You'll Win Nothing With Yids

Jake Livermore adapts to role of ‘new Jenas’ with aplomb

2012-03-26T09:53:00.003+01:00

This article was also published on the Huffington Post website.

Three months short of his 22^nd birthday, with six unspectacular loan spells under his belt and only 75 seconds of Premier League football, Jake Livermore looked every inch the failed academy graduate destined for lesser things, albeit one that had hung on a year or two longer than most.

His inclusion in the squad for Tottenham's first game of the 2011-12 season was a surprise, and the central midfield partnership he formed with Niko Kranjcar at Old Trafford looked the like the most short term of solutions.

With Sandro injured, Luka Modric trying to push through a move to Chelsea and Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas lacking fitness, the makeshift replacements lined up against champions Manchester United and, for an hour, matched them.

Eventually United found another gear and went on to a flattering 3-0 win, but Livermore had enhanced an almost non-existent reputation.

Scott Parker arrived a fortnight later and Modric was forced to stay, but Livermore’s job wasn’t over. Jenas’s was. He was sent to Aston Villa on loan for the season.

Jenas’s most notable attribute is his anonymity. He has blended into the White Hart Lane terrain many times, disappearing in front of 36,000 witnesses.

Jenas has a discernible impact on a football match as often as Lionel Messi doesn’t.

He is a cog. A part that taken in isolation you wonder what its function is.

He doesn’t have the range of passing of Huddlestone, or the ability to lead and inspire like Parker. He can’t unlock defences with a swivel and a touch like Modric and he doesn’t make the goal-stopping interceptions Sandro does.

What he does is run around a lot and keep the game moving. His short passing is excellent, his stamina never even comes close to running low and when he finds himself in possession he generally retains it. Relieved of the burden of being the team’s primary creative or defensive midfielder he is liberated and at his most useful. In 2010-11 he was at his best when he had Modric and Huddlestone or Sandro in the team with him. The former linked with Rafael van der Vaart and the strikers, the latter broke up opposition play and Jenas filled in in the spaces between.

Football fans are known for fickleness, but the opposite is too often the case. So steadfast are some supporters in their dislike of certain players, they won’t recognise any positive contribution (outside of a match-winning goal). Jenas, like Peter Crouch, was the subject of that blind prejudice, and even if you were of a mind to appreciate his worth it was hard to find the motivation to jump to his defence.

Against Inter last year, in the return match at White Hart Lane, Jenas’s introduction after the break gave the team an energy boost and increased stability in the middle of the pitch. He was a key component in outplaying the European champions and turning them over 3-1.

That isn’t enough, and paying the fifth best central midfielder in the squad £45,000 a week doesn’t make economical sense for a prudently run football club. Villa are playing at a different level and first team chances are easier to come by there, but an injury after less than two hours of football put him out for the season, costing them over £2 million.

Back in north London, Livermore has featured in 31 of Tottenham’s 41 games this season, a stat loaded by the manager’s blasé attitude to the Europa League. Even still, the five starts and 20 appearances on the bench in the Premier League are more than anyone expected from him and are testament to the faith the manager has shown in him.

He had another good game against Manchester United the Sunday before last and went down to another unfortunate defeat.

He’s the same height as Jenas (within half an inch), the same build and a similar skin tone. He does the same unremarkable things that occasionally tip the balance of a match. From the top of the north stand or on a particularly low resolution internet stream you might not even notice Jenas has been replaced. Add a goal here and there and the transition will be complete.

At the beginning of March headlines read ‘Redknapp backs Livermore for England’, but the truth is on being asked by a journalist if the midfielder was capable of playing international football the Spurs manager replied that ‘he could be’. It’s an aspiration rather than an expectation. If Redknapp gets the England job for the European Championship he’s unlikely to take Livermore to Poland and Ukraine ahead of Parker, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverly, Jack Wilshere, James Milner, Jack Rodwell, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard or Gareth Barry. Even Tom Huddlestone would be preferred if he managed to get back to fitness by June.

Jenas scored the first goal of Fabio Capello’s reign, but he’s only got four caps in the last four and a half years. Something to put on the mantlepiece rather than a significant international career. Livermore would do well to match that.

Livermore signed a new contract in December and will be at White Hart Lane next season. He will remain a decent squad player, but if Spurs stay in the top four (or even the top six) it’s almost certain he won’t be there for the full four years. He’ll want to play every week and that will be at a club in the lower two thirds of the top flight.

By then Tom Carroll will be of age. The hope is that he will be the next Modric. If he doesn’t turn out to be quite that good, at the very least, he’ll be the new Livermore, AKA the new Jenas.

Harry Redknapp must keep his mind on the job at hand

2012-03-03T11:11:00.002Z

This has been a monumental season for Harry Redknapp, and the fact that he is managing the most successful team of his career is almost incidental. In November he underwent heart surgery, in January he went on trial for cheating the public revenue and on the day he was found not guilty the job he has coveted his whole life became available.

That was three and a half weeks ago. The post of England manager remains vacant, Redknapp is the overwhelming favourite for the job, but the FA characteristically are in no hurry to appoint Fabio Capello’s successor.

Last Sunday, in the post he currently occupies, Redknapp saw his team defeated 5-2 by their bitterest rivals and closest challengers. Wherever we finish the game will leave a stain on our best season for two decades. Even in a season where everyone in the top six (bar Manchester City) has conceded at least five goals in a game the scoreline was a shock. Broadly Tottenham’s lack of shape and sharpness and poor defending are to blame, but the score and performance was anomalous enough to look for factors beyond the players’ ability.

Not long before half-time, with Spurs two-nil up, Redknapp called for steward intervention when a fan sitting behind him in the Emirates’ West Stand shouted something abusive. (I rather enjoyed a tweet from an Arsenal fan using the hashtag #grass). The offender was not removed, but Arsenal have since announced they are reviewing CCTV footage.

