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Cos nothing else matters....
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God I'm hungover. So hungover. Thursday nights out are a killer. But it was worth it. Why? Because I went to Faces. I'd never been before, but I'd seen Ledley on the front page of the Metro falling out the front door so many times, I felt like a regular. Needless to say it was a good night, and thankfully I didn't bump into Aaron and T Hudd breakdancing with a hareem of women. But the vodka flowed and I can't really think at the moment so this will be short and sweet.
Lennon's ego must be bigger than Alan Sugar's right now. The praise he's been getting the past 24 hours is akin to Obama-mania so hopefully he'll keep his feet on the ground, his head down and keep running fast. Very fast. Hopefully straight past Patrice Evra. Here's what Lamps had to say about our very own Billy Whizz:
"I think Aaron is a fantastic player. He can be as good as he wants to be. He can be an absolute world beater."
Tomorrow's game gives Azza a good chance to prove Fat Frank right. Evra is widely regarded to be one of the best left-backs in the world and he got given a right royal shafting by Lennon at Wembley back in the spring, so it'd be jolly nice if the same happens again tomorrow.
Team news is a bit thin on the ground, mainly because Arry only got his rascals back today. Rumour has it King and Bassong are both fit to play so I'm guessing it'll be the usual in defence. Gomes might be back, which would be nice. Cudicini hasn't filled me with confidence this season and no clean sheets in 4 games is bad for my fantasy football team so I'd welcome a return for the octopus. The left berth is open after Luka's gammy fibula left him resting till November. My heart says Giovanni but my head says new signing Nico Kranjcar, who I thought looked pretty handy for Croatia on Wednedsay. And then there's the strikers where it'll be 2 from 4 and probably a change. Arry's been bigging up Crouchy recently and I reckon he'll be starting which means Keano on the bench. Not sure how the paddy primadonna will take that, but the beanpole breakdancer will cause Utd problems so I think it's the right call.
Nowt much else to say. It's North London against Manchester this weekend so let's hope the Etihad boys give the Gooner Emirati a good thrashing. Wins for us and City would really rile the Sky 4....
Audere est Facere
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There are nights in a team's evolution when all come together as one to play with a purpose and drive that signals their intent to the world. This was one of those nights. England were rampant - tearing the Croatian defence apart with ease, sniffing out every Croatian attack before it had even got started, chasing the ball across every blade of grass and attacking with guile and speed. Croatia didn't stand a chance.
At the heart of everything good in England's devestating first half was our very own Aaron Lennon, finally fulfilling his undoubted potential and cementing his place in the team. "That was my first eleven" said Capello after the game. Lennon's development from promising teenager to international winger is complete.
The comments from the press were a joy to read this morning:
"the outstanding Aaron Lennon led Croatia’s defenders a merry dance"
"terrorised the Croatia defence"
"[his] performance on the right wing caused Croatia untold problems before he departed to a standing ovation"
It was truly a great performance, so great that he didn't make a mistake until the 65th minute when he lost the ball trying to run in between the two Croatians who had double-marked him to no avail for the whole match. In fact his opening salvo - the jink and jive past the desperate Simunic to win the penalty, and the beautifully weighted cross for the second - was so devestating that Bilic swapped his defence around and put the pacey Srna at LB to try and provide come resistance. He fared little better. Flicking the ball over his own and his marker's heads, Lennon flew past his defender and controlled the ball on his chest before laying off the ball to Rooney who beautifully slid the ball through the gap in the Croatian defence. Lennon dinked the ball over the oncoming keeper, but not putting quite enough on the chip allowed Runje to get a finger to it and deflect it off course. The goal would have been the icing on the cake. That can wait until another day.
England continued to probe and Bilic's men crumbled. Another two goals came, in spite of Heskey's determination to play himself out of the England squad, before the cheating gooner Eduardo nabbed a consolation. Rooney made it five after more hapless defending from the Croats, and it was job done. Two games against Croatia. Nine goals scored. How on earth did McLaren screw it up so badly?
It would be rude of me to ignore the contributions of fellow Spurs Defoe and Kranjcar. Jermaine made some good runs and showed some nice touches. Kranjcar was arguably Croatia's best player with most if not all of their attacking play going through him. His range of passing and his calmness on the ball was nice to see and it'll be interesting to see how he slots into the Spurs team this weekend. He looks a similar player to Modric - a little bigger, a little stronger, a little slower maybe - so I'm sure he'll do just fine. There was a nice moment in the game when, after Lennon had been mauled down yet again by some filthy excuse for an international footballer, Nico bent over and offered Aaron his hand - already a Spurs boy.
Man Utd visit the Lane on Saturday and Fergie will be fearful of the damage Lennon could do. Evra was on the receiving end of a pasting in the Carling Cup Final back in March and will be hoping to put up more of a fight this time round. But the form of Lennon, mirrored by the form of our entire squad, gives me hope, nay confidence, that we can make it 5 from 5 on Saturday evening.
But more on that tomorrow....
