So-called ‘experts’ are paid to comment on the game. Alan Hansen says:
If I had been asked at the start of the season to nominate a team to drop out of the Premier League’s top four, I would have picked Arsenal. And Tottenham would have been my choice to replace them. Look what has happened to those north London rivals since then.
Not quite up there with his classic ‘You can’t win anything with kids’ line but close enough.
After GMTV were fined £2 million for allowing people to enter competitions they had no chance of winning, it is still unclear what punishment the Premier League will face for letting Derby County into the Premiership.
[Insert manager name here] was furious after his side’s [result] against Liverpool this [afternoon/evening]. [Manager name] was upset that [Insert referee name here] failed to see Jamie Carragher haul down [insert player name here] in the area.
Carragher appeared to jump on the back of [player name] and put him in a choke hold before body slamming him then keeping his shoulders pressed to the floor for a count of three.
[Player name]’s team-mates and the [insert team name here] fans were livid - and even home fans did that thing where you look at someone and shrug as if to say ‘I don’t know how we got away with that but I’m not complaining’.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said it was clear that [player name] had dived while Carragher said “I never touched him, honest!”
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When reporting on a Liverpool game simply use this template for the appropriate part of the report. It will literally save you seconds.
Martin Jol takes over, gets Spurs to a creditable 5th in the table. Their highest ever Premiership finish.
The very next season he consolidates them in that position which is no small achievement with the established strength of United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool ahead of him.
This summer they spend an absolute fortune on players but due to the board’s idiocy completely undermine the manager, causing him to lose the dressing room. The players know he’s a dead man walking, they respond accordingly.
Some of Spurs players should hang their heads. They should realise they don’t play for the manager, but for the club. Martin Jol has been treated appallingly by the Spurs board and by some of his more senior players. Berbatov in particular will have done nothing to enhance his reputation as a top player with his sulking and antics. And let’s remember all Berbatov’s goals come against lesser teams, he hasn’t once scored in the league against any of the top 4.
Juande Ramos will come in, perhaps, but there’s nothing like the expectation surrounding a new coach at White Hart Lane. All he’ll hear is about the glory days and the stylish football but Spurs fans are living in the past. They haven’t won the league since 1961 and haven’t come close between then and now.
Today’s newspapers are hailing Ramos as a cross between Wenger, Ferguson and Mourinho. Nothing like building him up to knock him down again. Spurs fans will get all excited but those with any sense at all should be embarrassed about the way their club has behaved. They just sacked the most successful league manager they’ve had in years.
Let’s not overlook that Daniel Levy’s only ambitions for Spurs are to get them into the Champions League - so he can sell the club! Not so he can make them a major force in the long term but because he wants to sell at the highest possible price. That kind of short term thinking is what has them, deservedly, in the relegation zone.
The only way is down, with any luck.
Relegation.
A few eyebrows will have been raised by the downright bizarre appointment of Gary Megson, i.e. anyone who has followed West Brom, Forest, Stoke or even Leicester in the last few years. I remember him best at Forest, taking a once great club down the Leagues, playing players out of position and showing he knows as much about football as my 1977 Luke Skywalker figure, the one with the yellow lightsabre.
He has a reputation for falling out with players as well, and with such tender egos as Anelka and Diouf to contend with, you can expect to see them with BIG “Come And Get Me” signs round their necks very soon indeed - although El Hadji’s one may be covered in gob (the dirty spitting fecker). Even the likes of Kevin Nolan will have their patience tested, I am sure. Sammy Lee tried to get them to play a bit, it didn’t work. Archie Knox tried to get them to play like they did under Allardyce against Arsenal - it didn’t work. Megson won’t work.
This is not a “Let’s wait and see” scenario. This is a “They’re fucked” scenario. I have no affection for Bolton, having seen them elbow their way up to 8th position in the Premiership, start time wasting after 20 minutes of the first half in a game I was at (they still didn’t win) and generally be as dislikeable as possible so I couldn’t pretend to give half a monkey’s about them - but those who do care will be just as negative as I am.
Arsenal’s 6th goal in their demolition of Slavia Prague sums up all that’s good about Arsene Wenger’s team. Pace, power, precision passing and a wonderful finish. Remember that the Gunners were 5-0 up at the time yet Fabregas ran the length of the pitch to get involved.
Just beautiful football for Arsenal fans and neutrals to enjoy.
Before anyone starts, I realise that it wasn’t Inter Milan or Real Madrid, but the performance by Arsenal tonight was in parts breathtaking. They appear to have learnt from mistakes, there was clinical finishing, good defending and although they did try to walk it in a couple of times, they didn’t sit back on a narrow lead.
It will be distinctly different when they play Liverpool at the weekend, but confidence is high and they are playing very, very well. The only downside of any of this is the complaining by certain squad members that they aren’t playing - if they look at the team that is being picked, do they really think that they could do better? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
If you don’t already know about 101 great goals it’s a fantastic website which provides links to football clips on YouTube and other video hosting sites.
For many fans it’s the only way they can see their teams in action. However, in this piece the gaffer over there expresses his concerns over the future of the site, and it’s understandable that he has them.
I commented recently on why streaming was so popular and the backlash that was emerging against it.
Let’s be clear here now though. 101 great goals does not upload or host videos on its site, it merely provides links. That may not be enough to save it if the lawyers get their way and it would be a real shame.
Again it merely highlights that where there’s a huge demand for a service the authorities and the bigwigs are more concerned with stopping someone providing that service than trying to figure out a way of doing it themselves. Like the record companies, like the people who close down the streaming services, they’re so focussed on the negatives they’re blind to the positives.
I hope 101 great goals doesn’t fall foul of these people. Keep it up as long as you can, Sir. We’re right behind you.
Possibly the worst centre-half I’ve seen since Titus Bramble. In his short time in the Premier League I’ve seen him turn his back on the ball more than any other player.
Defensively Spurs are a shambles and a lot of it is down to him.
Well, it’s got to be Martin Jol, hasn’t it? Watching an embarrassed Paul Robinson squirm uncomfortably while Macca and Tim Sherwood pull the Spurs team apart made me think he knows something - and not how much a Wispa is.
Martin says;
Even against Newcastle we tried to come back but we concede goals at the wrong moment all the time.
Sorry - “Even against Newcastle“?! What does that mean? There is never a good time to concede a goal, but what the result showed is that it’s not ALL Robinson’s fault - I’d say it was Dawson (for two goals) and Kaboul (for the other). I didn’t think Newcastle were brilliant, Owen was anonymous for most of the time he was on, but they did manage to keep the ball for more than three passes at a time.
Spurs will stay up, but it’ll be a long season for them - when Ledley King gets back it will make an improvement, but it’s not going to be the end of their problems - for example, Berbatov doesn’t look bothered any more, Bent is crap, Jenas is lazy and Robbie Keane is the only one that appears to give half a shit. The return of one player does not mean a turnaround in a team’s fortunes, especially one who is quite so injury prone, no matter how influential. Would another manager be able to pull this team together? They’ve spent a lot of money, just like Liverpool and Man Yoo have done, but have not yielded the same results. The board will only be so patient, especially when they look down the road and see what their neighbours have done without spunking so much money.
Who could replace him in the Spurs hot seat? I did read that Steve Staunton will be available soon.