When asked about the event Redknapp described it as, “Nothing really. Only someone swearing behind me.” Without knowing the specifics we can assume that Redknapp’s facial tick and/or tax discretions were probably alluded to. Whatever it was Redknapp seemed genuinely hurt. He sank into his seat and stayed there for most of the match, looking particularly glum even before Arsenal came back and trounced us. Given that Redknapp’s forte is his ability to motivate players we were hamstrung. The half-time team talk wouldn’t have been his most rousing.

Probably best to remind indignant Spurs fans at this point that thousands of our number join voice to accuse Arsene Wenger of sexually abusing children.

In the period of Redknapp’s trial and the England speculation our form has been up and down. Against Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United we looked like the best team in the country. He missed the match against Liverpool when his late flight was cancelled and we could only manage a dour 0-0. In the FA Cup we were pitiful in our narrow win over Watford and our draw with Stevenage Borough.

Meanwhile the FA have temporarily put the England team under the charge of Stuart Pearce, a man with much experience and little discernable ability. The European Championship starts in four months and, poison chalice or not, Redknapp wants to be there with England.

This is the one and only time in 29 years of management that Redknapp has been in pole position for his dream job. He’s a 65-year-old with heart problems. Turning it down now would likely be turning it down permanently.

Whether or not Redknapp should take the England job is a question for another day. He hasn’t even been offered it yet. He has to focus on Spurs. There’s a job to do from now until May.

Win the FA Cup, qualify for the Champions League, then he can do what he likes.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Wigan Athletic 1: Modric and Bale put Wigan to the sword

2012-01-31T22:19:00.000Z

It was one of those games where Spurs look like the best team in England. The opposition were lowly Wigan Athletic, but we killed them nonetheless.

Gareth Bale opened the scoring after half an hour. Luka Modric crossed, Bale took the ball on his chest and got his leg high with the flexibility of a gymnast to poke the ball past Ali Al-Habsi.

Modric buried a half-volley in the bottom corner from the edge of the box to double the lead and in the second half Bale got our third with another strike from range similar in its precision.

Wigan put us under pressure for periods and with Jake Livermore moving to cover Kyle Walker at right-back we were vulnerable and conceded a consolation goal, James McArthur’s shot deflecting off Scott Parker and looping over Brad Friedel and into the net.

Watford 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1: A lackadaisical performance, but the FA Cup is ours to lose

2012-01-27T21:42:00.000Z

Tonight’s match was difficult enough and important enough to merit an almost first choice XI, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Brad Friedel the only first choice players rested.

Tottenham didn’t really show up for a first half that was low on quality, but went in at half-time one-nil up with a 43^rd minute Rafael van der Vaart 25-yard speculative effort that went straight through keeper Scott Loach.

Luka Modric had passed the ball haphazardly and didn’t come out for the second half, replaced by Aaron Lennon, but things didn’t change very much. Michael Dawson’s sloppiness at the back almost gifted Watford a goal, the youngster Sean Murray hitting a shot that Carlo Cudicini tipped on to the post. Troy Deeney squandered the follow up.

Kyle Walker had a header tipped over and Van der Vaart crashed a shot against the cross-bar, but the performance from the entire Spurs team was languid beyond belief and we were always just a kick away from facing a replay.

In the 80^th minute Nyron Nosworthy and Deeney had the ball at their feet in the area within a matter of seconds, but neither buried the ball in the back of the net like they needed to, and shortly after Mark Yeates capitalised on a Younes Kaboul miskick but his shot hit Michael Dawson.

Chelsea are the bookies favourites for the FA Cup and Manchester United are the best team in it, but they could both be out by three o’clock tomorrow and even if they aren’t Tottenham are well capable of beating both and not just in a tokenistic ‘on their day’ way.

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This week on my podcast we selected an all-time South London XI. Scott Parker made it. Listen to South London Hardcore now.

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, click here to download (alternately right-click and save as) or stream below:

Scott Parker selected in all-time South London XI

2012-01-26T09:41:00.000Z

South London Hardcore episode 5 is a football special as we put together our all-time South London XI. The team features Tottenham's Scott Parker in central midfield and is managed by Vic Buckingham, who played for Spurs over 200 times.

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, click here to download (alternately right-click and save as) or stream below:

If we've missed any notable players born south of the river let us know in the comment section below. We are also looking for North, East and West London XIs. Criteria for inclusion is that players must be born in the relevant postcodes. We'll go over your feedback next week in episode 6.

Visit southlondonhardcore.com for more.

Follow South London Hardcore on Twitter - @SLHCpodcast

Audere est facere – To dare is to do: Manchester City 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2

2012-01-22T23:37:00.003Z

On the way in to the stadium I passed Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira signing autographs and posing for photographs. The wind was so strong a hat blew off someone’s head and 20 yards down the pavement. A steward searched my bag and confiscated my Lancashire Sauce and anti-perspirant. A superstitious man might have seen these as bad omens.

Eastlands is gorgeous (although it could do without Manchester City’s misuse of the Helvetica typeface). The view from the upper tier is great and I began to fantasise about White Hart Lane’s redevelopment. There are plenty of stadiums bigger than White Hart Lane, but nobody has better screens.

It was bitterly cold, so much so that I wore my spare socks on my hands in lieu of gloves. So cold I was shivering and yearned for the chance to parody the Poznan in order to warm myself with a few moments of movement. A cough prevented me from as much singing as I’d like, but I had no trouble waving imaginary cards at the City fans.

Pre-match entertainment included live broadcasts of interviews with fans, so while the City players warmed up they had to listen to criticism over the public address system – Stefan Savic lacks experience, Samir Nasri hasn’t hit the heights he did at Arsenal.

