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Source: http://www.ltlf.co.uk/forest/2011/12/match-preview-bristol-city-v-nottingham-forest/
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Spurs 1 Chelsea 1
I’m disappointed. Mainly because I know we are potentially better than Chelsea, at this moment in time. But potentially means very little in real terms especially if the application falls short when it matters.
Okay so we’ve got players missing and we have to adjust our shape and selection accordingly. We’ve been here before. If anything it simply illustrates the necessity to strengthen the side in January. Start of the month rather in the final hour before the window closes. Unless we reschedule all our home fixtures into that hour, we could well see an opportunity wasted to consolidate our position in the top four three. Business has to be concluded early so that we can work through early 2012 without too many dropped points. Otherwise its plan b - digging deep and attempting to wing it (literally).
But the window opening is altogether a different headache and I have to stop referencing it when its not yet relevant.
So when I say potentially I’m referring to how we’ve played this season with out and out wingers swapping sides. But we only had the one and can only speculate and theorise. We struggled, they held the initiaive for most of the game. But still, there is something endearing about an opposition that has so often taunted us on the pitch and in the stands, to come away from White Hart Lane feeling proud of their performance. They looked content, more than content because they thought they could have won the game. As the away side, they had us on the ropes once or twice in the second half. They contained us.
Disappointed I might be, but there was a moral victory in there once more for Spurs. Because we competed. Because we’re competing. Even if it looks like a Manchester title, we're contenders by virtue of being 3rd at Christmas.
It’s all very nice but we need to carve out that opportunity to still somehow win this type of game (even with the standard of performance) and remove ourselves ever so slightly from the subtle patronising of being this plucky new kid on the block trying to impress the older ones.
We should have really dicked Chelsea. We didn’t. We didn’t because, well, I’m uncertain why exactly. In terms of tempo and belief, we did little wrong in the opening twenty minutes. The first genuine rampage forward from Gareth Bale led to a cross and a goal, Adebayor beating Terry to the ball and then beating an uncertain Cech. The goal we conceded was a catalyst. Before that happened, we looked up for it. Focused and with fortitude. Handball aside (in the build up to the equaliser) both BAE and King need to be accountable for failing to pick up Sturridge. Is that a hole in your pocket Ledley? Benny was setting precedence for the rest of the game, out of position, slack and slow. He would add poor distribution to his forgettable evening.
Before it was 1-1, it did look very promising. The movement. The strength and industry of Sandro and Parker. Still, gradually, signs of an ominous type made fleeting appearances. A reminder that this was still Chelsea. A quality opposition with vastly experienced players. Before we gifted them the goal, they did their part to elevate tension just a notch. After the 1-1 we got a tactical schooling. Not quite a spanking, but you have to admit their presence in midfield nullified any creative spark from men in white.
van der Vaart was out there. Somewhere. I’m sure of it. Chelsea patiently retained possession and any attempt to reclaim some of that zesty Spurs football was, well...it was out of our reach. Still, they weren’t dominant. Stats might paint a picture of assault, but most of their chances at goal were missed punches rather than body blows. We were still in it. Felt like the game was untidy. They were not imperious like the previous Chelsea sides we’ve faced. Effective, not so wasteful in possession and a threat from set-pieces. We looked loop-side and lacked cultured intent and at times far too eager.
The lack of confidence, not because of weak mental strength but more to do with the fact that we are so finely tuned to play a certain style that perhaps the reality is that against the very best teams in the Prem, we can't get always get away with some of our adaptive make-overs.
At half-time I knew this game would finish 2-1. To someone. I was wrong, but the way the second half played out...it was most definitely a game where they could have won it and we could have nicked it.
Rafa didn’t appear for the second half. Injury. Which might explain (excuse) his ghost appearance in the first forty five. Harry changed things. He’s got it right recently when he’s had to make tactical swaps. This time, it didn’t quite work. 442 works although I prefer 4411. You just can’t play the latter if Rafa is off the pitch and if you’re replacing him with a certain Russian forward you’ve got more chance of finding a unicorns ball sack in heap of rocking horse ****. Roman does not do much on the field of play so there is zero chance of him working with effect in the space between midfield and attack. Neither forward dropped deep. There was no significant link up play to aid that much needed fluidity.