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So according to the media, tonight's international between England and Croatia is pretty much Spurs v Spurs. Defoe and Lennon are the darlings of the media (and Beckham now finished.... again) while Bilic has been crying into his bean stew over the loss of Modric and Corluka. And then there's Kranjcar and his new role as the creator of Croatia in Luka's absence. This being the case, it's probably worth me previewing the game that could seal England's qualifcation for WC2010.
Lennon and Defoe both deserve to start. Whether they do is another matter. If I was a betting man I'd be backing Lennon to start and Defoe to come on in the 2nd half. Capello likes Heskey, and the way the rest of the team work around him, so he's likely to be given another chance. But futher failure from Emile may well leave him struggling for a ticket on the plane to South Africa, especially with Crouch and Cole both pushing for inclusion. Lennon though outshone SWP by quite some margin on Saturday and is almost nailed on for a starting berth. Let's hope he comes close to replicating Walcott's performance against the Crotians last time round.
Oliver Holt had some nice words to say about Azza:
"After a brilliant start to the season for Spurs, he carried his club form into Saturday’s international with Slovenia. He rejuvenated a sluggish England side when he was brought on at half-time to replace Shaun Wright-Phillips.
"Lennon brightened things up when he came on at Wembley on Saturday. He brought a sense of purpose and dangerous intent. His performance and Defoe’s were the two brightest aspects of a match where England struggled to excel."
Despite my dislike of Oliver Holt and pretty much anything he says on the Sunday Supplement, I can't disagree with anything he's written there. Let's hope Aaron proves him right tonight.
On the Croatian front, Bilic goes into tonight's game without his two best players. Corluka, who he described earlier this year as "the best right-back in the world", is suspended while Modric is injured, obviously. He had this to say:
"It's a big blow, of course," he admitted last night. "It's not the same to play any game without such world-class players as Luka or Corluka, though there's no point crying now."
I like Slavan Bilic a lot more than Oliver Holt, so I find it easier to agree with him. In fact I'd quite like to go for a pint with Slavan, I reckon he's a good lad. The injury to Modric does however give our new signing Nico Kranjcar a chance to shine. He didn't play too well at the weekend when pushed from the left into a more central role and if I'm honest I hope he has an average game tonight. Yes I'm a Spurs fan, but I want England in the next World Cup so if Nico has a stinker tonight I won't be too fussed. Hopefully there won't be too much of this....
There's not much else to say, other than well done to the 5000 fans who turned up for the friendly last night. That should put another £50k into the SoS fund which I'm sure will be much appreciated by the Stanley fans.
Till tomorrow...
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Football's a funny old game, torn between the riches and fame of the modern era and the values and traditions of its long history. "Don't dive" they tell us, "it's bad sportsmanship". Fair enough. "No manager will admit it" they say, "but you do everything you can to win". Say what? As football has evolved into a multi-billion pound industry, with it have come pressures and financial incentives that too often blind the fundamental truth that at the end of the day it's just a game, and a beautiful one at that. So when the poorest club in the Premier League decide to host a friendly and donate all gate receipts to a club far less fortunate than themselves, it warms the cockles and reminds you that there are a few good people still left in football.
Accrington Stanley is one of the oldest names in football, a club with a rich history and one of the 12 founding members of the football league. Decimated by debts in the 1960s and forced into liquidation, it seemed the Accrington name was to disappear after 80 years in existence. But the fans wouldn't have it and, at a meeting in the local town hall in 1968, the club was reborn and in 1970 re-entered football at the bottom of the non-league pyramid. Since then it has risen slowly but surely through the entirety of non-league football and in May 2006 they finally made it back to top level football with promotion to the football league. Just three months later they beat Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. The resurgence was complete. Stanley were back.
Or so they thought. Burdened by debts, they now need to raise £308,000 in 8 weeks or they face a second liquidation. Local campaigns have raised considerable sums, with one American fan donating £5000 to the cause. But £300k is a hell of a lot for a League Two side to find, and everyone in the area knows it. That's why Burnley have decided to lend a hand. And what a hand it is. Tonight at Turf Moor they host Accrington in a friendly fundraiser with all gate receipts going to SoS (Save our Stanley), with the club saying they will do “anything we can” to help Stanley survive. A club like Accrington is vitally important not just to the local community but to football as a whole. Burnley, unlike Liverpool, recognise this and are willing to contribute in order to ensure the survival of the smaller clubs that make football in England what it is. Liverpool would do well in the future to show slightly more empathy, given their own financial problems just a few months ago.
I'd ask all of you who live in the area to go and show your support. Lower league football is vitally important to our national sport and to the local communities it acts as a focal point for. And you'll have the chance to see the magical feet of new signing David 'Ted' Nugent. Owen Coyle had this to say:
"I will be putting out a strong team," Coyle told the club's website. "It will be a chance for the fans to see 90 minutes for Fernando Guerrero and also first-team players like Chris Eagles and David Nugent.
"The more Burnley fans who come the better because it's a fantastic cause, and that's why we have priced it reasonably."
Admission will be £10 for adults (£5 concessions). Car parking will be available in the North Stand car park for a £2 donation. Kick-off is 7.45pm.