In terms of selection Harry Redknapp only had one choice to make – Younes Kaboul kept his position and Ledley King took Michael Dawson’s place and the armband. For City Edin Dzeko was preferred to Mario Balotelli.

Nasri and Dzeko were the stars of City’s 5-1 win against us in August, but neither has shone regularly since. That result is a complete antithesis to the rest of our season, but City have continued in the same vein. Even when they aren’t steamrolling teams there is little doubt that they are the best team in England. Yaya and Kolo Toure are at the Africa Cup of Nations and Vincent Kompany is suspended, so these were just about the best circumstances to play City under.

The first half wasn’t much of a spectacle, but Sergio Aguero and David Silva caused a few problems, moving freely like wild mercury. The second half was much better entertainment and City took the lead with a fantastic Nasri finish. Silva played a devastating pass and the Spurs defence came apart like wet newspaper.

They doubled their lead a few minutes as Lescott fell into the net with the ball. It was a slightly fortuitous lead and it didn’t last long.

Savic didn’t deal with Kaboul’s long ball, Defoe chested the ball past Joe Hart and finished from a tight angle, then Bale swept the ball into the net with a first-time strike from 20 yards. It was beautiful. He was wasted in the first half playing a free role, was back on the wing and playing very well.

Four goals in nine minutes. The game had come to life.

Two incidents I didn’t notice in the ground and if I had I may have left in tears. First Joleon Lescott smashed his elbow into Kaboul’s face, then Balotelli stamped on Parker’s. Both should have been sent off. Neither were.

We were so close to completing the comeback when Bale broke down the wing and crossed for Defoe in the 91^st minute. Defoe had the goal at his mercy, but he appeared to slow down a little and stretching to poke the ball it went inches wide.

Five minutes into injury time Balotelli burst into the box and Ledley King scissored him with a poor tackle. Balotelli coolly put the penalty into the bottom corner and a deafening roar broke out in a stadium that had previously been bereft of atmosphere. Bale collapsed to the ground when Howard Webb pointed to the spot seeing a man of the match performance (or the half at least) come to nothing.

Match of the Day promised impartial analysis, but Lee Dixon’s dismissal of Balotelli’s stamp was completely partisan. He and Alan Hansen were incredibly negative about Spurs after what was a very good performance. We went to the league’s top team and played to win and if the opposition’s violent actions had been properly punished we may well have done.

Despite the defeat every player can walk with their head high.

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Special thanks to Miss Hotspur who couldn't make it and sold me her ticket.

Wins over West Brom and Cheltenham: The week in review

2012-01-10T10:15:00.002Z

West Bromwich Albion

So uninterested was I in the Europa League, and so poor is my sleep pattern, I’ve fallen asleep twice watching Tottenham this season. Once against Shamrock Rovers and once against Rubin Kazan. The same thing occurred on Tuesday during the West Bromwich Albion game. This time it wasn’t the perceived lack of importance, it was purely down to tiredness, but you don’t do yourself any favours if you lay down and cover yourself with a duvet.

I've since gone back to watch the second half, but the tension of a potential West Bromwich Albion equaliser is missing. We didn't play well at all. We looked sluggish and the lacked the inspiration to cut through a team putting in a battling defensive performance. Still, we had the better of the chances and Jermaine Defoe turned one point into three with a swivel and a tidy finish. The commentator called his flick ‘a moment of inspiration’, but it looked more like a miscontrolled ball to me. Whatever it was Defoe is having a very good season providing vital goals that were sorely lacking last year.

The FA Cup

This isn't the forum to go on about how broke I am, but suffice to say I was not willing to pay £20-plus to watch the reserves play Cheltenham in the FA Cup 3rd round even though I was aware that it wasn't being broadcast anywhere in the world so there wouldn't be a stream.

Those that did go to White Hart Lane were saw a very decent line-up including Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson trying to play their way back to fitness after injury lay-offs. An hour and a quarter into ITV's highlights show they finally showed the Spurs goals.

First Niko Kranjcar put a lovely ball in to Giovani dos Santos. His dink was heading into the net before Defoe poached it. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a tap in before Giovani added a third with a deflected shot.

With City losing the Manchester derby we're already second favourites for competition. United go to Liverpool and Chelsea and Arsenal have potentially difficult ties in round 4.

It’ll require more effective rotation than the Europa League, but the domestic pot is not beyond us.

Seeking sponsorship for new football podcast

2012-01-05T09:36:00.001Z

Podcasting is the fastest growing form of broadcasting. The free and easy availability makes the form very appealing and there is a huge demand for quality football podcasts, and certainly enough room for another about Tottenham Hotspur.

Yidcast is the podcast that will accompany You’ll Win Nothing With Yids, the successful Tottenham Hotspur blog.

Episodes will be released monthly with Premier League 20^th anniversary special planned for May.

The podcast will be hosted by me, Jack McInroy, and feature one or two other Tottenham fans. I am the co-host of South London Hardcore, a podcast about South London that launched last year.

Episode 1

The first episode is a half-season review in which we will recap the season so far and look forward to and predict what the rest may hold.

I will also be talking about the word ‘yid’, it’s use at Tottenham and David Baddiel’s film on the subject.

The tone and content will be similar to my blog – informed, rational, humorous and entertaining.

The won’t be any swearing or sexual talk, the length of the podcast will be somewhere between 35 minutes and 50 minutes and we will be using professional recording and editing techniques.

Promotion

The podcast will be submitted to iTunes and upwards of 20 other podcast directories and aggregators.

It will be launched on You’ll Win Nothing With Yids, a site featured on NewsNow that regularly achieves tens of thousands of hits for articles.

