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Misplaced Childhood, Side 1,Track 5

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Good Morning,

The first prattle of the season and it’s for the Europa. We’ve watched this game, this competition travel towards us for some time now and I’ve decided we really need to embrace it. It being …in Europe.

We need to distinguish ourselves and try at least to abandon this fast food attitude to football. Looking across a variety of teams forums as I do, there is a needy child element within most fan bases, all looking for confirmation that Messi has signed and that they’ve been given a bye to the Champions League final.

Life doesn’t work like that. Aside from once in a lifetime deals when the Treasurer of The Crown Prince of Nigeria emails you personally asking you to assist in a mutually beneficial business transaction, good times rarely come easy.

“If we’re not in Europe, we’re nothing.”

Do you really think that Bill Nicholson was the type of chap to make pronouncements like this and then mumble afterwards, ‘Err, with some obvious caveats..’ ? No, nor do I.

Yes it’s less money, yes it’s more effort. But any money is good when you’re building for the future and we currently have the largest squad in Western Europe outside of the Cirque du Soleil and the similarities don’t end there…

So let’s embrace this competition and if we’re in it, try to win it. Eh?

The Jam TartsĀ  seem to be looking forward to the game but less so to the probable result. The atmosphere ought to be intense enough, Tynecastle is an old fashioned ground and the fans are right up to the pitch.

And I am given to understand Mr Dave McKay may very well be on the premises …what more motivation can possibly I give you? Bring it on.

So. We have a lump of players who need to be shop windowed/given some game time. Let’s exploit the Europa and quit the groaning.

BIOYC!

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133 comments

  • hotspurhartley says:

    The problem we have is that Arry Rubberchops aint no Bill Nicholson and therefore he doesn’t really give a flying f*ck about the Europa League. I would love to watch my beloved Spurs go on and win this competition but I have a feeling that we won’t even get past Hearts with this chump in charge…. :-( :-(

    • onedavemackay says:

      That’ll be the same chump that took us to the quarter finals of the CL then ………..

      • hotspurhartley says:

        You have missed the point….The CL gets Arry on telly, the Europa gets Arry on ITV 3, therefore the Europa League doesn’t really matter

        • toddspur says:

          He’s not the only one; your comment makes no sense at all

        • hotspurhartley says:

          You know what I mean, Arry is about maximum publicity for Arry and ITV 3 or Channel 5 do not fit into this category….

        • toddspur says:

          stupid blog site; this is response to your last comment;

          Sky go searching for Arry for interviews cos thats what they are paid to do……………much the same as C5, ITV etc etc..

          My only criticism of Arry is that he is often too honest and perhaps tries to be witty whenit aint appropriate….thats his make-up

          None of this makes him viable for the chop
          His achievements are also there for us to see

    • SpursGator says:

      I am not going to go through the ‘2 points from 8’ bit, and Harry is far from perfect as a manager. But a chump? This man absolutely transformed our club the day he arrived. Turned things around completely, got the right players on the pitch (which we hadn’t seen since…uh…before I was born maybe?), got the lads playing well and winning games, took us to the Champions League for the first time since before there was one, coaxed big-time performances out of players Ramos couldn’t even coach (like THud and BAE)…I could go on but suffice to say that we went to the final 8 of Europe despite paying our players a fraction of what the big boys pay, and finished 4th and 5th despite being absolutely ravaged with injuries. And now he’s the most likely choice as the next England manager.

      What exactly is it that you want, Harry Haters? I am familiar with some of the criticisms of Harry (mostly that he’s a West Ham man but there are more football-related ones). Even if it’s all true, calling him a ‘chump’ is utterly outrageous. You don’t think he can get past Hearts…well this chump managed to get past AC fucking Milan.

      Harry is a Yid, he’s our manager, and it has been the best run in years with him in charge. Doesn’t mean he’s above all criticism. But if you’re in public or online calling him names and slagging him personally, what does that say about you? You want to tear down the best manager we’ve had in a generation (or are likely to get, frankly)? You’re tearing at the foundation of the club.

