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West Bromwich Albion vs. Tottenham Hotspur.

WBA have won only two of their last 11 Premier League games. Spurs have gathered just 3 points from their last 3 games. Lewis Holtby is the 28th player Tottenham have used this season, only Newcastle have used more players than us.

At Norwich mid week we were not at the races in the first half. It was almost the same performance as the one at Leeds last weekend. We didn`t play to the conditions and the wind strength had a bearing all the way through the game. We did not play a direct game we were moving the ball sideways too many times. Norwich played the ball long and followed it up showing pace and aggression and closing us down. The pace and power of Norwich in the first half was all down to desire, Norwich wanted it more than us. The Spurs defence just lived on their nerves.

It took Spurs 42 minutes to get the first attack in behind the Norwich defence. Walker got tied up in knots and we were giving the ball away whilst in possession. We just didn`t compete in the right areas and we were second to every 50/50 ball.

We can expect a similar approach against us by the Baggies but they may be without Peter Odemwingie who has been released from training with his West Bromwich Albion team-mates after saying that it is only "a matter of time" before he leaves the Hawthorns following his transfer deadline day farce.

In the corresponding fixture on the 25th August at WHL James Morrison snatched a late equaliser for West Brom. It was a painful end to a frustrating afternoon for Spurs, who created more chances but just wasted them. Steve Clarke's side started to take over the game and once again, just like the home against Norwich, we let 3 points slip. Villas-Boas can be forgiven for being sick of the sight of West Brom, because they have played a significant - and largely antagonistic - role in the story of his time in England. West Brom was AVB`s first win as Chelsea boss but it was a defeat by the Baggies just over six months later that proved to be the last act of his Stamford Bridge 'project'.

We go into this match with not many options up front. Daniel Levy "failed" in a deadline day bid to sign their long-time target Leandro Damião, André Villas-Boas has been clear since the beginning of January that, if he could choose one high-profile addition, it would be Damião, and Daniel Levy apparently told AVB, after Wednesday night's 1-1 draw at Norwich City, that he would do everything to get the 23-year-old.

Spurs have a sporting partnership with Inter - they signed Sandro from them in 2010 - and talks took place over Damião. Sources in Brazil put the bid at £13m, which was some way short of what Internacional would demand for a player whose official release clause is £42m and who has third-party ownership issues. However, that is scant consolation to the fans who had hoped Levy would put club before finances.

So what kind of performance can we expect on Sunday? Many thought that we would rise above the Leeds result, show some character and get a good result at Norwich. AVB changed the formation during the second half and put Bale in as a Striker with Dempsey on the wing which gave Bale more work. Holtby looked good for his 20 minutes and picked up his first yellow card as a memento.

The fact that Chleski and Scum drew let us off the hook with regard to the points difference between us but Everton are breathing close behind us and you can only think that another draw against the Baggies will leave Everton Scum and Liverpool all closing the gaps on us so we really can`t afford to make it 4 points out of 12 or worse.

Given the options up front how will AVB approach this game and are we going to have to rely on a another Bale wonder goal to get us a result.

Written by OyVeh Maria

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Writer: OyVeh Maria

Date:Saturday February 2 2013

Time: 9:53AM

Your Comments

If any WBA fans are logging in, I couldnt resist the picture :-)

oxfordspur

This is a game that we really have to get the three points and I think we will

oxfordspur

Can't keep playing Dembele in def mid so further forward or not at all, team : Lloris Walker Vertonghen Dawson Bae ( as no one else ) Parker Holtby Lennon Dembele Bale Defoe ( as no one else, Ade when he come back)

thaiyid

Let Holtby start in place of Parker, Scotty's not fit yet and Dembele with Holtby seem to give us alot of creativity that we have been missing. Hope Defoe can turn his form around

tengboon

Based on the recent performances, as long as the lads remember that the game starts at 1:30 and not 2:30 we will be OK. No room for another slow start. If things are not starting right, I hope AVB has the courage to change tactics sooner than until we are a goal down. Spurs to win. COYS!

Critical_Spur

Sorry Ox, this ones got draw written all over it. Hope you're right and I'm wong though.

spurboy61

3/5/2...for me...... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Defoe...Holtby<<<<<<<<<<<< ................................................................................ Bale........Dembele.......Parker........Lennon......Walker ................................................................................ ..............Vertonghen.....Caulker.....Dawson.................. ............................................................................... ..................................Lloris................................... subs: Friedel,naughton,Ekotto,Livermore, Siggy',Dempsey,Kane. I can see AVB...giving Gallas a run out, but i hope not. "come on you spurs".

82spursdebut

Can you imagine the excitement if Damiao was playing upfront for us tomorrow!!! Anyway back to Dempsey...... Lol!!

MrSpurs

This is a must win, as really the game at Norwich was. Our problem of late is lack of penetration, and abysmal finishing. I think we will have all on at The Hawthorns, we have become predictable and unless we can find a way to free Lennon and Bale from markers we will continue to struggle. At the back we will need to be awake, Long makes good runs, and Lukaku is a beast, big, strong, quick, and a finisher, he will take some holding. Everton will almost certainly beat Villa at home, and Arsenal probably Stoke at home, so we need 3 points.

Frank

For me it's Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Verts, Naughton, Holtby, Dembele, Bale, Dempsey, Lennon, Defoe. I would actually drop Dempsey deeper into left-sided midfield as well and effectively play 4-3-3. I don't know if Holtby has a defensive side to his game but he's a stocky lad who seems to get up and down quite easily so I would give him the start over Parker. Subs: Friedel, BAE, Caulker, Parker, Livermore, Sig, Kane.

Sebthespur

dont know how you guys feel but dembele dosnt do it for me,he seems to be the shadow of the player he was when at fulham,is he carrying injury?is he playing in the wrong position?whatever it is their appears to be no aggression

ghulamville

A few points. A) I think that Levy did all he could to get Leandro. 20m is just an arbitrary fee. 13m is what Leandro is worth to us. Sturridge was sold to rivals for 12m... Both players at similar levels. No point in lining the pockets of third party owners. B) I think WBA will try the counter attack. They may first try with Long up front in first half, then throw Lukaku at us in second half. C) the 3 points in last three games look like poor form...but that is a superficial view. A point at home to a team that we have only beaten once in decades, and are top, is no bad point. QPR have turned a corner, and now are dificult to beat at all, let alone at home. Norwich did beat Man U, and have been tough at home. The performances were not on the level of the 3 games that preceded them, so I think that is more of a worry. Our reliance on injured Defoe is also a concern...and can Kane help out? One thing is for sure, we are better when we score first. So if West Brom play counter, we must hammer them and get the goal.

TonyRich

Tonyrich....i don't think you will find Wba..playing counter attack at home. But that's your opinion. Why not monies go to third parties ?....i don't understand that comment. At least we wouldn't have been giving money to our competitors. But...the striker / Damaio.....thing...is history.

82spursdebut

Oh and team to be unchanged from Norwich game...if Defoe can make it. Ease Holtby in... Which AVB will do anyway...

TonyRich

Well, AVB has put faith in his existing squad and now they have step up to the plate. Glad to see hotby keeping other midfielders on their toes. Shame that Defoe's guaranteed position has not been undermined in this window. I hope he doesn't need any more morivation. COYS!

Critical_Spur

Let Holtby start in place of Parker, Scotty's not fit yet and Dembele with Holtby seem to give us alot of creativity that we have been missing. Hope Defoe can turn his form around

tengboon

Tengboon - I would play Holtby, Parker and Dembele, with Dembele pushed forward in a striking support role behind Defoe.

MrSpurs

What are chances of Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea all losing today?

MrSpurs

zero....but don't bet on it...lol

82spursdebut

82spurs - WBA have done counter attack this season... Especially against teams they fear. Whether we come under that category is another matter, but they certainly are on a poor run, AND without Odemwingie. Monies going to 3rd parties is when money goes out of the game. If You buy a player from a team, then that money may come back to you when they come to buy a player back from you. Or that money goes on developing more talent for their team. A third party owner has no other interest but to make money and spend on themselves. It cannot be avoided, but paying 7m too much is just going to satisfy the owners. It is massive profit for them an still a risk to us.

TonyRich

Counter attack at home...

TonyRich

I think we'll win. Not too worried and can't be assed to moan about the lack of strikers. We have bale, Defoe, Ade, Dempsey, Holtby, Lennon, sig, Dembele to get goals and they will come. Defoe has dried up but not due to lack of form , more due to amazing goalkeeping and unfortunate narrow misses. He's on great form and buzzing according to AVB and has been rested recently after playing every min of every match I'm led to believe. Lets get behind our manager and chairmen as positivity should lead our great , in depth squad to fourth or even a cheeky third COYS

willfry

I agree with the comments re Dembele, I don't think we are getting all we should from him. He was a game changer at Fulham, scored on his debut for us, but is not really influencing games or results since. He has some lovely touches, does some eye catching things, but usually unfortunately, in areas of the pitch where it doesn't matter, this may be down to where he is asked to play, or his own lack of application. On the evidence of his 20 minutes v Norwich there must be hope that Holtby will directly influence games, to a greater extent.

Frank

Yep' good points.....conceded.

82spursdebut

MrSpurs - if I were to play those 3, then it would have to be Holtby in the hole. Dembele has not played there all season. It IS an away game, so we must be strong in midfield. Holtby still must adjust. It took Modric ages to be able to play centre mid in EPL. Plus Parker and Holtby may be a little too slow to hold the midfield together against such a hard working, physically strong, battling side. As I said earlier, I would hold Holtby back as sub.

TonyRich

I got Dembele..in my Fantasy team.....he been poor, for me. But i persevere. Compare...Dembele..to Hoddle...just as a bit of interest. Hoddle averaged...a goal every 4 games for spurs...appx. Dembele....is appx' one goal in 17 appearances.

82spursdebut

Why is someone saying Scott's isn't yet fit? Errrr....I don't think he'd be playing if he wasn't fit . He's played the last few games so obviously passed fitness tests. Some people are such morons. And who said Dembele hasn't been good for us? Do you even watch the matches you moron! He glides past players and even has some of the best stats in the prem league for pass completion and forward passes ext. Who writes these things? I'm pretty such if we keep Lukaka quiet , young Holtby should start and we'll see a very different Spurs. Every time Ade or Dempsey (and I do rate those two btw) get the ball the pace of the attacks slow down....well not the case with the young Brit/German....he passes quickly and slices defences , he moves into position very cleverly and could be our main man very soon ESP with the position he will no doubt occupy. It's no mean feat to be second top assists in the Bundesleague . Check out the competition there! It's mean. Loving Holtby....new him from his Shalke days and some cracking clips on you tube. Don't bother watching his goals....check out his highlights in recent match in Germany to see so many great passes. Reminds me of a young Sheringham . Great great buy ABV and Levy. What a player we could have on our hands. (1 million lol - another Lennon)

willfry

In that picture is that Peter Odemwingie saying ...

"Is that you calling my name from afar MR Harry Redknapp ,i`m coming , i`m coming ".

big cockeral

We need to win this game, simple as that. Anything else and we're into 2nd half slide territory...Levy have come up with a formula for not spending so let's see if AVB can dig him out of a hole. Is Defoe fit? Daws has to play against Lukaku he'll eat Gallas...

shedboy2

Sorry about going off topic, but here is YET ANOTHER of AVB's transfer targets gone up in smoke. Willan has gone to Anzhi Makhachkala. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/02/anzhi-makhachkala-willian-shakhtar-donetsk

chrishove123

Frank, must win game as was the Norwich game you say. How about QPR away? Surely that was 3 points before the ball was kicked! Easy to win away games from the keyboard, personally I would be happy with a point, three very possible if the team is set up to hit them on the counter. COYS

ItalianYiddo

Calm down guys, AVB has more or less squashed the liklihood of Holtby starting, ans his reasoning is pretty sound. Expect another sub entrance timing of which depends on how the match pans out.

jacobslad

Starting team:
Defoe

Dempsey..

Bale Dembele Parker Lennon

BAE Vert Daws Walker
Lloris

shedboy2

I too think Holtby will be used as a sub...will it be enough? difficult to call this one but how can we be expected to compete with the financial powerhouse of...oh, wait.

shedboy2

Lewis Holtby; I don't pick the side, but surely he has to start in this one and many more after it, his a class player, his clever for his age, makes space to receive a pass and can bring others into the game, forget what Dempsey never did against Norwich, his scored some very important goals, but for me his on the bench; same with regards to Ade when he returns, if Defoe is not scorng, his game is shot apart, but his the best goal poacher we have; Parker who put's in a lot of effort, must sit and protect the two centre halfs, not go chasing around all over the place, Dembele should be looking to get the ball off Parker and build the attacks using Lennon and Bale's pace and Holtby's clever through balls inside the full backs making them turn, same goes for the centre halfs, for Defoe to get onto, we can't lump the ball from the back, Dawson has to curb this rage he has when he has the ball, his first movement is to lok up and hump 5oyds upfield or a cross pass to row A, We can win this game, with quick passing, stop this standing still passing game and up the tempo.

spu 4 life

spu- pretty much agree with that, just think AVB will bring Holtby on from the bench, it's his modus operandi. It would be good if he changed it up but otherwise look for Holtby around the 70min mark...it seems spurs managers are only allowed to sub at that time...;)

shedboy2

Nice to see Townsend get straight into the QPR side. I have to say that I was of the same opinion as others who thought he'd be warming the bench there.

darkenvai

I don't think that AVB will start Holtby, he'll start with the same team that started against Norwich. If it was up to me Holtby would start.

Fanman

Parker not fit yet Teng? Thaiyid has picked the best side, will AVB? IF NOT I say Thaiyid for manager, love you long time. Interesting that Pikey picks Townsend to start, maybe we will start to see how good this lad really is.... ps if Dempsey has a coach drivers license we have found a job for him, but the coach will need to leave two hours early as it will be slower than usual...

tophobunty

jacob, why on earth pick a lesser side and if you find it tough then make a sub to play a better side, this logic to me is totally stupid.

tophobunty

Anyone watching the QPR game? Townsend's looking pretty good so far, surprisingly strong. What's the re-call like on his loan does anyone know? Still bemused as to why we've loaned him out with seemingly no like-for-like cover on the left or right.

jackcnichols

shedboy, why on earth would you have a player who is better for the team on the bench playng a player who is less good for the side on the pitch, then if we need it because we are playing a lesser player bring on the better player....this is so bloody stupid (not you) just the logic of it is head up arsenal............The evidence was there for all to see at Norwich and we scraped a point.derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ie we LOST 2 POINTS

tophobunty

Jack with you all the way ref Townsend, should have banked 8 mil on siggy and kept him and played him....

tophobunty

Has peterballb got anything to say about this game or does he only comment on our balance sheet. Come on Peter what do you think about the game tomorrow. It's a game we really need to win.WBA are struggling at the moment so we need to try and get at them from the start. We ae struggling to score in the first half of games - I wonder what the statistics are? My view on Dembele is that he is still carrying his hip injury COYS

jonathan01

tophobunty, I am not the THFC Head Coach. Best you ask AVB. All I am doing is repeating what I read in the media. I want Holtby to play cos he is in my bloody fanantsy football team this week! I will post a link if I can find it. All about he is new, familiarising himself, buying a house etc.

jacobslad

It looks pretty certain that Everton will be going above us into 4th today.

Fanman

Jacob buying a fekin house? i just dont get this bullsheit of not playing people who are better than you have just because they are new....fekin el stupido...its like saying to the oppo, "go on we'll give you a start"

tophobunty

tophobunty, it just seems illogical. He's 20 odd now, I believe, and the last few games I've seen him play he's been more than capable to play at this level. Surely the fact he's walked straight into QPR's first eleven indicates that. I'm not sure I agree with selling Siggy, he's still young and could develop into a decent attacking midfielder, though he'll probably always be behind Holtby and Dembele in my opinion.

jackcnichols

topho: http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/191205.html AVB "its a little too early".

jacobslad

townsend looking very sharp down the wing for QPR. could be a great loan move if he does get a run of games

Guernman

we should have kept townsend,the only out and out replaceent for bale/lennon.

ghulamville

ESPN: "Maybe it's a little too early for him to start. He needs more time to settle in, both on the pitch and personal life. He is looking to find a house, trying to settle all the things that surround him, but you can see he gets along very well with everyone quickly. Lots of players are doing well for us, so it is difficult to get into the team." Read more at http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1322765/lewis-holtby-set-for-spurs-bench-role-again?cc=#9SjCRKegIdIRkaRu.99

jacobslad

thanks jacob......and yes Jack, Townsend clearly has looked capable at the very least when used by us and he is just such an obvious cover for Bale and Lennon, for which we have none now....I dont think siggy is good enough for where i want us to be, he moves himself and the ball just too slowly at the level i want us to play, the same plus some for Dempsey

tophobunty

Agreed ghulam....but we now have Bentley!

jacobslad

"lots of players doing well for us" is AVB not aware we have drawn our last three games....so he is in fact saying he is happy with that? I fekin aint!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tophobunty

Looks as though Dempsey will start again with Defoe. This doesn't seem logical to me though? Dempsey was extremely poor against Norwich. His touch was awful. When Holtby came on we looked alot sharper and quicker. So why start with the same poor Dempsey? We are two men light with him and Defoe up-front. AVB doesn't make alot of sense sometimes.

Fanman

QPR number 4, to have all those years as a top tennis player and switch to professional football John Mcenroe put's himself about

spu 4 life

Well i hope Norwich get a breakaway goal and take all three points, stuff Arry Trotter.

spu 4 life

WBA half time 0-0 or 0-1 down full time 2-1 WBA.

spu 4 life

Agree Fanman, Dempsey is very poor in every game, he has scored some tap ins and that seems to fool a few of the thickos around here into thinking he played well. This is a total no brainer, if we start Dempsey this will be a far harder game...it's tough enough to beat any side home or away in the prem without picking a weaker side to help the oppo....he is buying a house...ffs sake............

tophobunty

top- I just think that's what AVB will do...for me the Dempsey purchase has had me scratching my head...

shedboy2

Jenas on for QPRr!!

jvd

AVB will pick the team that suits his tactics for the start of the game. I am not a Defoe fan but we do need him to score at least one goal. I actually would like to see Obika given a longer run but not to start. Maybe if we are up 2 after 60 he can come on in place of Defoe for the last 30. Give him some experience.

jvd

Townsend having a great game for QPR. One of the bright spots in the game.

jvd

Holtby is definately our lock-picker, I can't imagine starting Dempsey ahead of him really.

