The Fighting Cock Opus – The Past, Present, and Future

By TrickyCOYS (TrickyChurchill)

Throughout the Premier League era, Tottenham Hotspur has been a club renowned for disappointing (and it is important to remember that football began in 1992 when Sky Sports began). In results, player purchases, and league positions, it was only in the past few years that their fortunes began to change, admittedly with the notable blip of ‘2 points in 8 games’ under Juandé Ramos.

Being the first team with promise to break the Sky monopoly, sorry, the ‘Big Four’, ensured that Spurs were rocketed into the national spotlight. Their sole appearance in the Champions League was ground breaking as they were the first team in the tournament’s history to score 2 goals in every group match. A second half hat-trick for Gareth Bale at the San Siro, against reigning Italian and European champions Internazionale, momentarily propelled the young Welshman into a footballing stratosphere, only inhabited by the best of the best. For the fans and pundits alike, Tottenham were playing an enthralling brand of football, guaranteed to entertain. Sadly it all ended not with a bang, but with a whimper as Spurs limped out against Real Madrid, losing 5-0 on agg to Madrid. Furthermore, the misery was compounded as Spurs missed out on a Champions League place last year, due mostly to the emergence of Manchester City, and the hectic schedule for the top players.

However, with high expectations, the faithful fans of White Hart Lane flocked in August to Old Trafford, and then to played City at the Lane. Two heartbreaking losses spelt out the beginning of a potentially long season for Spurs. However, with the introduction of Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker, that particular myth was dispelled, and since then, the club has enjoyed one of it’s greatest ever runs of domestic form, winning 10 of the last 11 league games (not counting Stoke), with dominating victories against Liverpool, Bolton, and QPR, as well as a little known victory against the Woolwich Wanderers.

A seemingly universal agreement has been reached this season that this is by far the best squad we have had in the Premier League era, matching that of the early 1960s. Comparisons have been made between some of the clubs greatest players and those that are currently playing, and the club seems to be on the up.

Yet, in all this triumphalism, there is still an undercurrent of doubt and pessimism; the eternal elixir for those who support our great club. Therefore it seems as though now would be a great time to ask: where does the club go from here?

Potential Player Sales

With a midfield that turns even the staunchest heterosexual semi-erect; Spurs rely on the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, and Luka Modric to create a hatful of chances for the front men. Of course, with their development and ever growing worldwide appeal, they become more attractive commodities. After the summer of consistent transfer rumours surrounding Modric, it was difficult to feel anything else but trepidation and distain towards a player that at one point refused to play for our club. Yet his performances have improved vastly throughout the season, once again underlining just how important a player he is. Of course, with the January transfer window just around the corner, speculation will grow, however it looks as though Daniel Levy will stay tough in his stance of not selling the Croatian.

Obviously Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon continue to amass copious admirers, yet its young right back Kyle Walker that is attracting much of the transfer speculation. Only this week the England international was tipped to have been scouted by Real Madrid and Roma, and as the best right back the club has seen in the past ten years, it is no wonder that the club are itching to sign him to a long term deal.

Squad depth

For the first time in a long time, there is no doubt about the quality of our goalkeeper. Brad Friedel is excellent, but how much longer can he play for? The American shot-stopper has appeared in 436 English matches, and currently holds the record for most consecutive appearances in the Premier League for any player at 288. Both impressive feats, however at 40 years old, he can’t have much left. The depth in our goalkeepers extends to a former cult hero in Heurelho Gomes, yet consistent errors in decision making and set piece defending has seen him demoted from the No. 1 spot. Behind him, Carlo Cudicini is another seasoned Premier League veteran, who spent a number of successful years at Chelsea before joining Spurs two years ago. A motorcycle accident 18 months ago saw Cudicini become the bionic man, and doubts will be held about his longevity. The presence of Oscar Jannsen, Lee Butcher, Ben Alnwick and Mirko Ranieri in the development and youth set up is not the most promising, The signing of another goalkeeper is not out of the question, but with such an improvement being made recently, can the club really on Gomes if Friedel was to get injured?

In defence, club legend Ledley King has remained fit throughout most of the season so far, and touching as much wood as possible (oi oi), every single Spurs fan in their right mind will hope he remains so. With only 8 yellow cards in his whole career, that now stretches 11 years, King in an integral part to the success of the club. Alongside him at centre half, the choice of William Gallas, Younes Kaboul, Michael Dawson, and Sebastien Bassong isn’t the greatest. Gallas and Dawson have persistent injury worries, whilst Bassong often looks out of his depth. On the other hands, the likes of Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto have improved vastly over the past 12 months, and are a sign of Tottenham’s development. They manage to do their job well, and immediately turn defence into attack as soon as they can. Of course, age plays a factor, and with King and Gallas not getting any younger, the signing of Chris Samba or Gary Cahill would be a welcome one for the club, strengthening an already reasonably solid defence.