I will also be promoting the podcast on twitter where I have over four thousand followers, many of whom are prominent figures in football writing and broadcasting and are almost certain to promote the show too.

What do you get?

The sponsorship deal can be tailored to suit your needs. I am willing to talk about the product/service/brand at the start, end and/or middle of the show. If you would prefer to provide your own pre-recorded audio advertisements that is also acceptable. Lengths are open to negotiation.

The brand will be mentioned in all associated blog articles relating to episode 1 and will be embedded in the mp3 description.

Bulk sponsorship of multiple episodes is also negotiable.

If you are interested please contact jackstypewriter@googlemail.com

Swansea City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1: Spurs prove stoppable after all

2012-01-01T09:52:00.001Z

Swansea came into the game having conceded a mere three goals in nine home games this season. It was easy to see why. They are well organised, tight at the back and if I can put it in the most patronising way possible, they pass the ball round like a proper top flight team. If they had another goalscorer in the squad they could easily be in the top half.

Spurs found it difficult and were second best most of the game. Swansea had a couple very good long-range efforts in the opening minutes, but it was Spurs that stole the lead on the stroke of half-time. Benoit Assou-Ekotto turned Jazz Richards inside out a couple of times and squared for Rafael van der Vaart. He received the ball from a deflection and his overhead kick was deflected in, but scruffy as it was he is the genius that makes things happen.

Swansea’s second-half pressure was constant. They created numerous chances (the ball sailing narrowly wide time after time, Luka Modric had to clear off the line as well). An equaliser was inevitable. In the 84^th minute Younes Kaboul, William Gallas and Brad Friedel all went for the same ball and Scott Sinclair had to an empty net in front of him.

Results elsewhere – Manchester United and Chelsea losing at home to Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa respectively – are only relevant in the context of a 38-game season. We have three home games in a row (West Brom, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers) all of which we ought to win, followed by, what is on paper, the hardest game of the season, a trip to Manchester City.

Things are going so well there isn't a great need for change, but Emmanuel Adebayor really ought to make staying onside his new year's resolution. He is a brilliant footballer, but the amount of times he is flagged is ridiculous and shameful. I wasn't aware of a reputation for it before he came to Spurs but at the moment he's up there with Darren Bent and Fillipo Inzaghi, who was famously born offside.

Norwich City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2: No stopping the force that is Tottenham Hotspur

2011-12-28T15:12:00.000Z

My highlights from Christmas Day included a Bruce Springsteen ticket from my wife, a dressing gown from my mother-in-law, a dinner that had four different meats, another viewing of Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge and the news that Rafael van der Vaart had trained in the morning and would be fit for the Norwich City game. The less said about Jermain Defoe at Gordon Ramsay's house for dinner live on Channel 4 with his new blonde hair the better. On twitter Jermaine Jenas called him the Demolition Man.

Van der Vaart hadn't been particularly effective against Chelsea, but Redknapp mustn't lose sight of the fact that he is the best player in the squad and a key component in our attack. Today he was brilliant and started our best move of the first half with a ball to Luka Modric that he gave to Gareth Bale who left his defender with a neat turn and forced John Ruddy into a great save.

Bale had previously wasted an excellent opportunity blasting over with Emmanuel Adebayor free in the middle, but he got his reward for a very good display ten minutes after half-time slipping a shot past Ruddy. Adebayor's touch was dubious at times, but he showed his value for the goal, holding off defenders before feeding Bale.

Bale secured the points with his second in the 67th minute with a dink over the keeper having sprinted from the centre-circle with the ball.

Tottenham were utterly dominant and the three points (along with our rivals' bad results) means that whatever happens on the weekend we start 2012 in third place with a game in hand. It's certainly deserved.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 1: Draw leaves Spurs 3rd at Christmas with a game in hand

2011-12-23T14:28:00.000Z

On the balance of play a point apiece looked a fair result, but Chelsea’s equaliser came in dubious circumstances. If a handball, deliberate or not, leads to a goal how can the goal be allowed to stand?

The game came in the wake of the announcement that John Terry would be going to court on a charge of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. More significantly this was the 3rd versus 4th, two teams, if we’re being realistic, duelling each other and trying to keep Arsenal at bay. Staying within touching distance of the Manchester clubs is just a bonus.

We started extremely well passing the ball around beautifully and even the mis-hits seemed to work out in our favour. We took the lead in the 7th minute. Sandro, who was beast-like all evening, stole the ball from Daniel Sturridge and fed Gareth Bale who breezed down the wing and crossed for Emmanuel Adebayor to tap in. Terry and Petr Cech made a complete hash of things between them.

Adebayor and Bale were among the injury doubts before the game, Ledley King too, but Harry Redknapp's 'bare bones' talk turned out to be just that - talk. Jermain Defoe did miss out though and when Rafael van der Vaart went off at half-time with a hamstring injury Roman Pavlyuchenko took his place when Defoe's inclusion would have been preferable.

Chelsea came at us. Sturridge put a shot over and Didier Drogba hit the underside of the bar. The manner of their equaliser was hard to swallow, but that's no excuse for three Spurs defenders failing to pick up Sturridge.

The 4-4-2 didn't work out and the second half didn't make for pleasant viewing. There were chances for a winner, the best falling to Ramires who put a header wide from about 8 yards.

As the minutes ticked away we mustered a few good chances of our own, Adebayor trying a Thierry Henry curl when he ought to have hammered it.

We celebrate Christmas in third place with a game in hand.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Sunderland 0: Spurs soar despite clipped wings

2011-12-18T17:31:00.002Z

Gareth Bale missed the game through injury and when Aaron Lennon went off with a first half hamstring problem a large part of our attacking threat disappeared. Jermain Defoe was also out injured so Roman Pavlyuchenko came on.

