Has this season seen progress?

Wendell Gee

2 games to go, both winnable, both at home. Spurs have 56 points, and now have a target of 62 points and fifth place again. Last year the club ended with league stats of
P 38 W 18 D 11 L 09 F 53 A 38 Pts 65 So far this year it's-
P 36 W 16 D 08 L 12 F 54 A 52 Pts 56


So, has this season seen progress? Taking the cup runs into account, the squad was stretched and tested in a way it wasn't last year. Jol couldn't get fit strikers early on, and couldn't field a fit defence late on. The team played 20 extra games, and had some great nights, especially in Europe.
I feel that 2 wins and fifth place would build on last season, clearly establishing us as the most likely team to challenge the top four next season. That is, if no top players are sold, and 2 or 3 top class players are bought.
Both those hopes are more likely to be fulfilled if the next five days see six points. It's a vital week- I'm hopeful. Come on you Spurs

SuprSi

Two more wins would definitely be an improvement. Considering how many extra games we've played this season, and how well we did considering our squad in each of them, I'd be more than happy with 5th place. I was delighted with last nights win, and if we can beat Blackburn at home on Thursday we'll be laughing.

We had such a bad start to this campaign that we were going to do well to get anywhere near 5th, and at the moment it's looking a distinct possibility. After 6 or 7 games at the beginning of the season, if you'd said that Spurs were going to finish in 5th, I'd have been delighted.

The way to look at it is - if we had conceeded even 10 less goals this season we'd have a much higher points total. So in answer to your question yes, I feel it's definitely progress.

The Muppet

It has for Michael Carrick.:D

Rumour is that we heading back to our feeder club for Berbatov.;)

therecklessone

Ignore Muppet, he misses the old flame-intensive days on the soccer forum...

Was thinking about this very topic today while stuck in traffic into town...then out of town...then on the N32 trying to get on to the M1...quite a bit of thinking you'll agree...:D

I'll hold my assessment until after Sunday though.

WhiteWashMan

The Muppet wrote:

It has for Michael Carrick.:D

Rumour is that we heading back to our feeder club for Berbatov.;)

maybe you should head back to school for some english lessons too?

The Muppet

WhiteWashMan wrote:

maybe you should head back to school for some english lessons too?

I'm surprised at you sir, You know what they say about the grammer police ?

WhiteWashMan

yes, they say......

My Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the cups at White Hart Lane

My eyes have seen the glory of the cups at White Hart Lane

My eyes have seen the glory of the cups at White Hart Lane and the Spurs Go marching on!

Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur

and the SPURS GO MARCHING ON!!!!!

The Muppet

WhiteWashMan wrote:

yes, they say......

My Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the cups at White Hart Lane

My eyes have seen the glory of the cups at White Hart Lane

My eyes have seen the glory of the cups at White Hart Lane and the Spurs Go marching on!

Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur Glory! Glory! Tottenham Hotspur

and the SPURS GO MARCHING ON!!!!!

Well there's nothing wrong with your memory, that's for sure.

Andrew 83

If we win these last 2 games and finish 5th I'll be very happy. Dropped the ball in each of our cup exits - all winnable fixtures from the positions we got ourselves into - but we had good runs in each and when's the last time we finished in teh top 5 two seasons in a row if we manage it?

heartofwhite

surely we are improving with every season. The fact that our three strikers have scored 100 goals between them is testiment to that. yet apart from the bottom six in the league we have conceded more goals than anybody else. this has to stop.

therecklessone

therecklessone wrote:

I'll hold my assessment until after Sunday though.

Another season, another 5th place finish...

I said earlier in the season that expectations for this season were unduly influenced by last season's achievements. By that I meant that losing 4th place on the last day of last season created an illusion of progress that led some to believe we were better than we actually were. By the same token, seizing 5th place on the last day of this season has led some to believe we have stagnated or worse still regressed this season.

The truth as always lies somewhere in the middle.

We are not good enough to consistently challenge for a CL place...yet. I honestly believe though that we are a consistent top 6 side, the most likely to make the step up, and by that logic we are the side likely to be considered the best of the rest.

It is important that we do not rest on our laurels however. Aston Villa and West Ham will see significant investment this Summer, and I expect Everton, Blackburn, Bolton, Reading, Newcastle and possibly Man City (if they are taken over) to push us all the way next year. Money needs to be spent to address problem areas of our squad...a winger (either side!) who can cross a ball, a CM partner with steel for either Jenas or Zokora, a goalkeeper with a realistic chance of challenging Robbo for the #1 shirt.

The season had its up and downs of course...defensively we have been poor, the goals conceded column makes depressing for depressing reading. Ironically, we scored as many goals as Liverpool and conceded twice as many, yet only finished 8 points behind them, which goes to show we don't need a massive improvement.

I also feel that the extended cup runs on three fronts took their toll. We played 21 games in all cups this season, 19 more than last season. That takes getting used to, especially for a squad that has never faced that workload together before. It impacts on fitness levels, it impacts on effectiveness of training sessions, it affects confidence at times. We will start next season a better side for it, but I'd like to see us sacrifice the league cup next year to allow us some breathing space. Play the kids, let the likes of Taarabt and Dixon have a go, and keep the big guns for UEFA and the FA Cup along with the league campaign.

I also said earlier in the season that our manager would face judgement at the season's end...that still holds true. Martin has done a great job at times this year, and also made some poor calls. Outsmarting Mourinho at the Lane in November was an achievement, as was taking the 3-1 lead at the Bridge in the FA Cup...some see the failure to hold that lead as symptomatic of Jol's weaknesses as a manager, I choose to see the amount of tactical changes Mourinho had to make to draw level as a symbol of Jol's strengths TBH. I do feel the big man needs to learn that attack is the best form of defence, as a fan I'd much rather see us in full flight trying for another goal than shutting up shop to defend a 1-0 lead.

Our end of season league form deserves some mention. 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat (36 hours after we lost in Seville, 1-0 defeat to Chelsea) giving us 27 points from a total of 36...an average of 2.25pts per game which over a season would yield 85.5pts and see us in 2nd place in the final table :eek:

F*ck it, I'm a happy camper!

galinka

Good summary - we need to give players experience in League Cup it counts for so little nowadays. i would scrap it.

Hatch99

In a word, ' Yes' I do think this season has seen progress. If we are all honest with ourselves, I dont think any or many of really expected us to make CL this season. Good progress in the Uefa Cup and another Uefa Cup finish in the League would Im sure satifsy most of us.

However, if we invest wisely in the summer , and if we strengthen in the correct areas, we should look forward to being a lot closer to the top 4 in 12 months time, I hope.