Still, we battled on. It remained dis-jointed. Luka drifting in from the right. Parker was less influential as per usual. Has his performance level dropped recently? Probably. Expected considering the run in the team he’s had and the results we’ve produced in that time. Sandro at least has given us hefty reassurance that if needed, we can rest Scott. The Brazilian was on fine form. Rough round the edges, but the type of rough you find acceptable. Like beard growth that itches every now and again in discomfort but you keep it because it makes you look good. You know soon enough it will grow nice and thick giving you full facial protection. Whatever we do, let’s please not shave it off.
Chelsea continued with their attempted body blows which at this point would have been knock-out punches. They had the opportunities, Tottenham’s chin presenting itself on more than one occasion. King at the back didn’t (on this evening) equate to the best defending as a unit. Although Ledley did make up for his earlier lapse with smart interceptions and tackles.
With the Christmas fixtures ahead of us and Rafa now joining Lennon on the sidelines, we could make matters worse if Luka retains his drifting in from the flank position. Having been second best for periods of the second half (well, most of it) we could have won the game with some golden moments as we edged towards the final whistle. Three great chances. Wasn’t to be. Chelsea I’m sure will think the same with their efforts. Gallas should have. Sandro was deserving. Adebayor might have lifted the ball higher at pace towards goal (easy for me to say it sitting here typing it).
We didn’t play too well. Shadow of the side we have been this season. But let’s not get too carried away with the negatives. Our opponents were hardly going to roll over for us. So the disappointment of failing to perform to the standard we could have might get bogged down with ‘tiredness’ and ‘injuries’ and ‘lack of genuine key play positional depth’. But as I've citied, its a good (strange) feeling to feel p*ssed off about drawing at home to Chelsea. But that doesn't excuse it, at least that's how the players mindset should be.
As long as the players believe this was a missed opportunity then that’s a good thing. I don’t buy into any of the rhetoric that the likes of Chelsea and others have come through their difficult period. They might have, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve on ours. We’ve failed to win two on the trot. Crisis time. The making of any team is one that grafts their way through a period where obstacles are aplenty. Our ones are self-contained and require us to find that next level. We've not been in such a position before, so there's that to consider too.
How much as the Tottenham supporting psyche changed to feel disappointed? Still, it's just one game. It’s done, we need to move on. Let them celebrate the point whilst we look to make amends for dropping two.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/24/disappointed.html
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Source: http://seatpitch.co.uk/2011/12/28/the-nottingham-forest-half-term-report/
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Source: http://www.eighteensixtyfive.co.uk/2011/12/by-the-seaside/
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A while back on the podcast, the question of 'Top 4 or silverware' was put forward. Crops up a lot. No matter the quote or the belief you embrace when discussing priorities in football, there is no argument that football has changed so much in the past twenty years that such a question is rendered redundant because it's easier to just wait and see if you're knocked out before assigning the tags on what matters and what doesn't.
The title > Champions League > Domestic cups > Europa League
Not everyone has the privilege of challenging for the first two and very few are interested in the lesser European competition because it feels like its only there to appease the clubs knocked out in the group stage of the elite competition. Would change if they awarded the winner with a spot in the CL proper and perhaps didn't allow losers from it to drop into the Europa. That's hardly going to happen when football is structured to make the rich richer.
Now I know it's ironic that we want a piece of the pie and want back in, but from a purists point of view we want another bite, perhaps a feast this time - going pound for pound with the top tier teams the continent has to offer. So does that mean it's okay to devalue one competition for another? It's what we've done this season playing a mish-mash of second teamers and youth players whilst our first team concentrate on the Prem games.
I think if you strip it all away, even Bill Nicks quote on Spurs and Europe, you would simply want your club to win every game. To always look to be competitive and to have a mentality that every competition is winnable. Go back to the 80s, that was pretty much the way it was. But that romantic notion can not be stretched through the decades to the present day.
I've felt empty and fairly disillusioned and disinterested with Europe this season because although we did manage a level of competitiveness it was hardly the Glory Glory Tottenham I know, all in white, under the floodlights giving it the style and grace we have come to expect. Europa League is not the Champions League. Its an after thought, the League Cup of the continental stage. You start to take it seriously the further you progress. That chance was missed when the Greeks visited the Lane.
It's a shame that the younger players and the rest wont get any extra game time. That in its self sums up the experience we've endured on Channel 5 and ITV4.
