Beef Bagel

In all the chaotic depression - can depression be chaotic? No, in all this nebulous depression (much better word) surrounding are performance on Monday, I’d completely forgotten about this…

…now, that is a horrible photo. Great shot but terrible, like that one of Rooney sitting on the grass nursing his metatarsal with that look of horror on his face a month before the World Cup in Germany. We’re looking at a shot of Tottenham’s brightest player this season as he well and truly buggers his foot. The extent of the injury is unknown as yet but it doesn’t sound good. MJ said:

“His foot was swelling up after the game, so it could be a pretty tough injury. Hopefully, it is not too bad, but it doesn’t look good.”

Like the Pygmy Shrew, he’s fucked basically. This is not good news.

Nearly as bad was the spat betwixt manager and star as Dimitar The Not So Great This Season pulled a Nicolas Anelka and threw a big fat sulk as he refused to warm up when relegated to the bench. Actually, I’m not going to use that word - when he was demoted to the bench. The repercussions are next though for this one. Firstly, he looks less and less likely to want to stay at the Lane and contract talks, if they ever really were rolling, have certainly stalled now. Dimi’s on £44,000 a week after 23 goals last season triggered a clause in his contract to double his wages. No wonder he was keen on slotting so many.

He’s hardly going to be staying unless he either earns more or cheers up and frankly, the former is never going to happen while he’s playing badly even if we were to extent our pay structure to accommodate him. As far as Tim Sherwood is concerned, who finally has let that chip on his shoulder slide, he’s bad news. He said:

“Berbatov is not happy if you ask me. He did take some persuading to warm up against Newcastle. He could play in any side in the world when on form but I wouldn’t want him round me in Spurs’ position.”

“Tottenham need people willing to fight for the cause and, on the evidence of the Newcastle game, he’s not one of them. You cannot have players pulling in different directions in the dressing room.”

It’s really sad to see Dimi’s spineless colours if this is everything it seems. Fine there could be things a foot about which we do not know. Perhaps his frustration is that he feels that he is the man who can turn things around and he’s being left on the bench and maybe he is right. Or maybe he’s just a moody sod. On the plus side, this does put a considerable dent in his chances of being picked up by Man U in the summer. Red Face Fergie would not stand for that kind of behaviour.

According to the bookies now it’s one or the other as they take bets as to who is going to leave the club first, MJ or Dimi. I know where my money lies and every time I look at the news I expect to read a flash that our Joly Dutch Giant is through; sad stuff.

As if all that weren’t enough. There’s other joyous news from lower in our ranks as Irish wonderchild and Spurs youthie, Terry Dixon, is out for yet another year with yet another knee problem. This kid is supposed to be something special and he’s only just recovered after 14 months on the sidelines. He was the youngest player ever to be called up to the Republic of Ireland National squad at just 16 years of age but he’s starting to look like yet another footballing tragedy. It’s all this time he’s missing he’s development that worries me just as much as his fragile frame. For fuck’s sake. Give us a bloody break.

Even Lee Barnard is going to be out for six weeks and most likely return from his loan spell at Crewe Alexander. Apparently the perennial reserve striker and bench warmer in tougher times is homesick anyway, which sends my mind to that scene at the end of Platoon, where one of the soldiers stabs himself in the leg at make sure he’s sent home from ‘Nam. I don’t blame the kid. Who’d want to live in Crewe? I’ve no idea where it is but it sounds like the sort of place where Rugby League is the sport of choice. Nuff said.

All the same though, homesick? That’s a poor show for 23-year-old man. Are they taking the piss out of his accent? Doesn’t he have any friends? Pull yourself together, get down to the local hellish townie nightclub, splash the cash, bang on about being a Premiership footballer and take home a team of drunk slappers to help you beat the blues. Of course the real reason for his depression is that behind our four main strikers and Tomas Pekhart waiting in the wings, he’s never going to play for our first team - that or he’s as upset as we our about our form this season.

Now with all this doom and gloom, I’ve got two things to brighten your days. I couldn’t leave you like this. Firstly, I had a chat with my Grandmother last night, Granny Bagel. She and her late husbands were Yiddos of the highest order, following Tottenham as season ticket holders home and away from the Glory-Glory years until the mid 80s. She told me about when Spurs went down in the 70s, she told me about when we played well and when we played terribly and she told me that it doesn’t make any difference. You love them all the same. This is football and this is what we do.

Now, the other thing is a little something I’ve been saving for a rainy day and today it’s tipping buckets. This here is the 5th most watched clip in YouTube. It’s been around for a year now and I’ve only just found it courtesy of my friend, the King of the Irish. This here clipski is from the pool of comedy genius that is Saturday Night Live and with a little help from one Justin Timberlake, it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages. Requires sound and a good few viewings…

The Bagel.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 10:52 am and is filed under Bagel News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.