      You ain’t no Yid, ‘hotspur’ hartley, when you’re working for the enemy. I am so tired of these witless trolls slagging our manager at every turn. Criticise his decisions if you want. But if Harry left this club tomorrow, we would be well and truly fucked, and I cannot understand how people can’t see that, regardless of the man’s faults.

      • hotspurhartley says:

        Are you on your menstrual cycle or simply just a misguided fool? Resorting to telling a yid of 40 years he’s working for the enemy just because you disagree with his comments on a forum is pretty sad….

        • hotspurhartley says:

          Experienced I can live with, but successful??? Could you elaborate please?

        • John White says:

          As is calling a highly experienced and successful manager a chump, and resorting to vulgar abuse when subjected to far less criticism than you’ve given out.

        • hotspurhartley says:

          Harry my reply should be to John White but has landed above it, any chance you could move it please?

        • SpursGator says:

          Now I’m the unreasonable one? Your ‘comments’ are out of line. Name-calling and personal attacks are something that trolls from other clubs do. It’s your manager. 40 years with a club gives you the right to get upset when things aren’t going well, and to slag the manager. But he’s been successful, for God’s sake.

          If you think we should/could have finished 4th last year, I would agree. I even would agree that Harry made mistakes in selection and formation that contributed. But I think the massive injury problems we faced (Huddlestone, Kaboul, Defoe, Corluka, Gallas, Lennon, and Dawson missed substantial parts of the season, King barely played at all, and Bale missed most of the stretch run when we fell behind), as well as the huge investments made by Man City, not to mention that none of our strikers (all internationals) had a decent season, and – oh yeah – the club bought fuck all in January – I think these were all bigger factors than whatever you think Harry’s coaching blunders were.

          You could disagree, and completely dissect his decisions and, ultimately, make a strong case that Harry is indeed shit and that we’d be better off with David Moyes or Jurgen Klinsmann or Jose Mourinho or Diego Maradona. That would be a debate – it would be commentary. You as a supporter have every right.

          But taking every opportunity to call our manager names? That’s just treason. One risk that all teams, at every level, in every sport face is the buildup of negativity. One guy doesn’t like the coach, one guy is underpaid, another thinks he’s in the wrong position, the fans detest the director of football, etc. It’s a risk even to pub teams…those always go pear-shaped when somebody goes storming off in anger one Sunday, or the collective wives’ hatred of it just overpowers everything and makes it no fun.

          You and fans of your ilk just crank up the negativity. Our job as fans is to crank it the other way. Modric got an ovation the other day. That was great. We don’t know what’s going to happen (in fact we do know he’s leaving, at some point), but for now what everyone needed was positivity going into a very challenging season (and really tough next two weeks, transfer window and matches alike). We’ve generally got great fans.

          If you want to help the club move further forward (against the odds, it must be said, with our revenue stream), it should go without saying that commenting on articles about the club by calling our (most successful in years) manager nasty names, is not the way to do it.

          And hotspurhartley – if I’m being completely honest I am reacting to a host of comments by several posters on lots of sites, and your comment was just the trigger. This was not really personally directed at you, just your comment as a quintessential example of something that I have been seething about. So if your comment was totally out of character or meant in jest, I apologize.

        • hotspurhartley says:

          I never said you were unreasonable…. :angel:

      • Essexian76 says:

        It’s hard to disagree with the fact Harry’s arrival turned around the clubs fortune. But it’s Levy that was behind it if you actually analyse the situation. I’ll grant you it was because of his previous mistakes in appointing Ramos, but Harry’s involvement is secondary. Harry’s a good motivator and puts round pegs in round holes, nothing more and will never take us forward. Harry’s spending is dubious to say the least. Having just lost another 10 million on Keane, would you say that Crouch, Defoe, Palacios,Freidal,Pienaar are good purchases? and if so why are they currently in the ‘for sale’ bracket? In closing he (Harry), surrounds himself with sycophants and is inconsistent in his appraisals about the teams fortunes. If he was in sole control, we’d currently be looking for buyers for Cole, James and awful lot more of highly paid, poorly performing players and without doubt up to our eyeballs in debt!