For all Pavlyuchenko's laziness and greediness he often pulls a clinical finish out the bag when required. He did so in the 61^st minute after a great ball from Luka Modric to Rafael van der Vaart and another from the Dutchman to Pavlyuchenko.

After a mediocre first half Van der Vaart came to run the game and while a big margin of victory never looked on the cards Modric should have made it 2-0 when faced with an open goal.

Three alternative Arsenal statues

2011-12-15T10:07:00.002Z

This isn’t a blog that dwells on the fortunes of our rivals, and last week, as Arsenal celebrated their 125th anniversary (we celebrated the landmark four years ago you'll remember), the football world was reminded of their rich history and many achievements.

They moved over the river into our territory and took our place in the league surreptitiously in 1919, but it doesn’t pay to be bitter. They are our neighbours and they are here to stay.

To commemorate the anniversary three statues went up outside the stadium – Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry. Chapman was their most influential and important manager winning their first silverware, an innovator on and off the pitch. Tony Adams's impressive trophy haul includes two doubles and Henry is generally considered to be Arsenal's, and probably the Premier League’s, greatest ever player.

There was some controversy that Ian Wright wasn’t given the honour of being cast in bronze and Arsenal have no shortage of legends that merit a statue of their own - Charlie George, Patrick Vieira, even Robin van Persie. None of these make feel good as Tottenham, least of all Henry on his knees in celebration having run 70 yards with the ball and scored against us, so if I may, I’d like to propose some alternatives.

Arsene Wenger

Chapman was the man that put Arsenal on the map, the father of the club in many way, and Arsene Wenger is his modern equivalent. The stadium that the statues stand outside is superlatively impressive in everything other than atmosphere. Essentially, with his frugality and regular Champions League qualification, Wenger built that stadium and before he retires is likely to have a stand named after him.

The Frenchman has had his fair share of iconic technical area moments - squaring up to Martin Jol, hitting Alan Pardew and standing in a Christ-like pose after being sent off at Old Trafford spring to mind - but the way I’d like to see him commemorated is from the game against us last season.

Two-nil down at half-time we won our first away game at Arsenal for 17 years thanks to a Rafael van der Vaart-inspired comeback. Younes Kaboul’s winning header was too much for Wenger and his took his anger out on a water bottle. During pre-game video montages at White Hart Lane this clip gets a bigger cheer than any of our goals.

William Gallas

During the Wenger era Arsenal may have a reputation for playing beautiful football and they’ve certainly stuck with their philosophy, but in the last 6 years they haven’t won a single trophy and they’ve rarely looked like doing so.

In 2007-08 they put together an unlikely title challenge and found themselves top of the league as late as February. The squad wasn’t as impressive as their rivals and wearing the captains armband was William Gallas, a player who arrived having threatened to score own goals at his previous club.

That infamous day at St Andrews they conceded a last-minute penalty to draw with Birmingham City and in the process lost Eduardo da Silva to one of the most sickening leg breaks in memory. The injury, the result and the manner of the result was enough to rock any group of players, but what didn’t help was their leader’s reaction. So appalled was Gallas at Gael Clichy’s clumsiness he kicked an advertising hoarding and took a seat in the centre circle in a sulk. Arsenal were still top, but it didn’t last long and they eventually finished third. Gallas has since gone on to captain Spurs to a north London derby victory at the Emirates.

Manuel Almunia

When David Bentley caught the ball on his knee and hit a 40-yard volleyed lob past Manuel Almunia in Harry Redknapp’s first game in charge Arsenal’s keeper couldn’t have imagined ever conceding a better goal in a north London derby. That 4-4 draw was Harry Redknapp’s first game in charge of what has proved to be a very successful tenure and 18 months later he achieved Tottenham’s first derby victory in over a decade.

10 minutes into the game at White Hart Lane a ball falling out the sky to nobody in particular was hit by debutant Danny Rose. It was a thunderous volley that that left mouths gaping as it hit the back of the net. Without detracting from Rose’s spectacular goal Almunia should have done better. The statue I’m proposing has Almunia making a dive in which his feet don’t actually leave the ground.

Stoke City 2 Tottenham 1: Poor officiating and cheating opposition ends Tottenham's unbeaten run

2011-12-11T21:09:00.002Z

It may not have been a particularly good performance from Tottenham, but the reason we came away empty handed is down to cheating opposition and incompetent officiating.

Without resorting to cliches or trotting out inaccurate statements about Stoke's home form it's difficult to play on a wet pitch against a team with a definite agenda of cheating. We didn't get close to playing our usual passing game for most of the first half and went in two-nil down at half-time from two scrappy goals, both by former Tottenham man Matthew Etherington. William Gallas was outmuscled for the first and the second was a shot into the ground that looped over Brad Friedel.

There was one side playing football and another doing something else entirely. Stoke have a player that keeps a towel up his shirt to wipe the ball down and have made the pitch so small that it's impossible to get any width. Those things are within the rules of the game, but what isn't is the constant pushing and pulling.

We got a penalty for a foul on Luka Modric (the Stoke fans went on to boo him for the rest of the game) and Emmanuel Adebayor scored it. It was as if the referee decided that was our lot and we got nothing when Ryan Shawcross dragged Younes Kaboul to the floor and Dean Whitehead stopped Defoe's shot with both arms.

Worst of all in the 74^th minute Gallas was pulled down and Shawcross stopped the follow-up on the line with his arm. Ignoring those two indisputable penalty calls the referee ruled Adebayor's follow up goal offside when it was actually on.

Kaboul was booked for complaining about the penalty he was denied and sent off for fouling an offside player.

What a joke.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Bolton Wanderers 0: Tottenham will always let you down...