Fanman

He has looked very comfortable, like he's been playing premier league football week in, week out.

darkenvai

tophobunty, he's buying a house is a weak excuse. Starting Dempsey instead of holtby will definately make us weaker.

Fanman

And he's been awarded man of the match. Nice.

darkenvai

darkenvai, exactly. He came straight into the Norwich game as if he'd been playing for us for years. Even got an undeserved yellow card.

Fanman

darkenvai, exactly. He came straight into the Norwich game as if he'd been playing for us for years. Even got an undeserved yellow card.

Fanman

oops, double post.

Fanman

His passing and flicks were great. What did Dempsey do all game long, except lose possession and have poor touches?

Fanman

well done tarat great penalty miss and got Arry Trotter only a point they had that at 12-45. Old spurs vs Old Spurs &Old shi7 manager 13 games to go, on 17pts, looking good for champions league football, oh sorry championship football, go go Arry Trotter. Hope he buys Townsend looked good worth 4m on that performance

spu 4 life

motm performance from townsend who really stepped up today. his delivery was the best I have seen it and he had a couple of cracking shots too, very impressive debut

Guernman

Andros Townsend looking excellent today, think the loan move could pay big dividends in the future for us. Big talent & still so young

HuddersfieldYiddo

Humble pie for the posters who doubted Townsends quality. Man of the match against Norwich in his first game. You can't say: "it was only Norwich", can you? Jenas had a very good free kick as well, maybe QPR will stay up after all?

dannylane

jvd...and what are his tactics for the start of the game? for us to be better or them? for us to take the initiative or them? for us to play at our pace or them?.....................Hudd, so why loan him? ok so Bale gets injured tomorrow and is out for 6 weeks, what then?

tophobunty

Get in there! Well done Villa

darkenvai

are there any live streams for today and tomorrow?

TaxiforMaicon

QPR,what a load of sheit. And Remy, injured with a groin strain in training. That sounds familiar, that's what happened to a lot of our players the last few years.That's what you get when you put a chauffeur in charge of training. Anyone notice we have had few training injuries since AVB took over. That's the difference in having a professional in charge rather than an East End wide boy.

matt hoten

Up the Toon!

darkenvai

Away game so we should go 4-2-3-1 with Parker and Dembele deep and Holtby between Bale and Lennon in the front midfield 3. For me I would play Dempsey up to alone and drop Defoe to the bench because I think he is carrying an injury.

SpuriousLife

Someone said before Chelsea, Arsenal + Everton to lose?!!!!....could be a great accumulator if anyone had the courage!!!!

Critical_Spur

F'ing Frank F'ing Lampard. Newcastle 1 x 1 Chelsum.

Total knobhead

Come on villa 3-1

In-spurs-ational

Jeeze, wonderful goal by Juan Mata. Chelscum take the lead. We cannot afford not to win tomorrow. COYS.

Total knobhead

Everton losing to Aston Vila by 1 x 3. Good news for us so far in that one.

Total knobhead

That's what being able to spend millions and millions will get you.

Fanman

That's what being able to spend millions and millions will get you.

Fanman

Sorry for the double post.

Fanman

Dembele has been playing like damaged goods recently. He's not been playing the same way he did in the first match or two after arriving.

Total knobhead

2-2!

Fanman

Newcastle level again. Hope they bleed a couple of points from Chelscum. Everton losing. Could be a decent day for us setting us up well for tomorrow if we can take advantage.

Total knobhead

3-2 everton Villa. I don't think that Villa will hold on.

Fanman

Scum score. Oh well, can't have everything

In-spurs-ational

Farce 'n all 1 x 0 Stoke. F'ing F the F's. Filho de put@.

Total knobhead

Total knobhead, I couldn't have said it better myself

In-spurs-ational

Chelskum fall behind in the 88th minute. Hurrah!

Total knobhead

Yes Newcastle score

In-spurs-ational

What a day so far. Pity about le arse. Ooh no 3-3 at Everton

In-spurs-ational

Newcastle have looked far the better team in the last 10 minutes.

Total knobhead

I suppose we would have gladly taken a point in the villa match at the start of the day

In-spurs-ational

THANK YOU NEWCASTLE!

Total knobhead

Don't want to tempt fate, but today's results won't mean anything unless we get three points tomorrow

In-spurs-ational

Sissoko looks a bargain, great performance by him for Newcastle.

Guyver

spuds oh spuds..

josevis

And they didn't. We need a win against WBA, lets hope the Spurs from Leeds and the first half against Norwich don't turn up. I can't believe that AVB is going to play Dempsey ahead of Holtby. Its frustrating.

Fanman

GO LUKAKU!!

josevis

Oh yeah and chelsea is ****

josevis

sissoko looks like quite a player, on the one hand I am gutted we didn't sign him, on the other hand he has taken points off chelsea :) such a shame arsenal scored, but great day for us really, now we need three points tomorrow

Guernman

josevis, eh?

Fanman

josevis, your £eam just lo$t, what the **** are you doing here?

Fanman

Farce 'n all only a point behind us, Everett even with us on points, but we get to play tomorrow. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BLEED ANY POINTS TOMORROW. We can climb to within one point of Chelskum tomorrow if we win, although they will have a point in had. Conclusion: The teams are tightly bunched for third and fourth positions. Chelskum, Everett, Farce 'n all, and Spurs all have a good chance of ending the season in third position and an equally good chance of ending the season in Europa or sitting with the tea lady in the changing room. Exciting times for us. COYS! Don't let up now. We NEED to gain three points tomorrow a.m. A fourth consecutive draw would bleed 2 needed points. We need to put the ball in the net better than we have. Dominating possession without gaining three points would be Pyrrhic indeed.

Total knobhead

Is AVB going to be ridiculous and start Dempsey ahead of Holtby?

Fanman

West Brom will be looking at the Leeds and Norwich games, knowing that we'll be a man light in midfield with Parker and Dembele. It would be easy to to remedy that by playing Holtby in a 5 man midfield and Defoe up top on his own. at least Holtby will be defending. Dempsey doesn't help out the midfield. If AVB starts Dempsey, then he's just stupid IMO.

Fanman

Where's Lukaku going? Name that TOON IN ONE or is it 3?

spu 4 life

No Fanman. He's going to be sensible and start Demosey ahead of Defoe.

SpuriousLife

Surely Rafa won't be sacked? Who's he going to bring in now?

Fanman

SpuriousLife, that would be wise. I can't see AVB dropping Defoe though, he's like his favourite player or something.

Fanman

if he starts ahead of him, I hope it is with him in front (No9 and Holtby sitting in the hole. Though I feel that Holtby showed enough in 25 mins at Norwich to prove he should start. Dempsey has been pretty good in recent weeks as well. if this a game to save Defoe for the bench, rest his hip and perhaps focus his mind on greater competition, whilst trying dempsey, with Holtby behind?

oxfordspur

Sissoko,thats the way to do your home debut!and le scums have come close to us,so nothing less than a win tomorrow! 1-0 will do

SilwalYid

oxfordspur, agreed. Dempsey can pop up with a goal or two, he also gets his head up and looks for the assist, and is not just about shooting on site like Defoe.

Fanman

Are Chelski going to trim the interim and bring in Mark ''sparky'' Hughes

spu 4 life

If only Everton had lost and Arse n hole had drawn!arrgghh.........

SilwalYid

Chelski is going to stay 3rd place that is ;)

josevis

spu 4 life, Hughs will just spend Romans money on dross. It would ve great to watch though.

Fanman

lets play dempsey uptop and holtby behind and rest our wonderful 1 in 9 stricker eh!atleast dempsey scores unlike "wonderful 1 in 9's philosophy of shoot at sight"

SilwalYid

Even though Farce 'n all won, we should be happy the Aston Villa took a couple of point from Everett and Chelskum LOST. All in all not a bad day for us. But we need to take three points tomorrow. A draw would be a major disappointment. Four consecutive draws? NO!

Total knobhead

josevis, There is no way Chelsea will finish third if you don't stop leaking goals. You have a great attack in midfield, but your strikers and defence aren't so great as your midfield. Can't buy anymore players now either.

Fanman

Hopefully the boys will be up for this one...toon will be a much harder prospect now our old scout has got a few players in for them...

shedboy2

Roman could buy the whole Spuds club and turn them into chelski

josevis

josevis, not until the summer, you're stuck with that team until the end of the season. With the FFPR coming in Roman's spending will be curtailed.

Fanman

Roman could also hire and sack AVB 1000 times..

josevis

Roman seduce UEFA with his money, thats how rich roman is..

josevis

josevis, what else can Roman do, can he fly? Hopefully when he realises that no one wants to manage Chelsea he's leave you lot to implode.

Fanman

josevis, you finished 6th in the league last season. What good was Roman's money to you then? A flukey Champions League win made your season look respectable.

Fanman

josevis, actually I forgot that you won the FA cup too, my bad.

Fanman

its an interesting call for AVB, play Defoe tomorrow and perhaps he has Adebayor back next week, enabling him to rest Jermain. After that we have two Europa games against lyon and then West Ham on the 25th. on the other hand, rest him tomorrow, might not need him next week and he has in effect nearly four weeks rest between Norwich and West Ham

Oxfordspur

Roman have the money to make himself fly...

josevis

If only we could knock you out of UCL this season. Nvm, at least we experienced the fun of knocking you guys out.

josevis

Ok guys, im out.

josevis

oh ok, didnt even notice you were here..

Guyver

josevis...What a flaimbait...

dcruzer

jovsevis, what you got out your bedroom, mummy won't be pleased, go back to bed.

spu 4 life

Good set of results today, nicely topped off by a stonking England win at Twickers. Just need a result tomorrow to make the weekend perfect.

darkenvai

well let's hope his gone for good (jovsevis) and does not return TOON SOON

spu 4 life

TopHoBunty that's exactly what I meant by my post ...AVB wil pick the side to suit how he wants to start the game. One of the problems here is that everyone thinks he has the answer as to exactly what works without knowing dick about each players condition, motivation, how they've played in training, etc., etc. someone on here recently suggested that Dembele hasn't been playing as well as his first games and wondered if he was carrying a knock! Well yes he is, he's playing with a hip injury but still plays better than Hudd can, so he plays, because we are just that much better with him even with the injury.

I love talking football and making and reading opinions but that's what they are, opinions. Earlier in this thread someone called persons who had different opinions to himself, "morons". Really, this person knows more than someone else because he THINKS so? It's the venom of some posts I find to take. Maybe there's a EPL manager in hiding here making comments but I doubt it. Most of us here are just people who love football and Spurs in particular and maybe we played some football in some fashion, school, semi pro, Sunday league, whatever but I don't see that gives us the right to run the club. Give your opinion, sure, back up your opinion civillly certainly but leave the name calling at home. BTW this isn't directed at TopHoBunty, just a general comment.

jvd

I agree with benching Defoe. With a lively midfield, I sense we are going to start seeing more goals from the quartet. I also predict that Bale will be our top scorer this season. He is by far more consistent and trying than Defoe. COYS!

Critical_Spur

jvd +1. Well said. COYS!

Critical_Spur

Dempsey Bale Lennon
Dembele Holtby
Parker
Ekotto Verthongen Dawson Naughton Lloris

ItalianYiddo

Dempsey Bale Lennon
Dembele Holtby
Parker
Ekotto Verthongen Dawson Naughton
Llorris

ItalianYiddo

jvd- even if there is a Prem manager on here..he still wouldn't know the condition of the players! Yep it should be kept civil on here...I know I disagree with some posters on certain points but agree with them on others....no point falling out.

shedboy2

Lets put our best player upfront and out of position, good idea

HuddersfieldYiddo

In the absence of a striker I would put Bale up front. Who is he going to cross to playing from the left?

ItalianYiddo

Lloris walker Dawson Verts, Bae, Lennon, parker dembele, Holtby, bale, defoe.

tophobunty

sissoko another bargain we missed out on but nooo doesnt faze you lot who suck sandros d*** off.

redknappslayer

Italian I would have seriously considered playing Bale up front on his own is we has kept and played Townsend on the left with Holtby in the middle with Parker and Dembele, now that little lot running at you from all angles along with Lennon would be seriously scary. But no we have the donkeys Dempsey and SIggy to slow us down

tophobunty

I am actually disappointed we loaned out Townsend especially as we have no cover for either Lennon or Bale

ItalianYiddo

To be honest, I was disappointed when we loaned out Andros. He didn’t get many opportunities and when he did, I would’ve liked to have seen him deputise Lennon or Bale.

For me it should’ve been Jake Livermore out, as he definitely needs to prove himself and get some game time. May be he wasn’t rated by any team?

Andros had a great game for QPR and I hope he returns a better player next season. Harry heaped praise on him and deservedly so. But I had to chuckle at the following from good ole Arry:

"And Andros had an outstanding game too. People keep talking about big money - I think he's on about three thousand a week....”

I think that’s why he had a bulging squad at Spurs, ‘cos he thought they were all on 3 grand a week!

Critical_Spur

Sorry Italian Yiddo, just seen your post echoing my thoughts. :0)

Critical_Spur

Italian, yes I agree, this one might come back to haunt us especially if there is no clawback clause. He has always looked a real player to me in the making, easily the best of our young crop. Critical, why do you think Livermore wasn't loaned out? I think its because he is pants and nobody really wanted him badly enough.

tophobunty

Townsend was not getting any minutes, and he was not going to get any. So let the boy got out on loan and see what he can do. Livermore is utter pants as Topho says. Seems to me many fans are rather upset that we haven't signed a striker. It's obvious we need one that's for sure. I have a lot of patience with ENIC and Levy because i think we have come quite a long way since they took over. However, i am a little unhappy we were not able to find a solution to give us options upfront. If we were willing to go to 17m for Damiao, why not just go the extra 3m to get him, considering how badly we need him.

asherthesmasher

Dembele does look to be protecting his hip still, I'm wondering if he may need a small op at the end of the season, maybe out for a couple of months. Still better having a 75% Dembele than a 100% Hudd. My team would be Lloris, Naughton, Dawson, Vertonghen, Ekotto, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Dempsey, Bale, Defoe. Bring Holtby on for the last half hour.

Jantheman

If we start with Dempsey tomorrow this game could be a real struggle for us.

tophobunty

Might i also add, now that we have Holtby, the chances were going to be even slimmer for Townsend. Now we have Siggy, Holtby and Dempsey who can play left, right or through the middle, all of which will be ahead of Townsend in the pecking order.

asherthesmasher

Asher...Bale or Lennon get injured and out for 6 weeks tomorrow, you think Townsend would get no minutes? We are very short of quality cover and PACE PACE PACE ...in midfield.

tophobunty

Jantheman, that will be the tam that starts for sure, except Naughton. I bet AVB is already wanting to start Holtby even though he won't, yet.

asherthesmasher

topho, yes i think AVB would choose Siggy, Demsey or Holtby first, rightly or wrongly. I don't think we are heavily reliant on pace anyway. Yes it's one of our strengths, but many teams sit back and defend against us anyway, nullifying our threat on the wings.

asherthesmasher

.........................DEFOE...........................
.......BALE.................................LENNON...
........................HOLTBY..........................
.............................................................
..........DEMBELE.............PARKER.............
.............................................................
...BAE........VERTS.......DAWS.......WALKER
............................................................
........................LLORIS...........................

THE BOY HOLTBY SHOWED HE IS UP FOR IT WHEN HE GOT A RUN OUT THE LAST TIME...

HE WILL BE DEF BE OUT TO IMPRESS....... 3-0 SPURS...

COYS

Yidmarks

Siggy and Dempsey cant play left Asher, most certainly not the way we play. If any manager picked either of them wide left ahead of Townsend should Bale be injured and I was chairman I would sack the manager the very next day. Holtby should be playing in the place of either of those two donkeys.

tophobunty

Like your team yidmarks, that would be my choice.

asherthesmasher

Asher we are not reliant on pace?????????????????????? not many teams sit back against us when we are away. Demspey and Siggy are mid table players at the very best and neither will ever be a good player for us. BOTH VERY BAD BUYS.

tophobunty

Holtby can play that ball that Lennon and Bale cry out for...

Beating the last man with pace...

i beleive he will be a big player for us.. linking the DM's to the wingers and striker... VDV with a bit more vision and stamina....

Yidmarks

They wouldn't be playing wide left, but on the left side. Bale doesn't play wide left much anymore. Dempsey played on the left for Fulham. The issue here is how highly Townsend is rated by Townsend. Yes he has pace to burn. Is he going to be effective with that pace. I personally think he has a long way to go.

asherthesmasher

I agree Yidmarks, i can see Holtby developing into a finer version of VDV, although too early to expect him to be at that level consistently, he looks a real find. I don't rate Dempsey or Siggy much either. But Dempsey does have his strengths and has had some decent games. There are high expectations for Siggy. But don't think Towsend is at the level he needs to be to play for us. You obviously do topho.

asherthesmasher

Regarding your comment topho about losing Bale or Lennon, I believe we may see AVB playing his favoured 4-3-3 if that happens and playing more of a narrow game with the fullbacks getting up to support the attack more.

Jantheman

Thats the team Yidmarks.......If reports are true that AVB blocked the Siggy sale but did not block the Townsend loan I would now be asking very serious questions of AVB. It makes me take one step back from thinking he will be a good manager for us.

tophobunty

TBH, Now that Benny is back, I don't mind Bale occassionally floating about. Benny does (or at least he used to) charge up the left wing. I also think Bale will be given more of a free role as he continues to be our main attcking/scoring threat. I get more excited whenever Bale runs with the ball than I do when Defoe. I am very disappointed that over the years Defoe has never managed to up him game and has remained a 2nd fiddle at club and national level. One would've thought wth a contract extension he may have contributed more consistently.

And yes, I agree with Jake being pants and probably no other club rates him either. With Holtby's arrival, I'd be surprised if Jake even makes the bench. But, I'd blame jake for that. He had his chances....