        • toddspur says:

          ok lets dump him

          Ok, thats that sorted

          Who shall we hire?

          This will be interesting

        • UnkleKev says:

          Amazing. At the time the signing of Palacios was (quite rightly) hailed as something of a masterstroke. He was exactly what was required and was hugely instrumental in turning our fortunes around. Now it seems Harry is a chump for buying a player that the team as a whole has probably outgrown.

          The only reason Keane was bought back is because of a long-term injury to Defoe and (I suspect) nobody else was available at short notice. As it happens that particular signing didn’t work out, but can you imagine the flak that would have been hurled if, having just seen Defoe get crocked, Harry sat back and did nothing?

          And if you can point me in the direction of anywhere that suggests Friedel and Pienaar are in the shop window I’d appreciate it. Pienaar’s only ben here ten minutes and already he’s getting slaughtered. Can we at least give him a chance? Or isn’t that the Tottingham way?

      • LLL says:

        You make a pretty good argument. It is odd really, as as much as I am happy that we finally made the CL etc, I also feel most antipathy towards Redknapp than most managers in recent memory.

        I think the thing which winds most fans up is that his vanity and self-interest seem to take precedence over the club. He takes credit for everything good about Tottenham, and blames others for everything bad. Yes, he did get us CL, but with a squad put together by previous managers and scouting teams – a squad he was quick to publicly disown and discredit soon after he was appointed and as soon as they hit a rough patch of form.

        His tactical nous seems pretty low and contrary to popular belief his reliance on Crouch saw some of the poorest ‘football’ we’ve seen for some years. He also absolves himself of any responsibility fr any of the more complicated issues at the club, he effectively blames Levy publicly for our lack of transfer activity even though Levy is stuck paying high wages to a bunch of losers who Redknapp himself has signed since coming here. Similar, he has distanced himself from the Modric issue completely, too pussy to make a clear statement of intent himself – saying it’s all up to Levy as usual. His alleged targets are also infuriating. And when else has a manager moaned so much about the wage structure at the club?

        He also slags off the fans and tells them they’ve never had it so good instead of admitting that the team and management ran out of steam and failed to live up to expectations – expectations he said we had no right to claim even 5 months or so after talking himself of a title challenge!

        So yeah, there is a general sense that he is really here for himself and his own career and interests. He has already said he’s taking the England job as soon as it’s offered, and I don’t have any doubt that the same would go for Chelsea should that ever be wafted his way.

        Some of us would like to see someone a little more honest and obviously committed to the cause. I always fall back on it, but someone more in the mould of Moyes – the amount of shit he takes from his board and the lack of funds available to him and he is never so unprofessional as to moan or slag them off in the press, just gets on with his job.

        • toddspur says:

          perfect he most definately aint

          but he’s the best manager we’ve had in years and there aint anyone else out there who could do a better job

          I will never forget the CL and neither should the naysayers

        • Essexian76 says:

          I think you’ve hit the nail firmly on the head. Trust, you just can’t can you?

        • Astromesmo says:

          Just a general reply – Not specifically to anyone, but the thing that always gets me with the Harry debate is the way that supposition and general tabloid nonsense are bought into the argument.

          We’re prepared to criticise someone for being linked to players that the club has made no firm offer for, or, as far as we know, never shown any interest in. Prime example was when he was asked if he rated some Birmingham player last season and he said ‘He’s a good lad’ next thing it was ‘sack Harry, he’s trying to buy someone from Birmingham’.