2011-12-04T13:37:00.000Z

At the moment the same thing happens every week – Tottenham turn up and blitz the opposition. Sometimes the opposition have a go back and sometimes we ride our luck, but we’re too fast, strong and skillful for them and 10 out of the last 11 games we’ve come away with three points.

Bolton Wanderers will feel aggrieved over the fact that they were reduced to ten men, and rightly so. Gary Cahill upended Scott Parker with an outstretched leg, but he was neither the last man and it wasn’t a clear goalscoring opportunity.

We were already 1-0 up at that point after Gareth Bale flicked in Luka Modric’s corner and took his left boot off and held it aloft in tribute to Gary Speed who died last weekend.

It Bolton are honest they were never going to get anything out of the game, their only notable chance the deflected Chris Eagles shot that Brad Friedel tipped over the bar.

Jussi Jaaskelainen kept the score down with save after save after save. Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor could have had a couple of each were it not for Jaaskelainen.

We found a way through though, Adebayor and Defoe combining quite deep before Lennon took his time and kept his composure in the box and scored.

Our third goal was very similar to the first, Bolton letting in another half-volley from a corner, Defoe this time. Earlier we should have had a penalty when Kevin Davies pushed and tripped Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

For a couple of hours we were second in the league and after Manchester United’s victory we’re still third with the postponed Everton game in hand. On Match of the Day Gary Lineker reminded Alan Hansen of his statement that Tottenham will always let you down. Hopefully it will come back to haunt him the way "You can't win anything with kids" did.

Like You'll Win Nothing With Yids on facebook.

West Bromwich Albion 1 Tottenham Hotspur 3: Even without Modric and Van der Vaart Spurs clean up

2011-11-27T12:26:00.000Z

How would Spurs function without our key creative duo? Rafael van Vaart and Luka Modric were out with a hamstring injury and a virus respectively, Modric’s injury coming late enough that his shirt was already hanging up in the dressing room. With players of Sandro and Jermaine Defoe’s quality taking their places putting out a quality eleven wasn’t an issue, but without that spark, the keys to unlock a Roy Hodgson team, it looked like going home with a draw might not be the end of the world.

West Brom went one nil up after ten minutes when Youssouf Mulumbu headed in Steven Reid’s cross. Benoit Assou-Ekotto didn’t close his man down and Younes Kaboul was leaden-footed in the box.

Aaron Lennon won a penalty in the 25^th minute, caught by Nicky Shorey after some great link-up play with Emmanuel Adebayor. Adebayor missed the penalty, but scored the rebound. 10 minutes later West Brom might have had a penalty themselves when Kyle Walker was involved in a similar tangle, but nothing was given.

Despite the tenacious midfield duo of Scott Parker and Sandro we were surprisingly open and it was a game in which both teams wasted a number of chances. Simon Cox’s free header and Christ Brunt’s blast over the bar should have been on target at the very least and Adebayor’s shot at Ben Foster was similarly wasteful.

Jemaine Defoe had an excellent second half and scored a brilliant goal. Assou-Ekotto played a lovely ball to Adebayor on the halfway line. His flick found Defoe who ran at the defence and belted the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in trademark fashion.

Bale curled a shot wide and Adebayor missed another chance before the pair combined to wrap up the game. Kaboul pumped a clearance upfield that fell fortuitously for Bale who took the ball into the box and put it on a plate for Adebayor to score.

Our form since the defeats against Manchester United and Manchester City is WWWWDWWWWW. Looks beautiful, don’t it?

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Aston Villa 0: Spurs up to third after one-sided affair

2011-11-21T22:57:00.000Z

I don’t ever remember seeing a league game that one-sided. We’ve been playing quick, fluid football since the third game of the season, but we normally wobble at some point in the game, come under pressure for a period or two. This was a full 90 minutes of home domination.

Aston Villa were pathetic. In Randy Lerner’s early years he was lauded for taking ‘the right approach’, but the club is going absolutely nowhere now. Alex McLeish visited White Hart Lane with Birmingham City on the final day of last season and they were so negative you’d never have guessed they needed goals to stay in the division. If you’re going to play horrible football you’d better win some games. Sam Allardyce he is not.

Some of Adebayor’s finishing was off, but he still managed to score two goals and contributes so much on top. His first was an overhead kick that came from Gareth Bale’s quick-thinking lob and the second a tap in after James Collins failed to deal with Bale’s dangerous ball.

The team was very cohesive. Luka Modric and Scott Parker sublime in the centre of midfield, Van der Vaart frequently linking beautifully with Adebayor and Aaron Lennon bold and adventurous. At the back everything seemed to flow through Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who sported a newly unleashed afro, and continues shine with nonchalance and finesse.

Spurs are now third and to finish any lower would be an underachievement.

Fulham 1 Tottenham Hotspur 3: By the skin of our teeth

2011-11-06T22:10:00.003Z

Martin Jol never got much when he came up against top sides when he was in charge at Spurs. Tonight he must be scratching his head over Fulham's 3-1 defeat. Their dominance of possession and chances in the second half should have resulted in an equaliser. In stoppage time there was a scramble in our box that looked destined to end up with the ball in the back of the net, but it didn’t, and from the resulting corner Brad Friedel and Luka Modric both made further goal line stops. To add insult to injury we went up the other end and a flick and a cross from Emmanuel Adebayor found substitute Jermain Defoe and he volleyed through Stephen Kelly's legs and past Mark Schwarzer.

The first half had been well balanced. After Friedel turned Steve Sidwell's header over John Arne Riise turned Gareth Bale's shot into his own net.

Lennon scored a wondeful goal in first half stoppage time exchanging passes with Bale (a lovely spinning back-heel) before running at Chris Baird, turning him inside out and beating Schwarzer at the far post.

