Match Report: Spurs 1 - Sunderland 0

So close, yet so far. Seems to be a bit of a recurring theme being a Spurs fan but it’s something we’ve unfortunately grown to know.

Yesterday was a day of reflection – one lousy point. For me simply finishing above Arsenal outweighs qualification for the Champions League.

Asking Newcastle to do us a favour was always going to be a big ask and when it came to the crunch they failed to do so.

The pre match atmosphere around White Hart Lane was fairly mixed. You had some really pumped up itching to get into the stadium and others fairly relaxed, causally expecting the worst.

Paolo Di Canio set up his side to be tight. After a trouncing at Villa a few weeks ago, he has pulled back from his original gung ho mentality which has seen them ship 3 in their last 3.

A few hefty challenges early doors raised the noise levels at the Lane and with the real first talking point of the game going against us – it only jeered us up.

Tommy Huddlestone’s delightful through ball set Bale free, marching in on goal sure to atleast test the keeper before being pulled to the floor by funny enough ex Arsenal player Seb Larrson.

Andre Marriner’s incorrect assumption was judged a good 40 yards away and the yellow dished out for simulation was laughable.

A whole season passes by without a single penalty, it’s got to be the first in a very, very long while!

The disbelief was a sign of things to come.

Down the other end Hugo Lloris had to remain on his toes denying Connor Wickham’s sweeping drive away for a corner just before the break and then preventing Danny Graham grabbing his first Sunderland goal palming away a shot down low to his left just after the break.

Tensions increased. Adebayor’s stab looked to be denied by Cuellar’s arm whilst stumbling to the ground. You’ve seen them given.

News soon filtered through of the lot up the road’s goal at St James’. It had a sense of de ja vu.

Off the line, off the post. Argh. It was nearing head in hands time. With the false news of  Newcastle equalising only made things worse.

Despite the man advantage Mignolet done his best to keep the scores level.

Benny skipped off with the minutes closing, possibly his last appearance in a Spurs shirt.

Eventually the break through, a little too late but worthy of winning any game from the player of the season. A fitting end to the season from a personal perspective.

Cutting in from the right and pinging past the despairing Mignolet offered hope. But unfortunately that hope soon fizzled out.

The celebrations were slightly subdued in areas as you’d expect.

After the inevitable end of season awards were dished out to Bale, the players embarked on the traditional lap of honour. Some heads were bowed, some hopeful moving on.

It was quite fitting Andre was a couple of yards behind them all holding his daughter’s hand – he looked a bit gutted as you’d expect but overall can hold his head high.

All in all it’s been a season of promise. Despite the disappointing exits in all three cup competitions it’s one to build on over the summer.

RIP Rudolph'sPost match it was time to say bye to another Tottenham pub, this time Rudolphs which presumably has gone with the new stadium development in mind.

Well there's only so much you can write about Sunday... *sighs*

Over the coming days and weeks there will be a series of articles. I’ll be analysing each playing position at the club, doing an end of season review, a few “top 5s” and a few other bits so stay tuned for that.

I hope you all have a great summer. Thanks for reading over the course of the season.

Up the Spurs.

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto (Sigurdsson 84); Lennon, Huddlestone, Parker (Dembele 64), Dempsey (Defoe 73); Bale, Adebayor.

Substitutes (not used): Friedel, Naughton, Caulker, Holtby.

Sunderland: Mignolet; Larsson, Cuellar, O’Shea, Colback; Johnson, N’Diaye, Vaughan, McClean (Knott 73); Graham (Mandron 74), Wickham (Mitchell 88).

Substitutes (not used): Westwood, Marrs, Ferguson, Harrison, Mitchell.

Goal: Spurs - Bale (88)

Red Card: Sunderland – Vaughan.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

Attendance: 36,063

Match Preview: Sunderland (H) 19/05/13

The finale of what to me feels like one of the longest seasons in recent memory is upon us.

We’re in with a chance and on reflection I’m sure the majority of us would of took that going into the last game given the summer changes from the manager down.

Yes we were 7 clear of Arsenal at one point, but we’re Tottenham Hotspur – we don’t do it the easy way.