          Internet supposition is just that & we should stick to judging people by the facts. Not rumour, or whether we think he’ll be off to England – After all, his detractors conveniently forget that he was recently quoted as saying that anyone would be a mug to take the England job. They selectively ignore that quote.

          The Palacios argument is a great example. When Wilson arrived, everyone hailed it as a masterstroke – He plugged a well-known gap in the middle of the park and was hugely instrumental in our climb up the table. His praises were rightly sung on this and every forum. His drop in form has coincided with the unfortunate news about his brother and I don’t think you can suddenly use Wilson as an example of ‘bad’ buying policy.

          When the side lose it’s Harry’s fault, when the win, it was all down to the players. Even in terms of clearly identifying targets, he’s pretty much damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t – same as for comments after the game. When he talked up our chances he had no sense of reality, when he talked them down he was a defeatist.

          As for tactical nous. For every West Brom, there’s an AC Milan at the San Siro. Again, it depends on which you look at. Let’s not forget that the defeat to Blackpool, we had over 30 attempts on goal to their 4 or 5. He can’t actually walk on to the pitch and put them in the net – Although in that game I’m sure he was tempted to… I know I was.

          My personal opinion is that the jury is still out as to whether he is the man to take us consistently into the CL but that argument also involves the issue of funding, the impact of clubs like City and how the new fiscal rules will pan out. It could be argued that putting pressure on Levy and shifting the focus to him in the Modric saga has made it more likely that Modric would stay – Levy having to ‘stick to his promises’. If that’s the case, then Harry has played it rather well.

          For me, we’re so light years away from where we used to be that I’m not about to start calling for his head on what might have been, could have been or what a mate said could possibly have been. I’ll stick to the facts.

          The club is on a gradual rise, we’re holding on to our best players and we’re winning away at clubs we used to consistently lose against. We now view the European competition that was our sole target as ‘beneath us’ and we do all this with a ground smaller than Everton & Sheffield Wednesday & no bigger than Upton Park.

          I might be easy to please but that does for me just now.

        • LLL says:

          It’s all in the nuances and accent then isn’t it? Yes, we complained that he did the team down at the end of the season, but the perception was that this was really just him making excuses and absolving himself of any notion of failure. When he talked about winning the league, he was pretty out of step with most Spurs fans, except perhaps the hardcore delusional. So that’s why when he then turned around and said that finishing 5th was the best we could have ever dreamed of, it all smacks of bullshit somewhat.

          Same thing that after Modric did his ‘interview’ Redknapp responds with a piece in the national press where he says how triffic Chelsea is and how anyone would want to walk into the dressing room.

          It’s not complicated, we are fans and are loyal to the club. Whilst we are paying the players and management staff’s wages we expect the same, if only for that small amount of their lives. With Harry there is never a sense that he is here on account of us fans, there’s not much gratitude, grace or respect, rather that we should be grateful to him and everything he does. Jol was loved by the fans as it was evident how much he appreciated them and how involved in the club he was.

          Basically, we’re tired of having to take everything Harry says with a pinch of salt, I think I’ve already done both my kidneys with all the salt I’ve been pinching. Whilst he is here he should conduct himself properly, he answers first to the club and it’s fans, the people who employ him and have given him the privilege, the media should come some way after.

      • 39 39 39 says:

        Wendy was an easy act to follow…

        • SpursGator says:

          Who really cares what he says to the media? THAT’S all bullshit as far as I’m concerned. If you look at the things that Wenger, Ferguson, and Mourinho say to the press – it’s absolutely LOADED with bullshit. WHO CARES? We were a team that couldn’t win at Arsenal – now we’re a team that’s come from two down to win there. Perspective! If you took the most popular sports leagues in the world, identified the three best coaches from each league, you know what’s you’d have? A list of egomaniacs. Jol was humble and a great guy. You want him back?

        • LosLorenzo says:

          You’re right, Arsene, Sluralix and Jose are ten times worse than ‘Arry. More self-centered and oblivious to reality.