Nicholson's Europe is not the Europa League.
I'd love to see us line-up with strength and the desire to beat our opponents in every single game, but it's not going to happen. This competition was sacrificed. It hurts, but it won't kill.
That question, 'Silverware or Top 4'. I answered Top 4. That's not to say finishing in a CL spot is in any way glorious or defining as any cup competition win. Not a chance. But, in the long term, for this club and the players we currently possesses in Lilywhite it is just as important as lifting a bit of silver with white and blue ribbons.
Why?
I don't particularity want us to become the next Man Utd. I don't want ten years of dominance or anything like that. I don't actually believe that will happen again and can see the Premier League being a far more open competition. What I would like is another chapter in our history akin to the one in the 60s and the early 80s. Another glory side. We were once synonymous with the FA Cup.
In addition, if we finish top four or higher. If we consolidate and build on the squad, it's not a case of just finishing in the 'Top four' and being happy with another adventure the following season. It's about growing stronger from one season to the next to be able to aim for the very top.
We would never have had this conversation a few years back. Testament to how much the landscape has brighten from a dull dark sky to a blue one punctured with the odd white cloud.
We can't ignore the position we're in and the potential the side has and the club, players have to believe that a small sacrifice here or there is for the greater good.
If you continually finish in the top then those trophies, that silverware that is far more satisfying (and historically noted) will be far more tangible options in the short and long term.
That's my belief and in some way, my sacrifice.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/16/this-is-hardly-the-europe-bill-nicholson-spoke-of.html
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Pocket-sized match preview. Time is against me today.
Banana-skin, they call today's visit of Sunderland. I prefer to call it a 'test' of character. We have to retain focus and make a solid statement of intent and continue the level of performance we displayed second half against Stoke. We're hardly out of form. We suffered a blip. A wake up call, a gentle nod towards avoidance of complacency.
With Chelsea visiting us on Thursday, this game is equally as important in terms of winning all three points as we drive towards the festive period and the new year. January will be season defining. We've got plenty of home games and that game in hand against Everton. Whatever happens in the transfer window, is pretty much irrelevant for now.
Stand strong Tottenham. Bully your opponents. Boss the midfield and the tempo and take your chances with supreme confidence (you hear me Adebayor?). Take nothing for granted. Play to win like your lives depend on it. That's simply the only attitude to have.
We're going to be missing a few players today. I don't want to be citing that as an excuse come the final whistle.
COYS.
Love the shirt.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/18/must-win.html
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Source: http://seatpitch.co.uk/2011/12/07/nottingham-forest-the-panini-years-1985/
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Source: http://seatpitch.co.uk/2011/12/22/10-of-the-best-nottingham-forest-goals/
Source: http://soccervoice.com/n111028.htm
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No matter where I look, where I turn...I'm surrounded. There's no way out. I must conceded defeat. No escape. I have to accept my fate. Fate being the positivity from the media which is almost as consistent as Tottenham's on field results.
Zombies would have made that opening a little more exciting, I know. Maybe next time.
Whether it's the broadsheets or the tabloids or the journos on Twitter, everyone loves a bit of Spurs. Phil Thompson and Alan Hansen were so giddy in their compliments, I'd imagine they shared a booty call at some point last week just to get it all out of their system.
There has been plenty of title talk from the press. More shocking is that probably for the first time in recorded history (since the very early 80s and 60s) when a Lilywhite speaks the words 'title challenge' when in amongst a group he's not mocked and forced to paint his face in clown colours and waltz up and down the road with everyone pointing and laughing. It might not be possible due to a certain Mancunian project but a challenge is hardly improbable thanks mainly to the continued transitional form of the other former Sky Sports greats. In fact, we're almost beyond that point now when discussing such matters. Rather than 'can we win it?' it's a far more complex conundrum that poses the more relevant question; what do we need to be able to win it?
Probably £100M, and that isn't going to happen.
I'm sort of half jesting anyway. My opinion on this is to aim for top spot because anything directly below it (2nd, 3rd, 4th) will be dancing in the street acceptable. At the start of the season I would have taken fourth. At the start of the season we all thought it would be another long hard struggle. I would have accepted another hard fought, almost nigh impossible bare bone must win every game journey to the final day of the season this time out too. Yet all the early season disarray we struggled with (i.e. that transfer saga) switched on that in-built mechanism we posses to always consider the worst case scenario first, resulting with many knee-jerking away. More so after the opening two results.
