Gazza

There's a DVD being released this week, it's the story of - for those Spurs fans of a certain age our last great player.
Gareth Bale may have shone on the pitch in recent years but this man attracted more adulation and genuine love from a White Hart Lane crowd like no one seen before or since.
Arguably the greatest talent to come out of the British Isles since George Best, Gascoigne had the advantage of playing for England. Meaning a place on the world stage eventually beckoned and it was @ Italia '90 that he came of age, with him England's dreaming almost became a reality, close but no cigar. But it was in his failure and resulting tears for souvenirs that Gazzamania was truly launched, scenes reminiscent of a boy band concert at White Hart Lane the following season were witnessed and he was everywhere from chat shows to Top of The Pops.
From the streets of Newcastle - and eventually starring for his boyhood team, he played the game with the same schoolboy enthusiasm throughout his career moving on the Tottenham after being scouted by the legendary Bill Nicholson. He could have gone elsewhere as recent stories reveal but a promise of a house and a car for him and his family* saw Gazza head down south and whisked away from that man Fergie's sweaty grasp.
From then on, we all know how it ended. He took us single handedly (or should that be footed?) to the FA Cup Final of 1991, providing us with tears of both joy and sadness along the journey and helped enable the club that we all love to survive - a movie script ending sacrificing himself so that others may live.
Though his career briefly peaked with a trip North of the Border @ Rangers and proved to be the Scots undoing with that goal @ Euro '96, from then on it was the decline, less appearances for lower teams, eventually lower leagues as well as abroad, someone really should have had a word with him.
It was obvious he was having trouble walking away from playing the sport he loved.
With his demons off the pitch that we couldn't possibly try to go into or solve on this blog, we see him now as a shadow of his former self with a tinge of regret of what might have been, but with hope that he is at last happy in himself that although he can no longer entertain on the pitch he can at least try to off of it as a pundit and storyteller.

*remember this was the pre-Levy years!

Hot Shot Tottenham...........

With our first round proper tie against Coventry coming up in the New Year we thought we'd take a look back to the season of '87, when The Mighty Spurs hit the road to Wembley once more........

In these days of Champions League Football and top half table finishes it's easy to forget that we weren't always doing so well. For every piece of silverware in the Eighties there was the doldrums of the Gross/Francis/Hoddle era. Arguable our last great team with a chance of glory before the days of Jol and Redknapp was in '87, under David Pleat.

Pleat had worked wonders @ lowly Luton Town bringing through a batch of young English talent who played attacking, attractive football.
And while people have been quick to criticise AVB for his one up front policy Pleat's masterstroke was to have Clive Allen as the lone ranger with Hoddle & Waddle pulling the strings in a five man midfield he was supplied with a constant stream of balls which he banged into the old onion bag with relish.

At the back we had an England goalie between the sticks in Ray Clemence and in front of him a promising back two of Gary Mabbutt & Richard Gough - Gough had all the hallmarks of becoming another great for Spurs in defence in the mould of Dave Mackay, the team had makings of title contenders - and were fighting on all three fronts......... right up until March at least.

In the run up to the Final Clive Allen had beaten Jimmy Greaves' scoring record for a season with a couple against Watford's one time bar owner and stand in keeper for the day Gary Plumley, while Hoddle had signed off in the League with a superb solo effort against Oxford United.

Inevitably for Spurs it was a season of what could have beens - knocked out of the League Cup in the Semi by the Scum and fading in the League itself all hopes rested on the FA Cup Final.
Back when Wembley basked in sunshine for these occasions and the result really mattered, the '87 was one of the best of recent times. It'll be remembered though for a mix up of sponsored shirts, Keith Houchen's diving header and Gary Mabbutt's Knee......

Where are they now?

Richard Gough - Could have been one of our greatest defenders of all time when he came in from Dundee United but homesickness (his wife's apparently) saw him move back North of the border after just the one season and have a hugely successful career with Rangers. Homesickness cured, a few years later he came back down South with Everton.

Glenn Hoddle - Left for Monaco @ the end of the season to ply his trade in Europe (English Teams were banned), played under a manager that would come back to haunt Spurs on a number of occasions a fact made even worse with the revelation that Hoddle after becoming England manager recommended the Frenchman to David Dein!

Gary Mabbutt - The term Legend may be overused but for Mabbutt - a diabetes sufferer, it couldn't have been more apt. The deflected goal from his knee and disappointment that followed would be redeemed in the '91 Final which saw Mabbs lift the trophy. To have played @  a top club for sixteen years performing at the highest level week in week out as well as gaining England caps is a testament to the man - a model professional.

Through the Spurs window.......

So with our new boss confirmed and some signings begining to come in it's an ideal time to look forward to next season. Here we present our hopes for The Mighty Spurs under AVB......

With so many 'squad' players unable to gain any playing time under 'Arry, theres a good chance that they've forgotten how to tie there boot laces let alone kick a size 5 football! It would be good to see the likes of Bentley, Gio, Rose and Kane given a chance. After all we learnt last season that squad rotation is important

How about attempting to win the Europa League*? We started on a vicious circle of not wanting to be in the thing so not really bothering only to qualify for it again! What about setting out to win the thing? Get another trophy on the honours list and give our players the chance to actually feel like champions........it's a start in the right direction.

