What do you want your club to be? Champions of the Football League? Double Winners? Champions of Europe?
Yes, undoubtedly. But here's a question. Does it matter how we go about getting to these heights? Would it matter if our club bribed referees? Would it matter if we ensured that only refs [.
Tottenham proved to be the superior side in the latest edition of the north London derby, beating Arsenal 2-1 to go seven points clear of their rivals in the table. Perhaps sensing that their side's lackluster defending would ultimately be exposed by Gareth Bale, the Premier League's February Player of the Month, one Arsenal fan at White Hart Lane decided to engage in a bit of prop comedy and throw a banana at Bale as he prepared to take a corner kick in the first half.
Tottenham Hotspur are set to announce that Gareth Bale has agreed a new £130,000 per week contract that will allow him to leave White Hart Lane next summer if a club comes in with a bid in excess of £50 million, according to a report in the Evening Standardnewspaper.
The newspaper reports that Bale has committed his future to Tottenham, and that he'll remain at White Hart Lane until next summer at the earliest.
It's not the last day of the season without the odd false rumour or two. Yesterday, someone at White Hart Lane started a very cruel rumour that Newcastle had equalised against Arsenal. Spurs needed the Gunners to drop points to have any hope of qualifying for the Champions League, so you can understand why their [.
Matthew Etherington of Stoke City (Wikimedia Commons)
With only two matches left in the Premier League season, both Tottenham and Stoke City will look to finish strong especially the Spurs as they chase the final Champions League spot. The Britannia should surely be rocking on Sunday afternoon in hopes of continuing a three match unbeaten run.
One of the biggest games in Tottenham's season this Saturday as Southampton visit White Hart Lane. With the Saints now looking safe from relegation, all the pressure is one the home side to secure the three points and make the most of their game in hand over Arsenal. The Gunners could only manage a draw against Manchester United this past Sunday and although that would have been a good result in normal circumstances, neither side can afford to be dropping points at home.
Gareth Bale achieved an amazing PFA double last night when landing both the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards. He becomes only the third player to win both accolades in the same season, and the first since Christiano Ronaldo in 2007. With Spurs' chances of playing Champions League football next season still hanging in the balance, will the Welsh wonder now be on his way out of White Hart Lane?
Just a note of interest for Spurs fans, I offered Robert lewandowski to Spurs when he was stll playing in Poland, for less than 5m, pity ! Steve Archibald (@SteveArchibald8) April 24, 2013 It's National Regret Not Signing Robert Lewandowski Day today. After Blackburn's contribution comes this effort from Tottenham.
Projected First Teams (Drawing powered by This11.com)
Tottenham and Manchester City both hold a game in hand over Arsenal, as do Chelsea. With the Citizen's place in next season's UEFA Champions League campaign already nearly locked up, they still will hope to make rivals Manchester United wait as long as possible to claim the English Premier League title away from them.
Tottenham have alerted the football world that the North London club may be on the prowl for a left-back this summer as Andre Villas-Boas recently indicated that current defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto does not appear to be in his long-term plans.
The 29-year-old has struggled this season both with injury and limited minutes with the excellent play from Kyle Naughton and Jan Vertonghen.
Everton face a tough fight with Tottenham at White Hart Lane this afternoon of Apr. 7, 2013 in the English Premier League. Despite Spurs missing Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale and Jermaine Defoe the home side will be looking to take all three points in their race for third.
Spurs' battle for Champions League football appeared to take a blow last night after their talisman, Gareth Bale, was stretchered off during the Europa League clash with Basel. Bale's ankle twisted to right angles, forcing him off the pitch late in last night's match. But manager Andre Villas Boas has since delivered some optimistic news.
Santi Cazorla of Arsenal (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Tottenham are the current top form club in England after a torrid run of class, and a little luck, in February. Arsenal face a tough challenge in traveling to their bitter rival's famed home ground, White Hart Lane, this afternoon.
Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring the winning goal with Jan Vertonghen (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Tottenham host Arsenal in what is one of the most important North London Derby's of the past few seasons. This year Tottenham finally have the chance to finish ahead of Arsenal by a rather impressive margin if they continue the great run of form that they are currently riding.
Arsenal were given a stark reminder tonight of just what they are up against in the fight for a Champions league spot next season. Another master class by Gareth Bale snatched victory for Tottenham after coming from behind to win at West Ham. The Gunners will need to be firing on all cylinders in order to win at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and Arsene Wenger will need to find a way to deal with the Welsh winger.
Tottenham Hotspurs kept their hot run of form going on Thursday evening, when they defeated French club Lyon 2-1 at White Hart Lane.
Gareth Bale, as he has so many times this season, played the hero, scoring two tremendous free kick goals, the second coming in the third minute of extra time to win the game for the North London club.
Tottenham secured a 2-1 win over Lyon at White Hart Lane last night, but the French side's away goal was pretty special. The ball dropped out of the air in the direction of left-back Samuel Umtiti. Despite an awkward looking bounce, Umtiti made the perfect connection and the ball flew straight into the top corner [.
Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur-Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
When the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League kicks off on Thursday, most of the world will have an eye on the highly intriguing matchup between Tottenham of the EPL and Ligue 1 powerhouse Lyon.