I can also remember plenty of 'Has Harry taken us as far as he can?' light-bulbs blinking away in unison. That being the result of our form at the back end of last season which was hardly inspiring. Hindsight tells us the reason was simply due the side requiring new blood. Consolidation. This season has proved that to be correct. More so that with every step taken, further consolidation is required.
We got us the engine room. We got us the complete forward. Wanting to improve further is a sign that the culture of comfort is without air, six foot under.
The most important element of all is most definitely the fact that we held onto our key players. All that belief since Bale's hat-trick in Milan, all the momentum birthed going back further in time to Crouch nodding in the goal at Eastlands...it hasn't been wasted with another blue screen of death and reboot.
What have we won? Well, nothing. But what relevance does that have when we've been achieving something for more important in the long term? We've had to rebuild and this time with not a cowboy in sight.
Doesn't matter, honestly hand on heart, it matters not at all if we/they/them think we can win the title.
What matters is whether the players believe they can. Even if its a day dream or a gentle whispering voice in the back of their heads, it's enough. It's enough for us to challenge at the top. Misplaced, delusional...sure, fives years ago. These days, it seems to be up for grabs. It's not just us with an invitation, there's one or two other clubs out there and their fans who are nowhere near as strong as they once were but could put up a similar argument that its not impossible.
There is nothing to be embarrassed about, displaying ambition. Wanting glory. Neither is acceptable in half-measures. You can't sort of want to oh go on then challenge for anything. You either believe in yourself or you don't.
Fives years ago simply no longer matters other than looking back to it as a reminder of where we once stood. Neither does last season. Even yesterday is history. All focus has to be on tomorrow. The next day. The day after that. And so on.
We don't quite have that experience of the pressures that come with being in a position far more lofty than challenging for 4th whilst looking up from 5th. The winning mentality is fledgling but its one that has many (non-Spurs including) licking their lips with admiration and a little green-eyed jealously. Our opponents might be able to cite that much sought after experience but they gained much of it in days when they only had three other clubs to concern themselves with. Pressure, it doesn't just exist for us. It exists for them too, finding themselves in a place they are accustomed to.
Everyone is fighting each other and having to fight their demons within.
Champions League qualification will no doubt elevate this club to the next level once more, with a solid chance of retaining it the following season (along with retaining those key players that everyone enjoys wanting to link with moves away). That's the target, but this being Spurs, a club that had dreamt for so long...it would be rude not to aim higher. We would dream of CL when we were nothing more than a mid-table side. Now we have a look of a top four side, it's only fair we revel in our confidence.
If we stumble, if we fall...I have complete faith we'll get right back up again, dust ourselves off and continue marching. That's the big test so many of our recent admirers are adding as a caveat in small print embedded subtly alongside their kind words about us. Not that I'm wishing such a thing (the 'L' word) just yet.
Beyond Stoke, beyond the New Year. I can only repeat myself. Sure, we have the best midfield in the country (pound for pound) but regardless of whether we believe our squad depth is sufficient enough say if we did lose a key player or two, we can not take that chance if that chance equates to struggling.
We have to be shrewd and take no prisoners. On the pitch and off it once the transfer window opens. What we've shown is we can grind out results, play without a key player or two. Now just imagine if we strengthen an already very strong first team eleven.
We should not care less about the rest and their problems because they won't care too much about us. As for those kind words. Be certain they will gladly ram it down our throats if we stumbled and failed to get up.
The marker is down.
But having said all this, let's not allow things to bog us down with serious faces and ample chin scratching. Enjoy it for what it is. Tottenham Hotspur playing with style and industry and desire.
Love the shirt.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/10/glory-doesnt-come-in-half-measures.html
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In no particular order.
Three points. Absolutely no room for complacency and excuses. Look at the table. A win (and another against Swansea) going into the WBA home game sets up January to be the pivotal month of the season before the hard slog kicks in. Psychologically, this is big. Not Godzilla big. Dinosaur big. We simply cannot freeze, extinction is out of the question. Resilience please.
Ruthlessly clinical up front. None of this Andy Cole ‘its takes five chances to score one’ teaser football. Either pass the ball into the back of the net or smash it in. There’s no room left for pretenders now, only contenders. Otherwise, we'll left anchored, cannonball away from sinking.