In 1991, Spurs were on the brink of bankruptcy. Only Alan Sugar, and his Amstrad money, saved us from the infamy of going into administration and I know we'd all appreciate the support of other clubs if it was Spurs who were suffering this time.
E-I-E-I-E-I-O
Up the football league
we go
when we win promotion this
is what we'll sing
we are Stanley
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I'm not sure quite what Defoe has to do to start for England. 8 goals in 12 appearances under Capello, and 7 in 6 starts this season for club and country, are apparently not enough to force the prolific Emile Heskey out of the starting XI. If Capello picks Heskey to start against Croatia on Wednesday, I'll rip out my fingernails with a pair of tweezers.
It beggars belief that he continues to get in the England team, especially after he offered nothing in the first half on Saturday. Unfortunately it seems I'm destined to wake up on Thursday in with sore fingers. Capello had this to say about JD:
"If he plays the second half, he has scored goals. That’s good. Perhaps he would be tired if he played from the first minute. He’s a really important player. But Heskey, for me, played a good first half. The players do a lot of movement around Heskey.”
Lennon was similarly overlooked, but joined Defoe in entering the fray at half-time and changing the game for the better, making the winning goal. In my eyes both the Spurs boys should start, no question. SWP, good as he might be, isn't in the rich vein of form that Lennon has experienced in 2009. I won't hold my breath though.
It was a successful international weekend for Spurs players. Keane scored, Taarabt scored after a mazy solo run, Gio was star of the show again for Mexico. Which makes me think that finally Arry might have to give him a chance to make a name for himself at Spurs. It's been a tumultuous first year in English football for Gio, coming from Barcelona to play for a manager he knew from La Liga, drawn to the bright lights of London's nightclubs, seemingly lacking in the work ethic or drive to make the most of his undoubted talents. But it appears that his time at Ipswich last year was the launch pad for a change in attitude and a resurgence in his career. The summer saw him made MVP for his outstanding all-round performances at the CONCAF Gold Cup, where he led Mexico to a stunning 5-0 victory over the USA (the first win in 10 years). Then last week Arry mentioned that he looked more focused and had shown good form for Mexico, which was pretty much the first positive thing Redknapp has said about the kid since he took the reins last October. And now this weekend Gio was star of the show again for Mexico, something the Official Site commented on:
"Giovani dos Santos was the star on a great night for Mexico... The winger helped turn the North, Central America and Caribbean section on its head as Mexico travelled to leaders Costa Rica and won 3-0 in San Jose. Gio opened the scoring seconds before half-time and then set-up the second and third goals for Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado respectively before being substituted 10 minutes from time."
With Modric injured, and Kranjcar new to the team, there's a good chance that in the coming weeks Gio will get his chance. I just hope he grabs it with both hands. Undisputably talented, skilful and quick, with great feet and an ability to glide past opposition defenders, he could provide great balance to our team, offering a mirror image of Lennon and adding to our ability to counter teams. The next month or two will be crucial to Gio's career. Time for him to step up.
Back to club football and it's the league champions who next visit White Hart Lane. Few teams have won at the Lane in the past 12 months and I'm very confident going into the weekend. 530pm games have been good to us recently, most notably in our famous victory over Liverpool last October, and the atmosphere on Saturday will be electric. The squad is united, the team settled, the players on form. Our only worry is defence although the rumour is that Ledley will be fit, and Gomes may well return, both of which I would welcome with open arms. It will be interesting to see if Corluka or Hutton get the nod on the right. Hutton was oustanding for Scotland on Saturday and is a quicker player than the laboured Corluka who may struggle against Nani. There's still another round of internationals to cripple our squad first, so I guess team predictions can wait till the Friday Preview.
Have a good week.
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International break is always pretty dull. Normally a few Spurs players get called up and play a bit part in a boring England friendly. One of them usually comes back with an injury. The squad gets together a day before our next league game. We usually lose. It's a total waste of time really. And it's not like we didn't have one a month ago, just three days before the start of the league season. Which muggins came up with that idea?
But this time it could be different - Lennon and Defoe are both on fire, making PL defences look like the San Marino youth team and scoring goals for fun. International duty couldn't have come at a better time for them. Both are set to start on Saturday and it's their chance to cement their place in the England squad for 2010, and potentially even the starting eleven. Capello likes playing with a pacy winger. In his 4-2-3-1 formation with Rooney sitting in the hole behind the leading striker, he needs pace and creativity on the flanks. Gerrard, while a gifted player, isn't a touchline hugging LW and Capello recognises this. Hence his desire to play Lennon/Walcott/SWP on the right. Well Walcott hasn't looked the same since last Xmas and SWP is more inconsistent than Jenas, so Lennon has a real opportunity here.
His performances towards the end of last season for England weren't great. He has his moments, but too often he looked like he lacked belief in his own ability. Instead of playing with the verve and swagger we see at WHL every week, we saw a hesitant player who preferred to lay the ball off to Lampard or Johnson rather than really attack the opposition LB. Capello himself has commented on this recently:
"When a player is fit and in good form I put him in the squad. Always the quick players are really important. But not only speed, because you have to be good technically.