One of the main questions surrounding Tottenham going into the first leg at White Hart Lane is who they should start at goalkeeper.
Gareth Bale of Tottenham-Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
A regenerated Newcastle United headed to White Hart Lane with confidence restored due to back-to-back wins seeking to avenge the 5-0 defeat suffered their last season. A lot has changed since then for both sides AVB has taken over from Harry Redknapp and Newcastle are a different team from a fortnight ago, nevermind a year ago, new faces in the shape of Debuchy, Gouffran, Yanga-Mbiwa and the man of the moment, Sissoko arriving from Lique One to kickstart a veritable French revolution on Tyneside in the absence of Demba Ba.
Tottenham reach agreement for Lewis Holtby - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Tottenham have reached an agreement with Bundesliga side Schalke 04 to transfer Lewis Holtby's in January.
Holtby Fantastic signing for Tottenham
The Germany international is heading to White Hart Lane within next 24 hours to complete the deal with the fee agreed between both the clubs is believed to be in the region of £1.
Yesterday, the Cameroon international once again put his foot in his mouth or so many would say after reading the player's comments about teammate Kyle Naughton.
Not one to ever shy away from an honest response, Assou-Ekotto told interviewers that despite only returning from injury this month, he is confident that his place in the Tottenham Hotspur starting eleven is assured as his closest rival, Naughton, is "not a real left-back.
One of the worst feelings in football is having to rely on another team doing you a favour in a game you're not involved in. That's exactly what we need from Newcastle this weekend as our nervous battle for a Champions League place reaches its conclusion. Tottenham have what is arguably the easier fixture on paper as they face Sunderland at White Hart Lane, while bitter rivals Arsenal travel to the Sports Direct Arena to take on Newcastle.
Spurs have an excellent record against Fulham and look a solid bet at 1.53 with Coral and Ladbrokes to beat them again at White Hart Lane.
The Liliywhites have won their last six league games in a row against the Cottagers, and the visitors have scored a total of only two goals in their last eight top-flight games against them.
Building for the new stadium has not yet begun but already it looks as if they are moving ahead on the naming rights. White Hart Lane has become the Pleasure Dome, a place of euphoria and delight. Last night Spurs overwhelmed a weakened Inter Milan side with 90 minutes of sustained flowing football that simply brushed one of the top Italian teams aside as if they barely existed.
Champions League football is still possible for Arsenal next season, but there's no denying that it's going to be quite an uphill battle after dropping a 2-1 decision to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday March 3. Third-place Spurs are now seven points clear of the Gunners while fourth-place Chelsea sits five ahead of them.
It doesn't matter where Arsenal and Spurs are in the league table, when the two London rivals get together it's always a huge attraction. This Sunday's match at White Hart Lane is just going to be all the more special due to the Champions League berth that's possibly at stake here.
It looks like Man United and Man City have the first two of four English Champions League spots wrapped up, which leaves two more up for grabs.
When the two sides met at White Hart Lane at the start of last season, Spurs triumphed over Arsenal by two goals to one but since then, we have suffered back to back embarrassments at the Emirates by identical, 5-2 scorelines.
Gareth Bale scored in the most recent reverse and felt that the sending off of Emmanuel Adebayor was pivotal in that match.
Alan Pardew will start with an unchanged Newcastle side today at White Hart Lane in the tough game against Tottenham Hotspur today in the Premier League. As expected Jame Perch retains his place as the defensive midfielder, in spite of Cheick Tiote returning form the African Cup of Nations last week.
Venue: White Hart Lane, North London. Date: Sat 9th February, 2013. Kick off: 12.45pm. Referee: Phil Dowd. UK TV: Sky Sports. Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our "match banter" feature for this afternoon's early televised game against Tottenham Hotspur at their place, White Hart Lane. Of course, Newcastle United should be going into this [.
It was disappointing to lose another game today at White Hart Lane but this Newcastle team is so much better with Cabaye back in and Gouffran and Sissoko playing well, and it seems that manager Alan Pardew was happy enough at the display if not the result. Alan Pardew - good performance but poor result [.
There was some bad news given out by Alan Pardew yesterday, during his press conference for the game tomorrow at White Hart Lane, which kicks off at 12:45 pm. The great Ben Arfa has just scored again It was natural for Ben Arfa's name to be brought up because a couple of weeks ago, Pardew [...]
On the good days, there's nowherelike it. White Hart Lane is a proper football ground, steepling stands enclosingthe pitch so the noise cannot escape.The old place shakes beneath our feet, inspiring the lilywhite shirts and evokinggloriespast.At night,it is our world. For ninety minutes nothing exists beyond the tight glare of the lights.
It's difficult to imagine that there's been a more keenly awaited North London derby since April 2004. From the neutral perspective, the ingredients for a spellbinding game froth tantalisingly in the cauldron. These are two teams that couldn't do cagey if they were in a cage fight with Nicholas Cage.
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Wouldn't it be nice if the last minute errors at White Hart Lane a few weeks ago could be erased with a victory against Southampton tonight? Of course, the gap could have grown to nine points had we not conceded that late equaliser but I will be more than happy with seven points separating us from everyone else.
