Will Sunderland be another Crystal Palace
Our record against the bottom 5 this season makes healthy reading, however we are in the midst of a Spurs team who can't be trusted. The record on paper is thus:
My mind immediately goes back to the Crystal Palace game at White Hart Lane which we were fortunate to win 2-0. While some Spurs fans looked for excuses and some only saw a fortunate start to the second half which turned the game, that abysmal first half stuck with me.
At the time Crystal Palace were the worst team in the Premier League by a country mile, they were absolute certainties for relegation and we had had a week to prepare, their being no mid-week game for us.
This was early in Tim Sherwood's reign and it rang alarm bells loud and clear. Crystal Palace ripped us apart at will. They should have been ahead thanks to a penalty but we witnessed probably the worst ever penalty taken in Premier League history, high and wide into the stands. It make a Bobby Zamora shot look accurate (cue row Z song).
Spurs put in the worse display seen since we were relegated. I wrote it wad a disgraceful pathetic performance, that if Sherwood could not get a game plan together and motivate the players we were in trouble. Having a week to prepare and start like that showed there was no motivation. We scored just after half-time when I described our goal as a hump upfield to Adebayor, the short-sighted said we were excellent in the game.
We went 1-0 through a mistake which settled us down and allowed us to control the second half but the tell tale signs were there for me of a disastrous end to the season, the sign of a manager out of his depth.
It was of course not the only game we had started slowly, to put it kindly. Since then it has become a regular habit. That signifies that the players are mot switched on, they are not motivated, they are not up for the game, that they were and are going through the motions.
Regardless of what you think of the manager that is a totally unprofessional attitude and I exclude the few obvious exceptions from that criticism.
So roll forward to today and we have a game against Gus Poyet's relegation candidates Sunderland. Danny Rose was their player of the season while on loan last season which told you everything about their standard. It still mystifies me how some Spurs fans used that as a legitimate reason why he should be our left-back, as if the being the best of the worst equates to top 5 standard.
Sunderland beat us pre-season in a quagmire that saw Jan Vertonghen get injured but have struggled and changed manager since. They will be fighting for their lives, they have put in some decent performance despite their results.
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Related Articles:
Adebayor's Simplistic Approach
Paulinho - I'm no shirker
Paulinho & Vertonghen - Their attitude sucks
Time is up for foreign flops
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Every game is a worry, we have a demotivated team vs a motivated team and that means a potential banana skin. Which Spurs will turn up? Will it be the 'I couldn't give a monkeys mob' who played against Liverpool or will we see a few changes now the season has well and truly gone for a burton (look at that Grand National tips thrown in as well - Burton Point).
I never back Spurs games and that is quite fortunate because I don't have a clue what the score line will be, I can't be confident of anything. We are at home so perhaps our lone striker won't be ostracised and left to run about on his own for 90 minutes. It was like watching a bunch of school kids not talking to and not letting the new kid play with their ball last week.
We have until Monday to wait and unfortunately we will have the world watching us again, lets just keep our fingers crossed that a few more of them turn up this week.
Played 7 Won 6 Drawn 1 Lost 0 Goals For 10 Goals Against 3 Points 19
My mind immediately goes back to the Crystal Palace game at White Hart Lane which we were fortunate to win 2-0. While some Spurs fans looked for excuses and some only saw a fortunate start to the second half which turned the game, that abysmal first half stuck with me.
At the time Crystal Palace were the worst team in the Premier League by a country mile, they were absolute certainties for relegation and we had had a week to prepare, their being no mid-week game for us.
This was early in Tim Sherwood's reign and it rang alarm bells loud and clear. Crystal Palace ripped us apart at will. They should have been ahead thanks to a penalty but we witnessed probably the worst ever penalty taken in Premier League history, high and wide into the stands. It make a Bobby Zamora shot look accurate (cue row Z song).
Spurs put in the worse display seen since we were relegated. I wrote it wad a disgraceful pathetic performance, that if Sherwood could not get a game plan together and motivate the players we were in trouble. Having a week to prepare and start like that showed there was no motivation. We scored just after half-time when I described our goal as a hump upfield to Adebayor, the short-sighted said we were excellent in the game.
We went 1-0 through a mistake which settled us down and allowed us to control the second half but the tell tale signs were there for me of a disastrous end to the season, the sign of a manager out of his depth.
It was of course not the only game we had started slowly, to put it kindly. Since then it has become a regular habit. That signifies that the players are mot switched on, they are not motivated, they are not up for the game, that they were and are going through the motions.
Regardless of what you think of the manager that is a totally unprofessional attitude and I exclude the few obvious exceptions from that criticism.
So roll forward to today and we have a game against Gus Poyet's relegation candidates Sunderland. Danny Rose was their player of the season while on loan last season which told you everything about their standard. It still mystifies me how some Spurs fans used that as a legitimate reason why he should be our left-back, as if the being the best of the worst equates to top 5 standard.
Sunderland beat us pre-season in a quagmire that saw Jan Vertonghen get injured but have struggled and changed manager since. They will be fighting for their lives, they have put in some decent performance despite their results.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Articles:
Adebayor's Simplistic Approach
Paulinho - I'm no shirker
Paulinho & Vertonghen - Their attitude sucks
Time is up for foreign flops
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every game is a worry, we have a demotivated team vs a motivated team and that means a potential banana skin. Which Spurs will turn up? Will it be the 'I couldn't give a monkeys mob' who played against Liverpool or will we see a few changes now the season has well and truly gone for a burton (look at that Grand National tips thrown in as well - Burton Point).
I never back Spurs games and that is quite fortunate because I don't have a clue what the score line will be, I can't be confident of anything. We are at home so perhaps our lone striker won't be ostracised and left to run about on his own for 90 minutes. It was like watching a bunch of school kids not talking to and not letting the new kid play with their ball last week.
We have until Monday to wait and unfortunately we will have the world watching us again, lets just keep our fingers crossed that a few more of them turn up this week.
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