"Lennon can play one-to-one and is very dangerous because he's quick. He can shoot left, he can shoot right -- he scored a goal against West Ham."
"He needs to understand his potential and have confidence in it. He has to improve the confidence."
So let's hope that Aaron can take his confidence from his club form this season and convert it into international stardom. Would be great for Spurs if he could really establish himself at international level as this would no doubt filter down into his club performances. As for JD, he looks set to start as well, playing up top alongside Shrek. His supersub role in the Holland friendly set the stage for his goalscoring riot so far this season and while a selfish, head-down, hit-it-as-hard-as-you-can striker on the worst of days, he has bags of potential that he is finally fulfilling. His bad days are now becoming infrequent and unusual. Long may it continue.
In other news, Ruuuuuud van Horseface said he didn't want to leave Madrid this summer to move to a "lesser team", something the Mirror and other rags have decided meant he turned down Spurs but didn't even bother to write us a letter. Maybe we were interested, maybe we weren't, I don't really give a f@ck. We have a talented, varied, dynamic, versatile group of forwards now so Ruud can bugger off back to the Madrid reserves and rot there for all I care.
Meanwhile Spartak have been moaning that we wouldn't give them back Pavlyuchenko for a bag of peanuts and a mail-order bride. How selfish of us!?
“We offered £9m for his immediate transfer," Spartak manager Valery Karpin said.
“But Tottenham rejected our proposals.
“We were told that the price for Pavlyuchenko was £17.6m.
“For us it would be absurd to pay that.”
Yeah how fucking absurd! Much more sensible for them to buy him back for £4m less than they sold him for just 12 months earlier. Who do they think we are? Liverpool? Daniel Levy bends over and spreads his cheeks for no man, especially a Russian with a tache and more than a hint of alcohol on his breath. So Pav stays at the Lane and hopefully gets his chance to prove himself in the coming weeks. I think we all understand his frustration at not playing just 9 months before a World Cup. He wants game time, Arry said he'll get it, so let's wait and see if he takes his chance. I for one am glad he's still here.
Right that's your lot.
Three Lions and all that.....
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Morning Yiddos
It always feels a bit strange at this time of year. The transfer window shuts, the ITK rumours cease, PL football is off the calendar for two weeks... it's almost as if I've been on a 48 hour bender and now I'm suffering from a massive Monday morning comedown. There's an emptiness inside which no amount of friendlies against Slovenia or gooners being banned for diving can fill. I guess I'll have to make do with the fact this is a four day week and it's almost Friday, and I'm going to some funky Japanese restaurant tonight with touchscreen menus.
Giovanni on the other hand will hopefully be tucked up at home with his playstation and a protein shake. We all know the rumours - that Gio loves a drink and a party, and that the reason behind his almost certain upcoming departure from the club was primarily down to his inability to turn up to training sober and on time. Photos like this didn't help.
Well contrary to popular belief, it appears the boy from Mexico may have a future at Spurs after all. Following a string of outstanding performances for the Mexico national team, and an MVP award in the CONCAF Gold Cup where he led Mexico to their first win over the USA for 10 years, Arry has had some positive things to say about Gio. First time for everything I suppose.
"He played the other night and did very well," said Redknapp. "He looked lively at Doncaster, so hopefully he can continue in that form.
"He's had a good spell with the Mexican national team, he was the player of the tournament recently [in the CONCACAF Gold Cup] so he looks like he's certainly got something to offer and he's got a part to play here.
"If he continues in that form, if he dedicates himself to being a top player, then there's no reason why he can't do that. He's got all the ability, but it's up to him now."#
I'm assuming that he's come back from international duty a better player and a more focused professional, and that he's impressed sufficiently in training to warrant the positive feedback. Let's hope Gio takes heed of Arry's wise words. Less champagne and slappers, more protein and press-ups. There's a good lad.
Some interesting news out of Israel today. An Israeli judge, Michal Agmon-Gonen, has ruled that the football streaming website livefooty.org has no case to answer. Premier League heavies stormed into this case, demanding the website be prosecuted, fined and shutdown for deliberately breaching copyright law. But good old Micky down at the Tel Aviv District Court disagreed. He had this to say:
"watching sports events is socially important and should remain in the realm of mass entertainment, and not just be for those who can afford it" – "those [who view online streams] are of small means or.... are not sufficiently interested in sport to pay".
The Premier League obviously isn't best pleased with the ruling and says it will appeal, and I wouldn't put my mortgage on the UK High Court making a similar ruling, but for now it makes the whole online streaming debate a little more interesting. If this sets a precedent for legal defence of online streaming, it would certainly push the issue to the top of the Premier League memo at their meeting later this month, and might eventually lead to legal, high-quality streams of all PL games. In my eyes that can only be a good thing.
Not such a good thing however is abuse in football. Not your standard chants about masturbating referees and Frank Lampard being on weight watchers but the disgusting, small-minded vile that gets banded about by too many, too often. None of us are too impressed with hissing when we go to Upton Park, the Mancs are always pretty upset when they get Munich songs at Anfield, the Scouse come away from Old Trafford angry at the Hillsborough rhymes. The songs are wrong, the people who sing them are wrong, I have no time for them. Well the Wenger song has hit the headlines after his "in the stocks" embarrassment at Old Trafford on Saturday, and people aren't best pleased. I can't say I disagree too much.