Critical_Spur

tbh if Townsend develops into anything better than an average mid table player id be astonished.

Guyver

Just to add... Rather than the starting line-up I'd be equally interested in our bench. It wouldn't surprise me to see Obika sitting there along with Kane and alas, Hudds(!!), with siggy and Brad being the others.

Critical_Spur

Asher, I dont care if its wide left or not i dont want some right footed donkey twert like Siggy or Dempsey as a left sied player as they will only tuen inwards and go sideways or backwards and make it easy to defend against, if you want to make it easier for the oppo Asher, you play them, for me I would never have signed either and I would not play either ahead of Townsend...PS i HOPE HE does this he is good, because he is. The other two are donkeys.

tophobunty

Critical_Spur, it could be worse. How about Bentley on the bench

In-spurs-ational

Jantheman i dont give a blind ferck what AVB favours. I would not play either of those two donkeys what ever formation is played, certainly not over someone who has pace, can go either way and cause real problems for the opposition. All those two do is cause problems for us, sideways, backwards and slow things down. They don't suit us (ESP AWAY) and they are not good enough, if you want them you might as well support a team in 13th because that's where they belong and that is being VERY kind. DONKEYS.

tophobunty

tbh if Townsend develops into anything better than an average mid table player id be astonished. Guyver >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> ......................................... Guyver I will remind you of that.......have pasted into a doc to post to you at some date in the future.......

tophobunty

tophobunty, in relation to AVB allowing Townsend to move and wanting Siggy to stay, there could be another way to look at it. Say AVB thinks Townsend has the potential to be a really good player. He may think to improve Townsend, he has to get the player plenty of minutes on the pitch. He's not going to get that playing for us this season. Far better to go on loan and improve as a player so come next season, it's almost like getting a new £15m player in. As for Siggy, he can have the (few) minutes that Townsend would have got had he stayed at Spurs.

In-spurs-ational

Of course I have no idea what AVB really thinks. Maybe he just didn't like the brand of after shave Townsend uses

In-spurs-ational

I hope you get that opportunity Topho, but he didnt exactly stand out in the championship for Birmingham whenever I watched him..

Guyver

Inspurs, if that is what AVB is doing with Townsend thats good business, but its a big risk ibf Bale and or Lennon get injured. But yes I agree with you its good for Townsend to play in the prem.

tophobunty

Guyver did you watch him today in the prem? or any of the times he came on for us? If you don't see his potential i think its pretty sad.

tophobunty

Guyver, I think Harry put his arm round him and told him to run about....which he did plenty of......purposefully, I might add.

I also think you may be devouring some humble pie in not too distant future as I am in agreement with topho re Townsend.

As for Siggy, I think some are being very harsh. To me he does appear to b trying hard (perhaps oo hard) to impress. One decent goal and an assist could easily trigger a wave of confidence. Also, no reason to be over-critical of Dempsey. His gols/minutes on pitch ratio is probably better than Defoe?. AND, he scored against Utd (home + away). When was the last time Defoe scored against a top-4 team?

Critical_Spur

tophobunty, it seems it's more importent to some posters to be right about players than anything else. If a player, for example Townsend, are a success at another club,it's good for us, if he fails, so we know.

dannylane

Today 1st half he didnt look that good topho, end product wasnt great, 2nd half he improved. All that potential and he can't even get a game at a club with only 2 natural wingers. Sterling gets game time at Liverpool and he's 17, as does Chamberlain as will Zaha next season for Man Utd im sure. As did Lennon when he was 18 (nominated young prem player of the year) and even the so called "jinxed" Bale. I don't think Townsend's potential to be a TOP prem performer is that obvious.

Guyver

tophobunty, call yourself a Spurs supporter?! If Bale or Lennon get injured, we've got Bentley and Hudd :)

In-spurs-ational

There's a saying that your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness. Our wide men of Bale & Lennon are one of our big strengths. However it also makes it really hard for anyone else to get a look in. No matter how good Townsend is, currently he is highly unlikely to be able to displace either of those two which means that he just goes stale staying with us

In-spurs-ational

He's playing catch up Critical_Spur. Not saying Townsend won't be a decent player, im saying id be surprised if he proves to be a regular starter for a top 4/6 club in the future, again I hope im wrong.

Guyver

What a funny day for a Chelskum troll to come here. Immediately following their LOSS to Newcastle. Funny indeed. Shameless.

Total knobhead

Townsend was merely going to get some game time here at Spurs even if Bale or Lennon were injured.Remember AVB opted to choose Siggi and Dempsey as wing cover when Bale missed a couple of matches and also when he was banned for a game.I bet he didnt appear as a sub. the fact is atmost townsend was going to get some odd couple of minutes here and there which when added total would still be less than the total 90 minutes he got yesterday.and with his performance yesterday,he is sure to get lots of game time.

SilwalYid

TK-i think Roman also bought the 10 years old Chel***** fan's mom.coming here to brag about your sugardaddy on the day you lose. #EPICFAIL

SilwalYid

Looking forward

jvd

Premature submit! LOL!

jvd

We need to win our next 4 games in order to maintain our 3 point advantage against last season's comparable games (games against same teams, same locations). I mention this because it is important to me in measuring AVBs performance and also since we are 3 points ahead of last year on that basis at this time, if AVB can emulate last years results we will surely gain 4th and possibly 3rd.

jvd

tophobunty Do we know what is being said to players by AVB behind closed doors? Simple answer, no we don't, AVB seems to be doing what a good manager does, backs his players to the hilt and doesn't slag them off in public or to the media, but in training, and or the changing room, who on here knows how much AVB could be tearing into them.

chrishove123

Pritchard came on for Posh on 54". 0-1 down they drew 2-2. Manager said “I was pleased with what Alex Pritchard did when he came on. He’s a very, good young player and it’s a case of me finding the right position for him in our side.”

jacobslad

As we have an exiting crop of young loanees out...Townsend, Pritchard, Coulibaly, Falque, should the site have a weekly update thread on their progress? Obviously some news will be easier to get than others. Or am I just being lazy?!

jacobslad

Why exactly is it that we weren't the ones signing Sissoko for 1.8 million?

Total knobhead

Well, Well - 8 hrs before the game, 200+ comments in match day thread....

This is a game of great importance. Either succumb to pressure of Everton & Arsenal or put the pressure on chelski. WBA are good team and they have played against us well in recent games. So, obviously cant take them lightly. I remember in our home game, Lukaku gave a torrid time to Vertonghen playing CB in last 30 minutes, instrumental in WBA equalising in 90th minute.

We need to get Dawson playing with Jan today. Ideally, I would bench Defoe for the game not because he is out of form atm, just to introduce him for short burst in the end owing to his niggle. Also Dempsey is comparitiviely in good form. I would go with

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vert, BAE, Parker, Dembele, Bale, Lennon, Holtby,Dempsey.
But have a strong feeling that Holtby will not start though. 3 points is mandatory today just to arrest the slide of 3 consecutive draws.

sydqcb5

Sissoko has a very similar style to Dembele but with more goal potential and at £13m cheaper than Dembele, it does seem that Newcastle got the better deal, as long as Sissoko can maintain his impressive performances. He wouldnt have been a Sandro replacement as most seemed to believe, proving again why scouting off the internet and YouTube has it's flaws!

Guyver

jacobslad - Spurs official site do a regular round up of the fortunes of our footballing emissaries.

darkenvai

Big game. COYS & WIN X 3

Madaboutspurs

Madaboutspurs, getting a bit lazy there aren't you, or is this your new catch phrase

In-spurs-ational

I think the townsend move is great, yes it weakens our like for like cover on the wings, but dempsey can play the role he excelled in for fulham and siggy can also cover. they were always going to get more minutes than andros. meanwhile if he gets a run of games, which seems likely after his motm display yesterday, he has a few months to develop his game and show us that he can be a viable option if bale does want to move on in the summer or later

Guernman

If Townsend becomes settled at QPR....expect him to take more corners and occaisional freekicks. At the moment, it will be hard to displace Taarbt, from those duties, (perhaps not pens', though). I'm just very pleased he is still our player. Fingers crossed for Bale and Lennon, for the rest of the season. Need a Big big performance from spurs today. "come on you spurs".

82spursdebut

We need a team that is strong and will match west brom's fight today. Therefore, don't agree with those saying bench Parker and yes, I would play Holtby and Dawson. For me, probably caulker next to him for height and corner threat and vertonghen at left back. Come on you spurs, if ever there was an important game to turn up from minute one after three draws..........

Windlespur

Understandable, that AVB shows loyalty to his Signings, espec' given that we are 4th and in the hunt for 3rd.

82spursdebut

I know it's been on the BBC site, but this article has more info on Paul Gascoigne http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/334040/?

In-spurs-ational

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Verts, BAE, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Holtby, Gyilfi and Bale up top for me. The way Defoe and Dempsey played midweek they both should be benched!!

spurspanther

Very much looking forward to seeing Holtby, hopefully, make his full debut. I expect him to mix it in, in the middle. Note of caution though, he has been booked in all of his last 3 appearances.

82spursdebut

No, Inspurational, Nothing new. Just lazy. lol

Madaboutspurs

Madaboutspurs, it takes a big man to admit they are lazy ;)

In-spurs-ational

82spursdebut, I'm 100% certain Holtby will play today. I'm also 100% certain he won't start. AVB likes to bring on new players (and those returning from injury) slowly and I don't think he likes changing his methods. Either way you can take positives from whether he starts or not. If he doesn't start, AVB is taking a long term view for the good of the player and the team. If he starts, AVB is able to adapt his principles and thoughts for the good of the team. See. Win win.

In-spurs-ational

Guyver- sissoko was 1.8m about the same price as Holtby....he's not a sandro clone but imo he'd slot in alongside Demebele....but that ship has sailed.

shedboy2

we need a win today,Remember we are winless in the last 4 games!Okay maybe also havent lost in the last 8 league games :)

SilwalYid

and lets hope a loss for Togo!that way Ade will be back against Newcastle

SilwalYid

shedboy, imo Dembele is best alongside a specialist CM, like Sandro (defensive) or Modric (creative), possibly Holtby as well if he gets the opportunity to play in central midfield. Playing 2 jack of all trade, box2box type midfielders together might work, but could also have a negative effect. I think Newcastle's combination of Cabaye(creative), Sissoko (box2box) and Perch(defensive) is a good variation of styles that is combining well at the moment.

Guyver

Looking through the posts and judging by the poll there are an awful lot of people relying on 'Lucky Lewis' to become our saviour. That's a lot of unfair pressure on someone who hasn't even had time to settle yet. Thankfully AVB seems to be more realistic in the way he gently introduces new players into the team. To me it would look slightly desperate if AVB were to start Holtby today, especially after the way he has introduced new blood in the past.
sydqcb5..... Great point about leaving Defoe on the bench today to protect his injury, shame we can't send the guy for the op that he needs and call on someone else for backup though. Just goes to show that no matter how some on here may try to spin it, the window was an absolute disaster.

thfc1882whl

Who's idea was it to ''cream cracker'' the site with a new layout?

spu 4 life

Hearing Joe Lewis is in the squad today and could be on the bench wearing number 99, at least if he get's on we have a valid reason to blame him, Levy said that when he scores for spurs he will get his hair cut, ENIC will donate a pound to comic relief.

spu 4 life

Comic Relief, does that mean having a ''tug'' from Jo Brand?

spu 4 life

Let's do something different today, be leading at half time and go onto winning this game, everyone will be hoping we don't.

spu 4 life

We used to have a problem of conceding in the last minutes which hoefully has been rectified, but instead, we now seem to have a problem of not turning up for first 45 mins.......put it right AVB!

Critical_Spur

AVB has picked the same team that performed so poorly against Norwich in the first half. The ineffective Dempsey starts. WBA will overwhelm our midfield, close us down and pin us back. IMO, we've set up exactly the way they would want us too. Dempsey doesn't help out the midfield, and Bale doesn't track back. At least with Holtby with have someone who will get back and help out the midfield. Its a bad decision not to start Holtby IMO.

Fanman

Didn't AVB watch the Norwich game? Why start with the same team that was so poor? Can anyone explain it to me?

Fanman

Fanman...and I am only guessing so don't jump down my throat....loyalty to a group of players, or 2 players in particular, the last chance saloon, making sure he has done everything to give them a final chance, before he deploys Holtby and Adebayor in the future with a clear conscience as a manager.

jacobslad

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele, Parker, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Defoe

Subs: Friedel, Gallas, Naughton, Huddlestone, Livermore, Sigurdsson, Holtby.

big cockeral

Who is on the bench?

jacobslad

West Brom: Foster; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Popov; Dorrans, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt; Long, Lukaku.

Subs: Myhill, Ridgewell, Thomas, Jones, Rosenberg, Fortune, Tamas.

big cockeral

thanks BC

jacobslad

Fanman.... He sees them all week in training so maybe they're the best we've got for a game like this. Hopefully we'll turn up today. COYS

thfc1882whl

I don't think there is a problem with the pairing of Parker and Dembele as such, rather Parker cannot boss the park like Sandro, therefor nullifying Dembele's strengths as he has to keep his eye on more. Simple fact, Parker is not the player he was. I think Dempsey need to help out in midfield more much more than he did against Norwich.

asherthesmasher

Would swap Obika for Hudd.

jacobslad

Fan'....my guess, is that he is playing to the table, rather than what he sees on the pitch....plus a bit of loyalty. Llong and Lukaku...oooohhh..i'd like that Fwd' line. I can see another draw coming.

82spursdebut

"more much more" lo..

asherthesmasher

jacobslad ha ha reminds me of the film Jacobs ladder with Tim Robbins .
Man that film was good ,but phucked up

big cockeral

Jeez our bench is light on strikers, can't believe that AVB managed to keep a straight face when he said we were ok in that department. Good manager for sure but could he be Levys 'Yes' Man?

thfc1882whl

The subs changed the Norwich game .But AVB didn`t make the first one until past the 70 minute mark .If it`s not working got to make them earlier & even use all 3 .He`s flapping because his options are limited .

big cockeral

I don't believe it Holtby on the bench, AVB. Looks pretty stupid to me right now. Did he not learn anything from the Norwich game? It appears everybody else did, why not he. If we don't win this game today I for one will SERIOUSLY start to question his ability as a manager. Not at all happy.

tophobunty

thfc1882whl- Levy's yes man for sure. But i think that's a good thing. Should have gotten Damiao for sure, if it was ever on the cards.

asherthesmasher

Really think Danny Graham for £5 million could have helped our cause ,he`s not the greatest player but he knows how to score .
I`d prefer a hardworking Graham than a bad attitude Adebayor,besides when Dempsey & or Defoe are not working is not working ,he can be better than both of these at times .

big cockeral

Cheers for the input lads, but anyone can see that Dempsey and Defoe is just not a good combination. Dempsey doesn't help out the midfield enough. Can we contain the threat of Long and Lukaku without Bale tracking back and Dempsey staying upfield doing nothing? Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but I have no confidence in Dempsey and Defoe.

Fanman

Big C, theres a set of steps down to the beach near where i live called Jacobs Ladder, thought it appropriate given the Yiddish connection, and no I am not phucked up!

jacobslad

asherthesmasher..... I don't think Damiao was ever gonna happen this window. I don't even think that the player has wanted to join us for a while now, we have been linked for a couple of years but never shown him that we're serious about him. Bet he feels like the fat bird who only gets courted at the end of the night.

thfc1882whl

tophobunty, I'm also upset that Holtby isn't starting.

Fanman

recalls Kane, but leaves him out. No actual strikers on the bench.....hhhmmm.....and where is Caulker ? HMMMM

82spursdebut

jacobslad Not saying you are phucked up ,just the film Jacobs ladder ,watch it ,it`s madness .It`s up there with Donnie Darko (still don`t get what all that was about )

big cockeral

The money is down £100 to win on SPURS @ 11/10 ..COYS

spu 4 life

Man, if only Sandro wasn't injured...

Fanman

long and lukaku look tasty partnership,,,i think most would have this over ade and defoe

ghulamville

i think a draw is on the cards.

topspur53

82spursdebut, good points. Maybe Caulker is injured?

Fanman

IMO Dawson & Vertonghen do not play together at all well ,not on the same wavelength .

big cockeral

people make me laugh on here still going on about the striker thing. Here is a fact for you spurs are 4th with the same strikers they have had all season even if we had brought a striker are people foolish to believe that would guarantee CL spot I dont think so the only thing to guarantee that is by spurs playing to there ability if we do that we could finish 3rd.

DSpurs

They will stifle Dembele and Parker (all they need is an extra man in midfield) and cut of the supply to Lennon and Bale. AVB is so predictable, all he will do is swich Bale and Lennon, which has never worked. We are so desperate for a play-maker, and when we finally get one, he is on the bench. We have lacked creativity all season. Does he realise that the only reason we got a point at Norwich was because Holtby came on? Terrible management in my opinion.

Fanman

DSpurs I think people would like to see a striker on the bench, that's all. Defoe is carrying an injury. We got 4 midfs, sitting there.

jacobslad

DSpurs..... Glad you're happy with our striking options mate and I hope you're still laughing at the end of the season.

thfc1882whl

dembele needs to give us a lot more than what we`ve been gettin fro him

ghulamville

Anyway, back to the game. COYS

thfc1882whl

DSpurs, if you look at out shots and shot on traget ratio over the past three games, I think you'll agree that with a quality striker, we'd of scored more goals, and be a few points better off.