Last year was a kick in the balls with Bayern failing to win on home turf when it all mattered and this year we potentially could finish up with one of the highest points totals for teams failing to secure the sacred Champions League quest.

It’s a bit of bad luck in some respects but when you think we only took a point off relegated Wigan, the home defeat to Fulham and so on you start to think “what if”.

Anyway… We all know our fate and I’ll be covering the season as a whole next week in more detail.

Onto the game in question - Sunderland come to White Hart Lane safe.

There’s an argument their motivation levels will have lapsed and will roll over, which is fair enough but new manager Paolo Di Canio has said Sunday’s individual performances will go along way to securing squad status for next term. It’s an incentive to drive on the Sunderland starting 11 to do well.

Same could be said about Newcastle, but I don’t want to harp on about that game.

Danny Rose will obviously sit out through the loan agreement terms bringing his highly successful time on Wearside to an end. It’s clear if you’ve read his Social Media snippets of late he’d be open to extending his stay up there, so it’ll prove an interesting transfer saga over the summer it seems.

His settled slot at left back will be vacant for the game, which given his form will no doubt upset the rhythm of the side.

Strikers Steven Fletcher and Stephane Sessegnon are both ruled out leaving goal-less striker Danny Graham to lead the line. He’s failed to find the net since his big money move from Swansea and will be almost desperate to try and finish with a bang.

There’s been some topsy turvy results for the new manager and given his playing days – his side give the impression they will be fairly unpredictable moving ahead.

Set pieces is a danger… Seb Larsson can ping them in from all directions – he’s got a lovely right foot and will provide the ammo from dead ball situations.

Adam Johnson shocked a few people when he moved from City in the summer for big money. Half a dozen or so goals later and he’ll be feeling a bit better after an inconsistent start. He’s got the tricks to cause our fullbacks some issues with his close ball control.

Like for like winger James McLean appears to have gone off the boil this season following on from the promise showed last. It can't have been easy given the media attention he bought to himself, but he's only to blame.

John O'Shea's lack of pace could play into our hand with our player coming quick and direct.

It's still so tight in the bottom half and with each finishing position worth an extra few hundred grand I can't see the Black Cats just turning up and looking to finish and go on holiday.

Onto more pressing matters, our selection.

Tommy Huddlestone’s one attribute that usually stands out; his passing has even gone amiss of late and with a win required I’d be inclined to remove his extra layer of protection and opt for Gylfi down the left.

He’s an option to bring on late should we need to tighten things up but to be honest wouldn’t have him in from the off.

Adebayor’s back to back goals make him the main to lead the line with Bale floating.

Defoe’s pace could also be used from the bench. It’s an area that despite being overloaded in the past has looked bare at times. It surely will be revamped in the summer.

Sounds as if Benny is touch and go but he offers more of a balance at left back than Naughton and with Vertonghen coming inside it’s natural for him to feature if fit. It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the summer with Benny, it’s clear as day he’s not overly fancied by Andre so will be itching to play.

Given the must win nature, you get the impression Hugo Lloris will play even more of a sweeper keeper than usual. I wouldn't be too surprised if we see Caulker with his natural footballing ability, bringing the ball from deeper.

The selection will be an intruiging one. All eyes will be on the Spurs social media channels 90 minutes before kick off.

Fingers crossed for the right result at St James' - it's sure to be a nerve racking afternoon. COYS!

Line up: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, BAE; Lennon, Parker, Dembele, Sigurdsson; Bale; Adebayor

Prediction: 3-1 Spurs after some tension… Will we get Champions League? I’m not going to tempt fate… COYS!

Legends Charity Night w/ Ardiles, Perryman, Roberts & Hazard

I am delighted to announce I'll be putting on a Spurs Legends Charity Night at Staines Town F.C. (The Thames Club) on Friday 13th September featuring Ossie Ardiles, Steve Perryman, Graham Roberts and Micky Hazard - Full details are below;

To order, simply click on the "buy now" button below.

I hope you can join for what will be a great night. The venue itself is very intimate so don't delay with tickets given quite a few have already been snapped up!

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please use the "contact" page on this website.

Thanks.

Match Report: Stoke 1 - Spurs 2

Well from a personal perspective the trip was an absolute nightmare.