          In fact, I remember thinking, back when we had straight-shooting Tony Soprano in charge, that his honesty might be his biggest weakness.

          When we beat the Scum at Emptycrates, what did you read about for the next few days? An inexperienced team snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – at home against their arch rivals, no less? Or was it a cranky old Frog, throwing water bottles and making outrageous rationalizations in defense of his players; that bore no resemblance to the reality the rest of us were seeing?

          Sure, ‘Arry doesn’t always give credit where credit is due. He sometimes talks about himself rather than the team. However, he does know the playing staff a lot better than I do, or anyone else commenting on this blog does. He knows his players, and he says what needs to be said. Whether he likes it or not, whether he believes it or not. Maybe he takes credit for wins to keep Thudd and Pav from becoming cocky and over-confident? Perhaps, back when he was bigging up our title chances, he was doing so because he needed to fill the boys with confidence ahead of a big game against Chelsea? The players may be stupid, but they are more than willing to read, if the article is about their own persons.

          Next time you see ‘Arry standing in front of a mic saying something that makes you go ‘what planet is HE on?’/’that arrogant prick!’/[facepalm] (select as appropriate) – remember that he might be deflecting attention away from something, or dictating the terms of debate.

          In today’s game, driven by the massive profits derived from media empires – media handling is becoming a critical and growing aspect of top level management. In that sense, ‘Arry is in fact a “modern manager”. You might even say that being a top manager is becoming more and more akin to being a politician.

          The most successful politicians are usually not the nicest of people. But you have to decide, do you want a likeable man in charge, or a successful one?

  • devonshirespur says:

    With the EFC game off, this takes on extra importance by way of giving our first teamers some proper 100% game time. It is even quite useful that Hearts are already up and running as that will up the challenge we face.

    Therefore I think our first team, or nears as damn it, needs to be in action. 3 subs allowed to be used carefully based more on fitness than strategy….Hudd has not had a full pre season, so maybe an hour or so for him is needed, then perhaps Livermore should taste some action. Corluka is one of those players that needs games before he looks like he could contemplate a full sprint/committed jog so he needs to start, because he has to be first choice for OT. Crouch, Pav & Defoe all need some game time. Maybe 1 hour of VDV & Crouch before Pav & JD get the last third.

    really looking forward to this one, although expectations of liquid football and the destruction of lowly scottish opposition is too much to expect. Solid performaces, good possession of ball, sharpeness in front of goal & no injuries.

  • onedavemackay says:

    One of the side benefits of the Nohoper and the Couldn’t careless cup is that it gives the players on the periphery more games and yes I would be very happy to see us win a European competition again. It ain’t no CL but it is worth winning.

    It would have more interest and credibility if it was purely a traditional knock out competition. The league phase is meaningless

  • Horny Helen says:

    Modric wont play, becasue that would cup tie him and there is still the possibility of a Chelsea move should the deal be favourable to Levey and Spurs, so no Modders.

    • UnkleKev says:

      Modric will not be going to Chelsea.

      • toddspur says:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup-tied

        if this is correct then he can play

        • LosLorenzo says:

          If he plays for us in EL, he can not play for any other team in EL, at any point.

          If he plays for us in EL, then goes to Chelscum, he would be able to play in CL as well. However, if Cheatskit subsequently finished third in the group stage and were ejected into the EL, he would be ineligible.

          Any given team is only allowed one such “crossover” player. So if Chelsea were to purchase Modders AND Bale (no I haven’t jinxed anything) after they had played for us in EL, they would have to decide on one of the two players to be eligible for CL.

          UEFA have been remarkably consistent on these rules, at least by their own low, low standards. What I’m saying is that they have treated small clubs and large ones the same in a very un-Blatteresque manner.

    • toddspur says:

      not sure that is correct

  • Me Again says:

    Modric has got a small ‘thigh strain’ and will not play. Crouch will not play also – injured?

    Conspiracy theorists at the ready……

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