But can he do it mid-week on a rainy night at Stoke...?"

Well the answer for Spurs is no, we couldn't do it, and so this seasons Carling Cup Run falls at the first hurdle, as we go out on penalties to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

I can't go into much detail about the game as there was no TV coverage or even dodgy Asian internet stream to watch, so I had to make do with the Radio BBC London 94.9 coverage over the internet. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it difficult to follow a game on the radio in the same ways as I can on the TV. Goodness only knows what they did before the age of TV...!

Anyway, what I can say is that it sounded like we had plenty of chances of going ahead, especially in the second half, but we did not make the most of our opportunities. Other highlights, (or should that be lowlights), were that Gomez was up to his old tricks again, Pavlyuchenko sounded like he wanted to be somewhere else, and we lost on Penalties, 7-6, after substitute Massimo Luongo, on his debut for Spurs, had his penalty saved by Sorenson, to give Stoke the win.

Imagine, I got up early to listen to that...!

Four Goal Thriller

What a difference a couple of days make in the life of a Tottenham football fan. Thursday's uninspiring draw in Greece with the reserves team, was in stark contrast to the spectacular demolition of our Top 4 rivals from Liverpool. From the moment I saw the team sheet I was confident that we were going to get a result and continue our short run of beating Liverpool on a regular basis, with an almost a full strength team lining up. I personally think that we are a more attacking and stronger team with Van der Vaart or Lennon in the midfield somewhere, in favour of Krancjar, and maybe with Charlie at the back instead of Walker. We certainly have some depth in this department this season.

From the kick-off it was all Spurs...., but haven't we seen this a few times in the recent past, where we have flown out-of-the-gate with our typical 900mph start, only to fail to capitalise on it. We were all over them like a rash, and unlucky not to go ahead when Adebayor shot just wide from Kranjcar's through ball, but we didn't have to wait long for that vital first goal. Bale had the measure of Skrtel on the left, cut back to Defoe who lost the ball in the tackle, only for Modric to pounce on the loose ball and fire a medium size exorcet missile in to the top right hand corner of the net. KAPOW...! What a goal, completely unstoppable...

For the first 25 minutes Tottenham were in complete control. Bale & Walker were both allowed to run freely on the wings, throwing crosses into the box from either side, with Defoe, Krancjar & Adebayor all looking very dangerous and going close. Bale was having some particular success getting past Skrtel, and it was not long before both he & Charlie Adams got Yellow cards for some poor tackles on the flying Welshman.

Liverpool finally started to get a foot hold in the game and were close to getting an equaliser with a goal from Carroll pulled back for offside. But a minute later, their hopes were dealt a severe blow when another rash tackle on Scotty Parker got Adams his second yellow and the subsequent red card. An 11-man Liverpool were making hard work of dealing with a rampant Spurs, and going down to 10 men was not going to make their task any easier. The rest of the half went by with a couple of wasted free-kicks from Spurs , and a yellow card for Suarez who was losing his temperament by the minute....

I was hopeful that the 2nd half would bring a much needed 2nd goal for Spurs, as even though we were playing very well, a single goal lead is never safe, especially if you are a Tottenham fan. I also had placed a bet on BetFair that there would be 4-or more goals in the game, so I needed a few more in the back of the net to win that one. The chance of me getting the goals I needed improved when Skrtel received his marching orders after going through the back of Bale for the umpteenth time.

A 9-man Liverpool were soon punished after a great through-pass to Defoe, who turned his defender and shot low & hard past Reina for his 3rd goal of the season. This was closely followed by Reina failing to gather a shot from Defoe which Adebayor cleverly chipped over the prostrate keeper to make it three. Now we were 3-nil up and facing just a 9-man Liverpool, and we should be able to bag a hatful of goals right...? WRONG.... Unlike Man United or Chelsea, who would have gone balls-out and rack up a cricket score, the Spurs players lost all interest in scoring and played some very nice possession football, but created little threat in front of goal.

As we moved into extra time, I could see my BetFair account evaporating money if we didn't score a 4th goal, and low and behold, just when the whistle was about to be blown for full-time, Adebayor popped up alone on the right side of goal, and blasted a shot past the hapless Reina. 4-nil... Bet saved. Did I ever imagine that I would be celebrating Adebayor scoring a last-gasp goal at White Hart Lane..., NO I DID NOT...