Fanman

Not a bad one http://www.coolsport.tv/stream7.html

spu 4 life

With this selection I would take a draw now. AVB is starting to look like what everybody thought him last year, stubborn and not very talented. I hope he proves me wrong.

tophobunty

It's Fox Soccer and they love Clint Dempsey, come on clint make my day.

spu 4 life

Its life on TV in Taiwan..yippee. If someone can explain in Mandarin the offside rule for my beloved mum in law, please let me know!

jacobslad

Wow we have a weak squad these days. I remember Keane and Berba starting with Defoe and Bent on the bench. Heck even 18 months ago we had Pav, Townsend, Pienaar, Kranckjar, Corluka. Some bad bad decisions made along the way. Constant person throughout this squad thinning = Levy

mattspurs1982

Gareth Bale is playing as a striker ,could be a shrewd move .
By far our best attacking player

big cockeral

But also playing Bale up top just shows or highlights our shortcomings in the striker department

big cockeral

dempsey should have got that on target...

rahn DMC

Our players are very slow. Need to step up the tempo.

jvd

Already we look sloppy and disjointed

philbill

Dawson & Parker are just poor. One phuck up after another. Is client on the phucking pitch!!?

hudderspur

Tempo won't change with Dempsey on the pitch JVD. When he is replaced with Holtby the tempo will change. If AVB doesn't realise that very soon we will finish 6th at best.

tophobunty

waiting for a shot from defoe or at least find space for receiving the ball?

spu 4 life

Dembele doesn't look fit. Walker is useless again today, at fault for two of their chances.

TopSpur13

We are absolute pants... Levy is a disgrace... AVB needs bigger cajounas

Cape Town Spurs

a 4th draw on the trot... does that make us old scrotum face's fantasy football team

Cape Town Spurs

watch this sail over the bar or hit the wall :)

philbill

This is really poor we look toothless upfront

philbill

i hope defoe is out for the rest of the season...

Cape Town Spurs

tell us now AVB how you're happy with our strikers, or Levy, that we need no-one... we are a joke, no, we're worse than a joke, we are pathetic excuse

Cape Town Spurs

I hate Levy. Serves us right if Defoe is out. What team With top 4 ambitions has no strikers as back up. What a f ing joke

mattspurs1982

Wot a joke, exactly wot I said would happen. How can he play on like that!!! Very much doubt the avb levy combo.

hudderspur

Oh would you look at that, our only striker we have in todays squad is now injured (on top of his current pelvic injury)... Bring on our sub stir... Oh wait, look at that, we don't have one. LEVY YOU BELLEND.

rahn DMC

Great no strikers. Thanks levy. Top 4 gone. Ffs

mattspurs1982

we have no strikers at all... that said AVB is happy with our striker situation

Cape Town Spurs

blessing in disguise.

asherthesmasher

great just as expected our only striker gets injured

spursnoob

Thanks very much Daniel Levy. I will console myself by studying our balance sheet!

jonathan01

Here comes the 4-6-0 LOL

what_sux

We played pretty much from August to December with Torres as our only striker (if he even counts) :)

CalculatedKalou

defoe; looks like left ankle problems

spu 4 life

What a laughing stock we are no striker on the pitch, lol!! Come on Holtby do it for us.

ledgespur

asherthesmasher how it is a blessing????? The transfer window is shut so we have no one or no chance to change it. We'll end up 6th at best

mattspurs1982

i've supported spurs for close on 35 years but i'm seriously thinking i'm going to call it a day... scrooge mc'levy has killed this club for me

Cape Town Spurs

Brunt the C***. Should've been booked.

rahn DMC

Lloris is a f$cking top class keeper, we are lucky to have him.

ledgespur

Live on tv in Indonesia. COYS 0-2 prediction. Dempsey and bale. Lloris MOM sofar

gRAMMSTEIN

oh what a suprise,why no striker on the bench? of course we dont have one. why no obike .ffs. serves us right.

topspur53

Not looking great

DSpurs

ledgespur + 1

Cape Town Spurs

Cape Town, don't jump mate. Ade will be back soon and then we are fine...lol

ledgespur

Looks like Bale is going to be our new striker

DSpurs

Neat, tidy and apart from one Bale effort.... Toothless.

thfc1882whl

Parker is the only player on the pitch who had a decent first half for us. Everyone else is playing below par and AVB as much as I like him doesn't come across as the man to give them the hair dryer they need at half time.

TopSpur13

Looks like Obika time

melloSPUR

Bale is great, but too greedy. Oh and we suck on corners. Sooner or later we're going to get caught on the counter-attack. This highline is not so great IMO. its a 50 - 50 game IMO. Hopefully WBA will tire and we can exploit them with our pace.

Fanman

Another toothless match. I give up, we deperately needed a striker, results in jan FURTHERade it sooo obvious and we do nothing. We truly deserve to finish 7th to match our ambition. Phuck you Levy. Sack the board

mattspurs1982

Someone wake Lennon & Dempsey up ,,Bale is a one man attacking team .Can`t keep relying on one player to produce the goods ,Lloris ,Vertonghen & Dembele also star performers today

big cockeral

Oh dear, this is going exactly the same way as our previous three games, however WBA look dangerous on the break, they could nick this. Serves the club right for no ambition in the striker department. I too have supported this club for 50 years and now we have one of the best squads we have ever had except in one department. Its glaringly obvious to all except Levy.

philbill

Ade will be back for next game, Dempsey although not a striker, is better there than Defoe, who is a waist of space. But, i agree it's not ideal and frankly i am more disappointed in Levy than i have been in a long time.

asherthesmasher

Indifferent first half. We are not creating chances and allowing the long ball through the middle too often. We definitely need to win this. Not that anyone is playing badly but no one is taking responsibility to go for goal except Bale. We haven't missed Defoe have we? Hope we step up the tempo in 2nd half.

jvd

dont worry lads, Mido and Saha are both unattached, am sure Levy is going through his phonebook as we speak!

falmouthyid

we know what the problem has been, but it's to late and to keep going on about it is getting nothing short of pathetic. we have the players to win this game, as long as Dempsey's movement is pulling the centre halfs about Bale, Dembele, Lennon, Holtby can attack the space. Parker just sits, that all he needs to do.

spu 4 life

WE ALL SAW THIS HAPPENING..........CHEERS DAN! u TIT

LongTimeSpursFan64

Utter disgrace Levy! Only our great Spurs with Levy in charge can end up with no strikers...F@CKKKKKK!!!!!

dcruzer

We looked alright to begin with, nothing special and our usual playing style. We don't move the ball quick enough at all, where as West Brom seem to be getting the ball up top into Lukaku quickly. The slower you pass the ball the easier it is to defend against. Think about it, the ball is faster than the man. As for the striker situation, well I think I've lost all patience with Levy, it was sooo ******** obvious that we needed a striker and it was sooo ******** predictable what would happen (what just happened) if we didn't get one.

rahn DMC

When is the earliest Ade could be back guys?? It seems to be a twisted ankle from Defoe. From previous experience they often result in not being able to play on but heal pretty soonish. Lets hope that's the case

BrooksySpurs

I'm glad we didn't waste our money on a striker, we're such a well run club....And we're playing some exciting football should be able to sell out 56k every week no problem after all Barac play without a striker and they get good crowds....;)

shedboy2

melloSPUR- Good shout bring the youth strikers in give them a chance to prove themselves

DSpurs

I'm glad Defoe is off and Holtby is on. Hopefully we can find a way through WBA. They are parking the bus and hitting us on the counter. Dempsey has been useless, but he might do better upfront.

Fanman

Gotta credit Steve Clark for playing such an adventurous formation, leaving Long and Lukaku up front at all times. He obviously feels that they have more threat than us in an attacking sense and who could honestly disagree?

thfc1882whl

Stuck with Dempsey up on his own.

Fanman

Mr 'Too Dear' Levy, statement please after the game on why you have left us with out striking cover?

ParkLaneBB

thfc1882whl, they are definately more of a threat up front than us. We're just playing in front of them.

Fanman

It's painful to watch Dempsey on the ball.

asherthesmasher

It was a bad first half, Dempsey is very poor. Our whole back line having a bloody conversation where to play the ball was a joke, and then Daws just hoofs it up the park. We dont look like we know what we want to do

ledgespur

Lloris is by far our best keeper for years

what_sux

Too slow physically and mentally. Dembele seems to have to beat 2 players before he passes. Walker is shocking at defending and not great going forward. Lloris has kept us in the game and Bale is trying but overall as THFC said, toothless. Well done Levy. Great club management as usual, season after season.

Harry-Kari

Usual thing of not playing with enough urgency. Lots of sideways passing. If I was AVB I'd tell everyone barring the wingers that he doesn't want them on the ball longer than a second.

Bernio Villas-Spuras

I can't believe that Levy has left us with no striking option.

Fanman

Denial Levy ,,bring back the DOF

big cockeral

How the ***** is Defoe out a blessing in disguise, its an absolute disaster - potentially a season ending blow - which was totally unavoidable in Jan. We need some strength upfront in the shape of a fit and hungry Adebayor (If that Adebayor still exists) or even the young lad Lukaku looks a real handful

HuddersfieldYiddo

To all this, which striker do you guys think we can get in short notice? F#ck Levy for this.....

dcruzer

Parker dwells on the ball for too long, so does Dembele. Hopefully Holtby won't.

Fanman

If Obika or Kane aren't good enough to provide a bum on the bench striker, when we are in this situation, then we should let them go.

jacobslad

Even if your not a big Defoe fan by default hes our ONLY striker, blessing in disguise lol. Some of you are on a different planet

HuddersfieldYiddo

Anyone who is happy that Defoe is off and out for god knows how long is a fool. Granted he may not be the answer to our striker problems but he's been head and shoulders above that lazy tw@ Adebayor this season. I take it those same fools are going to be happy with us struggling for goals when Adebayor comes back and doesn't fancy it because it's too cold.

thfc1882whl

dcruzer, Saha...

Fanman

What would we do without Bale? Levy better be ready to give up his left nut to keep Bale for at least a year longer past this stupid fiasco in which we ended w/o a striker.

dcruzer

Our striker condition is so weird that Spurs do not feature a "recognised" striker on the bench. The most offensive option we have is Siggs...what is the use of recalling Harry Kane from Norwich loan if he´s not on the bench ??

AlexSpur

dcruzer Denial Levy had a month you tit .Plus all the homework & scouting they could have done before that .
Leandro was just a convenient excuse ,Newcastle brought 6 in because they identified issues & then went & beat Chelsea .We haven`t won in 4 & scored 3 goals (inc Leeds ) .

big cockeral

"Here comes the 4-6-0 LOL," what_sux.

Don't say we weren't well forewarned. If AVB hasn't had the lads working on this formation, then I should be hired as "head coach."

lol.

Total knobhead

I agree fanman, they are both too similar we need a penetrating pace and get in behind more often. when Lennon did it created the best chance.

philbill

AVB will have to put up a faultless 6 months to get us TOP 4, he has a very very very hard task in his hand

what_sux

Regardless of todays result, there are massive problems on the horizon. Best we all get used to the Europa league.

thfc1882whl

We are a disgrace to not have a recognised striker on the bench. Everyone knew that we needed a striker. Now Defoe is out, we're stuck with Dempsey until Ade gets back.

Fanman

WELL DONE DANNY. your penny pinching is going to cost us cl and alot of MONEY. cant believe a prem team that is challenging for cl has just 1 thats right 1 striker. Lloris is brilliant (just thought i would add something positive)

jljyid

Dempsey looks like a zombie...

ledgespur

Sorry, i think i put that the wrong way. If Defoe is out for a while it's obviously a big loss. But i wouldn't be starting with Defoe anyway. He isn't getting goals and is not doing anything else. Even a lazy Ade will be much more valuable to us imo. Defoe needs a rest. But not all bloody season.

asherthesmasher

fanman... if you use the name /words "dempsey" & "bus" in the same sentence the best place dempsey could be is on the phecking bus.. face it guys, we've been lied to, sold out, and we are absolute pants

Cape Town Spurs

LOL Total Knobhead

what_sux

Also what has Scott Parker done wrong? Hes done ok for me. Clearly the problem seems to be that we are toothless upfront. Defoe was nonexistent and Dempsey is playing too deep. Lets just hope Dempsey gets injured now, maybe that would be a blessing in disguise as well LOL................. or not!

HuddersfieldYiddo

The first half showed a fairly sluggish performance. Passes need to be made more quickly. Parker not what he was in the first half of last season, and he waits to long to get the ball moving up field. Hope we see some high energy injected by Holtby.

Total knobhead

we are so bad... so bad... but now maybe they have 10 men we'll stand a chance

Cape Town Spurs

10 against 10 now

big cockeral

hmmmm did he really just spit? Its not as if it landed. Stroke of luck there COYS!!!!!

HuddersfieldYiddo

We need all the the help that we can get! Thanks Popov!

Durbanspur

Red card for spitting at Walker ,deserved

big cockeral

POPOV PHUCK OFF Spitting scum bag

spu 4 life

If that red card was giving against us, I would be furious. It doesn't seem like he aimed it at Walker to me. However, too good of an opportunity to waste so lets win it now Spurs.

TopSpur13

Spitting at someone is degrading & disgusting .If one of our players did it he too should go ,no need .Walkers reaction should be applauded because he was call as phuck .Popov should apologise
brilliant refereeing & shame on Chelsea for trying to discredit his name

big cockeral

It will be sad if we cannot even score against a 10 man WBA

what_sux

COYSPURS drive one home

spu 4 life

Just don't see how Walker is rated!

Durbanspur

Kyle Walker really needs to improve his final ball

HuddersfieldYiddo

Holtby ain't shy is he? Seems a confident lad.

LongTimeSpursFan64

Like I said 2 days ago, we are one or two injuries away from some serious trouble :-(

Madaboutspurs

I still see no sense of urgency?????? Like a stroll in the Park far too ******** laid back for my liking

philbill

we can't beat a 10 man West Brom... nice one Levy. Go shove you real estate and your stadium promises and build us a football team of just go to hell

Cape Town Spurs

Siggy for Lennon is a must

big cockeral

come on spurs step it up a gear

spu 4 life

Make a sub ffs

DSpurs

Thank god for Bale

philbill

Thank G-- for bale!

Durbanspur

COYS !!!!!!!!!!!!! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!

DSpurs

BAAALLLEEEE, what a goal!

rahn DMC

GET IN COME YOU SPURS BALE BALE BALE BALE BALE

spu 4 life

GOOAAAAAALL!!! Gareth Bale, you little beauty!! He's our striker!

Madaboutspurs

Well done Bale, coming in off the right flank....

Guyver

Great minds Phill?

Durbanspur

Now kill them off Bale is our much needed striker

DSpurs

well done holtby great chasing the ball up

spu 4 life

Love Holtby enthusiasm

what_sux

Why doesn't Bale stay out wide on the left? He shouldn't come into a central position. Look what happens, that's twice in two game he's done that. LOL

ParkLaneBB

I think Bale should be given a free roll just behind the striker we have so many options in midfield

DSpurs

come on get another all feel better then

spu 4 life

Like i said Gareth Bale is a one man attacking machine .
,br>Holtby has a song already ,instant fan favourite

big cockeral

what_sux, I too noticed that Holtby is very enthused. Good attitude.

Madaboutspurs

Don't like Gallas for Walker, makes me nervous...

philbill

Madaboutspurs - yeah mate, he has very much impressed me for the 2nd game in a row.

what_sux

I would bring Sigurdsson on for Parker, he will keep the ball better and he could do with some minutes on the pitch.

rahn DMC

terrible game another indication of how much we rely on bale to do everything, shambolic passes that are a gift to west brom, a bit of luck they are poor in form or otherwise they would have done better. Every cross bale puts in no one is on the end of it because of players like dempsey that trot into the box and sky they efforts whenever they get a chance. Will say that Holtby has been brilliant looks very dangerous and eager to get the ball whenever it comes his way. We have been very lucky today with that red card (which it was for spitting) otherwise this game would have turned into a bore draw - so glad lukaku went off, very good player!

spursnoob

i dont like the way we are faffing around need to be more clinical

krafty007

philbill - I think it makes everyone nervous when AVB brings on a defensive player when we only have a narrow lead!

spursnoob

Parker is out of depth....why does he pass back when there are other attacking options!!?

dcruzer

Levy time=1 febuary--------19 may------
(w anker w anker w anker)

krafty007

I can forsee Bale playing Messi role as false 9 soon...

what_sux

like watching wrestling, forearm smash

spu 4 life

Bale ,Vertonghen ,Dembele ,Lloris & now Holtby all look world class ,but they`re carrying the team ,others need to step up .

GARETH BALE Man Of The Match

LEWIS HOLTBY SUPERB ,next game starting guaranteed

big cockeral

YAY!!!!! Did I say ..... YAY!!!

Madaboutspurs

Deliberate forearm smash

Guyver

Happy with 3 points, barely satisfied with 3 points, we need a Bale goal to win a 10 man WBA. Now if no Defoe please play Bale as false 9..

what_sux

Where would we be without Bale. Better with Walker off, he just slows the game down then passes back or runs and fails to cross. Not at all impressed with him. We also need to improve our goal difference.. it would be awful to loose third place on goal difference

Big Ron

1-0 to the SUPER SPURS @ THE HAWTHORNS, MORE LIKE A COMPLETE BUNCH OF KERB KICKING PRI(KS...watch out for Lukaka hahahahahahaha

spu 4 life

Yes! That was a hard fought win. We desperately need a striker. Dempsey just isn't involved enough and his finishing lets him down. Parker was good today. Baled out again. I didn't like Siggy's dribble towards the end, it was very risky. Lennon looks a little lathargic.

Fanman

What would we do without Bale again? Levy better be ready to give up his left nut to keep Bale for at least a year longer past this stupid fiasco in which we ended w/o a striker.

dcruzer

yes durban :)

philbill

One LUCKY Ladbrokes punter had faith, never in doubt; The money is down £100 to win on SPURS @ 11/10 ..COYS Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7514458#ixzz2Jqm3v4Yu

spu 4 life

I am now totally convinced that our players DON'T want to score goals. Convinced. For the last 15 minutes we had a series of opportunities to play through balls to run onto and shoot and yet we dilly dallied around the area. These players need to develop a sense for killing of a game. And what was Dawson thinking in the last 2 mins of a game you actually climb over a player to head the ball giving away a dangerous freekick! These guys have got to get their heads out..............!

jvd

No doubt Gareth Bale has something special with his game and we are lucky he is ours. Good night all and savour the 3 points :-) No I have not forgotten Levy did not get us a striker but I chose to enjoy the win for now.

Madaboutspurs

Philbil I didn't mind Gallas coming on since it was Walker he was replacing

Big Ron

Yeeehaaa...glory glory..THFC. That was very Kind of you WBADA....you disgusting, dirty....Bgs' !! "inswinging corners, please". Holtby...looks promising but ..still prefer inswinging corners.

