[Archived] Spurs Preview

[gumboots]

It's a nice easy "get the kids to visit grandad" trip too. WE do the match, go back to dad's for tea and still make it home before it gets too late.

[nicko]

They were certainly at least one league better than us. Can't think of many rovers players that are better position for position than the Spurs lads.

Robinson better than Gomes...Givet better than Ekottou...Samba and Nelsen as good as their two centre backs...

However no comparison between midfields.

[jim mk2]

Spurs won't get anywhere without signing a keeper and a left back.

s.

The Spurs left back was one of the best players on the pitch so I'm not sure which game you were watching.

[mhead]

The key strategic mistake for 3 years has been midfield...it is a League 1 midfield usually in the first half(before the crocks come on)

And ignoring the local boys in my long view for a Town Team is suicide(Beatts,Gally,Derbs and Dunny) should all be in the first 15 and a lot cheaper than the 10 mercenaries we have. Not selling Roque for 15mn is gravity defying now.

Lets get this season over before the real complaints!

[TimmyJimmy]

clearly we are all agreeing that the objective is to stay up this season by any means, clearly we agree that we need at least a new mid field for next season (plus a few others). If that's the case then we should be grateful for the players laying it on the line for our team yesterday, few will be here next year yet they died for OUR cause. Surely some of you guys can go a bit easier on them. Sam said that Benny was SICK but he made him play, if so that was a heros performance. Jason had been playing with the pain all week, now turns out he has a broken foot and couldn't run. Many players didn't get back from the round the world trips until the day before the match and hadn't been in training fro two weeks. Plus injuries to our better players, Rocky, Emerton, Grella, Peds etc., etc.. I mean come on what kind of performance were we actually expecting. Confidence couldn't have been very high yet - as usual - we keep going and going and this time come out of it with a win. Did the ref help us in any way at all? No IMO, the second yellow wasn't one but he could have had a handful before then. We ground out that result. It was ugly stuff and there wasn't a lot of skill or talent on show, but I repeat, right now with what we have to hand can we really expect better. Next season - bloody yes - this season - come on, stop being so hard on the guys. They gave everything they had for us and I'm very happy with the three points no matter how we got it. More of the same please and then leave the club with your collective heads held high plus a free drink from me if I ever see you in the pub.

[gumboots]

The key strategic mistake for 3 years has been midfield...it is a League 1 midfield usually in the first half(before the crocks come on)

And ignoring the local boys in my long view for a Town Team is suicide(Beatts,Gally,Derbs and Dunny) should all be in the first 15 and a lot cheaper than the 10 mercenaries we have. Not selling Roque for 15mn is gravity defying now.

Lets get this season over before the real complaints!

And which mercenaries would they be? Nobody on the pitch yesterday wasn't trying. They weren't very good and in some cases they were very poor but if you think the players you mention could or would have done better just because they are fans of the club as well as having played for us then you are very wrong. who could have given more than Samba, Warnock Nelsen yesterday? Did you see them at the end of the game? They didn't show it on Sky but those guys were delighted for themselves, for one another and for us. They couldn't stop celebrating. They had worked very hard in most cases and little had gone right until the end when we got 3 points we probably didn't deserve if points were given for skill and entertaining football. they are not. They are given for putting the ball in the net as often or more often than the opposition and that's what we did with a team full of "mercenaries" who actually come as close to loving our club as any professional footballer who is not a fan of that club ever does. Most footballers are mercenaries in that they ply their trade for cash with clubs that are not, in most cases their own. If you are lucky they respect the club they play for and give the best they can for it. I think most of the time most of ours do.

[roversmum]

Well said, gumboots. We played a patched up team that gave their all and kept going and going. The smile on Samba's face when Andre's goal went in was worth everything.

Can we win a couple more matches and get out of trouble? Despite the fact that some of them lost their way a bit over the first part of the season, I feel we can.

I gave my granddaughter a lecture on never giving up based on yesterday's match. Whether it sank in or not I don't know (she has learning difficulties) but I couldn't think of a better example to illustrate my meaning.

I have met a few of the players and to a man they are all great guys and cannot speak highly enough of the club.

[DE.]

If we stay up, we'll look to the Fulham, Hull and Spurs victories as the ones that kept us up. They've all, in their own way, been massive.

[Pugg]

The smile on Samba's face when Andre's goal went in was worth everything.

Ok, I am going to do a Billy, and every game we play I'll say 'I don't think we can win this' in a post on here. I am so glad I was wrong!

I agree with you Roversmum, we all commented on Samba. The look on his face was utter joy. I love seeing him celebrate.

[Majiball]

Well I've read this from start to finish.

Who cares we got 3 points!! thats all that matters.

Yes this and that and so on, but again I'll say we got 3 points.

Yesterday we got a result from a game most of us expected a point at best. Yes we were unable to get 3 passes in succsession, but the end product was better than we expected. Happy days.

I hate the football as much as the next man, but I'll judge Sam more next year when he hasn't got relegation to worry about.

[jodrell]

well said Gumboots when the player came over to the Blackburn end they all looked very relieved they had got the points, the one I noticed and didn't expect was Diouf

[nicko]

The Spurs left back was one of the best players on the pitch so I'm not sure which game you were watching.

You are right if you reckon he was one of the best Rovers players. He kept finding them.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

That's the truth of the matter isn't it? Sam has done more in terms of results, that any rovers fan could realistically ask for [taking into account the position in the league, the run we were in at the time and the injuries we have suffered]. At this moment, any criticism of the style of football really has to be put to one side. Next season though, needs to be better. The fans wont put up with that kind of display next season IMO.

Absolutely spot on den...best summary on this thread.