Train cancellations and significant delays resulted in us having to turn around at Rugby train station with quite a few other Spurs and head back into London Euston to watch the game in a nearby pub.

Someone tossed themselves onto the train line just outside of Stoke causing mayhem as a good 250+ Spurs fans were stranded at Rugby station.

Whilst a large proportion hedged their bets and traveled onward to Birmingham (some getting in at half time, some getting in deep into the second half) some completely missed the game whilst still traveling up and others forked out some serious dough to travel via Taxi.

I’m not overly comfortable reporting from watching the game on the T.V.

One of the reasons I set up this site was to give a bit of insight to those who can’t make the games and by just shouting out what is shown to all across the box isn’t really providing any unique feedback.

A few weeks on from his relaxed penalty miss in Basel, Emmanuel Adebayor is slowly picking up some much needed form and goals at just the right time.

His late winner yesterday makes in 2 in 2, a rarity in his second season at the club.

A truly awful start, yet another goal conceded from a set play. Scotty Parker was static as N’Zonzi who wearing them style of glasses you used to wear in a Science class peeled away and nodded past Lloris who could of done better, flat footed and palming onto the post.

I’m surprised to see a lack of communication of late from set plays given the likes of Dawson and Vertonghen who come across as big speakers. Half the players seemed to be marking “zonal” and the others “man” it was a bit of a shambles.

From the opening goal it’s safe to say the game was pretty 1 sided though Kyle Walker was possibly lucky not to concede a penalty for dragging down one of the Stoke players. You’ve seen them given that’s for sure.

Gareth Bale, as he usually does had a few pot shots from distance

Clint Dempsey’s opportunist block come lob looped over keeper Asmir Begovic, who has his own reasons to put in a display against us – who he so nearly joined a few years back, into the empty net. A bizarre yet much needed equaliser.

He’s far from being the most popular player in the squad and in my book doesn’t really feel like being a major first team player over the next 2-3 years, but you can’t deny he produced the goods on the day.

Michael Dawson’s flick header was palmed away by Begovic as the pressure was ramped up going into the break.

Tommy Huddlestone didn’t do his on-going selection chances much good, an array of yet more sloppy set pieces were yet evident.

Robert Huth and Charlie Adam, who the later was rightly shown red early in the second half continued to foul on a regular basis. Adam’s red handed us the initiative. It’s quite worrying to think he would of ended up at Spurs had Redknapp had his way, what a thug.

Ade and Caulker celebrateClint’s cool and composed pass for Adebayor’s winner was a testament to the side’s second half domination that eventually paid off.

Not entirely sure of Ade's dance moves but good to see him on the scoresheet.

His comments today about not knowing his future next season says to me he fancies a move, which will delight a large section of the fanbase.

So it goes down to the last game, pressure is switched back onto Arsenal who host Wigan tomorrow night. It’s a fixture that will be watched through the fingers of many Spurs fans.

Roberto Martinez’s side won at The Emirates last year and fresh from Saturday’s FA Cup heroics will be full of confidence in what is must win for The Latics.

On closing, good luck to the U21’s tonight as they play Everton in the semi final of the inaugural under 21 campaign.

Stoke City: Begovic; Shotton (Cameron, 74), Huth, Shawcross, Wilson; Adam, Nzonzi, Whitehead, Etherington (Wilkinson, 57); Crouch (Jerome, 57), Walters.

Unused subs: Sorensen, Jones, Owen, Kightly.

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Caulker, Dawson, Vertonghen; Lennon (Defoe, 74), Huddlestone, Parker (Dembele, 68), Dempsey (Sigurdsson, 84); Adebayor, Bale.

Unused subs: Friedel, Naughton, Carroll, Holtby.

Yellow cards: Stoke - Huth, Begovic, Adam, Shotton. Spurs - Huddlestone.

Red card: Stoke - Adam (second yellow card).

Goals: Stoke - Nzonzi (3). Spurs - Dempsey (20), Adebayor (83).

Ref: Mr K Friend.

Attendance: 27,531.

Match Preview: Chelsea (A) 08/05/13

It’s almost got to the stage where it’s win or bust for our Champions League qualification hopes as we head to Stamford Bridge tonight.