82spursdebut

Holtby was mustard. What a buy.

Fanman

With our lack of striking options, we have to just unleash Bale to do what he wants Ronaldo style. Today he looked like our very own Ronaldo. Unbelievable talent. Massive 3 points

HuddersfieldYiddo

WE PLAY WITHOUT A STRIKER BECAUSE THAT'S WHO WE ARE, THAT'S WHO WE ARE, THAT'S WHO WE ARE, WE PLAY WITHOUT A STRIKER BECAUSE THAT'S WHO WE ARE,

spu 4 life

Could Defoe be finished for the season with ligament damage? News on his condition?

Total knobhead

Not an overly impressive win given that Spurs had a man advantage for the entire second half. Indeed, without Bale we didn't have much chance for a goal and without goals one cannot win. But, we picked up ground on Chelskum and are within a point of third, and we picked up a bit of ground against the Toffies and kept ahead of Farce 'n all. Lost only one in the last how many? But we need to start scoring and that's not easy to do without a forward and without having the right set of midfielders for a true IV VI nulla. But AVB's having a good first year with us, no? COYS.

Total knobhead

Lewis Holtby looks like a great signing, can't believe we nearly didn't get him in early and all for the sake of a few thousand quid. Obviously the sending off helped us massively but still a great goal from Bale. If we can play 10 men every week we should finish top 4, failing that, not a chance. Don't be fooled by that second half against 10 men.

thfc1882whl

I have never seen a team with so much pace... constantly take the pace out of the game by slowing it down? Holtby looks class, could be a legend in the making :) Relieved we have 3 points, however we will need to improve. COYS

philbill

I'd wish though that our players started trusting Holtby. Today it seemed they only trusted each other (Dembele, Bale, Lennon, and Walker) rather than risked passing a well placed Holtby. Only Sigg played Holtby...hope that changes cause we need Holtby to mesh real nice real soon.

dcruzer

Also absolutley love Holtby. His work ethic is brilliant and he's so busy in a Luka Modric type of way. Hes a different type of player to Luka but we missed that little pocket dynamo in midfield. Little engine

HuddersfieldYiddo

jvd, agreed on Dawson.

Fanman

Happy with 3 points away from home, but we can't keep relying on individual goals from Gareth Bale. Riding our luck a bit here, but another very decent display from Lewis Holtby. He's a really sensible but incisive player. Doesn't try Hollywood passes every time, but picks the right ball.

Bernio Villas-Spuras

TK we will have to wait on the scan results and that won't happen until any swelling goes down

spu 4 life

Lucky we have Bale, are we turning into a one man team? It has been painful to watch Dempsey of late. Be nice to get Ade whatever you think of him, i still rate him. Holtby should cement his place in the starting line-up already.

asherthesmasher

good good good but will Bale stay if the club is not gonna be more ambitious

krafty007

hopefully TK, hopefully

Cape Town Spurs

I'M secretly hopeing Togo lose today, but don't tell Addy' !....hehe

82spursdebut

If only we had City or Utd striking options lol we'd be top of the pile. Top goalkeeper, our defence is very good, Midfield diff class. Its just our squad is threadbare. Even Everton have Jelavic on the bench these days. Villa even have more option up top.

HuddersfieldYiddo

I think that we took too long to play the killer passes. Lennon could of squared it at the end, but chose to shoot.

Fanman

jvd..... Seriously mate, did you watch Dawson today? Yes he gave away a silly free kick in the final moments but apart from that he was awesome. Some great distribution and a couple of great interceptions and all you can do is point out a foul that could have cost us because we failed to kill off ten men.

thfc1882whl

3pts is 3pts be that 11 or 10 men, makes no odds, winning is the only thing that matters, i know we won, but i thought clatterbug had a top top game, spotting spitting popov.

spu 4 life

OH DEM WINGIE BAGGIES

spu 4 life

Yes we are now reliant on Adebayor, which is not the greatest place to be in. We are now reliant on a player who often can't be arsed to turn up. He's a top striker i just hope he comes back hungry, he was brilliant for us last season which is often overlooked by many fans.

HuddersfieldYiddo

Dempsey is better on the left. I agree with What sux, play bale as a false number 9 with Hotlby behind and Dempsey on the left, the actually position he played at Fulham.

spurfect one

the players are tired... they have no (forgive me LH) new blood to buoy the mood... they know the fans with the exception of 3 (who shall remain unnamed) are majorly miffed... We got so lucky today, and even down to 10 men we made hard work of it, perhaps 11 v 5 and we'd score a brace. No dis to GB, I am just ashamed and embarrassed we do not have the ambition to show a player of this quality what he means to us and what we desire and can do. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP... I think Levy must like Budgie's

Cape Town Spurs

Perfect performance in the second half. Sometimes if you don't play the right way it can be harder against ten. But we were patient and pulled them apart which created the opportunities an space. Bale was immense. Holtby is what we've been missing. Look at his run for Bales goal. He took one of WBAs centre halves out the game which made space for Bale. He's a very clever footballer. Mad AVB played it perfectly. Gallas for Walker was very smart as was Siggy. Of we had a world class striker for me third would be guaranteed. Great win an very needed. COYS!

BrooksySpurs

Holtby looks most promising. Obviously way too early but I think he could replace Lucre and then some. He now needs to start games, ahead of Dembele, who hasn't really shown anything. Bale, of course, awesome. To all those who think we should sell him, WTF??????

ParkLaneBB

We probably have the worst strike force in the EPL!

Fanman

Yes Dawson was excellent today, he and Vertonghen is our best & most solid paring imo. Caulker is an excellent prospect mind you. He has his limitations but in the art of defending Dawson is excellent

HuddersfieldYiddo

We played some balls into the box today that would have seen us beat 12 men if we had a proper striker.

thfc1882whl

relief,thank god the red card baled us out-get it

ghulamville

Bale is to Spurs what Suarez is to Liverpool .

Lewis Holtby already a bad ass buy ,but without a striker or winger to compliment these players it still leaves us short .
AVB is doing well with what he has ,so well done much needed win .

big cockeral

We don't have a Strike Force.

TopSpur13

We don't have a strike force Fanman!

Guyver

Their was only one man of the match today.......Mark Clattenburg........ We KNow who the match winner was......get in their son !...forget 4th....Let's blast chelski..away......3rd here we come.....

82spursdebut

haha TS13

Guyver

ParkLaneBB, Dembele has really gone off the boil. He's good, but he needs to release the ball earlier. I thought that Parker had a good game.

Fanman

I am not so worried about our defense. Although Walker continues to get his positioning wrong. Dawson is a better defender than he ever was. Verts and Lloris are fcking class and we know what BAE is about. Our concerns are that our squad is weak when we have to start with Dempsey every week. That is the key area, the difference from us being good and really good. Poor options from the bench.

asherthesmasher

totally 1882... but there is no-one there, not a soul, (or even sole!) and who's responsible for that?

Cape Town Spurs

Great Minds.

TopSpur13

I'm surprised at some of you lot. We played it perfectly. We were patient with good movement which pulled them apart which did lead to chances being created. Let down was Walker and Dempsey. Even Ekotto. He takes too long an doesn't offer a good enough threat going forward. If he offered a bigger threat going forward then teams would also have to keep a man or eye on him freeing up space for other players on the team, like Bale an Holtby etc.

BrooksySpurs

Keep forgetting we have Kaboul as well.

asherthesmasher

Guyver, true. We are actually playing 4-6-0. Unbelievable!

Fanman

Yes, it's criminal that we play so many good balls into the box with no one to get on the end of them. Crying out for a forward, someone like Damiao.......

ParkLaneBB

Obviously there are a few issues to sort, and God help us if Ade gets injured...BUT....Holtby looks class, Dembele controlled midfield, and Bale is on another planet. Also very impressed with LLoris, and Benni played his most competent game since returning from injury. I worry about Dawson, but did you know our defence is the 3rd best in the league? Crazy! We are a point behind Chelsea with an easier run in. AVB is a miracle man. COYS!

Sebthespur

"We probably have the worst strike force in the EPL!," Fanman.

No, we are the only team in the league with NO strike force. We only have wings and midfielders, a couple of whom pose as strikers on occasion.

Total knobhead

4/6/0......Holtby our Messi...and Bale our Ronaldo....what a strike force !!..;-)

82spursdebut

"We are actually playing 4-6-0. Unbelievable!," Fanman.

Yes, and some Total Idiot has been predicting this for some time on this site. One truly could see this coming.

Total knobhead

How nice it is to have a keeper that you can totally rely on? When is the last time we had one of those?

asherthesmasher

Today was the best performance by Dembele in a while.

Total knobhead

Dempsey is definatley the weakest link in the team, but he's netted some vital ones this season. It might be easier to score against the toon next week, as they will definately attack us.

Fanman

ParkLaneBB..... Yes mate Damiao would have been a good buy but personally I would of preferred us to offer the £17 million for Llorente to Athlettico on Jan the 1st and see what happened. Llorente is 100% a premier league player and would have suited us perfectly.

thfc1882whl

Total knobhead, I can't believe that we don't have any strikers available... Its ridiculous.

Fanman

Total knobhead, I thought that Dembele was average. He got forward well, but didn't really do anything with the ball.

Fanman

Lloris & Bale best players we have, oh, & Defoe (lol) little *****

Cape Town Spurs

Dempsey seems to have the knack of being in the right place at the right time when it really matters, he's still only a mid table player but he does pop up with a gem every now and then.
Asherthesmasher... quite right re our sweeper keeper mate.
Dembele could do with distributing it a little quicker but that's me being a little picky as I feel we could do with a little more fast distribution throughout the side.

thfc1882whl

Good win. Well done the lads. Hope Ade comes back improved and ready to go.

ledders77

surely ade would have got one of those bale crosses, today.

onlyonegreavesie

Not worried about our striker situation unlike many of you. Yes THFC1882, I know I'm a fool. But really to me playing Defoe is like playing with 10 men anyway. Ade will be back for our game with Arsenal at the latest and depending on today's outcome he could be back by Tuesday. Also unlike many of you who seem to think Ade is useless, I think he's actually a cut above anything we would have bought in the window. He needed games to get back into his form. Same with Parker. Both of them need competitive game time to develop sharpness. I also think we NEED to bring on Obika and give him some experience.

jvd

Maybe I'm being too critical of Dembele? He doesn't look as dynamic as when he first started with us. Defensively he wasn't as good as he has been.

Fanman

jvd, I think that Ade will be good when he comes back. He's had a chance to get some form.

Fanman

Even more worrying to me than the striker lack is the lack of urgency our guys play with and the lack of seeing a play. There were. Many opportunities for us to play a ball through for someone to run onto but the player would slow down and pass square or to the wing or just try to go through himself (Bale). That shows a lack of strategic understanding by the players of how to unlock a tight defense. You have to make them turn to try to defend then you open up the space and get the advantage. Really surprised that we are not looking for that type of play.

jvd

"Maybe I'm being too critical of Dembele? He doesn't look as dynamic as when he first started with us. Defensively he wasn't as good as he has been," wrote Fanman.

I think he was better today than he has been for a while. Seems to me that he's been playing with an injury that never went away completely even after he came back from being out with injury. He's been at half capactiy for much of the season, but showed a bit more today, I thought. We haven't seen much of him at his best.

Total knobhead

When Ade comes back watch us FLY! Dempsey will be benched. Holtby in behind the big man.

LongTimeSpursFan64

Total knobhead, agreed.

Fanman

I want the Adebayor who played last season, or even 80% of that man. That would be much better than bringing in a new striker in the window. An in-form Adebayor is excellent.

Total knobhead

jvd.... Fair play to ya mate, it's all about opinions and at the end of the day we all have the same thing at the heart of our posts, THFC. Hope you're right really mate because if you're not then we're in for a miserable run in. COYS

thfc1882whl

Sturridge just scored a cracker!

Fanman

City look poor today.

Fanman

why didnt we get sturridge,better than an untried damiao

ghulamville

Fanman... A poor City still have the gamechangers to tear us apart.

thfc1882whl

thfc1882whl, yes they do. ghulamville, agreed, je's just what we need up front.

Fanman

THFC1882 you r quite right about Dawson. He played an excellent game and kept the ball on the ground. My comment was "what was he thinking in the last 2 minutes" because I'm still traumatized by our penchant for giving up late goals. But I take your comment, I should have also added that he had an excellent game. Heat of the moment and trying to make a comment whilst I remembered it.

jvd

pool lukin good nowadays

ghulamville

Maybe Dembele is playing slightly different with Parker than he did with The beast in that he feels more responsible for holding his position more with Parker, but can go on more marauding runs with the beast covering every blade of grass, Holtby looked class and really reminds me of Rafa, even the way he runs. Great to get the three points and that we should have Ade back for the Newcastle game as long as they don't beat Ghana if they get through.

Jantheman

Sorry to state the bloody obvious, but without Bale we'd be up the creek with no paddle. He's providing the offense these days. Without his offense we'd be a mid table team in terms of results. Thoughts?

Total knobhead

jvd.... No worries re the Dawson comment mate, it's not as if I've never made the same mistake. Hats off for correcting yourself and I 100% agree with the point you were trying to make.

thfc1882whl

Now we have Holtby I have no regrets about van der Vaart. His performances so far have been what I kind of wanted if not expected from Sigurdsson.

Bernio Villas-Spuras

The one striker I'm really sorry that we didn't sell the store for is Dzeko. Two or three years ago. That is the guy we need to get onto those Bale crosses! Just dreaming of what could have been...LOL! It will be interesting to see how AVB lines up without a striker (if Ade doesn't get back this week). Will he go with Bale in the middle with Holtby in the hole or vice versa pushing Dempsey or Siggy out to the left. Or maybe push Dembele back into that role up front. Interesting.

jvd

BVS.... Agreed mate but it's a bit much to pin all our hopes on young Holtby (I know you weren't, but some on here are). The guy certainly has the big picture in his head and knows what he's gonna do with the ball even before it reaches him. Imagine how good Dembele would be if he had the same ability.

thfc1882whl

Fingers, toes....everything !!.."crossed"..ouch !!!....for Both Bale and Lennon...to remain injury free, now that Townsend improves QPR.

82spursdebut

Holtby..reminds me of vdv..or / and..perhaps a left footed young Scholes.

82spursdebut

Dembele had a good game as did Bale and several others, and now that the holding and attacking midfield has been strengthened by Parker and Holtby, I expect Dembele to play up front where his strength and dribbling can pressurise and pierce defences. Bale and Lennon buzz away on the wings and move inside well too. I am not that keen on Gallas but was glad to see him come on, play a role and so maintain sharpness. The now returned BAE will get better with each match played. I'd love to join in the bogus-controversy about what we have and haven't got, or whatever else to pander to Stan Collymore trying to conjure up phone callers for him to wind up, but I take the view of other supporters and a Spurs playing squad that treats challenge after challenge with calm maturity and determination to outwit opponents.

Airwave

Worry less, darlings, enjoy life more. It'll act like a tonic.

Airwave

ManC looking pretty poor. I suspect it's the team selection they're using. Liverpool playing well but having the same problem as us, not seeing the through ball. And they have real strikers!!! LOL!

jvd

Wow Stevie G! Liverpool winning. The race for a top 4 spot is on. City have been very poor today.

Fanman

come on city...you need the win.....They've lost their Ya Ya....lol

82spursdebut

That's what quality players bring you.

Fanman

Possibly the best finish I've seen from Aguero. Stunning.

Fanman

What was Reina doing?

Fanman

What a goal from Aguero, that's what a world class striker can bring to a team and that's why it's worth To Dare is to Doing when the opportunity presents itself

thfc1882whl

What a goal from Aguero, that's what a world class striker can bring to a team and that's why it's worth To Dare is to Doing when the opportunity presents itself

thfc1882whl

Some great goals

Guyver

Great goal ,if only we had what others have got

big cockeral

big C'......i know what you mean...wish i had a oil well in my garden !...lol

82spursdebut

Personally I don't rate Rodgers, a man who has built a reputation on the back of groundwork put in at Swansea by Martinez but there can be no denying the improvement he has brought to Liverpoo. He has been backed to the hilt by the owners and it's starting to pay dividends. Oh how AVB must be casting an eye up North with envy. Anyone here who can honestly say that they could see us facing up City as well as Liverpoo have done this afternoon?

thfc1882whl

82spursdebut I was thinking more a 10" cock but an oil well would be better .

big cockeral

Also, who is this Downing bloke, surely it's not the same Downing who has spent the last decade flattering to deceive.

thfc1882whl

Guess it's a good job that City have one of thethe most overrated managers the league has ever seen.

thfc1882whl

iverpoo are gonna get top 4 if not this year than next,especially suarez stating his here to stay irrespective of champions league unlike our welsh hero who cant wait to get out

ghulamville

13 games to get 25 points ....Can we ?

big cockeral

Thank you Levy. No striker but at least the books are balanced. What was this bloke doing all transfer window. Not his job. Time for them to go now. Even against 10 men I thought we were poor today. We are grinding out performances at the moment. We have not really turned it on all season. I do think that Bale could start up front next week if Ade is not back. See AVB is now saying it was a risk going in with the strikers we had left. No S**t.

nothappyharry

thfc1882whl-you can say the same about jordan henderson,his been brilliant this year

ghulamville

Liverpool and Manchester City get one point each, rather than the three one of them could have got, and so another point goes missing.