We rode our luck against Blackburn, but that was nothing compared to this. Friedel had already picked up the man of the match award before the stoppage time heroics having made good saves from Dembele and Baird.

Fulham's goal came from a corner that Ledley King, who looked off the pace, headed at Kaboul's back and the ricochet went in.

We won though and with the team we have there hopefully won't be many of these unconvincing performances this season. As long as we keep turning them into wins we're fine.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Queens Park Rangers 1: Bale as you go

2011-10-31T09:08:00.000Z

I’m going gloss over the slightly nervy chunk of the second half when Queens Park Rangers played quite well and were only a goal away from leveling the score, because Spurs were mostly brilliant today. The team is so good, better even than the one that qualified for the Champions League and the one that played in it.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart has great opportunities early on and in the 20^th minute they combined before Aaron Lennon laid the ball off to Gareth Bale and he hit it across and past Paddy Kenny.

In the 33^rd minute Van der Vaart got our second, controlling a wayward Ledley King shot on the edge of the box and putting it in the bottom corner. Kenny was superb and made important saves from Luka Modric, Van der Vaart, Adebayor in a one-on-one and later, a tremendous stop from a Bale strike.

A resurgent QPR got one back after half-time with a Boothroyd header. Benoit Assou-Ekotto was slow to react after King and Younes Kaboul had failed to deal with the initial ball.

Spurs put the game beyond doubt with a fabulous third. Adebayor and Van der Vaart combined again and then a lovely exchange of passes between Lennon and Bale ended with the latter curling the ball into the net.

In the dying seconds Kaboul and Bale made clearances off the line, but a reduced scoreline would have flattered QPR.

Golaccio! Enjoying Blackburn v Spurs on my honeymoon

2011-10-30T11:49:00.000Z

Three Thursdays earlier I had fallen asleep and missed most of the first half of Spurs against Shamrock Rovers. The Europa League means so little to Harry Redknapp that he picks a second-string team and so little to me that I watch the match horizontally with a quilt on.

I try not to get too excited about young players. The promise they show only adds to the disappointment when they don't amount to anything. The youngsters I'm trying not to get too excited about are Tom Carroll and Jake Livermore. Players that could so easily end up as a Jermaine Jenas or Nigel Reo-Coker. The competent but unspectacular central midfielder. A Jamie O'Hara. It reminds of Pep Guardiola saying Barcelona had many Jack Wilsheres in their reserve team.

I had been printing CDs in the early part of the evening to be given out at the end of my wedding two days later. Songs that mean something to us and would be featured in the wedding - Jorge Regulaby the Moldy Peaches while we sign the register, Les Champs-Elysees by Joe Dassinas we exit the church, Baby I'm Yours by Breakbot for the first dance. I saw Tottenham versus Rubin Kazan as an opportunity for a break rather than anything to get excited about.

Rubin Kazan beat Barcelona that time, and being Russian are always going to be labeled as hard to beat, but I hadn't realised they had Nelson Valdes in their side, who was very very good at the World Cup. They might have done a number on us, but they couldn't beat an octopedal Heurelho Gomes and Roman Pavlyuchenko's bullet free-kick was the difference between the sides.

Earlier in the day I'd listened to the Guardian's Football Weekly Extra, the benchmark in football podcasting. James Richardson, who we all used to watch on Channel 4 on a Saturday morning sitting outside an Italian eatery with a dessert and the week's newspapers, turned to the audience mid-podcast and said "If you're in Rome go to Fior Fiore in Via Vittoria and have a pizza". We were going to Rome on our honeymoon, now armed with a recommendation from my favourite sports broadcaster of all time.

I finished work early on Friday. I'm a receptionist in a primary school and the half-term break was much-needed. One of the mid-day meal supervisors (dinner ladies) said I was the most laidback groom she'd ever seen and I was. I hadn't got a ring yet or written my vows, but there was plenty of time.

Glenn, one of the groomsmen, cooked dinner the night before the wedding, a delicious beef bourgignon with potatoes. In the morning the best man and I went out for a fry up and to get a ring. Seeing as I'm not going to wear one on a daily basis and I’d already sunk thousands of pounds (on credit cards and overdraft) into the wedding I had a strict limit of £10 for the ring. We tried a pawn brokers in Peckham and eventually found one for a fiver in Rye Lane Market. I think it's stainless steel.

Apart from a malfuctioning iron (Tim, another groomsman, the one who can drive, brought one round and ironed my shirt) and the fact that I was one herringbone bow-tie short (Sam went without, sorry buddy) everything was on course was a fantastic day.

I felt like I was cutting a lonely figure at the front of the church, so I wandered back and forth and said a few hellos. Then I saw my mum enter the foyer with moist eyes and I burst into tears. I cleaned up my face in the toilet and went back out, but I couldn't hold back. My eyes were red, there was no disguising I’d been crying, not that it mattered, because there were fresh tears to come. When the bridal party eventually came down the aisle I was fully weeping and my fiance was crying too.

I managed to get through the vows, my voice squeaking on a couple of nerves, and she didn't notice that I'd slipped in a line from Bob Dylan's Wedding Song. My dad did, obiously, and enjoyed a wry smile.

Later I heard a couple of anecdotes about members of my wife's family wondering who the guy at the front crying was. The last time some of them had seen me I had nipple-length blonde locks rather than the streamlined Bendtner-esque do I currently sport.

It got very cold, the peril of an autumn wedding, so we didn't get many photos before going into Dulwich College's Great Hall. I had stopped crying, but couldn't eat anything and missed out on the delicious-looking coffee and walnut cake my sister had made.

During the meal the best man, harassed by my dad to pull up the Dulwich Hamlet score on his iPhone(they lost 2-0 at home to Harrow Borough in the FA Trophy, but remain top of the league), revealed that Mario Balotelli had set fire to his house playing with fireworks in the kitchen with his friends. Steve is a West Ham fan and in his speech alluded to West Ham and Spurs differing fortunes in the three years we've known each other. Champions League contenders. Relegated.

