The big news ahead of this evening's game is that Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon are back in
contention and with Rafael van der Vaart ruled out, both could play from the start.
"Jermain has trained okay in the last couple of days and Aaron Lennon as well, he's coming back,
he's looked sharp," said Harry on Friday.
It was all slightly akin to a chess game, n'est ce pas? And not one of those awesome
chess games either, in which one lad loses his rag somewhat, dashes the pieces across the board and
clobbers his opponent with the clock, leading to a mass brawl involving spectators and allsorts.
This was one of those chess games in which white thoughtfully strokes his chin for a good seven or
eight minutes, before moving his bishop a few diagonals backwards whence he came, prompting black
to ponder for four minutes himself, hover his hand over his queen, retract hand, ponder some more,
and then move his knight back into its starting position.
While Harry continues to dominate the headlines there's the small matter of our Premiership
fixture against Newcastle United on Saturday evening as Spurs prepare to welcome their boss back
into the dugout.
Normally at this stage of proceedings we have an injury update and the club will be sweating on
the fitness of a number of players including Jermain Defoe, Rafael van der Vaart, Younes Kaboul and
Aaron Lennon.
After a full week of news both on and off the pitch, Tottenham centre half Younes Kaboul
identified the 3-1 win over Wigan as a return to form after some indifferent results of late.
Younes played a full part in the win and was unlucky not to open the scoring on two occasions
before Gareth Bale and Luka Modric sealed the win.
Assistant Kevin Bond was giving little away in terms of team news yesterday while he did confirm
that there were injury doubts over Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Gareth Bale,
"Younes missed training on Wednesday, while both Gareth and Scotty had to come out of training
early with slight muscle problems," he said.
The great irony here being that if it was Peter Crouch, it 100% would have gone inFootball, the
great reducing force in all our lives. If Jermain Defoe had stretched for that Bale cross just a
millisecond earlier, we'd all be headed to work this morning without that overbearing sense of
melancholy that you're probably still feeling.
By Chris Wright
In which, shortly before scoring the winning penalty in Man City's at-the-buzzer victory over
Tottenham yesterday afternoon, Mario Balotelli for reasons unknown quite obviously rakes his studs
down Scott Parker's Tibetan Fox face...
Not our Mario's finest moment.
So here we go, without doubt the biggest game since our last eye-catching fixture for which
three points were at stake. While the win over a pretty inept Everton had all and sundry
proclaiming this lilywhite vintage the greatest thing since Danny Blanchflower sliced a loaf, the
draw with uber-negative Wolves had Hansen imploring all Spurs-supporting MoTD viewers to find their
nearest cliff-top and hurl themselves in anguish – so whatever the outcome against table-topping
City the reaction will presumably border on the apocalyptic.
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.
Spurs were already in the midst of an injury crisis when Brazilian midfielder Sandro limped out
of action on the half hour mark of yesterday's win over West Brom. The news got worse as Sandro's
replacement Jake Livermore left proceedings after a clash of heads with Younes Kaboul.
The situation has left the club with few right sided options in midfield with Scott Parker
nursing a knee injury and Tom Huddlestone a long term absentee.
Many a time and oft my Spurs-supporting chum Ian has peddled the theory that Gareth Bale should
be shoved right up the top, through the middle, and play as an out-and-out centre-forward.
Outlandish it may be, but last night actually provided a glimpse of how the world would be run if
Ian were King.
Just when I had considered giving up on Father Christmas altogether, he fills my stocking with
dropped points by all of Chelski, l'Arse, Liverpool and even Man City. And – and - he
even un-twinges VDV's hamstring. I'm not sure there has ever been a Christmas quite like it.
No reason not to expect another high-class performance, missed chances a-plenty and ultimately
three more points tonight.
Several senior Spurs players are currently struggling with hamstring injuries and that could
lead to an early move in the transfer market when the window opens next month.
Ledley King, Younes Kaboul, Aaron Lennon, Rafael van der Vaart and Jermain Defoe all have
similar problems and after enjoying a settled side for so long, Harry now has a major selection
headache ahead of the festive period.
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.
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.
Younes couldn't have picked a worse time to roll out his Petr Cech impressionWWWWDWWWWWWFOY.
Tottenham's remarkable run of winning form came to a shuddering end at Stoke yesterday but the
controversial decisions made by referee Chris Foy left a particularly bitter taste in the
mouth.
