After a summer of rumour, gossip and the occasional piece of news, it's back to business on the
pitch and trying to think of what else to write about between now and December.
After the last kick of 2011-12, we have now seen Corluka, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Modric and Bassong
leave the club while Gio Dos Santos and Rafael van der Vaart left on permanent deals on deadline
day.
As we'd already seen with the proposed sale of Michael Dawson to QPR, it seems that few players
are safe from AVB's clearout of Harry's men but just who will escape the deadline day cull?
Since the transfer window re-opened in June, the club has waved goodbye to Vedran Corluka,
Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar and Sebastien Bassong.
What ho! That all happened in rather a flash of Euro gubbins and fuzzy Olympic bonhomie, no? For
those still drawing breath at the madness of it all I advise a jolly swift inhalation, for that
clattering of hooves without is Season 2012/13, entering stage right at a gallop.
Ave atque vale
Now unless the family monocle is playing tricks again, I fancy things are beginning to look at
tad different at N17, for all sorts of reasons - but ‘tis only right and proper to begin by
doffing caps and charging glasses in memory of a fallen comrade.
Full-blown, undiluted apoplexy does not translate particularly smoothly into the written word,
so ‘tis perhaps just as well that after a good night's sleep and couple of early morning whiskies
AANP is now in slightly more philosophical mood than at the final whistle last night, when the
denizens of the South Stand took time out from making rude gestures at the Stoke fans to stare in
horror and cover the ears of the nearest small child while I emitted an unmistakeable, loud
tut.
Stumbling over the ball, chasing shadows and conceding possession with almost religious fervour
while the scoreboard flashes the eye-watering message "Spurs 0-1 Stevenage" is not really a
recommended means of achieving an aim as menial as making a cup of tea, letting alone winning some
sparkly silverware, but more wizened sages than I have it that for such competitions as this the
ends will justify the means.
Casual lobotomy is one of my less typical weekend pursuits, but I'm willing to hazard that were
one to pluck out the respective brains of BAE and Scott Parker, the two would be as dissimilar as
medically possible. At one point in the second half yesterday I'm fairly sure Benny executed a
scorpion kick, seemingly just to pass the time.
So finally this much-vaunted "Game in Hand" is upon us. Truth be told, I will be a little sad to
see it go. It has practically become part of the family, like a scruffy, uncouth urchin discovered
in the wreckage of the summer riots, and adopted by the cheery folk of White Hart Lane. And let's
face it, this Game in Hand has proved more useful than the Sword of Omens when it comes to
pointless bickering with fans of l'Arse, Chelski, Liverpool and the like.
Crunch time. This one could not be much bigger if it were written in size 72 font, stretched in
a rack and then injected with muscle-steroid-type-things by that Russian giant of a chap David Haye
beat a couple of years back. It's not just the three points, which would give us a five-point
platform from which to wave down at Chelski, with a game in hand.
"The measure of greatness is not how many you win, but how you react to defeat". Or something
along those lines. In fact, AANP may have invented that just now.
Anyway, the point is that the epithet has been fairly redundant  for as far back as I can
remember, as we would generally fail to win in the first place, and then react to defeat with
another defeat, or a two-goal lead thrown away late on, or whatever.
2012/13 Tottenham Shirts - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Even though Tottenham Hotspur lost their 2012/13 opener at St. James Park against Newcastle
United but they landed on the 4th spot last season, just a single point behind their London rivals,
Arsenal. Chelsea, then, stole their Champions League spot and the Spurs ended up with a Europa
League group stage spot.
Newcastle Utd vs Tottenham Hotspur, St James's Park, Saturday 18th August 2012, 5.30pm
ko, ESPN & ESPN HD
So the day that excites nearly all football fans the most has finally arrived as we kick off our
campaign at the team that most said over achieved last season by finishing 5th level on points with
us.
Former Real Madrid striker Davor Suker has urged fellow Croatian Luka Modric to seek a move to
the Santiago Bernabeu this summer, or at least leave Tottenham Hotspur if he is to seek
silverware.
The Spurs recently relieved manager Harry Redknapp of his duties and although they are
reportedly keen on replacing him with a high-profile name such as Andre Villas-Boas or Laurent
Blanc, the club has been in complete disarray in recent weeks.
Following the completion of his move to Dynamo Kiev yesterday, former Tottenham midfielder Niko
Kranjcar has revealed his love for his former club.The Croatian followed his ex-Portsmouth manager
to White Hart Lane, and expressed his gratitude towards Harry Redknapp even after his
departure.
The first main deal of the summer is done with reserve midfielder Niko Kranjcar leaving Spurs
and joining Dynamo Kiev on a four year deal. Not sure where that leaves my bet on the Croatian
becoming top Tottenham goalscorer at the Euros but for now, we obviously wish him all the best.
As the club pointed out on their official website, Niko made 72 appearances for Spurs since
joining in 2009 and he scored 11 goals in that time.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Niko Kranjcar has completed his proposed move to Dynamo Kiev,
ending a frustrating three-year spell at the North London club.
The Spurs finished a promising campaign on a low note when Chelsea's Champions League triumph
allowed the Blues to use Tottenham's fourth-place ticket as an entry to next year's competition as
defending champions.
Niko Kranjcar has told Croatian media that he will leave Tottenham Hotspur for Dynamo Kiev in a
big-money transfer this summer.
Kranjcar, 27, has struggled for playing time with the Spurs, making only 49 appearances since
moving from Portsmouth in 2009.
He also made 83 appearances for Pompey but it now appears that his time in English football will
come to an end after the conclusion of the upcoming Euro 2012 tournament on July 1.
