Spurs beat Bolton, Manchester City next

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on May 5th, 2010

Following weekend victories for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, it is now set us up for an exciting game tonight, where if Spurs win at City’s Eastlands stadium, we’ll wrap up fourth position in the Premiership.

At one point, City were losing to Aston Villa after John Carew scored but unfortunately for Spurs they came back and beat Villa 3-1.

Spurs on the other hand beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0 with a stunning long range effort from Tom Huddlestone. The victory was deserved, even though Bolton didn’t have much to play for, they kept trying and thankfully didn’t come up with anything.

I would dearly love Spurs to get a win at City tonight, although, this being Spurs it is never simple. Anyone remembering what happened at West Ham a few years ago knows full well anything can happen. I just hope Spurs have employed a food taster for pre-match meals.

The referee tonight is Steve Bennett, who interestingly has only referred just two Spurs games all season. Wonder why that is.

From Harry Redknapp’s comments earlier, it sounds like it’s going to be a pretty open game, and they have some fine quality players with Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy. The aforementioned are suspect temperament-wise but one cannot doubt their ability, and recently City have scored quite a few goals.

Interesting that ex-Spurs ‘keeper Marton Fulop will be in goal for City, he of course conceded a goal a minute after he came on as substitute for Sunderland when they visited the Lane earlier in the season.

The big question for us is who will be in goal for Spurs? Heurelho Gomes has a groin problem and we really need him, as there’s question marks surrounding Ben Alnwick. Also, as always, we have doubts over Ledley King, who played at the weekend.

I’m guessing if Harry is expecting an open game then he’ll stick with Luka Modric and Huddlestone in the centre of midfield. As we saw against Old Trafford a few weeks back, Wilson Palacios came back from suspension and didn’t play too well. So I’m expecting an unchanged team apart from the possibility of Gomes and King being out.

So what will happen? We do have a good record up at City, but with their influx of cash and better quality players, they’ve certainly improved. I’m sure they remember their defeat at White Hart Lane, which was their former manager Mark Hughes’ last game in charge, so perhaps they’ll be after blood.

I do have a feeling that we can get three points at City, but we’ve got to keep our heads. We’ve also got to start being more clinical, as tonight if we don’t, it could be costly.

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Manchester United v Spurs preview

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on April 23rd, 2010

So later we take on Manchester United at Old Trafford. What’s the first thing to do? Yes, see who the referee is. Thankfully it isn’t Howard Webb, but Andre Marriner instead. Whether the latter will go down in the memories of Spurs fans as being a United fan is yet to be seen.

Team news-wise it’s looking better with Wilson Palacios back after his suspension. Also Ledley King and Jermaine Jenas could be available too.

The biggest news is that Aaron Lennon could be involved. Must say the prospect of having Gareth Bale down the left wing and Lennon down the right is mouth watering.

Even though we’ve won our last two games, I think Palacios will come in and strengthen the midfield, partnering Tom Huddlestone. Luka Modric I’m guessing would then move out to the right, where I don’t think he’s as effective.

I do wonder if there’ll be any changes upfront as Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko haven’t scored in open play for a month. Eidur Gudjohnsen could come in and play deeper.

Of course, it’s always tough at Old Trafford, however, over the years we’ve threatened to get a good result there. Sadly though, there always seems something, or should that be someone, who always tips the balance in United’s favour. I think we’re due a result there, and now is a good time to get it.

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FA Cup Semi-Final preview

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on April 11th, 2010

I’ve finally managed to fix the blog, as there was quite a few problems with it. All should be working fine now.

Ironically this comes on a pretty big day for Spurs – an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley!

A week ago I would have been confident, however, our performance at Sunderland was pretty poor. Of course, ‘freakish’ refereeing decisions and fluke goals didn’t help.

I’m hoping today’s referee Alan Wiley will have a good game and not make any silly decisions. It’s so irritating when referees don’t do their job properly – Howard Webb take note!

I’m really concerned over the injuries of late, the loss of Michael Dawson for example against Sunderland was huge. We need him! I also think Tom Huddlestone is a key player for us, with his ability to pass the ball around.

Sadly though, no Aaron Lennon for today’s game. It sounds like he’s on his way back though, just not yet. Yesterday whilst watching Chelsea beat Aston Villa in the other FA Cup semi-final, seeing Ashley Young reminded me of Lennon, of course, Lennon is far superior, but I so miss having him giving left-backs nightmares.