An inept first half showing from Spurs, unbecoming of a title-chasing team, had left them 2-0 and
with the prospect of scaling a metaphorical mountain in order to get anything from the game.
Stories today are emerging of Italian interest in two of our defenders and while one rumour may
have some legs, the other has been dismissed by its intended target.
Younes Kaboul attracted a little interest over the summer, mainly from his French homeland, but
that interest is set to increase due to his largely confident displays at the heart of the Spurs'
defence.
Desperately sad news about Gary Speed - RIP
Within a day or two it will inevitably be swallowed within the black hole of wondrous statistics
about just how darned good the current crop are (best start to a season since the '61
Double-winners, since you ask), but the win at West Brom has muscled its way into AANP's exalted
list of Most Hard-Earned and Pleasing Little Gaggle of Wins This Season, or "MHEPLGWTS" as we like
to call it for ease of reference.
After we suggested that William Gallas would walk straight back into the side for Monday night's
game against Aston Villa, it was obvious, following Younes Kaboul's performance in the match that
the younger French defender has become one of the first names on Harry Redknapp's team sheet.
Harry himself hailed Kaboul after the match,
"Younes Kaboul's heading was incredible, he dominated," said Harry, before going on to claim
that the centre half is finally beginning to realise his potential.
Oh that life were always that simple. Villa's scouting network appear to have concluded that any
attempt to disrupt the Tottenham modus operandi would result in a riot, and consequently they spent
the entire night carefully keeping a safe distance from us, allowing our heroes to do whatever they
jolly well pleased.
It was 2-0 to the home side at White Hart Lane. Tottenham created chances at will. The away
side, Aston Villa, scared Tottenham not once. Emmanuel Adebayor scored both the goals and should
have had more. Ledley King and Younes Kaboul were imperious in central defence. Luka Modric was
exceptional in central midfield.
Charlie thought eating Luka would prevent him leaving Spurs
Maybe it's the many, many years of crushing disappointment but, a decade or so ago and beyond, the
international break seemed far more exciting. England were preparing for tournaments we thought we
could actually win by finishing second in competitions like 1995's ‘Umbro Cup' – who could
forget Tottenham hero Darren Anderton's stoppage-time-woodwork-pinball-volley against Sweden – or
triumphing in ‘Le Tournoi', a trophy made famous largely by Roberto Carlos's other-worldly
free-kick against France.
After battling through a round of midweek Europa League contests, the Americans in Europe took on
teams in their respecitve domestic leauges. Here is a recap of this weekend's games.
Jozy Altidore started and played 86 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 victory against
ADO Den Haag in the Dutch Eredivisie, and the side remains at the top of the table by a margin of
five points.
William was fooling no-one with his 'steady hand' display.
By Jamie
DunnThe Europa League may not be at the forefront of everyone's thinking at White Hart Lane this
season, but while Harry Redknapp is unable to attend Thursday's game against Rubin Kazan due to his
recovery from minor heart surgery, William Gallas has presented him and the Tottenham faithful with
reason to watch events in Russia with added interest.
Our current defensive pairing have been talking about our aims for this season and while Younes
Kaboul is gearing up for a tilt at the top four, Sebastien Bassong admits it will be tougher than
ever to get back into the Champions League.
Speaking on Talksport, Kaboul said: "We're doing quite well this season and for us our target,
most importantly, is to get back into the Champions League next season.
1. Collect Underpants
2. ?
3. Profit
As the South Park Underpant Gnomes so crucially failed to diagnose, some things are a dashed sight
more difficult in practice than they appear on paper. Nota bene, ‘Arry and the assorted Hotspurs,
for bottom of the table Blackburn may be, but alas it is unlikely that they will simply roll over
and allow us to tickle their tummies before disappearing into the night with three points.
Sunday 23rd October 2011. Ewood Park. 3pm Kick off.
Sunday sees Spurs travel to Ewok Park (anyone else miss Soccer AM's days of actually being
funny?) to take on Blackburn. Before the season kicked off I did a guest appearance on The Elastico
podcast for their Premier League season preview.
Me neither. In fact, I'm not sure there is a soul alive who understands quite how we managed to
toddle off from that with a win, but bearing in mind the perils that lurk within the mouths of
gift-horses I suggest we stuff the three points under our jumpers and sneak off before anyone
notices.