*or any trophy for that matter

It would be nice to hit the ground running for a change! We always seem to start the season terrible and end up having to play catch up! Just think if we had took just a point from our opening two games we would of ended up 3rd!

Consistancy - from our players and manager. Ok so we all have off days but how many times have we struggled in games that on paper we should have dominated and won.........Norwich, Swansea, Wolves anyone?? Some straight talking from the boss would also be nice, let's hope AVB doesn't attempt mind games with all the others and just get's on with the job in hand.

A 30 goal a season striker, AVB why not go for a cheeky bid for RVP? Defoe hasn't been up to scratch for a long time now! with Ade expected to sign and VDV expecting to move on, nows the time to get a top notch striker in.

Plan B, or even C or D. If things aren't working on the pitch.......change 'em! Having said that, let other teams worry about us, let's not pander to them and while we're at it let's not roll over @ home to Man U like we do every season!


Let's not change our support though eh? The best in the country, get behind the team @ WHL or on the road we out sing them all!

Arry for England?

Cast your minds back to start of the year... Everything was looking spot on, challenging the Manchester duo for the title, The Scum and Chelsea were in free fall and England still had FAB! 'Arry was tipped to take the England hot seat after the Euros and Spurs were going to do the double and 'Arry would get the blessing of the mighty Spurs fans has he went on his way to bring the World Cup trophy back to England! Former Lane hero Robbie Keane had just arrived back in the Premiership on loan @ Villa park and all the press wanted to do was ask him about Spurs possibly winning the title!

As 2012 started to unwind, the wheels started to wobble. Spurs played a blinder away to City yet lost to a last minute pen! If only BAE had let that ball run out for a throw and more to the point if the ref had spotted Bad boy Balotelli's stamp on Parker earlier on in the second half! Meanwhile 'Arry was clearing his name in the courts regarding TAX issues.

An unfortunate sequence of events then unfolded in a matter of hours... 'Arry got the all clear from the big wigs in court and then FAB held a meeting @ F.A head quarters and then shortly after a few cups of tea it was decided that England and FAB were no more! Rumors started to circle that 'Arry would walk away from the Lane! With no official approach from the F.A the media served up a storm in a tea cup! All the fans wanted to hear from 'Arry was that he was committed to the club.... what we heard via the press was he had a job to do @ the Lane. Although in fairness, All 'Arry was saying was that "he hasn't been approached!" @ first it didn't seem to cast any negativity around the club.... A 5-0 win against Newcastle pushed Spurs further away from the scum! and gave us are biggest league win since 'Arrys boys stuck 9 past Wigan a few seasons back! The top team in London had a nice ring to it and with shouts of Mind the gap, there wasn't a chance they could catch us!!

Then like a plague disaster struck! We were tipped to put the final nail in the Wenger coffin, with a 2-0 lead within the first 20 mins and new boy Saha on the score sheet it was supposed to be how many can we score! Then before we knew it we were 5-2 down and doom and gloom started to set in! 'Arry called it a blip! But then defeats to a struggling Everton team and a home defeat to Man United followed! Stoke then almost left the Lane with 3 points only a last minute header from VDV sparing our blushes! The media then threw into the mix that talk of the England job had took 'Arry and Tottenhams focus off the task in hand! 'Arry rejected their claims and Spurs then played a blinder against Chelsea @ the Bridge only to be denied by a series of great saves and the wood work! Meanwhile the red half of North London had gone on a mini revival and had leaped frogged us into 3rd!

A 3-1 win over Swansea then followed, and the players and fans a like all believed we were right back on track! Even Lawro predicted maximum points from our Easter schedule! A boring 0-0 draw away to Sunderland Failed to dampen our top 4 hopes, after all the scum had to play City! By tea time yesterday the scum had beaten City and today's game against Norwich became a must win! Norwich @ the Lane! What could go wrong? 'Arry shuffled his pack and made a few changes, 90 odd minutes later Spurs had lost their 3rd home game this season! (last season we only lost one @ home) Meanwhile the surprise package of the season in Newcastle had won their game and found themselves only out the top 4 on goal difference!

So for all the highs we've had this season has 'Arry been a victim of his own success? After all every team hits a blip! Look @ City! So with our league form looking more like relegation standard than champions league standard, can the lads regain their form for the remainder of the season and put some breathing space between ourselves and the chasing pack? But more importantly can the lads regain their early season form for the weekends FA cup semi final tie against Chelsea?

Now Although a top four finish would be great, a trophy in my view would be better! Look@ the scum, they ain't won a bean since 2006! And how we love to rub that into their scummy little brains! Don't they know it! How great would it be if we brought the FA cup back to North London! After all... the history books don't care who finished 2nd, 3rd or 4th! Can anyone without going on a stats site name the teams that finished 2nd ,3rd or 4th in 1999 or 2003? What i can tell ya is that the Champions league didn't do Leeds any favors!

History books care about winners! And a bonus to that is a cracking day out @ Wembley! COYS