Yes he's a wanker. Yes he's a lying, two-faced, cheating, accusative, wannabe philosopher who spends most of his life riding atop his high horse preaching to the rest of football. But does that make it right to sing about him abusing children? Is there anything worse than that? And why does the Premier League, so keen to clamp down on Spurs fans for singing a homophobic song about Judas Campbell, think so little of this issue that they won't even return a journalist's calls? You can call me fat, you can call me ugly, you can shout wanker at me - but accuse me of abusing children and we're taking this outside mate.
This is football, not baseball, I accept that. And I'd never want WHL to turn into some anaemic, soulless excuse for middle-class divorcees to spend time with their kids. But there's a line out there somewhere and it's about time we found it.
I'll probably get slated for this, but f@ck it. It's my blog and I'll moan if I want to.
COYS
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I feel tired this morning. I was out at Gaucho last night and I drank too much red wine. I didn't sleep well. And the transfer window knocked the fucking stuffing out of me. I don't know why I bother getting so worked up over what inevitably ends as a damp squib. I suppose it's some sort of self-masichism, another form of pain that comes with supporting Spurs, but I know I'd be disappointed if our transfer window looked anything like the Redscum from across North London so ever year I just ride the wave of bullshit and try and enjoy what I can of it.
Nico Kranjcar was the sole signing of the day, and a bloody good one he is too. £2.5m for a proven international midfielder with PL experience, a good relationship with our manager and two Croat teammates to banter with over a sausage casserole - we picked up the bargain of the transfer window and I've already seen fans from other clubs spouting anti-spurs drivel regarding our constant ability to get top players to come to WHL. The poor blue kippers from merseyside must be devestated to have been turned down again. I almost feel sorry for Moyes, it's no easy task persuading continental footballers to swap the mediterranean for the bright lights of Liverpool and living in the shadow of the bindippers, but he performs the task admirably and Heitinga and Distin are fine signings for him.
There was a point yesterday when I thought we were in the market to sell half our squad. Bentley, Pav, Hutton and Bale were all rumoured to be on their way out without ample replacements. It felt like August 2008 all over again. Fortunately we didn't ship out anyone, by choice or otherwise, and we've been left with arguably our strongest squad of the modern era. We genuinely have two players for every position and our 2nd XI would walk to a midtable finish in the PL, something our 1st XI has struggled to do in recent years. A lot of you moan about the lack of cover for Palacios, and that's true to an extent, but how many clubs can lose their most important player and not suffer? Liverpool Gerrard, Arsenal Fabregas, Utd Rooney - they'd all be significantly worse teams for the absence of their stars, and we're no different. Arry was clearly in the market for a CM but couldn't get anyone of the required quality, and I'd much rather have Jenas than some last minute Gregorz Raziak.
Arry was refreshingly honest - it's becoming something of a habit - when talking to SSN yesterday. Yes we'd been offered Anton Ferdinand in a swap for Alan Hutton. No we weren't interested. No we hadn't made an offer for James. No we hadn't tried to sell Bentley. Yes he loved Kranjcar. Yes he'd had people calling him all day offering their player's services. Yes he was glad the window was shut. Yes he'd love to give Georgie Thompson a good hard...
But now, just as we'd hyped ourselves into a frenzy over the potential comings and goings, Premier League football goes on holiday for a couple of weeks. Instead we've got Capello's philosophical musings to look forward to. And Lennon starting for England before being subbed off at half-time. Again. There aren't many benefits to the international break but I thought of a couple. King will hopefully recover from his groin strain (maybe JoH will lend Danielle for a day of sensual message) and the whole Man Utd squad will return from their various corners of the globe in an even worse state than ours the day before our biggest game of the season. Other than that, it's a load of shit, a waste of time, and I can't wait for the bloody thing to be over.
Bring on 12th September.
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Deadline day fellow yiddos and it looks like it's going to be another busy day for Levy - It never rains but it pours. As the BBC blog says, "Thank heavens for Tottenham...", I honestly don't know what Andy Burton (CAD) would do without us.
There's been plenty of bullshit flying the cyberweb the past 24 hours, but it seems one of the rumours has legs. Nico Kranjcar is set to sign today for £2.5m which, for an international mid-20s creative midfielder with Premier League experience, is an absolute fucking bargain. We all have our own gripes with the way Levy manages our club, but it's times like these when you realise what a genius the man is. Yes Kranjcar was in the last year of his contract, but £2.5m? We've essentially sold the Ghetto Prince for Nico Kranjcar + £1.5m which is frankly obscene. And Arry seems delighted. He told his favourite rag The Sun:
""I'm really delighted. I signed him for Portsmouth and he's a fantastic player and a great lad.
"I've already got two fantastic Croatian players - Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka - who can help him settle in."
