Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

From the Spurs web site:

"Following assessment and examination by our medical team, we can confirm that Steven Bergwijn suffered a significant sprain to his left ankle during our match against Burnley.

The Netherlands international will now undergo an extended period of rehabilitation where his progress will continue to be assessed."

FFS. I'm slowly getting the feeling that this season might not be our season... Lucas and Dele the only attackers who haven't been out injured (yet ) for a good chunk of time at some point this season.

[fallenangle]

Definitely not good news - we're running out of fit key players with some of our most important games of the season to come.

Chickens coming home to roost, not spending enough on new players and dumping good ones. Bad business in every sense.

Tuesday EDIT

Not a big surprise tonight the end our CL run for this season but to go out like that even to a clearly very good side is not encouraging. We badly need to beat MU not just for the points but to boost the squads' confidence. There's a danger we won't even get in the Europa League if this lack lustre form and the silly mistakes continue.

[EJG1980]

Annoyingly we started the match very well too, for the first ten minutes it looked like we might put up a good fight and give Leipzig something to think about. Then the first goal goes in (with even the commentators saying that it was against the run of play) and it was all downhill from there.

Gotta say that those first two goals were both Lloris mistakes; not out and out clear howlers but definitely both "ohhhhhh, he should have saved that...." situations. I'm fairly sure Leipzig would have eventually got on top and gone through anyway, but like with so many other matches this season, it's a shame we had to give them a helping hand along the way with avoidable errors.

One positive to take from the situation is that from now to the end of the season it's a straightforward one match per weekend, with a full week to recover, train and prepare before each match. Regardless of the injury situation, we won't get better conditions to prepare before each match, hopefully we can take advantage of that and turn around our form.

[EJG1980]

So, like I said, a nice, straightforward end to the season

I hope everyone on here is doing okay and is managing to get through the weirdness of our current times.

As we're back in action tomorrow I thought I'd mention that Spurs gave all season ticket holders a couple of free Now TV (Sky's online TV service) vouchers that give you 24 hours access to Sky Sports, so they can be used to watch a couple of our upcoming matches.

I already subscribe to Now TV so I don't have any need for them, so I thought I'd mention them on here and if any of the Spurs fans following this thread (so fallenangle and TonyDA, basically ) can make use of them I'd be happy to send voucher code(s) by private message.

Anyway, let's hope that the enforced break has done the team good and we can end the season with a nice positive run of results. COYS!

[fallenangle]

Been watching some of the old England match replays on ITV and the BBC. Really enjoyed those with Spurs players of that time taking a leading role, principally, Gascoigne, Sheringham and Anderton.

It reminded me just how good Sheringham was, the level of Anderton's work rate and effective use of the ball: often exceptional and in those matches where Gascoingne reigned back his excesses it showed what a great player he was at his best.

Unfortunately can't make use of your TV offer, thanks for making it though, appreciated.

A top six finish I think is the most realistic expectation now. If Chelsea stumble then that fourth spot is not out of reach yet but we'll need something from the MU game just to keep in touch and peg them back too. A win would be very welcome.

So Indeed COYS.

[EJG1980]

Fair result in the end, I think we were the better side in the first half and deserved the lead, Man Utd were the better side in the second. Again though, the annoyance of helping the opposition out with the equaliser. After a long spell of Man Utd pressure we were looking like we were starting to cope with it get back on a more even footing, and then we give the penalty away. Heart in mouth moment when the ref gave them another in injury time but the replays showed it was clearly not a pk and thankfully we have VAR to overrule the ref's mistake.

A bit frustrating as we had a few really good positions where one good pass (and usually not very hard passes) would have put us in for good chances to go 2-0 up, but the passing radars of the likes of Lamela and Son were off so we didn't capitalise on those situations. Kane looked like a player who hadn't started a match for six months, but it was good that he lasted the whole 90 to get some fitness into his legs. It's a shame he gave away the penatly, because aside from that moment I thought Dier had a good game.

Not an ideal result in the chase for a Champions League spot, but not fatal either. Still, a shame, a win would have really helped out. Positives and negatives from the match, but hopefully we can build on the positives and step up another gear in the next match.

[fallenangle]

Disappointing to only get one point and with only 10 minutes to go but as said earlier it was a game we couldn't afford to lose so not completely disastrous.

Perhaps we'll get some joy from the other results this weekend but looking at who they're playing I'd expect Arsenal to go above us. Wolves and Sheffield Utd could reasonably expect to wins too.