Airwave

ghulamville..... That's true mate, Rodgers has played Henderson very well this season. Leaving him out early on has certainly brought out a better player. Still not sure Henderson is worth £20 million though. Although if form is anything to go by, sadly, it'd look a much better bet to have Liverpoo finishing the season higher up the table than us.

thfc1882whl

Big C'...what do you mean..!?...lol...we've got a 10" cock......his name be "Levy"...lol

82spursdebut

OK, I am watching a different game to some of you. Dembele and Parker in the middle is flawed. They just do not compliment one another. Parker is a liability he offers nothing going forward, has a poor touch and does not break up anything anymore, we are really missing Sandro. Dembele has gone off the boil and needs to get involved more. No point in debating the striker situation, as there is no situation. Really like Holtby's attitude and he will only improve. Bale our saviour again, BAE still a little bit rusty. Still, at the end of the day it is all about the 3 points. Nervy times ahead for quite some time. We better get used to it. COYS

thenuge

82spursdebut... the last thing Levy has is a 10" cock, he acts a like he has but when push comes to shove he has always shown himself to be a small man who can't even control his minuscule tool.

thfc1882whl

Kudos to Steve Clark, blaming Popov (anyone else think it sounds like a clowns name?)for the sending off and taking responsibility for the team.

thfc1882whl

Did not create too much, strikers only score if they get chances, need to be quicker with our movement. Bale absolutely outstanding. Holtby good, but he is no David Silva or Luka Modric.

matt hoten

You're right, matt hotten, Holtby is no Luka Modric. He wants to play at Spurs. The Little Mo Fo prefers the reserves in Madrid.

Total knobhead

ghulamville, will Suarez stay with Guardiola, CL and a much bigger pay day out there? If he does, kudos to him. 40M is quite an amount for one player (as is being mooted). As I see it, Liverpool are playing well but they do not seem to be so great at the back. They will concede goals. Reina doesn't seem to be getting to his sides as quickly. 2 consecutive games they were in the driver's seat and could not help but concede. All 7 teams at the top have issues. COYS

peterballb

matt hoten A cheap shot on Lewis Holtby there ,not like you .
Hasn`t played a full game yet but his attitude is spot on .Only beaten to man of the match due to the genius that is Bale .
Possible Man of the match only playing half an hour ? he was that good today .Technically sound ,work rate brilliant ,attitude others could learn from .IMO well impressed .

big cockeral

TK, I suspect Holtby would go to Madrid as well if they come calling in a few years.

matt hoten

thenuge, Believe it or not I actually agree with you re Parker and Dembele. Parker did well under Harry as Harry had the team set up for quick/fast attacking style and we needed parker to be the holding midfielder and breaking up any counter attack. Under AVB, most of the counter against us is aerial and a through ball past our high line. Parker offers little in that respect imo. Also, I saw little forward momentum from him, often resorting to a back or sideways pass. Similarly, I was a little diappointed with Dembele. Since the bright start of early season, he has not been that productive. Both Parker and Dembele hold on to the ball too long. On the whole we are missing that fluid passing when advancing. Too much sideways and back-passing allowing the opposition to regroup.

I am very happy with the three points but not so with the manner we had to earn it and still there was a sense of panic at the end. This game could easily have been put to bed a lot ealier. I was so pleased to see Lukaku taken off, imo, he was their major threat. Still, COYS!

Critical_Spur

BC not a cheap shot, Silva and Modric are world class, Holtby obviously isn't.He was one of the better players today and work rate outstanding

matt hoten

One striker I'd love to see us get is Soldado. He seems absolute class and would suit us down to the ground

BrooksySpurs

Harry Kane our only available striker!

MrSpurs

big c ...... Wake up man, Holtby was bought with one eye on his resale value anyway. He's not going to spend the next 10 years with us, nor will any of our recent signings if Levy gets the right bid he won't consider the players' wishes. It's all about the 'sell on' with us and the sooner we all accept it, the sooner we can all get on board the ENIC bus.

thfc1882whl

Sorry forgot Jon Obika!! Lol

MrSpurs

CS Lukaku was crap today, off the ball he is like Adebuyor in a bad mood.As for Parker he was OK but seemed to lack last seasons energy. But with Redknapp he always slowed it down.Ran over to a colleague with the ball, took it off him, did a twirl and passed it back to him.He doesn't do that now,we should be looking for a replacement though

matt hoten

suarez happens to be a huge liverpool fan by birth and appears to be smitten with life at merseyside,,,,so my best mate a pool mad fan tells me

ghulamville

matt hoten fair do`s ,c what you`re saying .But you never know could end up being as good .His potential is there for all to see ,but like you said Modric & Silva are different gravy ,just hope he gets in that rare category .

thfc1882whl ,,,Never turned on Denial levy but i`m starting to think Frank was right all this time .The summer window will reveal more ,last chance saloon because too much is not adding up .

big cockeral

Luka Modric world class player ?? Absolutely not. A good player but far from from being a game changer. I watched Madrid match yesterday and Modric seemed lost to me, plus fouling a Granada player when he was to start a deadly counter-attack. It does not sound fair to me assess Holtby so early by assingning him such a label. He hasn´t even started a match...

AlexSpur

matt, Holtby is much more like VDV or Mata. I agree with the huge, Parker is unsettling the MF. I almost wonder if it would be better to go with Dawson and Caulker at the back with Vertonghen in DNM with Dembele. Parker just is not pushing the ball forward and his passing is way too static. Another thought I had was to put BAE in there and let Naughton and Walker be the fullbacks. WE just need all XI guys out there to be able to move the ball dynamically. Maybe 4-3-3 is the way to go. Parker between Holtby and Dembele. Let Parker just break up play and get the other two to get it up to the top 3. Since Bale and Lennon seem to like to flit in and out, put Sigurdsson up there with them. They all seem to be able to interchange. The critical part would be the maintaing of the width. Perhaps limiting Walker might help him be more effective at the back. I am less worried about the up top issues as I fully expect Adebayor to be there sooner rather than later at which point we'll go 4-5-1, but the Parker problem would remain. There is, no doubt, a formation and set of players that will work. Dembele does seem limited by Parker and Parker, Dawson, Walker and Gallas really seem to limit our pace of movement. THat's why AVB gets paid the big bucks. COYS

peterballb

our issue's are more severe than any of the others aiming for top4....you get 3 points for a win, this is to encourage attacking play...so yes we have good defenders but we need to score and can not keep relying on Bale to come up with something....Plan b is?....no strikers BUT of course that's part of the master plan....bollox is it.

shedboy2

we need togo to be knocked out,bad thing to say but needs must

ghulamville

The entire Real Madrid team + Manager look lost at the moment. Great (own) goal by Ronaldo, that definitely was a game changer.

Guyver

I`d say we need a minimum of 24 points from 13 games to nail 4th

Can we do that with this squad ?

big cockeral

Peter,I agree with most of that. Holtby probably not quite in the Mata class but I thing we will see some goals from him, his left foot is similar to VDV's. We always mentioned VDV' assists as well but I would be very interested in how many goals we gave away by VDV not tracking his man when defending, especially when playing wide. Holtby won't do that

matt hoten

Now we will see the wisdom or folly of Levy's and AVB's transfer [policy this window, Adebayor away, Defoe now injured, leaves us with Kane and Unable (Obika). We are totally reliant on Bale or Dempsey getting us out of the *****e. Watching Liverpool and Sturrige @ £12M shows what you can do if you are at the races in the transfer window, you don't have to waste a month chasing a Brazilian risk, just look in your own back yard, how for away is Stamford Bridge, 4 goals in 6 games, not bad, but unfortunately his name is in English, so on here he wouldn't have been acceptable. Incidently our "striker" hasn't scored for 10 games, goo here ain't it.

Frank

we just didn't move the ball quickly enough today...it was like watching paint dry at times. Dempsey & Parker lack zip...dembele and Parker do not compliment each other, Bale was floating all over the place clogging up the middle we were lucky they were down to 10 men. Plenty of work for AVB to do...

shedboy2

BigC, to me it all adds up. There was no one available at what we considered to be fair market value and on wages that were acceptable. With AVB's comments on Sigurdsson it is obvious that he says this is who I want and DL tries to get it done. His interview on February 1 said exactly that. He seemed pretty certain we would not be going back in for Leandro. It matters not if we all think there are 10 or 50 guys that could come in and do a job, if he doesn't want them in, they will not be coming. Every commentator is stating how ridiculous some clubs have been. It would be wonderful to have a striker in that AVB wanted, but it would be disastrous to bring someone in that AVB didn't want. Once Holtby is starting, we are back to a 4-5-1. That does not mean Defoe. We changed back to 4-4-2 because AVB does not think the players we had were capable of playing that system. When Adebayor comes back, we will be back to a 4-5-1, just like last season. I would even do it with immediate effect. Bale up top. Put Sigurdsson or Dempsey on the left. Holtby tucked in behind Bale. Bale is tall, fast, can use his head and both feet. His runs will take two defenders with him. We saw with Holtby today, the lad's got a shot and great vision. All the attributes we are looking for in a striker are there in Bale. What's to lose? His goals are coming from the middle anyway. COYS

peterballb

Big C - we can do if Bale continues to play the way he is and Adebayor changes his attitude when he returns from the ANC.

MrSpurs

peterballb I hope i`m wrong & you`re right but AVB came across as Denial Levy`s little bitch .

We didn`t need a great striker ,but someone to fill a gap .
How long can bale keep rescuing us ? Lennon & Dempsey are non existent for long periods & just don`t have the quality ,Defoe is .... well you know Defoe .
But we are becoming a one man attacking team ,Holtby was refreshing

big cockeral

Frank- our transfer policy is fingers crossed and hope...I don't see how that can fail, we won today so it must be working...;) Like the biblical analogy...;)

shedboy2

Shedboy, agree, we get to the last third and become a bit clueless.We play like we are 2 nil up and seeing the game out. Bale's movement across the pitch I thought was actually good and lets face it,it was only going to be another world class effort from him to change the game. I dont think it is as simple as just getting another cheap striker in.

matt hoten

matt- too late for any striker! Yes Bale took his chance...but with 10 men we really should have been stretching them with width, we were so narrow....with their heads down we should have carved them apart...we lack a few with footballing brains...

shedboy2

MrSpurs
I agree ,the WHICH ? Adebayor that comes back could be key .Hope he comes back a new man .His talent should never be questioned but ................

big cockeral

Far too early to start making comparisons where Holtby is concerned and personally I hope he carves a niche out for himself rather than being a poor mans Mata or VDV. But hey, stats and comparisons is what peterballb does best. Whether he has an honest opinion of his own is beginning to become a matter for debate in itself. I hope he does because it'd be quite sad to think that all the bloke has going for him is 1000 stat pages set on his 'Favourites' bar.

thfc1882whl

peter -really, it all adds up?....mate I like you but your posts remind of the saying 'where ignorance is mutual, confidence is King!'....It's a complete feck up for a top4 club not to have a striker....it really is that simple....you can try and explain it away BUT the emperor has no clothes!!

shedboy2

Burkina Faso 0-0 Togo HT...still sitting @ 50-50 as to getting Ade back home, his done ok in his link up play, the pitch is covered in sand, it's like watching the dambusters, when the ball is passed.

spu 4 life

thfc1882whl, I agree, it is too early. Wasnt too long ago people were doing the same with Siggy after a few good goals in pre season, how things have changed. I do think Holtby is better than Siggy, but we should just let him play 1st without piling all this expectation on him.

Guyver

"TK, I suspect Holtby would go to Madrid as well if they come calling in a few years," wrote matt hoten.

That may be true, mh, but right now Holtby signed with Spurs when he could have signed with anyone. He is here by choice. Absolutely by choice.

I just watched the first half of Togo v Burkina Fasa. Absolutely bollox pitch is making a mess of the match. Looks like playing on tennis hard court surface. The ball difficult to control. Adebayor looking much like he has looked this season at Spurs. Dismal match so far with not score and an official who's doling out yellow cards like they were burning a hole in his pocket.

Total knobhead

Considering only current Spurs players, my picks would be: 1) Ideal team: Lloris, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Ekkoto, Sandro, Dembele, Lennon, Holtby, Bale, Adebayor 2) Next Match with available players: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Ekkoto, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Holtby, Siggurson, Bale, that is Bale as a central attacking force (he´s doing that anyway) and Siggurson at left as he has beeb showing more will to play than Dempsey.

AlexSpur

FRank, most teams are reliant on one or two players to score. We are no different. Once Adebayor gets back, we will be Bale and Adebayor reliant. It's really not that big a deal. Holtby is showing already the level of class he brings. If we can tighten up at the back (another great display from Lloris and another clean sheet) we will be hard to beat. Kaboul coming back will be significant. It's true, AVB and Levy will have to deal with whatever comes. Signing a player to a four or five year deal that we don't want is not a positive move. 3 more points today. This weekend, but for Arsenal, went pretty well for us. Another road win. 3 points against Newcastle should be the only focus of the club. 3rd is again in our hands. Long way to go. COYS

peterballb

big c..... Although he talks eloquently, I have yet to see anything peterballbs posts come to fruition.

thfc1882whl

Peter - AVB and Levy should be discussing transfer targets well in advance of the transfer window and agree on several options of varying priority and values. The idea that on deadline day you try to sign someone fail and leave the club challenging for CL with no recognised striker is ridiculous. We desperately need a DoF yet here we are 13 years into Levys reign still discussing the clubs structure and transfer strategy. Anyway we are where we are and we now have to deal with it but any grand plan that AVB and Levy may be working towards will be out of the window if we don't achieve CL football because I seriously doubt Bale will stay another year and bigger more ambitious clubs will be circling the likes of Lloris, Sandro and Verts. AVB won't be able to build a team if we can't retain players.

MrSpurs

Fabrice Muambo commentator at the Togo - Burkina Faso match. Good to see N17's most famous heart patient looking well. He thinks the pitch in SA is a disgrace that shames the tournament. I agree. Horrible match played under horrible conditions. I see better on the beach every day in Pernambuco, but sand is better than concrete to control the ball.

Total knobhead

I'm really excited with the prospect of having Ade back playing as he did last season with Holtby behind, Defoe out for three to four weeks will give Ade the chance to be the main man again and I think he will take it. Keep Bale and Lennon fit and we can challenge for third.

Jantheman

With Roy Hodgson watching the game today, I don't think he would've been impressed with any of our regulars. Defoe will apparently miss the Brazil game, and I doubt Walker or Parker can offer anything special....but Lennon may get a nod for his recent MoM performances.

Critical_Spur

Great goal. No goals against. Win. Three points. But you know, watching MotD2 tonight, I'm just not sure I can face it.

Airwave

Shedboy, playing ten men is not necessarily easy unless they have to chase the game.We had plenty of width last year under Redknapp but did you see any of those last dozen or so matches, unless you believe all that "we battered them" bollox.

matt hoten

Can't say I disagree with those chiding DL for his handling of the window and our ending up on the short stick at the striker position. If one plans to play a 4-6-0, one needs to prepare to do so and bring in the right sort of midfielders and fullbacks. One shouldn't fall into it by accident and ill prepared in terms of personnel. We're now playing with no strikers, but not by design. Rather, through lack of preparation. I'm not at all afraid of playing without a striker at all if one is prepared and trained to do so, and if one has the right players for it. I'd relish the opportunity to do so (as most of you probably sussed out already).

Total knobhead

Jantheman.... Just to play Devils Advocate here, how does your thinking stack up if we get the same Adebayor back? Would you still see Defoes' injury as a blessing in disguise?
Could quite easily turn out that you're backing a dead donkey

thfc1882whl

Farce, our striker situation is a farce....

shedboy2

Shedboy, sorry, we do have three strikers, whether you want to call them that or not. Adebayor has abundant talent and has always looked off the boil. Everyone complained how poor his first touch was and how little effort he put in last season, yet he managed 17 goals and bunch of assists. What is wrong with Adebayor so far this season is that he has been the supporting character. Now he will not be. He has barely played and should be able to play most of the games we have remaining. If there was no one out there that AVB wanted, what would you have him do? Saha was free. If we wanted a player just cause we could have. Lots of guys were available. We didn't. AVB was not hired for 1 season. There is a plan. If it were as DL dominated as soon would have us believe, Sigurdsson would have been sold and Townsend kept. We loaned out lots of guys that are costing us peanuts on the wage front. That is because they are not part of the immediate plan. COYS

peterballb

TK- perhaps you should give AVB a hand in getting the best out of 4-6-0!...;)

shedboy2

Did you know Bale was the last player to wear the number 9 shirt? That was in the USA pre-season friendly games when he played as a striker, Siggy played out on the left. It's hard to post a message without saying ''We don't have a striker'' but try it, does this scenario mean that the teams we play, will not play two centre halfs against us? So we change the way we play, playing to the positives, not the negatives, Dempsey is a better player facing players, then he is with his back to players, i don't care if Bale plays through the middle, i don't care if we play like Barca, as long as we get the results needed, that's a big plus, if we don't that's football. But we have a clever coach who knows how to set up a side, we have players who have good movement, skill, pace, play to our strengths not our weaknesses, AVB will do that.

spu 4 life

Adebayor close. Good movement. COYS

peterballb

"Signing a player to a four or five year deal that we don't want is not a positive move." Please, Peter, stop. You're doing my head in.

Airwave

Ahhhh, I see now peter, we need to put all our eggs in the Adebayor basket because only when he is the number 1 do we see the best of him. And there I was thinking that Januarys window had been a complete and utter failure when in fact it has been a plan of such cunning that Baldrick himself would be proud.
peterballb.... Just keep making it up as you go along mate, eventually one of your many justifications for our owners' stupidity may pay dividends. You

thfc1882whl

Peter- Honestly I think you sound like King Canute raging against the tide.... Ade is not in the country!!!!..Kane and Obika are not senior strikers despite being shoe horned in...it's a feck up, poor management....

shedboy2

premature post there (story of my life!)
You remind me of one of those people who study all their lives because the real world is far too much for them to face.
Is how my last post was meant to finish.

thfc1882whl

Peter- it's not only Levy's credibility that's taking a knock....;) thfc1882whl a cunning Baldrick plan...;)

shedboy2

Everybody seems to think Newcastle and their ex Spurs scout are doing a fantastic job at bringing in players,Jesus they are fecking 6th from the bottom.And then we lost the magnificent Ian Broomfield who has just scouted Jenas for QPR. I agree with Peter that if the right people not available then dont buy. Holtby behind Adebuyor might just get Ade to raise his game, he definitely needs to.

matt hoten

yep, that's the plan....we've searched the globe for strikers that can help our top4 side improve..we have only found 1....let's put in an offer that we know will be rejected because he's not all that really because we know that when Ade comes back from Africa he'll be the main man! ridiculous, utter garbage....

shedboy2

Isn't it lovely, though, not having Harry talk, talk, talk five days before each match, then talk, talk, talk, three days before the match, then give a nonsensical looking-both-ways interview moments after the match finishes, with yet another set of comments from him when you read the Monday edition of a newspaper? That and all his views about other clubs and their players? AVB says next to sod-all. He gets on with it, saying very little in anything other than a deep voice it is hard to hear. Distractions, general nonsense, hot air, reduced right down.

