Postcards from The Shelf
Did we all watch Match of The Day last night? Good wasn’t it? That makes it two league loses in a row and three without a win doesn’t it Arsene?
‘Er…I did not see it.’
Really? Ahhh, you missed out it was great. That leaves our nasty neighbours within three points of ourselves and a at least 13 off the race for the title. I believe that’s ‘Goodnight Vienna’ and I’m not talking about taking a processed sausage to bed, although that may well be Mr. Wenger’s way of dealing with the situation.
We’ve already seen one miracle this season. Do MJ and the boys have another up their sleeves? In a strange new home, missing two key central defenders, in the shapes of the injured Gallas and the now suspended Senderos and their behinds a little tender from all the arse kicking they’ve received, it’s as good an opportunity as we’re going to get to march down the road and take those three points by force. It could only get better if it turned out the team had been on one of those irradiated flights on their way out to play CSK last month. Perhaps they would then be a little more sympathetic to the troubles of food poisoning.
Should we pick up our first win away in scumland for 13 years, we’ll go ahead of our rivals, assuming we win by the 7 goal margin that such an occasion would clearly deserve. This would incidentally break the record for the largest victory ever in the North London derby but as Chelsea know all to well, records are there to be broken.
We are, of course, yet to win on the road but I think that’s a stat we can ignore if the adage about form books and windows has any truth, which I believe it does. It’s all about how much our boys in white and hopefully not brown, want to win. We saw the results we can get from grit and determination and I’m convinced the fireworks I saw that night will live as long in the memories of those who fought our cause on the battlefield that day. So how much does the team want to win? Well, Ledley’s had a word or too to say…
“We’ve struggled for wins against the top sides in recent years and to get one against Chelsea was great for us. To win against the title holders has given us a new belief going into games like this one.”
They believe. That’s an excellent start but do they want it?…
“It is definitely the first one the fans look for when the fixtures come out. There are bragging rights to this game and I hear a lot of supporters talking about when they have to go into work after these matches. We would like the Tottenham fans to have one over the Arsenal fans.
“The support has been brilliant and it is the reason why we have done so well away from home in Europe. We’ve got a great fans who give us the support we need on the road.”
They want it for us, if not for them and if that’s good enough for Captain Ledley, it’s good enough for The Bagel.
The other good words to come out of WHL this week were those of the big man himself, our man of a thousand clogs, Martin Jol. Those words?…
“Jermain’s going nowhere, there is always speculation about him but he’s very important to us.”
He said a little more but it was merely embellishment and also a slight twisting of stats to make it sound as if he has no preference between the Little Yiddo and the Keane Machine, of which The Bagel has some doubt. All the same, the news is good and even better if our sharp shooter can develop this vein of form, which he seems to have hit. Perhaps it’s time to bamboozle those in red with his footwork once more.
So, one less recruit to worry about and two more to consider. It seems Benoit Who has been writing some postcards back to his mates at Lens, for this is name number four we’ve been linked with, in half as many weeks, from the ranks of the Ligue 1 outfit.
Mes amis - (homme-bres),
Zut Alors! Arch de Triumph! London is magnifique. The football is brilliant. Every day I get to play with the mighty Spurs, which would be enough on its own but on top of that all the women assume I’m amazing in bed just because I’m French. Would have had more sex than ever in my whole life but Edgar Davids has been looking at me funny recently and it’s not wise to upset him in any way. MJ’s the man, Ledley’s the don and van Nistelrooy’s the horse.
Wish you were here, so come.
Gross bises (et bitte)
Benoit Qui
The latest to be considering his options is their very own captain, Seydou Keita. The central midfielder (yawn) is 26 years old, Mali born and on a very short contract at Lens. He had some serious interest from Inter last summer but it all got rather bogged down during the match fixing saga but, as he says…
“I also had contact with Tottenham, the coach wanted to keep me here, the chairman gave his agreement for me to leave next summer so it is up to me. To go higher I need to be good on the pitch.”
The Malian had better be amazing on the pitch if he even wants to make the reserves at WHL. Shouldn’t imagine this deal will ever materialise, so we’d better take a look at him now before it’s too late. Here’s his head…
…hmmm not sure that’s our man. Looks useful though…
…there he is, giving us one word on Wes Brown.