Luka Modric. In the middle.
Unequivocal focus and professionalism. We have stunning quality. On paper we should be trouncing the likes of Norwich. Paper won’t fly unless you make an aeroplane out of it. So fly Tottenham, fly. The last thing I want is an origami canary, smug smile, staring at my despairing face.
Rafa van der Vaart to be effective for at least 80 minutes. What? It's still sort of Christmas, so let me wish for a miracle.
Defending. Good old fashion defending without any lapses of concentration. Strength down the spin and at the heart of the back line. Unity. No Ledley today doesn’t mean we have to revert to displays with odd moments of calamity – i.e. losing spatial awareness. We're not kids, we're men. So get a grip and smack down any bullish behaviour from the hosts.
Benny's afro. Just because.
Width. Work the flank. Even if it means Bale swapping sides and having Sandro covering and full backs holding back to protect when he’s rampant in forward positions. Pace will destroy Norwich. Patience and possession the probable fuel to make it happen in pockets of play.
That bloody stupid dance.
COYS.
Love the shirt.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/27/things-i-want-to-see-today.html
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Stoke 2 Spurs 1
A referee is not meant to influence a game with such defining persistent calamity. Perhaps one wrong decision (it happens). But Chris Foy is no ordinary referee. Not even average. Poor is the word best associated with him. One mistake swallowed and regurgitated in a constant loop over the ninety minutes played. If ineptness was an art form then his performance in the Stoke v Spurs game was a masterpiece.
The rather ironic saving grace after the whistle blew at full time and we finally lost a game of football in the league was that the players can take the bitterness and allow it to fuel their emotions for the next game (Sunderland at the Lane). Whilst the rest of us (those wanting to look beyond Foy) can feel a little aggrieved that Tottenham let us down in the first forty-five minutes. Because no matter what happened in the second forty-five, the game was lost before the ref and his assistants played their part in guaranteeing it. Still, there is no hiding from the fact that we did more than enough to save the points and our response is what this new-look Spurs is all about. In the end, we were ended by the man with the whistle and not the brutal brand of football our hosts play.
2-0 down, fully deserved. We allowed ourselves to be completely bullied from the off. The formation looked uncomfortable, the players (especially at the back) seemed confused and lost out to Stoke and their physicality (do they have anything else?). I guess this was frustrating for one reason only – what did we expect? Okay, so in the past we’ve had success there but considering our form they were hardly going to sit back and let us play tippy-tappy possession play. Their football is ugly. It can be effective.
I found myself hoping Harry would instruct someone to cello-tape a cardboard cut out of Ledley King onto the back of Scott Parker, for that much needed calming influence. Parker himself, off key, lacked that edge he’s had in his play since he joined our midfield. That leadership quality went missing. We allowed the anti-football to antagonise us.
You know what, it happens. Against Stoke, the obvious actually played out. We let them get to us. Now, for anyone playing around with the words ‘we’ve got out Tottenham back’, I know you’re only jesting. Because old Spurs, that inconsistent creature we hardly miss, would have got battered in the second half too. Not the case this time.
Character. We have it in abundance and we did more than enough in the second half to prove we have spirit and guile. Harry mixed things up with a 3-5-2 formation and it worked. Well, it sort of worked but didn’t. This is where unfortunately the Foy Factor impacted proceedings. Now granted, he gave us a dubious penalty one that you might admit to being generous (and perhaps not wanting Luka to repeat). Although I’m willing to bet most would prefer to silently applaud Modric for it with whispers that certain other clubs have been doing it for years (win at any cost). Personally? Would prefer we win playing football, purely. If our players want to take that particular route of falling down easily, I’d prefer it to remain ambiguous enough for me to ignore.
The inconsistent and dire decision making however had already settled into the game during the first half and spread like the black plague in the second. Luka pen aside (slotted away by Adebayor), the rest were not in our favour. A detail the home support seemed to turn a blind eye too (insert Specsavers joke here).
Time wasting on throw-ins (I feel stupid complaining about the sewn in towel so I won’t)
Shawcross foul on Kaboul in the penalty area, no intent to play the ball, blatant
Shawcross clearing the ball off the line with his arm (straight red?)
Lost count now, there was another handball, right? Woodgate should have walked
A legitimate goal disallowed for offside when Adebayor was onside (assistant ref, anyone?)
