Topspurs latest - the stopped clock

yiddo59

Dublin Spur will love this

11th January 2012 – Stopped Clock

‎Everton have sneaked the odd result against Spurs in recent seasons but more often than not in the EPL era it’s a good fixture for Spurs and for 12th time in 20 home EPL fixtures it was a win for Spurs. The win was notable for Livermore who has patiently waited his turn from the bench and cup games. A stat of “Total passes 77; Passing Accuracy 99%” tells its own story about his excellent contribution.

Regular readers will know I’ve been pretty positive about the Harry revolution at Spurs from very early on when it was evident that Spurs were on a very steep upward curve. However, its not been plain sailing for Harry with many of the Spurs fans and there was a time not so long ago when Redknapp needed to remind everyone at Spurs had 2pts in 8 games, and got criticised for doing so! But surely there can be no one left who loves Spurs who does not see Redknapp for the genius/ miracle worker that his record entitles him. Lets do those numbers again

Spurs home record (which includes a freak 1-5 defeat) P10, W8 D1 L1 F20 A8. Spurs away record (where we were lucky to see 3 or 4 wins in a season not so long ago) P10 W6 D2 L2 and overall we are P20 W14 D3 L3 with an astonishing 45 points already and virtually half a season to play. Great football for the most part, digging out wins when needs be and consistency not associated with Spurs for 50 years or more. My favourite hashtagon that twitter thing @topspurs is
#WWWWDWWWWWWLWDWDWW
And it was nt that long ago when three wins in a row got a special feature on here

I was reminded on the topspurs facebook page of a piece I wrote in mid-November after another 2-0 humbling of mid table cannon fodder (and was called deluded/optimistic etc)

“Onwards and upwards! With 6 of the next 10 at home against the likes of WBA, Bolton, Stoke, Sunderland, Chelsea, Norwich, Swansea, WBA, Everton, Wolves … is it unrealistic to expect something along the lines of 7 wins, 2 draws & a defeat? That would give Spurs a record of 15-3-3 & 48 points after 21 games, a ppg of 2.286 which extrapolated over the season is 86 points … and 86 points will be pretty adjacent to the summit”

With 9 of those 10 games played … Spurs are just a win against Wolves away from getting it right with 48 points and a 15-3-3 profile. We all have our moments (like the stopped clock) but its great that Spurs are matching the highest expectations!

I was asked about the next 10 after Wolves, and on the surface, they look a lot tougher
Citeh, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea away with Wigan, Newcastle, Man U, Stoke and Swansea at home. That represents a pretty difficult run but in the words of the Shamen “in the best of all possible worlds, nothing is impossible”

I’d hope Spurs could put together something like a 4-4-2 run or perhaps trading a couple of draws for a win and a defeat (and an extra point overall) for 5-2-3 which would give Spurs 16/17 points and 64/65 points after 31 games. To put this in context, Spurs have only exceeded 65 points once in a whole 38 game season (Manager that season: HJ Redknapp)

This dip in points per game may do for Spurs title hopes but it would still be on target for 78/80 points for the season as a whole .. and here’s the good bit .. if Spurs are still in touch with 7 games to go, its Sunderland away (ONeill effect worn off, midtable, safe and beatable), Norwich at home, relegation cases Bolton and QPR away, followed by Blackburn home, Villa away and Fulham at home. If Carlsburg did run ins… five wins and a couple of draws? … that would give Spurs 81/82 points. If Citeh and/or United can beat that – good luck to them as they will have fully deserved the title and if not … its that moment we’ve all dreamed of


Being Spurs fans there is a tendency to think its all going to go wrong – today I was reminded of the Bolton game in 1995. Spurs need a win against a team that were bottom and had lost all of their previous away matches to go 2nd at Christmas … Spurs went 2-0 up and still managed to cock it up and draw. That was then. Every time the bar is raised for Harry’s team, they find a way of going over it. Even if it fvcks up now, its still been a magnificent effort and hopefully fans can enjoy it for what it is rather than getting all bitter about it which all too often has replaced stoical dignity in the face of a reverse

There is nothing to stop Spurs carrying this through although the fans do need patience – just because Spurs are near the top, not ever win is going to be a silky 4-0 and more often than not, the occasional draw is still a point gained. KBO as old Winnie used to say

I am still hopeful Spurs can win the league, and if not give it a good go and get a record EPL points haul and entry into next seasons Champions League but we do need a dose of reality. The EPL standings have a strong relationship with wages paid. Spurs are not badly off in this area relative to most clubs, but the likes of Citeh, United, Chelsea, Liverpool and probably Arsenal are all ahead – which makes the run to 3rd all the more credible

Spurs face three main challenges – two external and one internal. Having watched the EPL for its 20 year history and seen changes to the law (such as making offside more ambiguous to allow dodgy stuff for big teams), there may be an attempt to nobble Spurs. Its not quite like the days of ITV wrestling, but there tends to be a narrative if not a script to ensure those that spend most get a return. The Premier League love Spurs – big fan base, good players etc but they love United and now Citeh more as they bring even more money into the Franchise. Its not personal, its business. I don’t think we should get too paranoid about the Stoke game where a few things went against us to end a run of 10 wins in 11 (and we should not be paranoid about everything that does not go Spurs way over the coming games), but I wonder if Spurs start to really rumble whether there may be something to bring us down to earth.