Airwave

MrSpurs, if Bale leaves it will be a money decision. Simple as that and there is nothing we can do but get the most money we can for him. That's how it works. I don't think we intended to sign anyone beyond Holtby and Fryers. I think that Defoe's pathetic performances of late caused there to be a resurgence in the Leandro pursuit. AVB's comments were, IMO, pretty decisive in what he thought of the situation. I think the deal was done with the club and Leandro's demands were the issue. Every big club in the world has had a look at Leandro. Why is he still there? There is only one answer. Only one team in the world was going to pay the fee for Willian. Not even worth it for Chelsea. AVB is not going to bring in crap. Of all the strikers who were available, the only two that I would say tick off all the boxes with how we want to play are Leandro and Doumbia. Guys like Hooper, Ba, Sturridge, Graham, Remy etc are all suited to 4-4-2. None of them are what we need. We need a RVN. A Drogba. There aren't many out there. I'd have signed Son but would never sanction it if AVB didn't want him. COYS

peterballb

"I think you sound like King Canute raging against the tide..". A little learning is a dangerous thing. Which action he only carried out to prove to his disbelieving followers that the tide could not be turned back just because he commanded it to.

Airwave

peterballb Whe everything does be a money decision then when do the fans stop getting their value ?

City fans charged £62 away to Arsenal .

Fans who pay the money deserve to value for the cash they have spent .

If Levy buys lesser players ,then the price of tickets should also come down .Maybe it`s more a case of fans feeling ripped off .

In your part of the world it`s the same ,the ticket prices must match the talent or there will always be a backlash .

big cockeral

Airwave
re: your insulting Harry comments. No.
He did an awful lot for this club, after Levy had stabbed Martin Jol in the back, to bring in Ramos. Harry Redknapp picked the team off the floor and took them to the Champions League.

Hotspur 1882

Odd, didn't we look better when our "striker" was off the pitch? Does anyone maybe consider that Defoe starting is what the problem is? Does anyone not see that Adebayor is a striker who contributed tons last season and has that potential.......so long as he is not out there trying to serve Mr 1 in 10. (both goals to shots ratio and goals in the last 10). Striker absolutely needs to be addressed. But only by adding the correct players. When Adebayor comes back from Africa, he is the number 1 up top of a 4-5-1. I fail to see how that plan has gone out the window. Fact is, the second we brought in Holtby, the decision had been made that we were not going to be playing 4-4-2. So our impact sub is injured. Someone else will have to step in. Strikes me that when Modric went down, others stepped in. When Bale went down, others stepped in. When Defoe wasn't scoring Pav stepped in. When King was down, Dawson and Bassong held the fort. Our "team" is 23 players plus the kids. There are no rules saying that only a "striker" can score. We need to score 1 more than the opposition. If we can keep clean sheets or only concede 1, we will be fine. Our " striker" has sucked for two months. COYS

peterballb

peterballb... Defoes pathetic performances of late may have been due to him carrying an injury since October. An injury that he has been forced to play with because our phucking idiot of a chairman (sick of beating about the bush) didn't have the balls to sign a proper striker during summer, let alone January. We have a glorified estate agent trying to run a football club whilst using Football Manager 2013/14 as his director of football (£50 from pc world is far cheaper than employing the real thing) and then we have you peter defending this imbecile and looking more foolish by the post.

thfc1882whl

Too many so called supporters are disrespectful towards some of the players and particularly to Harry.

From bottom of the league to 4th, 5th and 4th in successive seasons just cannot be argued with.

Hotspur 1882

Defoe has been a little off form for the last five or six weeks. Could this be to an ongoing injury problem?

Hotspur 1882

"I don't think we intended to sign anyone beyond Holtby and Fryers." The impression I got as well. Interest in a striker but with nothing available of the type and price preferred, it was the bringing forward of the Holtby transfer that improved the squad. But how some of our fans' expectations got played by radio talk shows and headline writers. AVB uses what he has without the bellyaching of his predecessor.

Airwave

thfc1882whl
Apologies. You seem to have already made that point.

Hotspur 1882

Peter, we didn't look any different when Defoe went off. Actually the biggest shambles recently was the loss to Leeds, he wasn't even playing in that one. Perhaps AVB had a day off and Defoe was giving the tactical talks.

matt hoten

thfc1882whl, so AVB has been playing an injured player? Yet with Dembele, Parker, Ade, Gallas and others, he has refused to rush guys back even though they were clearly needed. Sorry man, every year I hear the same load of crap about every reason why Defoe sucks. Here's the simple truth. He scores in bunches and when he isn't scoring he limits everyone else going forward. Sorry to be so blunt. Ade wasn't playing more for a few reasons. He wasn't fit. Then he was injured and AVB was not going to rush it. Then he took a stupid red and deserved to have to earn his place. Since the Arsenal match, we are 8W, 1L and 4D in the EPL. Third best form in the league, all without a striker, by anything but name. I cannot blame Levy. He supported his coach. The fact that that coach spent 40M on crap was unfortunate. AVB is cleaning things up piece by piece, but damned if he'll make stopgap measures that stop him signing who he really rates. I'll wait to the summer to jump down anyone's throat. If I could give Harry the benefit of the doubt (despite the better part of three decades telling me it would be as I expected) for a full year, surely people on this forum, most of whom stated we'd be lucky to finish in the top 6 when we signed AVB and who then thought the sky had fallen when VDV was sold, could give them to August 31, 2013. WE are one point out of third. COYS

peterballb

Total k... yes i remember you saying months ago.. 4-6-0 shape of play... it could explain AVB's saying we don't need to sign a striker... Bale is our talisman.. lose him and we are fecked...

Block D Spurs

Peterballb. I'm not going to argue but today's injury to Defoe proves Levy is a joke, an accountant and a land developer and nothing else. Our football club does not even appear as a blip on his radar. You can try and defend Levy and ENIC as much as you like but facts are facts. Please don't bother coming up with a load of stats to prove we're OK. We have one available recognised PL striker (who happens to be in Africa) at the moment and that is it. That is not good enough and a dereliction of duty by Levy and ENIC during the January transfer window.

SpuriousLife

If Defoe was that bad for the last 4-6 weeks why was a stand by not signed ?
,br>How many times has Defoe scored double figures in league goals ? to be surprised by his inconsistency is to be a inconsistent fan .Only remember what you want to remember .

Losing Defoe today was not a bad thing ,it should have been if he`s that good .;

big cockeral

Peter - is Defoe pathetic or the management that hasn't identified that and done something about it?

MrSpurs

peterballb.... Correct, he has been playing an injured player. Nobody to replace him is the reason, even at 80% he's better than the other options.
Don't even start about Ade being injured. His own fault completely, couldn't be bothered to be professional enough to maintain a decent level of fitness during the close season. Still managed to screw City for every last penny though (maybe that's why Levy loves him). Stopped reading you after that as I saw some stats that prove absolutely nothing other than your ability to distort what is staring us all in the face. Oh and TopGear is on too.

thfc1882whl

must admit i am a football nut but the african championship is the a piece of garbage,year in year out awful football-0-0extra time togo,

ghulamville

bigC, the fans absolutely deserve value for their money. We do not have the resources of Monopoly teams. We do not have the money of the historic teams. We do not have the money of Arsenal because of their stadium and the CL. We are fourth competing against teams that have an ability to spend that far outweighs anything we can do. We are not buying "lesser" players. We are just not buying inflated players. I don't even think Harry bought lesser players. We live within our means. The owners will not go in to their pockets. It's fact. They own the club. They do not seem inclined to sell. If you have 750M, they may be willing to listen. If not, AVB will have to, as he surely knew he would, live within the budget. I don't see why people fight against this reality. We could have spent 25M on Leandro and given him 100k/week. It wouldn't guarantee CL, as there are no guarantees, other than that the purchase would limit what we can do going forward. There's your lot. I'd have bought Son and Belhanda. They didn't. I have faith that what they are doing is to plan. I won't judge it until the summer window closes. COYS

peterballb

We desperately need a LEADER on the pitch to give most of the other players a kick up the arse. No one wants to takes charge and until someone does we will always look like the rudderless ship that we are.

chrishove123

2 best chances fell to adebayor,he lacks confidence

ghulamville

matt, Holtby injected creativity up top and quickness in passing and pursuit. Sorry, there was a huge difference. Defoe was useless, yet again. He offers nothing. If one is to be an out and out striker and do nothing else, you had better score 25 plus every year. Leeds was all about effort and, IMO, one poor player selection (Caulker at RCB where he is not comfortable at all). We were outworked. Had lots of possession and if we had worked as hard as Leeds, that game would have been over in 30 minutes. COYS

peterballb

peter- again with the nonsense 'I don't think we intended to sign anyone beyond Holtby and Fryers.' then why did we bid for leandro?....

shedboy2

peterballb....... You constantly overlook the fact that if we had spent proper money on proper strikers and failed to qualify for CL football, we could still have sold them for something approaching their true value. Do you think we could recoup what we've spent on Dempsey and Siggy? A bit unfair on Siggy I know but the truth is, at the moment, we would be lucky to get 50% of our outlay back and that's the same reason we've been lumbered with deadwood for so long.

thfc1882whl

The word confidence gets used far too much as a polite way of saying "you`re $hit " .Confidence is not , never will be & nor should it be the fans problem .

The relationship between fans & players is forever widening ,their choice so phuck em .

big cockeral

Airwave- Thanks for the context but it's not really the point now is it....as I'm sure you know.

shedboy2

we seem to have overlooked we are a PL football club....and need PL strikers!

shedboy2

MrSpurs, Defoe is an excellent option off the bench. He can most certainly score. He is not an up top striker, nor is he a player who plays off of a partner. He runs in his own world. He will turn and fire straight at the keeper with two unmarked teammates but 5 yards away. How much could AVB change the squad up and expect to continue going forward. Lloris, Dembele, Vertonghen, and, I will suggest, in a few weeks, Holtby, will be dead on starters. WE lost King, Modric and VDV and did not have Ade until late. I'm sure Defoe could have been sold, but then we'd have basically changed everything. I would argue that he has kept some consistency while bringing in a few players that will suit us going forward. His press conference the other day clearly indicated (yet again as if it needed to be reiterated) that we had gone to 4-4-2 because that's what suited the guys we had. We will not be playing 4-4-2 when he gets the striker he wants. It'll be 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, but it will not be 4-4-2. You set up your team based on the opposition and the opponent. Playing 4-5-1 with Crouch, Defoe and Pav as your strikers is insane. Made sense when Adebayor came in, but certainly not the year prior where 4-4-2 would have been better although less good for VDV. Our squad has added Lloris, Vertonghen, Sigurdsson, Dempsey, Dembele, Holtby, Caulker, Naughton. That represents 33% of the squad. How much more do you think he should do in year 1? As I said, wait until August 31 and see where we are. There is nothing in what is happening that suggests this is a short-term plan. COYS

peterballb

"TK- perhaps you should give AVB a hand in getting the best out of 4-6-0!...;)," shedboy2.

God knows I've spent too much time thinking about how to switch into different attacking formations from the 4-6-0 on the fly. But we're missing the clever passer in the middle that makes this sort of formation click for Spain and Barça. But I appreciate the humour in your suggestion. lol.

Total knobhead

Goal Burkina Faso. Maybe Ade is coming back London sooner than expected.

AlexSpur

All going to plan BIKINI FATSO 1-0 UP, second period of added time coming up, keep it like that.

spu 4 life

Well said shedboy2.

SpuriousLife

Adebayor may be back in London soon as Burkina Faso just scored in the extra 30 minutes of the match vs Togo. 15 minutes to go and Togo's shown no signs of scoring. Adebayor has gotten little help up front and almost no service. It's been a terrible match on a worse pitch.

Total knobhead

Have we sorted out the striker problem, balance sheet, ENIC, Levy and AVB, more to the point who's making the sandwiches, and getting me a beer?

spu 4 life

So the nudge you think BAE is a little rusty? How about Parker, maybe he's a little rusty also, you think. What about Dembele you think that possibly his hip is still hurting? Games are needed by all these guys to improve their sharpness. I would like if we could rest Dembele but doubt it can happen. As long as we keep winning other teams will crumble. Go AVB!

jvd

Burkina Faso winning 1-0 in extra time!!

jvd

10 minutes and adebayor is coming home :) come on burkina faso

Guernman

We're desperate so I'll welcome Adebayor back with open arms but he hasn't looked half the player we had last season and his ACN performances don't seem to have improved much either. However any striker is better than no striker imsuppose. What a ludicrous situation for a PL club. Levy hang your head in shame.

SpuriousLife

If Adebayor can`t score for us ,can`t score in the AFCON
WTF use is he ?

big cockeral

TK... I think that maybe, in Holtby, we have that 'clever passer' that you speak of. As I said earlier, he seems to know what he is going to do with it before the ball reaches him. One thing I am not going to do though is rely on him to secure us CL football this season. For us to have a real chance of CL football we need a world class striker, until then we will remain the nearly men and sadly that's just how ENIC want it.

thfc1882whl

Funny that Levy was apparently offered a 2M profit on Sigurdsson, so I'd say yeah, we could. As for paying 20+M on Leandro and big wages, no, he could not be moved if he was not up to it. Any top striker that signs for us will be on monies up there with Bale. That makes them unlovable, other than to those with better resources than us. Keane wasn't moveable. Crouch had to be paid to leave so that he would accept lower wages. Bentley is still unmoveable. You sign Leandro for too much, and he flops, and you live with that flop and his wages for the next 4 or 5 years. We have seen this and yet still people say, damn the torpedoes, go for it anyway. Do something just because. Not going to happen. It's probably also counter the FFPR, but who cares? Right. COYS

peterballb

Peter, Caulker played RCB at Swansea,Bristol City and possibly Yeovil He was perfectly comfortable at RCB at these clubs. Caulker and Vertoghen doesn't work (at present) Holtby improved the side but that would have happened even if Dempsey had been injured instead of Defoe. Defoe was actually playing better than Dempsey (not saying much) while he was on the pitch.

matt hoten

Adebuyor to get injured in the last 5 mins

matt hoten

The plan is no longer about the here and now only. It is about going forward. Most of our signings over the past 4 years have been about immediate gratification. How many were ever part of the plan, if you could call it that? Crouch, Keane, Saha, Nelsen, Chimbonda, Pienaar, Kranjcar - the list goes on. We could have easily afforded to sign Suarez and Falcao when we were preferring Defoe and Keane. Harry didn't care about the future, other than his own. COYS

peterballb

Thfc1882, Not meaning to take sides with any poster, IMO, there could be some element of truth in the suggestion that we were never intending to buy a striker in the Jan window (unless the earmarked candidate became available at the right – Levy – price).

Defoe may have been carrying this injury for some time, but clearly the medical staff at the Lane would know better than anyone about his ability to continue to play. Interesting, however, that the alleged MRI scan took place in the final week of the window and lo-be-hold, we are seen bidding for Damiao!!

It does stack up. If the scan had shown some concerns, Levy/AVB chanced their arm with a silly bid for Damiao. It also suggests to me that AVB is particular about who he wants and will not risk a ‘nobody’ or ‘somebody’ without having run his slide rule over him. Kudos to him for sticking with his philosophies. AVB MUST also genuinely think he can make do with a make-shift strike force until Ade returns and coincidentally, Kane is also recalled.

Now I agree that it’s a bold move for a manager/chairman of a 4th placed team to be taking such a risk. The injury suffered by Defoe today is nobody’s fault and not related to the one he has been carrying. One can’t legislate for accidents.

I personally think that to preserve that CL spot, AVB (as conservative as he is) will have been looking to play out the rest of the season with a lone striker, whether Defoe, Ade or someone else. I see us becoming more creative in midfield and more goals contributed from that area. I will stick by my previous prediction that Bale will be our top scorer!.

In conclusion, I believe we can ‘get away’ with being short on strikers. If absolutely necessary, I don’t see any reason why we can’t loan a striker (say. From Real Madrid, where we have a working relationship and they DO have some prolific players on the fringe). COYS!

Critical_Spur

matt, even for England at the Olympics, he played LCB with Tomkins on the right. He, like King, is far superior on the left. He is not a RCB any more than Naughton is a LB. COYS

peterballb

All sorted ADE is coming home

spu 4 life

Togo lost. Adebayor has no more matches in South Africa. Back soon, I suppose. We have our new striker! Same as our old striker!.

Total knobhead

Togo out

duckworth

All to plan. Adebayor on the next plane home. COYS

peterballb

Ah, but he will have suffered jet lag, fatigue, home sickness......so allow another month for full recovery!

Critical_Spur

fantastic, adebayor will be available for the newcastle match

Guernman

Critical_Spur.... No worries about taking sides either way mate, we all support the same club however much our opinions may differ and to me that's what makes this site so good. Open, honest debate with very little hostility, although if I'm honest peterballb is starting to lose a bit of credibility in my eyes.
As for our 'Deal' with RM, you are joking I hope. It's a blatant PR job designed at getting maximum publicity for THFC and our best players for RM. If ever there was a one sided deal on the playing front, this is it. We will never get a decent young player from RM unless he is used as a makeweight in a deal to take a far better player from us.

thfc1882whl

Oh, and he may stay behind to sort out his bonus payments with the Togo FA.