[EJG1980]

Good result yesterday, a deserved with with some decent performances from several players. Great to get a rare clean sheet too, the defence is starting to look a little bit more solid, hopefully it can keep improving.

Lo Celso was man of the match, he's definitely becoming the "conductor" of our play these days. Dier and Sanchez looked solid. Kane grew into the game, getting closer and closer to scoring until he finally got his (lovely) goal, and another full 90 minutes will help increase his fitness. Everyone else was at least okay and had a smattering of good moments.

Only Dele and Lucas (save for one good shot in the first half) looked below average, and I don't think it was a coincidence that they were also the only two players who were getting their first minutes since the restart. I'd expect them to be better in their next appearances now they have some match time under their belts.

We had some results go our way at the weekend; Wolves won but we got unexpected losses for Arsenal and Sheffield Utd. Fingers crossed we keep getting a decent number of results going our way. I think 4th is going to be a bit too far away but we've definitely got a decent chance at 5th place if we can go on a winning run.

[fallenangle]

Just watched the highlights - we looked dominant and the score could easily have been 5-1 if Son had been a foot behind where he was for the offside 'goal' and Lucas had been a little sharper with the two good chances he had. But Lucas making space and getting himself into good positions like that is encouraging.

Lo Celso easing into the playmaker role is also good news. We need someone like him who wants to take on that responsibility with Eriksen now gone. I'd like DA to be doing more in that respect too but he was barely mentioned in the highlights I saw.

Indeed the HK goal was a classic centre forward run and clinical finish with Son providing the almost perfect pass to set it up.

Good performance and good result.

EDIT

Looking at the fixtures we're going to be very lucky if Wolves and MU don't get some points out of their next games which makes the Sheffield Utd v. Spurs game, I think on 2nd July, a must win for any chance of a top six finish, barring a miracle.

[EJG1980]

EDIT

Looking at the fixtures we're going to be very lucky if Wolves and MU don't get some points out of their next games which makes the Sheffield Utd v. Spurs game, I think on 2nd July, a must win for any chance of a top six finish, barring a miracle.

Yeah, I think we’re going to have to win nearly every match remaining, unless we get some very nice gift from the teams ahead of us. Still doable though, and if Man City can do us a favour against Chelsea this evening, the gap to 4th will be down to six points. We’d still need a few results to go our way but it’s not a mission impossible.

Edit: bah, no favour! Congrats to Liverpool, though.

[fallenangle]

Yes, congrats to Liverpool as well. Stats don't lie and they've had an extraordinary season and its not even over yet.

[hudson]

Cheers guys. It's been amazing viewing. Coming so close last year but getting a CL trophy and taking it on into this season. It's been really nice to see the clear progression from season to season. I got to Anfield to witness a lot of great games. Especially the Man Utd at home which was the moment I started believing. I was 13 last time we won a championship. So happy.

[EJG1980]

I was 13 last time we won a championship.

I was minus 19 for our last one

[fallenangle]

Just skipping through the Freeview channels today and by luck they were showing an ancient repeat of The Big Match which was ITV's version of MoTD. Date 1977...................a very bad year for Spurs, the year they were relegated from the First Division to the Second. . The programme included highlights of Middlesborough versus Spurs and on that performance they deserved to go down.

I barely recognised the names let alone the faces of the Spurs team at that time. Barry Daines the goalkeeper I remembered his name only because he was the stand in if Pat Jennings was injured. But of the rest only Glen Hoddle, complete with 70's mullet and sideburns, skills stood out in any way, he looked almost out of place with the rest of the largely anonymous Spurs' team.

Checking on the whole squad; that year apart from the aforementioned there were only three others of note:

Steve Perryman who went on to become captain and was a stalwart Spurs player for years. He was also a Spurs caretaker manager for a short time in the 1990s.

John Pratt another reliable long time Spurs player.

Ralph Coates a very decent player too but more famous for his comb-over 'hair-style'.

Interestingly, in regards to Spurs' relegation at the end of that season, there are no English clubs who have not been relegated from the top division at some time in their history.

[EJG1980]

The other thing of note from that season was the manager. It was Keith Burkinshaw's first season as manager and the club stuck with him despite the relegation. Their faith was rewarded as we came straight back up, got ourselves back into the top six, and won two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. The likelihood of a manager not being sacked in the same circumstances today would be... a tad remote!