So will we win? Well Portsmouth have had a tough time with injuries too, but apparently they have few players returning from injury, so it’s difficult to say. We did beat them 2-0 at the Lane a few weeks back, so we should be confident of getting the win. Sadly, this is Spurs, and nothing is ever straight forward. So let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope we can make it to the Final!

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Tottenham Hotspur 2009/10

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on July 19th, 2009

It has been quite some time since my last post, a lot has happened. The main thing is that Spurs managed to avoid relegation to remain a Premiership club.

Now it’s the close season and all the talk is about transfers. So far, the only signing is an ex-Arsenal youngster called Anton Blackwood. Ricardo Rocha has been released, and Didier Zokora has left for Sevilla.

At present there’s plenty of talk on who could be coming to the Lane. Ashley Young, Peter Crouch, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar are a few being bandied around.

There’s also a lot of talk on who will exit the club. Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, David Bentley to name a few.

I think the present squad is pretty good. We’ve got two very good goalkeepers. The defence is strong, although a new experienced centre-half would be a useful addition to act as cover with Michael Dawson. With Zokora’s departure, a new defensive midfielder would be a good idea, as we’ve only got Wilson Palacios who can play there. Of course, as always, a left winger would be great, but, well, let’s not hold our breaths. Upfront is an area which is up for much debate. We’ve got four quality strikers, however there’s question marks on whether they can play together.

I think with a few new additions we should be more than capable of qualifying for Europe next season, especially if we can maintain our excellent home form. That said, we must keep Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King fit, as without them, our defence becomes too vulnerable. Also I hope Aaron Lennon can continue improving his game, as he most certainly shone last season.

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Duo sign for Spurs

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on July 1st, 2008

Tottenham Hotspur have signed a new ‘keeper, sadly it isn’t Gomes, but Mirko Ranieri.

Ranieri is an under-16 Italian international and comes from Perugia.

Spurs’ sporting director Damien Comolli told the official website: “Mirko is 6ft 2″ and an excellent shot stopper. His distribution and decision making is improving all the time.

“He is a highly-intelligent individual and another very good young goalkeeper we have attracted to the Club.”

In other news, Tom Huddlestone has signed a new five-year deal at White Hart Lane. This comes after the 21-year-old was recently linked with a move to Everton and Middlesbrough.

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Berbatov and Huddlestone linked with exits

Posted by Stevio in Rumours on June 7th, 2008

Dimitar Berbatov has been mentioned by AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani as a possible signing for the Italian giants.

He said: “Drogba, Adebayor, Berbatov, Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o and Stuggart’s Mario Gomez are the players the Press have linked us with.

“I cannot say who we will get but any of them would be good.”

Another player on the way out of White Hart Lane could be Tom Huddlestone. He’s been linked with a move to Everton.

The 21-year-old had already been linked with a £6m move to Goodison Park yesterday, today however, The Sun report the defender/midfielder as being rated at £8m. It seems his value has risen £2m in one day!

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Tottenham Hotspur 4-4 Chelsea

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur, Videos on March 20th, 2008

Something that is guaranteed at White Hart Lane is goals, and goals there were last night.

Ashley Cole’s challenge on Alan Hutton was absolutely appalling, he could have broken the Scot’s leg! I still find it hard to believe he only got a yellow card!

Some of defending was again suspect, especially for Chelsea’s first goal. Their second was definitely offside!

I think Paul Robinson could have done better with their third, but I guess he had to spread himself to block the shot.

Tom Huddlestone’s equaliser to make it 3-3 was sweetly struck, but the goal to make it 4-4 by Robbie Keane was just sublime. As can be heard on the video, “Pick that one out!”

It’s a pity Dimitar Berbatov didn’t make it 5-4 on the night to give us the win, but all in all, it was a great game.

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Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on December 24th, 2007

So, we lost yet again to Arsenal. At least we put in a good performance and deserved something from the game. If only Robbie Keane had hit the back of the net instead of the crossbar or having his penalty saved.

I thought Jamie O’Hara had a brilliant first start in a Spurs shirt. Of course he was playing his former club. He looked very much at home in the centre of midfield. Also Paul Robinson put in yet another solid display in goal.

Dimitar Berbatov scored a cracker of a goal. Keane had backheeled the ball into the Bulgarian’s path, who blasted it home near post.

It’s just a shame we conceeded two weak goals. The first goal by Arsenal could have been avoided if players had tracked back, and the second, well, Tom Huddlestone, where were you? Also if you look at the photo, isn’t it strange how high Nicklas Bendtner is up in the air? What’s he on!? I demand a drugs test! :)

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