With Christmas over and January well in sight, the wheels of the transfer machine are beginning to pick up speed. In typical fashion the early rumours produced from its waking cogs are simply the recycled scraps off the workshop floor; continuations of year long will-they-wont they stories.
The Boxing Day fixture is always a strange one for any set of home fans. With guts stuffed as full as the turkey was the day before and mind dulled from a little too much of the good life, it’s understandable that the spectators of this post Christmas treat are a little subdued.
It has been a good year for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club; an annus yidarmyus.
The end of the the 2005/06 season saw us reach our highest finish ever in the Premiership, with the bravest of runs ending in a hard fought defeat worthy of those who battled at the Somme. We have seen our team grow and begin to take shape into a new force, a force to be reckoned with, not only across our great land but now through Europe too. Our 100% success in the UEFA Cup competition so far and our impending dominance within the further rounds, will see to it that once more they shall know our name in La Liga, Serie A, The Bundesleiga, Eredivisie and that other giant the Belgian Jupiler League.
Got to hand it to Southend. They were good. They really were. The bastards made us sit and freeze for two and half hours on a school night. They took the whole damn South Stand and made the Park Lane hardcore sit in the away end. The strangest part was only realising this ten minutes or so into the game. I couldn’t figure out way that stand looks so strange and then it hit me, it was just that. It wasn’t a stand at all. The fans in it were sitting down. Only then did I work out that they were the Shrimpers lot when they started with their Championship chants; strange songs with stranger accents and praising players you’ve simply never heard of and probably never will, all except Freddy Eastwood that is.
Now Freddy’s famous for two things: one, for being the man who toppled United with his 30 yard free kick and two, for being a member of the Romany community. Eastwood is a genuine pikie. He lives in a caravan and just in case he’d forgotten, we made sure to let him know.
Bad News
We’re one left wing option down. NAC Breda’s Brazilian ball basher is no more. Leonardo now belongs to Ajax. It was always going to be a tricky one what with work permits, passports and who knows, probably even an allergy to London to contend with but hey, that’s the way the bagel crumbles but…
It’s at about this stage in the season where I always start to think about the break up value of the clubs looking likely to be relegated and with Charlton’s embarrassing Carling Cup exit to League 2 amoeba Wycombe Wanderers, one starts to wonder if any of the South London rats will consider a January desertion from that sinking vessel. Les Reed’ll do his best to clutch onto those straws that he hopes will save his neck but there’s careers to think of and the likes of the Fat Eddie Murphy, will not care too much for club loyalty. But, and it’s good to say it, we’re better than him these days. It’s more the likes of Darren Bent and….er….welll…jus Darren Bent actually that we’d be interested in. Wow. No wonder they’re doing so badly. Left winger Jerome Thomas may be worth a look. He had a few moments last season but it’s not really a good sign when Andy Reid’s being picked over you.
Like the feeling of immersing one’s aching body into a beautiful hot bath. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Yes, that’s what it feels like to finally get that first away win of the season. That dog is put to rest, the duck broken, our hymen torn. I’m just glad they were gentle.
Hang on. Where am I?
This looks like my row. I think. The view of the pitch looks right but…where is everyone? There’s a few faces around but this isn’t a crew I’m familiar with. I’m not even sure what my seat number is anymore. I sort of forgot it. It doesn’t serve much purpose these days. I know where I sit relative to all the regulars around me. The only problem is, none of them are there. Hmmm. See, this is the problem with charging £50 a ticket for a game that is not only an irrelevancy but a televised one at that. I’m just about to pick a seat at random between two groups of strangers, when I hear a voice from behind,
What’s up with these people? Everyone’s reporting today that we’ve agreed to sign Lens midfielder Abel Taarabt in January. Have they not been reading BeefBagel? Streets ahead we are. Look…
http://beefbagel.com/transfer-news/2006/11/the-neck/
…two weeks ago that was, two weeks. That’s not even news any more it’s…it’s ‘olds’ that’s what it is. I shouldn’t humiliate these poor reporters though. It’s a simple fact. We, that’s me and you, here at the bagel, are clearly you more cosmopolitan kind of Yiddo, with our fingers right on the pulse of all things Spurs. They’ll have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch The Bagel in the Bakery before the ovens are fired up and the buns rising but hey, all in a day’s work.
It’s not that we won. It’s not the five goals. It’s not the spanking. It’s not that both of our strikers scored. It’s not that Malbranque (groin) got his first. It’s not that he flew into the crowd and the face of the stupid over celebration yellow card rule. It’s not that despite being away all weekend, missing both the game itself and the MOTD highlights, some kind sole posted this…
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