The curious case of the corners given as goal-kicks when they were blatantly corners
Various suspect decisions on free-kicks not given, no consistency compared to free-kicks given to opposition
Most of the controversy was post-Modric penalty. Coincidence? Work it out.
He (Foy) influenced the second half. Like the final season of Lost, he had no idea how it would end, making it up as he went along. In the end, what with Kaboul adding to his yellow card for complaining with another yellow for a foul – regardless of the fact that he should have been more wise in both incidents, it almost felt like another kick in the teeth (at a point when I could see us over-running them). Wasn't really a foul worthy of a yellow, was it? Bit soft? If he only stated to the ref 'it was handball' for the first yellow, then you could start to argue that the ref really didn't have a clue how to handle it all and killed off the game completely with over zealous reactions and non-reactions.
Just how much was necessary to make amends for Luka falling over? Or was he also making amends for the Walters header from last season?
The officiating was bad. Our first half performance was bad. So to play well and not get anything after the second half, it’s gutting. But s*** happens. Our response is what I’m taking from this game and as mentioned, let the players feel aggrieved and robbed, let them take that attitude into the next match and take it out in the form of redemption. I’d be far more worried if we capitulated. We didn’t. What it proves is that we have to be far more accomplished from the off, especially when King isn’t playing. So take note chairman and manager, I’m sure they have. Activity certain in January.
This is the ilk of game we've been winning this season. We should have beaten Stoke. We didn't. Never get complacent.
To elaborate on the tactical switch, first half, too many players were isolated so the movement was ineffectual deeming Rafa and his deep deployment redundant and Adebayor without support. With Stoke being what they are we should have (easy with hindsight) started with two forwards, if anything to allow a more balanced shape to the side to deal with their style (lack of). Defoe didn’t deserve to be dropped but then I’m always keen to see Rafa start. In this case, we got it wrong. Harry who is sometimes maligned for not seeing things and changing them got it right when we returned from the dressing room. Foy got it wrong enough to make sure Stoke held on. Something they deserved based on their first half, fortunate to survive the second.
If there was one game in our fixture list that the footballing Gods marked down as the one where we would stumble, this was it.
Etherington for England
‘Unplayable’ Crouch (you just knew this would happen, right? Man of the Match, I'm laughing)
Woodgate and Palacios
The hoofing
No King equating to an Friedel uneasy
Gio's cameo
Still 3rd. Game in hand. Sunderland will get it next weekend. Live and learn. We lost thanks to that first half display. What the ref did in the second will mask that. Onwards, upwards Spurs. Down into the Championship for Foy, with any luck.
As for Stoke. Well done. You’re not pretty. You got the result, but I’d rather be relegated playing football on the park than survive playing whatever the f*** it is you lot do. I guess you'll cite Wigan as a reason why you don't play it on the park. You've done well against the bigger teams. I guess I should be grateful for my colours. It’s not easy down there. It’s just as hard up here.
As for us lot, this defeat, I don't like the taste of it. I've spat it out.
COYS.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/12/the-name-is-foy-chris-foy-licence-to-kill.html
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Source: http://www.ltlf.co.uk/forest/2011/12/nottingham-forest-the-panini-years-%e2%80%94-1986/
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No matter where I look, where I turn...I'm surrounded. There's no way out. I must conceded defeat. No escape. I have to accept my fate. Fate being the positivity from the media which is almost as consistent as Tottenham's on field results.
Zombies would have made that opening a little more exciting, I know. Maybe next time.
Whether it's the broadsheets or the tabloids or the journos on Twitter, everyone loves a bit of Spurs. Phil Thompson and Alan Hansen were so giddy in their compliments, I'd imagine they shared a booty call at some point last week just to get it all out of their system.
There has been plenty of title talk from the press. More shocking is that probably for the first time in recorded history (since the very early 80s and 60s) when a Lilywhite speaks the words 'title challenge' when in amongst a group he's not mocked and forced to paint his face in clown colours and waltz up and down the road with everyone pointing and laughing. It might not be possible due to a certain Mancunian project but a challenge is hardly improbable thanks mainly to the continued transitional form of the other former Sky Sports greats. In fact, we're almost beyond that point now when discussing such matters. Rather than 'can we win it?' it's a far more complex conundrum that poses the more relevant question; what do we need to be able to win it?