At the beginning of last season it looked as if Niko Kranjcar may play a more comprehensive role
in Tottenham's campaign but as the months wore on, injury helped to condemn him to an even more
fruitless contribution than in 2010-11.
After talking of a move for some considerable time now, it looks as though the Croatian will
finally be on his way with a transfer to Dinamo Kiev rumoured to be lined up.
The Daily Express this morning leads with the headline that Jermaine Jenas can leave White Hart
Lane this summer but it goes on to name a host of players that the newspaper believes are surplus
to requirements.
JJ was loaned out to Aston Villa at the beginning of 2011-12 but after optimism over a possible
permanent deal to the Midlands club, injury wrecked the player's move and he returned to the Lane
shortly afterwards.
Entertaining and exciting, with a most satisfying finale – oh that the game had matched the
quarter-final draw, but we can't have everything I suppose. Should I ever cross paths with His
Eminence The Lord of Time there are one or two queries I would throw his way – whether Superman's
little fly-ruddy-quickly-around-the-world jape really could turn back time, for a start – but
high up there on the list would be a polite request to have my two hours back after the
excruciating trudge through treacle that was our draw with Stevenage.
Tottenham vs Newcastle Goals 5-0 Highlights 2012 Adebayor Saha Kranjcar Assou-Ekotto Video is a
post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
Tottenham vs Newcastle Goals 5-0 Highlights 2012 Adebayor Saha Kranjcar Assou-Ekotto Video is a
post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Tottenham vs Newcastle 2012 ( Spurs
Newcastle Video Below) Final score and result:- Tottenham vs Newcastle 5-0 ( B.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has called on his players to fight for their spots in his side.
Talented players like Steven Pienaar and Niko Kranjcar have seen limited action for Spurs this
season, but Redknapp insists that the second half of the season will give them ample opportunities
to impress both him and fans.
In truth, there have been relatively few rumours linking Spurs players into or away from the
club and this has been a relatively quiet window so far. However, it seems that Harry Redknapp has
spent most of his time deflecting attention away from the majority of players already in the
squad.
THFC1882 returns from it's Christmas and New Year break. Whilst we were off,
Tottenham Hotspur collected 7 points from Norwich, Swansea and West Brom, happy days. Today, the FA
Cup 3rd round was the focus and we have a special guest reporter for you. Here's Danny
Carrier from the Camden New Journal with his report:
This was the chance for Harry Redknapp's fringe players to step up to the plate and show what
they could do as well as give Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon some much needed game time to get
their match fitness back.
The Europa League has given some good opportunities for some of our younger players to gain some
experience and the group games have probably been influential in the new contracts earned by Tom
Carroll and Jake Livermore last week.
It has also given some of our fringe players a rare chance to operate in the first team but with
European elimination looking likely, this could be the last chance for some of them to shine.
After a disappointing campaign in 2010-11, the season started on a more positive note for Niko
Kranjcar as he stepped into the breach when fellow Croatian Luka Modric endured an unsettled
August. The player's performance against Hearts even drew praise from manager Harry Redknapp,
"I thought Niko Kranjcar was outstanding in midfield," said Harry at the time.
Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar believes his side have the ability to make it through to the final
stages of Euro 2012 following their convincing 3-1 win against the Republic of Ireland on
Sunday.
Slaven Bilic's team produced one of the most impressive performances and football scores of the
opening round of fixtures, outclassing Giovanni Trapattoni's men and after Group C favourites Spain
and Italy could only manage a 1-1 draw in their opening game, the Croats currently sit top of their
pool.
Fulham's supporters just put the icing on the cake for Clint Dempsey's historic season.
The club announced Thursday that Dempsey has been voted Fulham's Player of the Season by the
club's fans for the second straight year. The honor comes as no surprise for the 29-year-old, who
scored 23 goals in all competitions despite logging most of his minutes in the Cottagers'
midfield.
Not a very surprising choice to be honest. Parker has been at the heart of a Spurs midfield with
some teeth although in the last match against Arsenal he acted out his frustration picking up two
bookings to exit with a cloud over his head as Spurs were victimized, 5-2.
Awkward. Maybe we should begin at the beginning...
The Glorious First Five Minutes
Ah, ‘twas a pleasure to be a Tottenham fan. Our heroes produced some ovely stuff. Swift, slick
passing; patient but pacey; sideways if necessary but probing forward whenever opportunity even
threatened to knock.
When Aaron Lennon limped out of yesterday's action on 27 minutes, it must have been tempting for
manager Harry Redknapp to look at the midfield alternatives he had waiting on the bench.
Either Niko Kranjcar or Steven Pienaar could have been a more obvious choice but Harry's
positive move of putting Roman Pavlyuchenko on the pitch was to eventually pay off.
Injuries and suspension at the centre of defence could force Harry Redknapp to bring back Ledley
King for Sunday's game against Martin O'Neill's side. Harry reports that Ledley is struggling but
we've been in this position before where the club captain makes an unexpected return to the line
up.
This Dynamo Kiev fan might want to keep a low profile for their next few home games. With his team on the attack in the 92nd minute of last night's 0-0 draw with Porto, the supporter decided to embark on a pitch invasion. His run through the penalty box thwarted Niko Kranjcar's attempts to create [..
With games against North London rivals Arsenal and fellow title chasers Manchester United coming
up, Tottenham Hotspur will see these fixtures as vitally important matches rather than just a
chance to get one over on long running Premier League foes.
In recent seasons, wins for Spurs against Arsenal and United have been all too rare.