[Stonesrick]

Harry redknapp clearly rates lennon above Bentley as does Mr F Capello.

That will change after his last appearance for England when he was substituted before the hour mark. He does not have enough football intelligence to make it at international level and he will now find himself well down the pecking order under Capello who will well and truly have sussed him out.

Very good Premier League player and would be good for us but nothing like good enough for Champions League and International level.

[jim mk2]

You are right if you reckon he was one of the best Rovers players. He kept finding them.

Not the game I was watching. Are you cross-eyed ?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Not read all the posts - but looking back at the last few pages - I am surprised that nobody remarked on the part that Dunn played. Not just his part in the sending off - but when he moved infield and started running at people it changed the whole run of the game. For me - this was the turning point - I think the sending off masked the difference that he had started to make.

A little rolling back of the years - shame he isn't fit enough to play a lot of matches.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Like Paul, with 12 mins to go yesterday, I had us mentally consigned to relegation the performance was so poor. We looked a truly dispirited, disorganised and clueless bunch. Then the needless and unexpected sending off gave us a bit of impetus and the rest is history.

I really don't think the players we have are best suited to the "percentage football" Sam is trying to employ. I was very disappointed by the attitude and application of some of the players in the second half yesterday. But we won and the three points are everything in our position so what more can you say?

The performance was dire, absolutely dire. 'Dead Men Walking' was the phrase my mate used. Let's just hope it was a bad day at the office so to speak after the recent encouraging performances against Hull, Fulham and West Ham.

With regard to the 'percentage football' if you want to play Bolton football, you have to have Bolton type players and we don't. Knocking high, long balls up to McCarthy and Roberts just doesn't work. Up to Samba is different. But we are better than that and as Dunny said, we need to mix it up (the styles) a bit more.

Still, the feeling coming off was fantastic and the atmosphere for those last few minutes, white hot.

[John]

Graham Poll: saw Blackburn Rovers’ David Dunn, not for the first time, hit the deck as if he had been shot by Didier Drogba’s mystery sniper as Palacios’ attempted to pull out of a reckless challenge at Ewood Park, where Peter Walton showed a red card.

[Amo]

I love these opinionated refs who love to gass off now they aren't in the game.

[American]

They were certainly at least one league better than us. Can't think of many rovers players that are better position for position than the Spurs lads.

Spurs are an enigma in that they have tons of talent, but can't put it together.

I think most people are forgetting that Givet tried to pull away from the cross, just as Palacios tried to back out of the challenge that saw him sent off.

Also, too little is being made of a complete failure by Spurs to mark Andre on the last goal. No way should someone be that wide open that close to the net after a corner.

[Brfcrule1]

well after watching that match it has taught us one thing ok some of the ref decisions were poor the penalty/sending off but as Big Sam says performances are not everything but taking the 3 points is most important I think the timing of the internationals has not helped and we always seem to be a bit leggy after internationals but that is no excuse but what yesterday has taught us:

1.) we need to be looking in the summer at getting 3 midfielders central and right wing as I don't fell we have properly replaced Bentley yet plus we need to get rid of The Axe,Carlos,Dunn if the Mackems are willing to shell out 2 Million I'd say get ridmight be worth holding onto Grella for next season see how he improves also worth holding onto Treacy see how he develops.

2.) If RSC goes we will need another striker also think we should get rid of Roberts as technically he is not the best finisher get someone more capable of putting the ball into the net.

3.) Sign Givet in the summer as he will prove an asset when we push on being so versatile sign a proper right back as Ooijer will be gone in the summer Brett is ok but not really a long term solution and find another keeper as back up to Robbo someone who could put pressure on Robbo.

apart from that not much else btw Robbo was great yesterday made one stunning save and the defence gave him little cause for concern whatever he did he did well.

[tonyoz]

Several people have said that we would have been screaming for the penalty if the situation had been reversed. That is true but it doesn't make it right. There is something wrong in all this in my humble opinion. It was one of any number of hit and hope crosses..........if the ball had passed Givet, what damage would it have done? Who knows - but if the rest of the match is anything to judge by - not much!!!

This is my point - the punishment is out of all proportion to the "crime". To award a penalty in such circumstances gave Spurs an advantage that was both unwarranted and unfair. Imagine if Givet's "error" had cost us the game - as it looked like doing for 80 minutes. It could have been a deciding factor in our failure to survive. That is scary stuff. What a load of crap.

[modes98]

Imagine if Givet's "error" had cost us the game - as it looked like doing for 80 minutes. It could have been a deciding factor in our failure to survive.

The worse thing for me was not the fact that the referee gave a decision from an angle that he couldn't judge how far out Givets hand was but that the assistant referee, who had a perfect view, gave nothing but failed to inform the referee, instead deciding to make a quick run around behind the goal.

On the plus side Benni Mc and Ooijer scored

[philipl]

The relegation pressure is doing strange things to people.

After the West Ham game we obsessed about what Diouf was doing on the goal line at corners and now we are obsessing about an incident which Andy Gray instantly called as a refereeing mistake for the Spuds penalty.

[Neil Weaver]

From that link to Graham Poll in the Mail from John.........

The worst decision of the week was not the one to dismiss either Glenn Johnson or Wilson Palacios but Peter Walton’s award of a penalty kick for Tottenham Hotspur in the 29th minute against Blackburn Rovers.

Aaron Lennon crossed in low from the right wing and the ball hit defender Gael Givet on the arm. Observers often criticise assistant referees for not helping out when well placed.

However, Andy Halliday with the perfect view correctly saw that with Givet’s arm in a completely natural position, indicated that no offence had taken place only for Walton to blow for hand ball and a penalty.