My Player ratings: -

• Friedel - 6.5 - Would have probably rated higher if he had anything to do all game
• Bale - 7.5 - Finally a performance from our Welsh Winger... More Please
• Kaboul - 6.5 - Solid, even if he did not have much too do
• King - 6.5 - Another classy performance
• Bassong - 6.0 - Given a run out when there was not much left to do
• Walker - 8.0 - Great performance on the right, key to a lot of what was good
• Assou-Ekotto -7.0 - Solid, had Suarez in his pocket from the kick-off
• Parker - 8.5 - A real lynchpin in the midfield, solid and commanding
• Modric - 8.0 - Like Bale, the magician finally showed some of this real talent
• Kranjcar - 7.5 - Played well, strong and mobile on the right hand side of midfield
• Van der Vaart 7.0 - Looked spirited but never really got into the game
• Adebayor - 9.0 - The consummate goal poacher who scores where others have missed
• Defoe - 8.5 - Industrious and at the heart of nearly all the goals
• Giovani - 6.0 - Once again, not given enough time

Europa League - Day One - Who are ya...?

I don't know who is more dedicated, the handful of fans that went to Salonika, or me for getting up at 5am in the morning to watch the Tottenham reserves hang on to a deserved away draw with PAOK Salonika...? My vote goes to the away fans that braved a 28,000 strong crowd of intimidating shirtless Greeks that didn't stop singing all match, but I come a close second.

 

Harry has always said that the Europa League was not a priority, and I guess the early group stages are even less so, and this was reflected in a completely changed squad from last Saturdays win at Wolves. With the likes of Andros Townsend, Tom Carroll, Falque & Harry Kane lining up for a start, this was very much a second string team. I consider myself a reasonably knowledgable Spurs fan, but even I struggled to recognise the Tottenham bench of

Gomes, Stewart, Barthram, Fredericks, Nicholson, Pritchard, & Parrett....?? Still, as long as we didn't get tonked, any result away from home could be salvageable in the home leg, so I was not expecting too much.

 

As it was the game got off to a good start with some neat passing and control from the Spurs youngsters, and more importantly, some good periods of possession. We even had a couple of chances to press for the lead, particularly Townsend crossing in from the left, and Livermore made some progress down the right, cutting back inside and setting up Falque for a shot that was cleared off the line. Five minutes later, we had a 'nailed-on' penalty when Kane was brought down in the box, but the ref waved it away and even booked poor Harry for simulation....!

 

Missing out on a penalty at one end, Cudicini immediately gave away one at the other end, with an unecessary ankle tap on Athanasiadis. As is generally the case with Spurs, penalties are rarely straight-forward, and this was no exception. Lino stepped up and firmly planted the ball in the back of the net and wheeled away in celebration, only to find the Ref had blown up for encrouchment. Take two, and the striker out-thought himself by tryiong to go the other way and pushing the ball pash the right-hand upright. For once in a penalty situation, we came on top.

 

The rest of the first half of went by without too much incident. Pavlyuchenko went close from a free kick, but generally he squndered possession whenever he had it, and like Dos Santos, was rarely in the game. Half time came, and we looked comfortable, if somewhat unexciting.

 

The second half settled into a similar pattern, with the heat maybe playing a part in the slowing down of the game a touch. Pavlova wasted another couple of free kick opportunities, before handing over to Harry Kane to do the same. As the game wore on the Greek players started to come into the game and look a little more dangerous, with a couple of good efforts on the Tottemham goal. As the game entered the last few minutes, PAOK came on strong, and if it was not for the heroic of Cudicini, who must have save or deflected a handful of goal-bound shouts in injury time, we would have come away with nothing. But as it was, the youngsters survived their first out in Europe and came away with a creditable draw and a point in the bag.

 

My Player ratings: - 

• Cudicini -  8.5 - Very strong, made some telling saves to earn the draw
• Bassong - 6.5 - Solid defensive duties done well
• Corluka - 6.5 - Looked well in control
• Walker - 6.0 - Lots of industry, not a lot of results
• Livermore - 6.0 - A bit anonimous in the midfield
• Townsend - 7.5 - Very lively on the left, some great runs and crosses
• Carroll - 7.0 - Classy player, great skills, need to get forward more
• Pavlova- 5.5 - More of a pudding than a striker
• Giovani - 5.5 - Played too deep and never really made any impression
• Parrett - 6.0 - Not given enough time to do anything
• Falque - 6.5 - Looked good in the first half, faded in the second
• Fredericks - 6.0 - Had some good touched in the few minutes he was on
• Kane - 6.5 - Another classy player in the making, good showing from the 18 year old

The Season Starts Here

Finally we are off the mark with our first 3 points of the new season, and an away win against Wolves under our belt. The result however was somewhat flattering to an unconvincing display, but taking in to account that this was an away game where we have had problems in the post, I am happy to take these much needed points.