With near half a team out injured it’s going to be tough with Chelsea looking revitalised coming into some rich form at just the right time but ‘To dare is to do’ as the slogan states.

Andre will deep down have his own incentives to get one over the Chelsea hierarchy given his sacking back in March last year but will understandably brush it to one side in front of the media circus.

London derbies are always a fierce affair with fans of both sides up for the fixture. There is an element of fate surrounding this fixture which has got worse over the last decade. Hopefully it brews up a cauldron of noise and plays into our hands.

It was a big shame Juan Mata’s late winner at Old Trafford has pushed them a bit ahead of us, though it could potentially work in our favour with them knowing even a narrow away victory and we’ll still be trailing them in the table. Let’s hope they are a bit complacent and have one eye on another European cup final.

It’s looking like Mousa Dembele, who stuck up a picture of him in Holland last night “recovering” will miss the game. A huge blow given he’s the real engine of the midfield. To me it looks as if he needs his hip sorting. I remember when he joined there was talk of no real cure or operation that could fix him, just rest which is a little concerning for the future.

Assuming Scott Parker will come back into the fold and his work rate alongside Lewis Holtby who I’d have in a middle 3 alongside Huddlestone, will need to give 110% for the full 90.

Easier said than done but with Ramires back for the home side, you know he won’t stop running which will need to be matched.

Tommy’s distribution could be key picking passes to start possible counter attacks but he needs to up the pace – he can’t stop and dwindle on the ball giving Chelsea space to close down and regroup.

A Chelsea supporting mate of mine is worried about Lennon, claiming he often puts in a decent display against them. It’s critical he starts for me.

That being said it’s nice to have a few options off the bench with Dempsey and Sig late on.

Gareth Bale just keeps on racking up the plaudits and his late winner last Saturday has us still in the mix. He’s a game changer and game winner, there’s no doubts if he’s firing on all cylinders tonight Chelsea will be troubled.

If AVB can outwit the equally tactic-obsessed Benitez we’ll be in with a shot. The positioning of Bale may be the biggest pendulum to see which way the game sways.

Should Rafa get things right and effectively limit Bale’s input you’d have to fancy the home side. That being said Andre has got Gareth playing in 2 or 3 slight variations of his “usual” position which is a great plus point for us to change things if they are not going our way.

With Cahill and Terry the likely centre back pairing it throws up an interesting debate whether to opt with Defoe or Adebayor. Or both, which I hope isn’t the case.

Defoe’s pace can cause some issues for Terry who’s lost a yard but Adebayor’s presence could be the better option to mix it with them both in the air and on the deck.

Both team’s right backs will be heavily involved tonight I suspect. Kyle Walker will look to bomb on and help from an attacking perspective but will almost definitely leave himself exposed on more than one occasion.

César Azpilicueta is getting a steady run at right back for the Blues and if there’s some position you think we can get some joy in this strong Chelsea line up it could be here. His inexperience in such game could lead to some nerves and if I was AVB, I’d be swapping Lennon and Bale to have a go at him.

Brace yourselvesFrank Lampard is just shy of the all time goal scoring record at Chelsea and if there’s one team a player would love to line up against with such record on the horizon – it’s Spurs. Get your pennies on Chelsea to be awarded a penalty tonight.

Despite his off the ball antics there’s no doubting David Luiz has talent. Presumably he’ll line up as an anchor in the midfield tonight but can also venture forward with ease, he possesses some lovely touches when the ball’s at his feet and has an eye for goal as we’ve seen lately.

It’s a shame Dembele won’t be in there to combat him and Ramires, putting more of an emphasis on Parker to be disciplined.

You’ll have noticed there was no Southampton review, the long Bank Holiday was a bit messy to say the least. It’ll be touch and go whether there will be a Chelsea review up with a stag do starting at 8am but I shall try my hardest!

The last time we won at The Bridge was through a Gary Lineker goal, similar to the circumstances around our victory at Old Trafford. We have to win there some day and personally, I think we’re due some luck there… COYS!

Line up: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Ekotto; Huddlestone, Parker, Holtby; Lennon, Adebayor, Bale

Prediction: Unfortunately I’m struggling to see anything but a home win, it’s on the cards Lampard will break the record as well. 3-1 Chelsea.