Good morning.
The FA Cup. The Budweiser FA Cup. The Third Round Proper off said competition. Triffic. But will it be? Forget the dismal prospect of one of Arry’s cut and shunt sides being fielded. I’m talking atmosphere.
The West Brom game atmosphere was frequently morgue-like. Despite all the good on the pitch it appears to be an uphill task to generate much off of it.
My joy of watching Spurs at The Lane over the years has ebbed away. Talking to a pal of mine who made the trip to Swansea made me quite jealous of what they have down there. The signing and ‘continental’ chanting from all around The Liberty was simply brilliant.
Newcastle United may have bored us all to with an inch of lives telling us what passionate fans they are; but again the atmosphere at Sid James’ Park against Manchester United was extraordinary.
I can’t ever remember experiencing an atmosphere as naff at an away game as some of the home ones I’ve been to. Readers may have grasped I adopt a zero tolerance on those that seek to gain some dellusional oneupmanship for being regulars at games: so the fact that these clowns brag about hogging a seat whilst being mute pretty much says it all.
If you are attending this afternoon, be a love, buck the trend …and make some bloody noise.
I was rehearsing with ODM and used the line there that fans like me appear to have found their place. Tartan rug on lap, behind glass in a museum. Cups are officially yesterday’s bananas and it’s all about the League.
Well, the way I see it Jimmy Greaves treated himself to a pair of new knees for his 70th birthday. Yett players these days are no longer playing on fields you wouldn’t send a horse out on. They aren’t kicking medicine balls about. Most aren’t smoking a pack a day and having a nip of gold watch at half time.
So when it comes to playing twice a week, don’t coming knocking at my door with some feeble cobblers about being tired. You bore me. What are they on? Thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy grand a week? Get on with it.
If Arry want’s to keep on eye on the Everton game on Wednesday night then he needs open up against Cheltenham with a genuinely strong side and scale it back if we click through the gears and get a goal or two. Opening up with his better players on the bench, ‘in event of an emergency’ is a half witted approach.
BIOYCTC!
You are a buffoon. You suggest you don’t come to games but you criticise the atmosphere? We have one of the best atmospheres in the premier league. 50 thousand Newcastle fans are noisier against Man Utd than we were against west brom? Shock. As for today, you are wrong again. Play fringe players and returning 1st teamers. We might need them to have a run out with upcoming league games in mind. If you are going to blog crap, don’t blog at all.
I am a buffoon, I take that. But for none of the ‘reasons’ you state.
You suggest you don’t come to games
No I did not
50 thousand Newcastle fans are noisier against Man Utd than we were against west brom? Shock
I wasn’t advocating the use of decibel counters, rather that we tried being louder than stopped clocks. Shuffling your feet does not constitute ‘noise‘
As for today, you are wrong again. Play fringe players and returning 1st teamers. We might need them to have a run out with upcoming league games in mind.
Thank you Napoleon.
Whenever I watch Spurs on TV I have this annoying bloke telling me what I already know and his irritating voice mutes the crowd noise, it’s even worse when it’s in Arabic or Hindustani, but if you can determine the atmosphere at the ground via those outlets you’re a better man than I Mr H. Live or nothing..you got to be there!
harry, i cant agree more,the atmosphere is vital to the team, i am lucky enough to get tickets about 4 times a season and the louder we are the better we play and the worse the opponents play,although brimming with some of the foulest language, the best i have felt for years was against chavski when terry got sent off, but it was constant, non stop, and the lane was buzzing. it seems to me that our champions league games had that little something extra along with the derbys but i urge all of you with tickets to make some noise. coys
i urge all of you with tickets to make some noise
You prove my point, sir.
I’d investigate the bulk of those wasting seats at home games and put the quiet, sullen and truculent ones on bans – for not joining in.
HH. We play our strongest team today? 2 from Kaboul, Modric, Bale, Adebayor get knocks or tear muscles. On Wednesday they are replaced by players who have hardly seen a competitive game in weeks. Why have a squad when the second tier players only turn out in an emergency?
Agree about atmosphere.
I’d rest Ade as it happens as he looks like he might need it. Send out Pav & Defoe. If we rest Kaboul surely that leaves the door open for Bassong? Eeek.
Some players leave you on the edge of your seat. Bassong makes me shift uncomfortably in mine, but maybe that’s just the piles brought on by the cold plastic seats…
Regarding “playing too much”, I used to love the Easter fixtures. Games on Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Monday. Three wins in those days was worth six points, and if you got six points over Easter, it usually meant that you were challenging for a place in Europe or even the league.
Today’s players are generally a lot fitter than you would find 40 or even 30 years ago, where if you were in the UEFA cup, a 70 game season was not unknown not including internationals. It wasn’t uncommon when players quit, for them to become window cleaners or mini-cab drivers.
Now with squad rotation etc, players rarely make 50 games in a season, and can afford to retire to a life of relative luxury before the age of 30.
It’s understandable that with the really big money being in the CL, the FA cup, once the showcase annual tournament of world football, is hardly registering on anybody’s radar nowadays. I recall many incidents of teams being fined for fielding weakened teams in league in the run up to a semi-final, because in those days, everybody wanted to win the cup.
The reality is that today, it is a tournament for those who are incapable of getting into the CL, or for clubs that have massively strong squads. We don’t qualify on either front, so I think the chances of us getting to Wembley this season is remote.
For those of you who remember the FA Cup as I do, I am reminded that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
Its not so much a case of players being unwilling to play. They do seem to get more injuries these days and cant really play unless fully fit (both these are surely because the game is played at a much faster pace these days and if you cant run people willembarass you).
A sensible manager wouldnt risk players unnecessarily (ie against a team we should easily beat) and would want to keep the rest of his players fit and happy.
We cant really judge Harry’s attitude towards the FA Cup on a game against Cheltenham. If we get through and draw a top prem club in the next round, we can make a judgement on his selection then.
It’s not a criticism of HR, but I recall that we fielded a weakened team against Charlton last year.
I have a fondness for the FA cup and have watched us win six finals, but I accept that this comp has lost a lot of it’s charisma.
Regarding player injuries, it was a much tougher game 30 years ago. I have a feeling that a lot of the simulation we see today is because players are somewhat “over-protected”.
In the days before Red/Yellow cards, it was the Ref’s notebook that was the thing to be avoided. Three bookings in a season would get you a suspension, and I cannot recall a Spurs player ever getting three in a season. Now the list of bookable offences looks a bit like the “Road Traffic Act”.
The crowd are so close to the pitch at WHL that you can even hear the click-clack of crochet needles. Totally agree bout Swansea atmosphere, playing football that matched the ambience.
8O