The team selection & formation was interesting with the inclusion of 2 of our new additions, Scotty Parker & Adebayor, both making their debut in the white of the Spurs shirt. With the current crop of injuries, we kicked off the game with a patched up backline, including the surprise re-appearance of the Rolls-Royce that is Leadley King. In midfield, Kranjcar was deputising for VdV, Bale lined up on the right to cover the missing Lennon, Modric on the left, and Scotty Parker slotting in the middle. Up front, Defoe and Adebayor started a new Tottenham strike partnership that will hopefully bring back the free-scoring games that were so common-place just a few seasons ago.

During the first half, both Spurs & Wolves had their chances, but the game failed to really come to the boil. The Spurs team looked like they had only just met in the changing room about half-an-hour before kick off, and that this was the first 45 minutes they had played this season. Only Parker stood out for Spurs in the first half, he looked up for a game and started well with some bite & determination in the midfield. Wolves looked comfortable at the back, and had threatened up-front, with the Ex-Spur Jamie O'Hara at the centre of everything good.

After the break, Spurs looked a little more comfortable and confident going forward, but for all the good possession and control, we still did not look like we were going to make the breakthrough. Modric still looked sluggish and out of position on the right, as did Bale, who seemed impotent on the right wing. Kranjcar was having a better game, and making some good movement through the middle and linking up nicely with the front pairing. It was exactly this sort of play that led to the opening goal in the 67th minute, with a good interchange of passes that ended up with Parker at the edge of the box pushing a sharp toe-poke goal wards, and excellent awareness from Adebayor to slip the defenders, stay on-side, and slot the ball in to the net passed the Keeper.

One-Nil.... Where did that come from..?

The goal appeared to settle the team, and a more free-flowing Spurs started to play the ball with more confidence & style. Ten minutes from the end the same formula was repeated, this time with Kranjcar & Defoe swapping a 1-2 pass to break the defence and a strong, low shot from Defoe past the keeper into the bottom corner. At this point I thought we could go on and and grab another couple of goals, but I think the team gave out a collective sigh and decided that 2-nil was more than enough and played out the last 15 minutes with little invention.

Overall the game was a good outing for the boys and showed signs that all was not lost for our season. Having said that I did not think that we looked convincing though, but with a few more games and a few players coming back from injury, we should start to gel and play the way we know we can.

My Player ratings: -

• Friedel - 7.5 - Solid and stable at the back, just what the defence needs
• Bale - 6.0 - Out of position and still out-of-sorts
• Kaboul - 6.0 - Reasonable performance
• King - 6.5 - Looked a little rusty, but a good first run-out for the season
• Walker - 6.0 - Never looked comfortable, always chasing the game
• Assou-Ekotto - 7.0 - Solid as rock, except for one mysterious back-pass
• Parker - 8.5 - Great combative performance in the middle for the new boy
• Livermore - 7.0 -Always looks energetic when given the chance
• Modric - 6.5 - Better, but still not back to his best
• Kranjcar - 7.0 - Linked up well, hand in both goals
• Adebayor - 7.5 - Did what he does best, a good Debut goal
• Defoe - 7.0 - In & out of the game at time, but a goal will help
• Giovani - 5.0 - Not enough time to show what he has

Transfer Update

Blatently stolen from the BBC website:

Players in: Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, free), Cristian Ceballos (unattached), Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, season loan), Yago Falque (Juventus, season loan), Soleymane Coulibaly (Siena, undisclosed), Scott Parker (West Ham, undisclosed).

Players out: Jonathan Woodgate (released), Jamie O'Hara (Wolves, £5million), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy, £3.5million), Steven Caulker (Swansea, season loan), Paul-Jose M'Poku (Standard Liege, undisclosed), Kyle Naughton (Norwich, season loan), Bongani Khumalo (Reading, season loan), Ryan Mason (Doncaster, season loan), David Bentley (West Ham, season loan), Callum Tapping (Hearts, nominal), Wilson Palacios (Stoke, £6m*), Alan Hutton (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Jermaine Jenas (Aston Villa, season loan), Peter Crouch (Stoke, £12m).