Walcott, Nasri, Van Persie) Rafael van der Vaart nets a brace as Spurs come from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Five of the six goals in [.

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?

Spurs have no new injury worries ahead of tonight's game with Arsenal. That will give Harry Redknapp an interesting dilemma with a first choice midfield of Bale, VDV, Lennon, Modric and Huddlestone to select from.

Redknapp has gone to 4-4-2 in the league which would mean that one of those five would miss out, so will it be 4-5-1 again to accommodate Van der Vaart?

The situation tonight would seem to dictate that Spurs might abandon their standard 4-5-1 formation for the Champions League and go for a more attacking 4-4-2 option. The likely return of Aaron Lennon however, may complicate that particular issue.

At the back, there still seems to be a doubt over William Gallas, so Harry could well play the same personnel as on Saturday against Stoke.

Real Madrid have conceded four goals on two of their last three trips to England in the Champions League. Hope.

~ Opta (via twitter)

I've been off the football landscape somewhat since leaving White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Who rattled his cage? 'What's that tall dreamy thing down there?' 'Peter Crouch O Zeus. But he's a footballer'. 'Yes he'll do. I'm bored' 'But you said you'd finished with footballers after the success of the episode with Wayne and the Sky camera'' 'Yes well, I gave golf a go with young Rory but he just shrugged off self destructing at the Masters.

Still feeling the pain of Tuesday night's self-inflicted wounds, Stoke were frankly the last team I wanted to meet this weekend. High energy and elbows, they saw us as victims, injured, bleeding and sorry for ourselves. At kick-off I swear from the Shelf I saw the glint in Pulis' eyes.

Time to do more with those anxiety exercises, I think.

Such are the rigours of supporting Spurs that I have been happy to bleat away for the last few weeks about how we will despatch Real Madrid over two legs, yet struggle to see us gleaning more than a point at Wigan. Legend has it that even great big burly types like Achilles had the odd weakness or two, and the chink in Spurs' armour seems to be opposition that is near-enough fit for life in a division below us.

It's been confirmed that William Gallas and Gareth Bale will miss tomorrow's trip to Wigan and both will struggle for the trip to the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.

Speaking on the club website Harry said: "Gareth isn't fit for tomorrow and William's knee is giving him problems at the moment.

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.

Whenever a Harry Redknapp team does well I start to worry. I start to worry that the team is about to go out of business or that someone might declare him the best manager they have ever worked under, but most of all I worry that it is only a matter of time before he starts being linked with the non-vacant role of England manager.

The club website has confirmed that Gareth Bale has not travelled with the squad to Milan and will therefore take no part in this evening's clash.

Some brighter news appeared to be the presence of Luka Modric, but Harry Redknapp feels it's a little too soon for him to get involved.

"He joined in yesterday and will do a little bit tonight, but at the moment I wouldn't see him starting the game.

Click here to watch Milan v Tottenham Live!

AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Second Round, UEFA Champions League
San Siro, Milan
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Kickoff: 19:45 GMT / 20:45 CET

Premier League Champions League hopefuls face off against Serie A title contenders in a clash between new and old at the San Siro tonight.