So that's one in the bank. Another fish floating close to our line but yet to bite is Martin Petrov, although I think the correct analogy would be he's desperately trying to chomp our entire fishing rod but we're currently holding it just out of reach. Petrov wants to join. It's just whether Arry feels we need another left-sided player or if Nico is enough for now. Curiously David Bentley seems to have entered the fray on this one, with Shitty prepared to throw £10m bags of oil greenback + the Bulgarian whizz as a swap for the posh car and his drink-driving conviction. Why Etihad FC want another winger is beyond me, and SWP must be fuming, but if Levy can negotiate this one for anything like the figures reported, I'll be taking my hat off to him for a second time today. The other Bulgarian - you know, that moody cad from the Manchester suburbs - had this to say on the whole situation:
"I hope Martin goes to Spurs,"
"He does not deserve such a relationship with Manchester City and Spurs are a bigger club than City."
Which I suppose is better than a kick in teeth. This one is going to go to the wire I suspect. No fucking change there then.
Finally there's a strange rumour going round that we'll be offloading Pavlyuchenko to Zenit for £10.5m and bringing in Victor Moses from Palace. I would dismiss this out of hand but Arry's rag The Sun was the tabloid to print it, and in the same article as the Kranjcar story, so I'm inclined to give it a bit more weight. Interesting developments afoot.
A crackpot story to end today with - the Croatian Football President Vlatko Markovic has decided the Modric injury is part of an Anglo-Saxan conspiracy to damage Croatia's chances of qualifying for WC2010. I would summarise but I think he says it best:
“It is terrible what has happened to us. Maybe someone has something against us and our national team.
“In the past year, they have injured Eduardo and now the same has happened to Luka Modric.
“I can only ask whether it’s a coincidence or whether someone did it deliberately on the eve of a game with England.”
And 9/11 never happened. Sure.
Laters yiddos.
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Bank Holiday Monday brings a welcome respite from work and one final fling on the transfer merry-go-round before we shut up shop, batten down the hatches and realise we've just sold half our squad to Man Utd without any replacements. At all. Apart from that 18-year old they gave us on loan. How kind of them. So it's with sodden brow, clammy hands and a yet-to-be-named-and-numbered away shirt that I sit down this morning with a cup of coffee and SSN. I've no idea why I watch channel 405 - I fucking hate that cad Andy Burton and his "mobile phone link to the stars" - but I've got bugger all else to do and Georgie Thompson deserves better than that midget off Byker. So no messing about, let's get to sifting the gold from the mud. And hope that this cad is kept off air for the rest of today... 
The Modric aftermath has brought its fair share of conjecture. Petrov has been in the mix for a while, but Krancjar seems to be the most recent solution to the left-sided problem we apparently have. Is this all part of some Redknapp-esque plot to turn Spurs into Portsmouth, and if so will be bringing Pamarot and Kaboul back to the Lane? I fucking hope not. But Krancjar I wouldn't be so opposed to - a capable and skilful attacking midfielder, similar to Modric in many respects although not as gifted, and a goalscorer as well as a creator. Oh and his contract's up next summer which means Arry should be able to pick him up on the cheap. The word is that a £6m bid has been made, and I would have thought that would be enough to secure his services, but there's a good chance he comes in a package with Calamity James. Redknapp Jr had this to say earlier: "David James could possibly be leaving, Niko Kranjcar another one. I think a lot of clubs are interested, It depends on how long Gomes will be out for, we all know my dad is an admirer of him."
It'd be a strange move for both Spurs and Calamity if he were to come to WHL. First off he needs first team football if he's going to be England's number 1 in South Africa next summer. And he'd be joining a club that already has two very competent keepers. Second, as far as I'm aware Gomes has a thigh strain and should be back in a few weeks. So either the injury is worse than we think, Gomes is on his way out, or the whole story is a load of crap. I'm inclined to go with the latter, but am ready to be proved wrong. Someone I was hoping would prove me wrong was Bentley. A supremely talented footballer or a slow Beckham wannabe, I still don't know. Modric's injury does, in theory, provide the perfect two month window for him to demonstrate his gifts and win over the Tottenham faithful. But the Villa link has been hanging around all summer like a bad case of swine flu, and he's hardly been playing regular football, so I wouldn't begrudge him the move. It would however be another strange one. Villa play with two attacking pacy wingers, and with Young, Abonglahor, Milner and Downing, I don't see any reason for them to buy Bentley who, let's be honest, hardly boasts pace. It's not like Levy willl be giving him away for peanuts either, and will Lerner be signing a cheque for £15m? Not likely. Another example of wishful thinking that's resurfaced again this weekend is the Jenas/Muntari swap. Why the Special One would want to give us Muntari and take Mr Incosistency to the San Siro is beyond me, but some wise souls seem convinced on this one. To paraphrase Ole King Kev, I would love it, love it, if this one came to life today. Joining Muntari in our fantasy midfield come September is Arry's wife Sandro, currently plying her trade down in Brazil at Inter. For those of you who missed it, we formed a partnership with Inter. Spurs had this to say: "The Club is delighted to announce that it has concluded a strategic partnership with Brazilian club Sport Club Internacional for the purposes of working together to develop players for both the Club and other European Leagues."