The other rumour of note and I warn you, it’s as old as the hills, even older, perhaps as old as time itself or the person, who bought the clock in the first place and that rumour is the bid for Curtis Davies. Now, he would be a useful buy. Some genuine cover for Ledders and Safety First would be a real bonus and that’s no disrespect to any of the back up we’ve got right now (apart from Tony Gardner) but by all accounts the West Brom captain is more or less the finished article.
Today I’m picking up the vibes of an £8m bid and it’s looking promising with words from the Baggies head honcho that go like this…
“We are trying to put the building blocks in place for the long-term success.
If we are going to lose a star player then while it is difficult, if the team benefits longer term, that is what is important.”
Now that sounds like a man ready to accept the inevitable.
Just time to bring you a little team news before I’m crumbs. Ledley’s had a stomach virus but should be ok for Saturday. Let’s hope so, we’ll need him. And in mixed news, JJ is back in the squad. Ponder that one as you will.
Let’s make it happen this weekend. Let’s win one for the Gipper.
Once more into the bagel dear friends, once more.
The Bagel.
November 30th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
I was so excited about saturdays game, I entered an evening standard competion for 2 tickets.
surprisingly, I did not win
I think the points are there for the taking…
November 30th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
I hear you there on both counts. I sent off for a ticket even though I knew it had sold out. Just hoping that they may have released a few more. No such luck yet…
The Bagel.
November 30th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Sorry to tell you this ladies, but I’m looking at two tickets for scumland right now…
However I have heard a rumour that the club may be changing its loyalty points scheme following pressure from the spurs independent supporters club… which may mean next year we’re all be off to the new library.
November 30th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
I suggest you carry a Geiger Counter to all meals between now and Saturday.
The Bagel.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:42 am
No ticket, no problem.
go to http://www.sopcast.org, down load the new software, follow the instructions and you can watch any prem game live on your PC for FREE. Never miss a game again. See PC are`nt just for watching porn, you can watch the game as well
December 1st, 2006 at 3:46 pm
I have sent that link to Thierry - so he can watch it too.
February 9th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Tottenham vs Manchester United
I am not an avid football fan. That is not to say I do not enjoy a good game on the box. However I have only attended half a dozen games in my life so my interest is not enough to stand for two hours getting frostbite in the toes and fingers. My son on he other hand is a Spurs fan if not fanatic. When he was reading Medicine at Guys Hospital he joined St Johns Ambulance Service and got to see shows and matches in London as a First Aider.
A couple of weeks ago he informed me that he had bought two tickets for the Manchester United vs. Tottenham game at White Hart Lane. Some father son bonding I failed to give when he was younger he suggested! I was pleased to say yes and watch the ‘best team’ in the Country and that unfortunately was not Tottenham. Whilst I have to show some allegiance to my son’s team I was not expecting Spurs to win!
We got to the ground about two hours early but found the local Irish watering hole for half a pint. From the kick off I was surprised to see Tottenham having the majority of the possession and looking the most likely to take the lead. In fact Man U looked rather dull and appeared to need to commit a number of desperate if not cynical challenges to stay in the game. Particularly I was surprised to see Scholes hacking everyone in sight. I thought he was more talented than this performance demonstrated. I was also disturbed to see Manchester players gathering round the referee or a linesman at every stop in the game to argue or protest whether a decision was for or against their team. It was obvious but I thought it to be gamesmanship. It was not until later I realised the true reason for it. This constant threatening behaviour to the referee was to have an adverse effect on his ability to make a proper judgement and unbiased decision later. So up to just before half time it was a good evenly balanced game with, it anything, a points verdict to Spurs.
And then that all changed. Ronaldo who had been well tackled a number of times and who had been forced to pass rather than tackle made a breakthrough between the two Spurs defenders just into the penalty area to simply throw himself to the ground. The pressure on the referee now came into play. He appeared to take no time to make a decision on what he had seen. His reaction in pointing to the spot appeared an involuntary reflex reaction with no higher brain function.
When the ball went into the net the game lay dying before me and dead when Scholes, who had already been yellow carded, committed yet another cynical offence which the referee was too scared to give a second.
So what do I now think of football? I will not be going to another game nor will I take my grandson in the future. This was not a football match but a winning at any price cheat. In the second half, as expected Manchester did deserve to win. But by then I had lost interest; I was no longer there. The only thing I remember is the haemorrhage of Tottenham supporters leaving the ground before the final whistle presumably as sickened by what they had seen as me.