Critical_Spur

Peter Its plainly obvious you never saw Caulker play for Bristol City or Swansea. but are basing your view of Caulker on the Leeds game and a thrown together Olympics team

matt hoten

shedboy, I think we know fully well we are a PL team with CL ambitions, nay title ambitions and will not therefore settle for less than adequate players to fill holes. We can play guys out of position (ie Bale at striker) to make do, but when we buy a striker or two, they will be the ones we want. We already have the impact sub. We need the starter. I suppose we could have just signed Carlton Cole or Kenwyne Jones and put them on 4 or 5 year deals to fill the gap for the next 4 months. Shame our "mug" of a Chairman doesn't get it. 90% on here kept going on about how crap Hooper was, and then they lament that we didn't sign a 25 year old to a contract that would take him through his prime years. Levy is an idiot for not listening to and agreeing with the majority. In a 4-4-2, he could, no doubt, do a job. Since I am not convinced anyone can play off of Defoe, I don't know who else we'd have to buy to make that work. If there was an ideal loan or a free player who met what we needed (Saha was available for free), we could have done something. Clearly, Levy and AVB did not see anything they wanted that would have been an improvement going forward. This is a long-term plan. It does not hinge on this season alone. COYS

peterballb

Good god. This must be the most depressing, cynical forum on the net. Don't let the fact that we're in the top five spenders, over the last ten years, get in the way of your slagging off of the chairman or the fact that he's presided over the total overhaul of our training facilities and made huge strides into providing the club with the means to build a new stadium. So we're light in the striking department. We're not doing too bad even with that problem. Rather than highlight what you think might happen because of that, why not enjoy the fact that we're 1 point from 3rd or that we've brought in a few world class players. If this is us doing it wrong I hope we don't get it right!!

AVBeanbag

What concerns me now is the hype that is inevitably building for the return of Ade. I truly hope that when he is installed as No. 1, he DOES work his socks off for the team. Else, end of next match, we may well be back to slagging him off!. It beggars belief that a professional footballer needs such motivation (No. 1) to get the best out of him. Rooney is NOT no. 1 at Utd and does not worry about RVP.

Critical_Spur

Well, it seems we have a fit senior striker in Aebayour as Togo has been defated 0-1 by Burkina Faso.

AlexSpur

Sorry Peter miss read: Caulker did play LCB at the Olympics, you are therefore saying he cant play RCB based on one game against the 80 or 90 he played quite comfortably for Swansea and Bristol City.You are basing you view on something statistical irrelevant, you should know that.

matt hoten

peterballb...... Phuck me, I nearly choked on my beer. How you have the nerve to type 'I think we know fully well we are a PL team with CL ambitions, nay title ambitions and will not therefore settle for less than adequate players to fill holes', just goes to show how much of a company man you are. In one short sentence you have contradicted almost everything you have written for the last year. What's up mate, is the drop off in adulation starting to get to you?

thfc1882whl

No matt, I am basing it on England U-21, Olympics etc. I suspect as he will not play on the right. IMO, he is a better CB than Dawson. He is not playing because he is not better than Dawson on the right. It's as simple as that. Comparing Bristol to the PL is absurd. He was a man playing with boys. You could have put him as striker and he'd have excelled. It is much more specialized here, much like in international play. Very few CB's have the ability to play both sides. Howedes does. Vidic can. There aren't many. Most great CB's are only good on their off side. Dawson and Gallas are both good, and are comfortable on the right (Kaboul for that matter too). On the left, they are lost and become very average. From what I have seen of him at all levels, he is better on the left. There he is a good CB, though I do have some questions about communication (2 goals directly attributable to poor communicate). On the right, not so much. COYS

peterballb

peterballb...... Having said that, the welcome mat is out for you here on the dark side. We could do with a stats boy over here as all we have to rely on is the evidence of our own eyes.

thfc1882whl

critical_spur, both ade and defoe want to be no.1, if anything defoe is much worse attitude wise when he isn't. the only real toy throwing we've seen this season was from defoe storming down the tunnel when subbed some weeks back.

Guernman

I would say that the reason for Dawsons inclusion today is due to the fact that AVB will always pick 'horses for courses' and he obviously thought that Dawson would be better against Long and Lukaku than Caulker would. I'm pretty sure that he makes his decisions on a game per game basis as opposed to anything else. I would also say that he got it right, even though Long did win plenty of headers that he had no right to win. Eleven against eleven for the entire second half and I think we may well have had a different opinion.

thfc1882whl

thfc1882whl, there is no chance in HE double toothpicks of us winning the title this season. AVB has not even finished offloading all of the players he wants gone. Dawson and Hudd won't be here. Some posters on here are completely delusional. You would throw, 30-40-50M to try and get CL and when you fail, sell everyone to recoup all your losses. Fabulous plan. OK, so you'll put the club in a loss position, potentially in violation of FFPR which we have just again stated need to be adhered to and enforced, and sell players at a los and start to build again. So Bale, Sandro and everyone else will want to leave. 5th, 5th, 11th (with a cup), 8th, 4th, 5th, 4th, currently 4th. In Europe all but one year, financially balancing the books year in and year out and only selling when and if we have no choice and never for any less than what we value our asset to be worth. If you cannot see that this is a plan that has gone on because of and in spite of Jol, Ramos, Harry and now AVB, you are blind. That you want something different to happen contrary to all evidence, is your choice. There has always been a plan and it matters not whether I like it or you like it, it is the plan. What does make me happy is that both coach and chairman seem to be on the same wavelength. All media driven. It's why so many liked Harry. COYS

peterballb

Peter. OK Bristol City was only Championship but Caulker was only 18 then, but explain Swansea then. Dawson and Gallas are the organisers in the back4, Caulker cant organise (at present) and neither can Vertoghen, thats why Caulker looks poor at RCB when paired with Vertoghen. If Vertoghen could organise a back 4 I would drop Dawson for Caulker, that will probably be the future pairing unless we buy someone else.

matt hoten

On the contrary thfc1882whl, the truth is there for everyone to see. They just choose to want something other than what it is. The grass is always greener. It has been the same year in and year out. As for stats, they say we are still paying the salaries of players that we do not want in the squad. The problem with that is that those funds stop you committing other funds. It's not stats, it's the budget. Spend within your means. Just because QPR have spent 42M, Southampton 38M and Villa 22M in net transfers, not including wages does not mean that it is wise. Perhaps their fans think they are ambitious. Perhaps Leeds fans thought they were ambitious. Check out the forums for Portsmouth, Leeds, Villa, Birmingham and many others. I don't sense much satisfaction there. But hey, they all had their go and they then sold to try to balance the books. History suggests that doesn't work out so well for the club or the fans. I know what I see. The best signing for QPR was that of Townsend if I judge by the last game. I don't know what that says for the strategy. Good thing is, I suspect he'll be in the lineup the next game and that's ultimately good for us. COYS

peterballb

For such an infatile hothead Ballotelli is the coolest of penalty takers, just scored from the spot to make it two goals in his first game for Milan. A striker in your team is definetely a plus point.

ItalianYiddo

matt, as many on here will say about Rose, it is a whole different thing playing for Swansea than playing for a CL hopeful team. Mistakes cost plenty. Caulker is good and I do think we are in the market for another CB. When Kaboul comes back, I expect as he will be in the first pairing once he gets healthy. If we added Alderweirald or Howedes, Caulker and Kaboul would be in the second pairing, going by what I have seen of all of the players. COYS

peterballb

peterballb..... Not really read all your post but regarding the FFPR, we all know they will be an absolute joke designed to maintain the status quo for the elite clubs, nothing more nothing less. I have never advocated throwing £50+ million at the problem and you know that as we go down the same old road every time we lock horns. What I have called for is a calculated risk, too late now of course, last January was the real chance for progression. Forget about all the old blame Harry she ite, it was failure to invest in a world class player who could provide one point and one goal in five months that really killed us. It wasn't addressed in summer and nor was it in January. Imagine if we firsenal win the CL, is that what it will take to convince you of our owners' stupidity? And don't tell me it could never happen, because did any of us expect Chelsea to beat Barca over 2 legs and then beat Bayen in their own back yard?

thfc1882whl

Hey, ItalianYiddo, I hope you are well. When I suggested his name I was pilloried. COYS

peterballb

***Imagine if we firsenal win the C**** Should read, Imagine if Arsenal win the CL.
Sorry, beer kicking in, time I got outta here. Night all and COYS

thfc1882whl

Guernman, you said, “both ade and defoe want to be no.1”....

I have never been able to get my head round this mentality. We are talking 2 INTERNATIONAL players. Again, if I may use the example at ManU....They have FOUR international strikers (or is it 5 ?!). It’s for the players self-esteem that they perform within a TEAM and for the manager to aid that process. As often observed by many here, this ‘wanting to be No 1’ thing is ruining the team where other players don’t want to play ball with the selfish individuals. I can see how SAF would handle that and I wish AVB had the OPTION to do the same, but alas, he doesn;t have the striker options!!!!.

Critical_Spur

Hi Peter, all good, hope the same for you. Yes I read the posts about Ballotelli that's why I mentioned it. The guy needs to sort his head out to become top notch.

ItalianYiddo

Sorry but this thread has just fallen into a downward spiral. Let us accept the fact that we did not get a striker in the January window. DL doesn't give a cr@p if you agree with his decision or not. Therefore ranting and raving about him and how he runs the club is futile. No matter how much any or all of you want him out the facts are that he has the club playing its best football for five of the last 6 years. He has a vision to make the club into a BIG club in order to be able to play with the big boys on a consistent basis. Lets talk football!

jvd

Come home Addy....we need you. Espec' after the uninspiring transfer window. Still think 3/5/2......suits spurs, at present. Adebayor Holtby Bale Dembele Parker lennon Walker (ekotto) (naughton) Vertonghen Caulker Dawson Spiderllorisman Shame..Townsend, not with spurs at present. He could have covered both wings....but more importantly, left side. Just my opinion...though.

82spursdebut

Talking of football, we have so far won seven away games as opposed to six for the whole of last season. The sort of stat that indicates we are more of a team and bodes well for the future.

ItalianYiddo

Chill, jvd. There's no downward spiral here. Folk here always have been down! If DL weren't around, then the posts would be down on whomever it would be who would be around. You fail to understand that this isn't really a football site, but a form of group therapy. Thank the gods we're on here slating DL; otherwise we'd be kicking to dog and dodging the old bill for bashing the wife. chill, me bredrin, chill.

Total knobhead

Very happy I am , with the 3 points. In Bale we have our own superstar or at least superstar in the making. He idolises Ronaldo and he tries to play like Ronaldo and I tell you he is not doing a bad job. What a strike for the goal! In the last 2 games, he single handedly , imo, got us the 4 points. Really chuffed. We have our own Ronaldo. Yay!!

Madaboutspurs

Matt- you're right Caulker has played RCM very well in the past....against Leeds was the first time AVB has played him there...imo Verts was shocking that day and Caulker a liitle off but with a bit of time they won't have a problem as a pair...

shedboy2

Brudder TK tanks fer keeping meh strait man! I & I love ya sense of humor. Jah bless ya!

jvd

TK, group therapy huh, never thought of it like that but yeah, certainly therapeutic venting on here sometimes . lol

Madaboutspurs

Shedboy, thank Christ somebody else has noticed the bleeding obvious. I think we played a back4 of Walker,Caulker,Verts and Naughton against Latzio away and looked pretty poor then.(but got away with it) It must have been one of the youngest back4 played (ie under 23 average). I think that explains the problem.

matt hoten

Things could be far worse for any of us. Any one of us could have had the misfortune through no fault of our own to grow up to support some other club, and this very moment we might be on some god forsaken site bemoaning Rafa Benitez or Arsene Wenger or Harry Redknapp, or we might be trying to justify the existence of Roman Abramovich by claiming he's a benefactor with the virtues of Mother Theresa. We could be trying to convince ourselves that we already bought the world's best striker for 50 million pounds in some Spaniard names Torres. We might have purchased some fellow names Carrol for 35 million. We might be bin dippers or scum through no fault of our own, just down to bad circumstances. But we are supporters of Spurs and this alone is evidence that the gods have shined their lights upon us and we are blessed beyond anything we have earned on our own. Give thanks and praises, me bredrin, that our biggest complaint is that we've drawn a few matches we might have won, while our last truly horrible result in the league was December 9th. That's a pretty good recent stretch of results.

Total knobhead

I'd say Amen to that TK.

Madaboutspurs

shedboy, Caulker was not a little off that day, he was lost. Vertonghen had a mare and anyone beside Walker is in for a day of adventure. We should have won both legs of Lazio and I don't recall them really throwing anything at us. Panathanaikos looked more dangerous (at least at home)

We didn't choose to sign a striker. By his own comments, that would seem to have been at the very least as much AVB's doing as anyone's. We are 8W, 1L and 4 D since Arsenal. The team, and make no mistake, this is a team, will go forward and work for each other. I think Holtby and Fryers will both prove to be inspired signing and we will look back at the extension of Pritchard, against serious Liverpool interest, will be a very smart move. WE are developing from within and players like McEvoy, Luongo, Smith, Pritchard, Coulthirst, Lancaster, Archer, may all be the future of the club. WE will also learn a great deal about Townsend, Mason, Falque, Coulibaly, Pritchard, Smith through their loans. Gomes may also stoke interest and I have not given up on the fact that Bentley might well have a part to play. Could be worse. Jenas could have been starting today. COYS

peterballb

It should also be noted that if we make the group stages of CL next year, there will most certainly be another 50M of revenues between that and the new TV money. I would imagine as AVB is leaving himself in a position where he will be able to invest in the summer to round out his squad and continue the cull. AS I said, to my eyes, there is a plan and it's being followed, not strictly, but practically. AVB, the lads and ENIC have my support. COYS

peterballb

Well played Bale & Lloris, team played as a team not as a bunch of individuals, we were far better after Defoe went off. My heart is no longer in my mouth when we lead matches in the final minutes. Sounds like progress to me, impressed with drive & skills of Holtby,Hopefully Adebayor returns without the attitude and plays to his FULL potential. COYS

CanUkSpur

Yes I remember 4-5 years back when every single cross into our half and I'd start to panic. We had Keano and Berba banging them in but could not make up for the leaky defence. Defence much more assured now. Lloris is awesome, calm and fast.

Madaboutspurs

TK, Fantastic post you make a choice in life to become a supporter if you like football of a certain club, for me it was my dad who talked about spurs and living near Royston Herts, my choice was THFC, straight up the A10, but spare a thought for the poor ba$tards who support Manchester United living in penzance and home counties, or Raj, Talib and Salib who run the indian restuarant in the city centre of manchester every home game means closing early or is an away day or two days, they may have won championship's, etc..so what glad i never picked them as did some of my school chums at 5yrs old, a manager who is into prayers, the prayers did well today, we put a lot of effort into the prayers, we work hard on the training ground with the prayers, i think he means players, it's a job to tell, we all have one love & one club THFC.

spu 4 life

spu 4 life..... your Bikini Fatso reference ...LOL!

Madaboutspurs

AVB seems unworried by the weak pickings currently at our striker positions. "Don't forget," AVB said after today's match, "the world champions don't always play with a striker."

Slowly, but surely, I am winning my campaign first launched on this site, for striker-less formations.

Total knobhead

Of course, the world club champions are Corinthians, and they do play with a striker. Can't win them all, TK, you can't win them all.

Total knobhead

This talk of playing without a striker don't wash. It could be so tight that Goal Difference could be the difference between finishing 3rd or 6th!! So now tell me how many games will we win 1-0 between now and the end of the season and how many games the chavs and the goons will win by more then 2 goals?? I would say they will both probably win many more!!

WestStandEnclosure

AVB lost too many players to injury, late transfer arrivals, players sold etc etc and never complained and played to a system and has taken where we are.
If he says we dont need to worry and he has Bale can play Striker, I would certainly agree with that. Bale as Striker is a thought some of us had for a season & a half. He has the best shots on target in our team and also when he shoots. he rarely gets it wrong. When Ade is back, I will still stick with Ade and play Bale in his current middle position. Holtby too has shown us he can pop up anywhere in midfield and play. The only problem I see is Parker. If he can step up, we can do great. I have every failtyh in AVB & Freund & the team. COYS

sydqcb5

Lot's of people giving peterballb some stick on here. Most are from the Harry brigade and just to enlighten you all. When Harry stated "Us fans are idiots", he was actually talking about the Harry brigade of fans!

I actually believe peterballb is talking the most sense on here, Harry spent a fortune on crap which AVB is slowly shifting out. You are all right we do need a striker but as peterballb states, we need the right guy and not some stop gap that needs moving on in the summer. We are now down to a manageable squad where AVB can now go to Levy with his targets. Just by moving the deadwood alone is saving £m in wages. AVB likes to play with 1 striker, that would mean 3 strikers is more than enough. We have Ade, Defoe, Dempsey that can play that in that role, along with Bale if need be. Let's assume we bought Damiao, that would mean Ade or Defoe not even on the bench. £80k p/w for doing sweet FA.

I believe many posters on here are keen video gamers where buying and selling is all virtual, I wonder if anyone has their own business on here and the state of that business??

yiddyboy

Excellent win lads. 3 vital points imo! Well done Bale for the goal. COYS.

SpursOne2

Damiao was targeted by Spurs during Harrys reign. Seems strange that he is both AVB's and Harry’s target? Nope, he was identified by scouts shown to the current manager and Levy gives the final say after that! Why people think our last manager bought players is beyond me?? That's not his job. We had a relatively quiet transfer window during January this season and last…only difference being people blames our old boss for 2 loans we got. I 100% agree we need to identify the right man (we apparently have, but just didn’t get him this time) and need to do what it takes to get him in, not just a fill in. But this has naff all to do with our last boss. As far as AVB goes, he got the backing of the club, has got new players for his 1st season here, there’s no reason he will not be backed in summer either. I Hope we finish strongly in the league this year, this might help with next year’s push. COYS.

SpursOne2

Was Dempsey on the pitch? If yes who was she playing for?

tophobunty

"This talk of playing without a striker don't wash. It could be so tight that Goal Difference could be the difference between finishing 3rd or 6th!! So now tell me how many games will we win 1-0 between now and the end of the season and how many games the chavs and the goons will win by more then 2 goals?? I would say they will both probably win many more!!," wrote WestStandEnclosure.

Yes, WSE, but the fact is that we are terribly thin at striker, awaiting the return of Adebayor, who hasn't played well this season at all, and with Obika and Kane, who haven't done squat yet in their careers, and with Defoe with a bad hip and a shot ankle. One needs to think about alternatives to using strikers simply because of the exigencies of the current conditions. You write that we would like to play with high scoring strikers, but that's a wish, not the situation. You'd best pray for a return to world class form by the tall thin man from Togo when he returns if you want an established striker up front. The window's closed, you know.

Total knobhead

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