Whether this makes the transfer more or less likely, I've no idea. Were we ever really interested in the boy, or was this the real story? A Brazilian U21 international is not to be sniffed at but from what little I've seen of him he looks a lot like the Hudd. And I'm not sure we need another Huddlestone. Someone I am sure we need is Rafael Van Der Vaart. Completely out of favour at Madrid after just 12 months there, and without even a shirt number to his name, his talent deserves an outlet, and with Modric out injured for 2-3 months I see no reason not to bring the genius to WHL. Daily Mail rumours, garnered from various message boards, link him to the Woolwich and the Toffees. Is there ever a player now that's not linked to both us and the goons? It's becoming infuriating. Either way I can't see Wenger spending big money to sign another attacking midfielder to join Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott, Fabregas et al on the physio table. If we've got any competition it'll come from Germany, most likely a return to Hamburg or a move across to Munich where Bayern seem resigned to losing Ribery (Robben or no Robben, they'll have cash to burn). Whatever today brings, I slept soundly last night knowing that at least we didn't have the Carrick/Berbatov saga hanging over us. There's a real sense of togetherness about the squad this year, something I think has been key to our early-season form. It's been refreshing to have an August free from the clutches of Old Whisky Face. It's not often I say this but I'd actually be happy with nothing today. No ins, no outs, no strikers, no defenders, no nothing. Our squad is strong, we have strength in depth, we have quality in every position. That said, I'm almost certain we'll get a midfielder in some shape or size but I've no idea who. And I don't really care. It's almost more exciting that way. Life and let live, that's what I say. I'll leave the parting words to Luka, who told a Croatian daily today just how sad he was to be injured: "It's like my whole world has crumbled because I will be out for at least six weeks.
"I am terribly sad.
"It wasn't a ferocious tackle, but it hurt awfully and I knew something was wrong the moment it happened.
"The worst feeling is knowing that I will be watching both my club and country from the sidelines for a while."
I fucking love this guy, and I know we all wish him well in his recovery. COYS
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It all seemed to be going so well. 12pts from 4 games, 100% record in all competitions, Lennon in the form of his life and Arsene Wenger throwing a tantrum. But then Lee fucking Bowyer, who else, had to come along and deck our Croatian maestro. And while it wasn't intentional, or even that bad a tackle, it still makes me stand up and shout "Bowyer you're a cad". But more on Modric later. First to the game. We didn't play well. But we won. And they who know, or at least they who get paid to talk about this stuff, always say that to do anything in this league, you have to win when you play badly. And I suppose we've now ticked that box, so I can't moan too much. But what of the game. Well we started pretty well, Modric in particular. He was the key in the 1st half as he twisted and turned his men like a ballet dancer, drifting inside effortlessly like Bobby Pires in his pomp. But Birmingham came with a game plan and stuck to their guns. In the words of Mourinho, they parked the bus. They made us work very hard for our win and it wasn't until the introduction of Crouchy for the injured Modric that we managed to break the deadlock. Birmingham simply couldn't cope with Crouch's aerial ability and he had countless chances before he eventually nodded in for his first league goal of the season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Crouch start against Man Utd when we return after the international break. Another negative was King's withdrawal at half-time with a tweak to his groin. The defence second-half wasn't as solid, especially from aerial balls, and Birmingham duly equalised when a mixup between Hutton and Cudicini left Bowyer to tap into an open net. Bowyer rubbing in the injustice, breaking the leg of our playmaker and then scoring as if to say "look at me, i'm a cad". Yes Lee you are, with bells on. Back to Spurs, and this season's Spurs team does seem mentally stronger and more determined. Plenty of times in the past few years, we'd have sat back and accepted the draw, but this year we huffed and puffed and eventually Stevie Carr (m'lord) fell over, handing the ball to Pavlyuchenko who duly set up Lennon for the winner with 94:23 on the clock. You could say it was harsh on the plucky underdogs from Birmingham, and I'd be inclined to agree, but Man Utd seem to love scoring last-minute winners and if we're developing the habits of the champions, so be it. 
3 points, 12 from 12, top of the league, job done. And an international break to let Modric and King recover. Or so I thought. I awoke this morning to see news of Modric's injury was far worse than we thought, a fractured fibula and an extended period out of the game. Just what we fucking need. It's a devestating blow for Luka, for the team and for the club. Modric was electrifying in the 1st half, showing just how much he brings to the team, and not only that, he also inspires those around him. So it's a massive loss. Some quick googling has led me to a report published by some medic geeks that says the average fibula fracture means a total maximum rehab period of 18 weeks. So in theory the worst case scenario is a return against Man City at WHL on 15th December. But a similar inury befell Samir Nasri on 21st July and after initially stating a 2-3 months layoff, Wenger came out and said: “Unfortunately he fractured his fibula and he will be out for six weeks,” the manager said. “It was the bad news of the day.
“He
accidentally nicked the ball away from somebody having a shot on goal.
Unfortunately he got kicked and broke his fibula. It's not a
complicated one, it's a simple one but it will take six weeks to heal."