Injuries will play a role in the 2nd half of the season. Spurs have a few injuries at the moment, but funnily enough a lot less than when Spurs were midtable rubbish a few years back (funny that). Injuries (and suspensions) will disrupt the squad – we need those coming in like Livermore today to step up to the plate and we also need the returning players to drop back into a rhythm quickly. Bale would be the most obvious worry in this instance as we cant afford to lose him for long and he tends to be slower at getting back into the swing

And assuming the officials don’t bring us down, injuries/suspensions don’t stop the points accumulation … then it comes down to nerve or ‘bottle’ in the football parlance. Spurs had nothing to fear from United on the opening day but still managed to lose 3-0 up there. Spurs players need to believe they are as good as they league table suggests they are – and remember, the League table never lies. We need the big characters to assert themselves and if Modric is worth the £40m, perhaps it will show itself in match winning/match dominating displays when the pressure is on

Everything is right for Spurs to give this a bloody good go - a couple of decent buys in this transfer window would do no harm. The Citeh game coming up is just that – a game, 3 points to someone or 1 each if its drawn. With Everton in mind today, beating them up there 4-1 in August 1984 meant nothing when it came to the famous return game with both sides equal at the top of the league in March 85 for Everton to get revenge and go on and win the League. Maybe its Spurs time to turn the tables, but win lose or draw up there, its straight back on the points accumulation for the next game against Wigan, and then the next one, and next one

Whatever happens, lets enjoy the ride – because as fans its all about the journey, travelling hopefully, enduring bad times and looking forward to the glory. This is real, its happening now – make sure you enjoy it, as it can go as quickly as it has arrived and respect everyone involved (even if they did play for UEFA level London rivals in their past), they are all part of Spurs modern glory. Up the Spurs

Wendell Gee

Well said. My own predictios for the season, (not on boards, but to my brother's web group, phoned in, as I was cutting corn), were fairly simple. We would finish in the top four if a few things happened.
1 Kaboul to be our player of the season. I've always liked Younes, ever since his thundering equaliser in the centenary 4-4 with Villa. I felt the wheels came off our season a bit when he got sent off against Newcastle, and then got injured.
He is more likely to stay fit than Ledley, is better than Daws or Gallas, and could eb the rock our back four is built on. So far, he's been fantastic. I don't get across often, and was stunned at how lean, strong, fit and skilful he is when I went to the Rovers match.

2 Ledley plays 20 games. Ledley plays, we are stronger, simple as. Since the first two games (when Younes was admittedly shocking), we have conceded 12 goals in 18 matches. Walker, BAE and Brad step forward and take a bow as well.

3 Defoe finds his mojo. Two years ago, he ended Robbies Spurs career with the five goal salvo against Wigan (that and the Dublin jaunt). He's now fit, sharp, and confident. I think he will end up with 15 league goals. A great option

4 We sign Ade. I've wanted him in since he fell out of favour at Citeh. They may regret letting him come here, I don't think it ever crossed Citeh's mind that after two tankings we would come back and bite them in the arse. It's a real possibility now.

5 Levy keeps Luka. Step forward Daniel Levy. A man it's easy to dislike. He seems detached, and knifed BMJ in a way that wasn't edifying, but he has a belief that his club, with the level of investment he has steadily committed, should be top tier. He's been right all along, and now we can touch it. No more do we need to worry about players being poached. A contract is a contract, and the belief that runs through the club has his hard-nosed presence at it's very core. Ironically, I think that while Modric might not like Levy very much, he probably respects him a lot more for his approach.

The x factors have been the emergence of Walker and Scotty Parker's astonishing influence. Harry deserves all the credit in the world for that.

For the next 18 matches + FA Cup, what do we need?
The squaddies- Nico, Thudd when fit, Livermore, and co to step in and do their stuff. I haven't mentioned Basson, Vedran, Pienaar or Pav because they might be on their way if:

A couple of key signing could push us over the top. Samba or Cahill with Bassong and/or Vedran to leave might be good business. A striker would definitely be good business. Ade holds all ther aces at present, but if we sign someone who can lead the line, be it Demiao or Remy, he only comes in the summer if he really wants it, and we do too. If we're bringing someone in, do it now and bring them to the Etihad. A win up there would I think make us favourites to win the bloody title.