Our midfield is impressive. Without Bale or Modric; Niko Kranjcar, Giovanni dos Santos and Steven Pienaar offer reasonable back ups, yet if we were to lose Scott Parker, our season would be in danger of ending. Jake Livermore is a promising prospect; however he lacks a discipline in his play that is necessary to fill such a gap.

Up front is a different matter. With the addition of Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham have almost managed to hide from the lack of depth at striker. For years, I have personally backed Roman Pavlyuchenko along with a select bunch of other fans, yet he consistently underperforms from the bench. His attitude on the pitch is often deceptive, looking at times so incredibly lazy, yet working hard to create space behind the defence. He has a wicked shot on him, and is a talent, but needs regular starts. Under Redknapp, Pavlyuchenko has rarely had three starts in a row, and it is perhaps time to end the relationship now. Jermaine Defoe is similar. He is incredibly talented, and on a higher level than Pav. A member of the elite ‘100 Club’, Defoe has been a cracking servant for Spurs over two spells at the club, and is currently in a rich vein of form. With Adebayor on loan, we could revert to relying on Defoe from next season, yet the addition of another striker is definitely a necessity. Our chances of garnering top class ability rest on our final league position, but the management and fans alike are unlikely to settle for a mid range attacker. Having been linked with a whole host of Spanish-based strikers, I would be happy to see Giuseppe Rossi or Fernando Llorente grace the White Hart Lane turf.

Coaching staff issues

Having won 84 of his 167 games as manager, Harry Redknapp is an incredibly successful manager relative to the history of the club. His win percentage, sitting at 50.03% is fifth all time, ahead of club legend Bill Nicholson. At this point, I want to make it perfectly clear that while I don’t believe that Redknapp is better than Bill Nick, he does have a higher win percentage.

However, we all know the three big issues that surround Redknapp at the moment: his health; his tax fraud trial; the speculation linking him to the soon-to-be vacant England job. If the latter were to be offered, not one of us could fault him for taking it. The England manager’s job is one that only a few have taken on, and Redknapp is in the firm belief that he would succeed, and what from his past suggests otherwise?

Of course, this leaves the club with a quandary. It looks incredibly likely that by the summer that Redknapp will either be England manager or in prison. Of course, neither may be the case, yet he could still choose to retire. Being driven to work three times a week by your assistant can’t be the proudest part of football management. Of course this is mere speculation and I for one hope that ‘Arry stays as long as humanly possible. Much is linked with Harry within the club. If he leaves, it means that the training regime would change, meaning that the likes of Rafael van der Vaart and Ledley King may not be treated as they are now, therefore forfeiting the chance of maximising their talents and fitness.

Of course, it’s worth considering that if Redknapp leaves, it is like that Kevin Bond, Joe Jordan and more could, in fact would leave with him. As first team coaches alongside Clive Allen, they have often taken full training sessions, and managed games throughout the season, and would be a considerable loss to the club. They would leave behind a host of qualified coaches and former players, with the likes of Les Ferdinand and Tim Sherwood tipped to future managerial successes.

Competitive priority

This season will be the tipping point for our future. The culmination of Redknapp’s reign will either see us propelled into previously unseen heights of the Premier League, consistent Champions League appearances with a great squad to build around, or we could fail to capitalise on our fantastic start, living up to a belief that we are the perennial disappointment of the English top flight, losing a host of top quality players, and falling into mid-table obscurity.

This of course will be decided throughout the season, but as much rests on us as fans to get behind the club. Recently, a level of unrest was reached after our failing to qualify from the Europa League (well, at least we are incredibly unlikely to progress). The club made the decision to use the youth set up within the tournament, and this should be backed. We saw the heights that can be achieved on a continental level last saw, and we have to back ourselves to reach that again. The Europa League is a tough competition, and should be treated with respect, but that is not to say that if we were to progress as far as we had the potential to do so, that would jeopardise our league form. Blooding the likes of Harry Kane and Tom Carroll in these tournaments is priceless. To those that complained about the way we treated the tournament, where were you when we played Shamrock Rovers or Rubin Kazan at home? Our low attendances for those matches epitomised how the fan base feels about the competition, and it is up to the fans to upkeep the wave of positivity that surrounds the club.

I have been a Spurs fan for all of my 20 years, and this is the best team I have seen by a long, long way. We have an opportunity to do something this season onwards that hasn’t been witnessed in my lifetime; we can mount a serious challenge for the title. Where would prefer to be? On top of the league, or travelling away to Salonika every year?

In essence, this is just a summing up of what has happened this season, and what may happen throughout it, yet surely the fact that we can even consider challenging for the title this year or next is a sign of our development? So right here, right now, I begin the movement to bring Paolo Tramazenni back to White Hart Lane….that guy can take us places.

Love the shirt.

TrickyCOYS