Now this makes me feels a lot better. It seems Modric's injury was very similar to Nasri, an kick on the back of the calf, a simple broken fibula, and so hopefully 6-8 weeks out. Nasri, by the way, is due to return in October, which would make it 10 weeks from injury to return, giving us Modric back in the 1st team squad for Sunderland on November 7th. I'd love to think Luka could heal in time for our trip to Cashburden Grove on the last day of October, but that's unlikely and I think we have to accept that he won't be starting a game for us until mid-November. The question now is who replaces him? Do we use the talents already at our disposal, read Bentley and Giovanni, or do we send Arry shopping for a LW? Many will be clamouring for Ashley Young I'm sure, but I've no desire to pay £25m to bring a guy to the club who will long-term pose more questions than answers. If we pay that and bring him to the Lane, what happens in December? Does Modric lose his place, or does Young? Either way it leaves another multi-million pound signing on the bench alongside Crouch, Bentley and Pavlyuchenko, which in my mind is lunacy. So I'm hoping that Arry uses this opportunity to bring Bentley and/or Giovani back from the brink, while also signing Petrov for a few quid as reinforcements. I'd expect to see Bentley coming back in on the right, with Lennon moving to the left, and with Lennon's last two goals showing his much improved left-foot and his ability to cut in and smash it on his right, I wouldn't be opposed to the change. It would be madness to sign Crouch and leave Bentley on the bench in my mind, but Arry might think differently and in Arry we trust. Either way our next game is Man Utd at WHL, the biggest game of the season so far, so let's hope Ledley gets his fitness back and everyone else returns from the international break in one piece. I'll end today's post with a mention of Arsene Wenger and his comedy performance in the dying minutes at Old Trafford yesterday. I almost felt sorry for him when I saw he was being sent to the stands in the last minute of injury time for kicking a water bottle. But then I remember he's a lying, cheating, self-righteous gooner. So here's to the Manc fan who offered him his glasses, a first Arsenal loss of the season, Luka mending as quickly as possible, a clean bill of health over the international break, and 5 from 5 in two weeks time. 
COYS
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Tomorrow brings a challenge of a different type. Up until now, each game has represented a challenge. Liverpool at home, Lawro the cad predicted a draw. Hull away, most of us expected a tough game. West Ham away, well it’s their cup final isn’t it? But Birmingham at home is supposed to be one of the easy ones, a 3 pointer, one of those enjoyable Saturday afternoon run-outs in the early autumn sunshine when the crowd gets over-excited after 3 goals in 20 minutes and then silent and frustrated with a goalless second half. Isn’t it?
As is usually the case with Spurs, we’ll most likely f8ck it up. Some dodgy defending from a set-piece will no doubt let in Kevin Phillips, and we’ll lose the game 1-0 after a wonder block on his own line from Stephen Carr (m’lord). It’s a strange and unexpected return for Carr, equally famous for his last-minute own goal against Kaiserslauten as he is for his wonder strike against Utd on that wet October night. Carr retired from football in late 2008 after being released by Newcastle, but has since joined Birmingham and for the last couple of matches has been playing LB. Let’s hope Lennon tears him a new one and teaches him a lesson for getting the GNER up to Geordie-land all those years ago.
Team news sees Liam Ridgewell and Marcus Bent injured (Danielle Lloyd must be devestated), while Keith Fahey returns to the Brummie squad after the death of his father. For Spurs, it’s as we were. JJ continues his rehab with Dawson and Woodgate, while Ledley will most likely slot back into CB with Bassong. Cudicini looked in fine fettle mid-week against Doncaster, and will continue in goal with Gomes still nursing his thigh. Oh and there's a worry over BAE but Arry is sure he'll be ok. If not we'll no doubt see one of our many RBs given a run-out on the left side. That's what they're there for after all....
As for who plays up front, well I’d quite like to see Crouchy or Pav given a run-out. We all know what Keane brings to the team, good and bad, but we haven’t really seen the famous Crouch/Defoe partnership, and Pav linked up well with JD in pre-season. So here’s to hoping Arry mixes it up a bit. If you can’t try things at home against the newly promoted whipping boys, when can you?
On the rumour mill, the news of Arry’s wife Sandra’s imminent signing from Brazil continues to fly around, which ties in with today’s news (tbc) that Jamie O’Hara is off to Pompey on loan till January. It’s a bit of a shame that we’re losing Jamie. As Arry said just this week:
“He’s a great professional and a terrific young player.
“He was very important when I first came to the club last year and we were struggling.
“He’s down to earth, gets on with it, loves to play and has a great attitude.
“Players like Jamie are very important to the club and he came into the side again and showed what a good player he is.”
But if he wants first-team football it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting it at WHL for now. Rumours also abound that he’s just signed a new 4-year contract, so the loan makes sense rather than the transfer. Good luck to him, I hope he proves his worth down at Fratton and comes back a better player. Finally the Petrov story refuses the go away. I’m not really fussed on this one. A good player on his day, and some pace for our left-side, but his persitent knee injuries haven’t gone away over night, and his wages will no doubt be high. We shall see.
Right what odds on a 1-0 loss? I’m off down the bookies.
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