It might be an idea for Jake Livermore and Sebastien Bassong to bond over a Jason Statham DVD
night or some other such bromantic activity, because last night neither seemed to be aware that the
other was of the same species, let alone the same centre-back pairing.
Few things in life scream "Pointless Money-Making Charade!" quite like a Europa group stage
game, but this one actually has relevance, sub-plots and all other sorts of curious goodies the
like of which have rarely been seen on a Thursday night on Channel 5.
On a formal note, this game is actually laden with group-deciding significance no less.
Blast, and other unseemly vituperations. Apparently armed with a game-plan to avoid, at all
costs, ever stringing together more than three passes, our heroes stuck to the drill fairly
resolutely throughout, and it's two points a-begging, faster than you can say "someone track that
Ba fellow, he's making a late run into the area".
Euro Qualifier on Friday.
Fifa.com has a post about Cisse and Gomis being called up as replacements to injured players who
include:
Benzema;
Ribery; and
Sagna.
That's 3 starters, plus Abidal reportedly has "fitness concerns."
Mexes is still out, right? We should get an updated roster:
From AFP "one day ago":
Revised France squad
Goalkeepers
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)
Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona/ESP)
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille)
Adil Rami (Valencia/ESP)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Younes Kaboul (Tottenham/ENG)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia/ESP)
Midfielders
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle/ENG)
Yann Mvila (Rennes)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG)
Jeremy Menez (Paris SG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City/ENG)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)
Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards
Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon)
Kevin Gameiro (Paris SG)
Loic Remy (Marseille)
Djibril Cisse (Lazio/ITA)
Just a brief reminder that if France do not win against Albania, we're probably screwed (i.
When you look at the current crop of transfer rumours involving possible new players at White
Hart Lane, a lot of these stories look to try and find the natural successor to Ledley King.
Throughout the summer, various names have been mentioned and those links continue even though
the window is closed but could we have found the answer from within our own ranks?
Spurs were only the better team for about 20 minutes of this North London Derby, yet that was
clearly enough.
Kyle Walker's first goal for Spurs on a sunny October day was decisive in consigning Arsenal to
defeat. England's right back of the future celebrated with unbridled joy as his 25 yard screamer
beat Szcezny to send White Hart Lane into raptures and Spurs held on for the win.
Strange times these – the first in my living memory that we've gone into a match against that
‘orrible lot from down the road with the bookies sidling over into the lilywhite camp. The noisy
babblings of my l'Arse supporting chums ring a little hollow these days. Current form; playing
personnel; summer transfer dabbling; inside out; upside down – any way you look at it we have the
edge at the moment.
Fabregas' entry into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame was seconds away from being confirmedBefore
the first of last season's North London Derbies, this blog took a little stroll down memory lane
and had a little look at the games from the previous season and how they had been previewed and
then reviewed on the blogosphere.
Ka-boom!! For all Spurs fans Younes Kaboul's 85th minute winner at the Emirates last season was
a moment to savour. It wasn't the first time the French international had scored a crucial goal in
a big game. Spurs 125th anniversary game had turned into a bit of a nightmare, being 4-1 down to
Aston Villa certainly didn't point to a glorious birthday celebration.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is facing what could be his biggest selection dilemma of the season
so far with the return to fitness of William Gallas.
With Ledley King's return, Tottenham have kept two clean sheets at the back as our club captain
forged a partnership with Younes Kaboul and some fans are already saying that the absence of
Michael Dawson has led to what they believe to be our first choice pairing at the back.
Never mind the game today, have you seen Sandro's hair? Heavens above. The fellow has done the
most extraordinary things... have yourself a perusal at around 1.50 on this clip.
Of secondary importance is the visit of that red mob. In what might as well be a 17-team
division competing for fourth spot, Liverpool, along with those relentless purveyors of comedy at
the Emirates, represent our principal rivals – which makes this quite the key clash in the grand
scheme of things.
Not entirely surprisingly, Hutton was nowhere.Well, technically, we're at their door, what with it
being an away game and all. But I digress.
Our zero-points-two-games Premier League campaign gets back underway tomorrow with a visit to the
Midlands. Wolves away has held nowt but frustration for us since their readmission to the PL.