Probably £100M, and that isn't going to happen.
I'm sort of half jesting anyway. My opinion on this is to aim for top spot because anything directly below it (2nd, 3rd, 4th) will be dancing in the street acceptable. At the start of the season I would have taken fourth. At the start of the season we all thought it would be another long hard struggle. I would have accepted another hard fought, almost nigh impossible bare bone must win every game journey to the final day of the season this time out too. Yet all the early season disarray we struggled with (i.e. that transfer saga) switched on that in-built mechanism we posses to always consider the worst case scenario first, resulting with many knee-jerking away. More so after the opening two results.
I can also remember plenty of 'Has Harry taken us as far as he can?' light-bulbs blinking away in unison. That being the result of our form at the back end of last season which was hardly inspiring. Hindsight tells us the reason was simply due the side requiring new blood. Consolidation. This season has proved that to be correct. More so that with every step taken, further consolidation is required.
We got us the engine room. We got us the complete forward. Wanting to improve further is a sign that the culture of comfort is without air, six foot under.
The most important element of all is most definitely the fact that we held onto our key players. All that belief since Bale's hat-trick in Milan, all the momentum birthed going back further in time to Crouch nodding in the goal at Eastlands...it hasn't been wasted with another blue screen of death and reboot.
What have we won? Well, nothing. But what relevance does that have when we've been achieving something for more important in the long term? We've had to rebuild and this time with not a cowboy in sight.
Doesn't matter, honestly hand on heart, it matters not at all if we/they/them think we can win the title.
What matters is whether the players believe they can. Even if its a day dream or a gentle whispering voice in the back of their heads, it's enough. It's enough for us to challenge at the top. Misplaced, delusional...sure, fives years ago. These days, it seems to be up for grabs. It's not just us with an invitation, there's one or two other clubs out there and their fans who are nowhere near as strong as they once were but could put up a similar argument that its not impossible.
There is nothing to be embarrassed about, displaying ambition. Wanting glory. Neither is acceptable in half-measures. You can't sort of want to oh go on then challenge for anything. You either believe in yourself or you don't.
Fives years ago simply no longer matters other than looking back to it as a reminder of where we once stood. Neither does last season. Even yesterday is history. All focus has to be on tomorrow. The next day. The day after that. And so on.
We don't quite have that experience of the pressures that come with being in a position far more lofty than challenging for 4th whilst looking up from 5th. The winning mentality is fledgling but its one that has many (non-Spurs including) licking their lips with admiration and a little green-eyed jealously. Our opponents might be able to cite that much sought after experience but they gained much of it in days when they only had three other clubs to concern themselves with. Pressure, it doesn't just exist for us. It exists for them too, finding themselves in a place they are accustomed to.
Everyone is fighting each other and having to fight their demons within.
Champions League qualification will no doubt elevate this club to the next level once more, with a solid chance of retaining it the following season (along with retaining those key players that everyone enjoys wanting to link with moves away). That's the target, but this being Spurs, a club that had dreamt for so long...it would be rude not to aim higher. We would dream of CL when we were nothing more than a mid-table side. Now we have a look of a top four side, it's only fair we revel in our confidence.
If we stumble, if we fall...I have complete faith we'll get right back up again, dust ourselves off and continue marching. That's the big test so many of our recent admirers are adding as a caveat in small print embedded subtly alongside their kind words about us. Not that I'm wishing such a thing (the 'L' word) just yet.
Beyond Stoke, beyond the New Year. I can only repeat myself. Sure, we have the best midfield in the country (pound for pound) but regardless of whether we believe our squad depth is sufficient enough say if we did lose a key player or two, we can not take that chance if that chance equates to struggling.
We have to be shrewd and take no prisoners. On the pitch and off it once the transfer window opens. What we've shown is we can grind out results, play without a key player or two. Now just imagine if we strengthen an already very strong first team eleven.
We should not care less about the rest and their problems because they won't care too much about us. As for those kind words. Be certain they will gladly ram it down our throats if we stumbled and failed to get up.
The marker is down.
But having said all this, let's not allow things to bog us down with serious faces and ample chin scratching. Enjoy it for what it is. Tottenham Hotspur playing with style and industry and desire.
Love the shirt.
Source: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2011/12/10/glory-doesnt-come-in-half-measures.html
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