The disco finished at quarter to twelve with Kanye West's All of the Lights, one of my favourite tracks, to book end what everyone tells me was a lovely wedding. It was a bit like watching Spurs, which is one of my favourite things to do, but not something I enjoy during the actual event when you're convinced a late goal will ruin everything (or whatever the wedding equivalent of that is).

After the ceremony, my eyes newly red and puffy, my mate Dan said, "You didn't cry when we got fourth place", a game we'd watched together on his bed. "I know", I said, sharing his surprise, "and I was much happier that day".

Our flight was scheduled for seven-something, meaning we only had a few hours to pack and get to the airport. When people asked why we'd booked such an early flight I awkwardly replied, "So I can watch the Spurs game when we get there". I had a sleep on the plane and in the hotel, but realised there was little chance even the 'Irish' pubs would be showing the game as it overlapped with the Manchester derby, which in footballing terms is now the biggest in England and has with no shortage of Italian interest.

Luckily the hotels plug-in internet allowed me to get a decent stream. When I woke from my slumber the aforementioned Balotelli had put Manchester City two-nil up at Old Trafford. 6-1 it finished at Old Trafford, an historic scoreline and another in an amazing Premier League season.

Rafael van der Vaart put Tottenham 1-0 up against Blackburn Rovers with a cool side-foot after Kyle Walker had bombed past his man and squared. Mauro Formica got a goal back for Blackburn, putting the ball into the roof of the net from near the penalty spot, but we went on to win the game with another Van der Vaart goal. A lovely curler. Benoit Assou-Ekotto's assist was fortuitous, but he had a great game and I never tire of praising him/linking to piece I wrote about him.

To think Van der Vaart's place in the team is constantly under question! I realise that the shape of the team is important and protecting the right-back, but really, have a look at what the Dutchman contributes compared with Jermaine Defoe and all the other suckers that are contending for a place.

The rest of the trip was football-free, apart from all the tweeting, including one from AC Jimbo giving me the correct address of the pizza place.

As a teenager, when Serie was indisputably the best league in the world, I'd been fond of Roma and Lazio and would have loved to have gone to the Stadio Olimpico to watch the likes of Roberto Mancini, Alessandro Nesta, Cafu, Francesco Totti and Gabriel Batitstuta. The closest I came was briefly joining a queue for a Bojan Krkic signing at Nike Roma.

We spent most of our time wandering the streets where every other corner has a spectacular ancient ruin. The food is fantastic. I've had broccoli on a pizza, asparagus on a pizza, lobster ravioli and an iced coffee from the Vatican cafe. It’s a wonderful city.

Anyway, Spurs v Queens Park Rangers today. And William Gallas might even be back!

Newcastle United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2: Shades of grey

2011-10-16T20:32:00.001+01:00

Emmanuel Adebayor overcame the hamstring scare that had been hanging over this fixture. He is already our most important player as there isn’t a replacement in the squad. I recently saw Bobby Zamora described as unplayable, but Adebayor actually is and our first goal came five minutes from half time when he got into the box and Steven Taylor couldn’t stop him by legitimate means. The chance was created by Jake Livermore hassling Yohan Cabaye. Rafael van der Vaart scored the penalty.

We were the better side operating with an ever-shifting formation. There was a point in the first half when Benoit Assou-Ekotto put a Newcastle player on his backside with a Cruyff turn out on the right flank.

Ledley King, who was a third of the way through his fifth consecutive game (the previous four all victories), went off injured. It’s too common an occurrence to dwell on, but clearly we need him fit, even if its only for brief periods.

A couple of minutes into the second half Jonas Gutierrez got past Luka Modric and Kyle Walker with minimal skill and squared for Demba who scored an easy equaliser.

Jermaine Defoe replaced Van der Vaart and within five minutes scored a classic Defoe goal, turning quickly and scoring from outside the box. A man in the pub took the opportunity to lay into Van der Vaart, to say he shouldn’t have started, but despite Defoe’s goal I disagreed.

Newcastle made a couple of changes up front and found some much-needed drive. Brad Friedel suddenly had to work quite hard and in the 86^th minute he was picking the ball out the net. Shola Ameobi scored a goal similar to Defoe’s having nipped in front of Walker to get the ball. To rub salt in the wound the television cameras cut to Paul Gascoigne smiling.

Tim Krul made a good save from Defoe, but he was foolish to shoot rather than square it to the waiting Adeabayor.

Roman Pavlyuchenko came on and the five minutes of injury time soon ran out.

This is a game we should have won, but these are the first points of the season that could be considered to have been dropped and if we don’t make a habit of it we’ll be fine.

You'll Win Nothing With Yids is on facebook - Like it!

Book Review - Vertigo: One Football Fan's Fear of Success by John Crace

2011-10-08T13:44:00.001+01:00

John Crace has been a Tottenham fan since the mid-60s, a lifetime of fandom that has culminated in a book about last season’s flirtation with success.

For Crace, the 1967 FA Cup victory is but a childhood memory, Tottenham’s spell of success coming to an end as he became a conscious fan. He got to watch Spurs win UEFA Cups, FA Cups and League Cups, but he is acutely aware and not afraid to admit that UEFA Cups aren’t European Cups and FA Cups aren’t league titles.

After two miserable decades (and a further three since we’d won the league) came 2010. Once upon a time finishing in the top four was nothing to shout about, but things have changed and now it’s the be all and end all for a team with aspirations. To claim you’d rather win an FA Cup is to miss the bigger picture.

In 12 months we had more memorable victories than we’d had for years, beating Arsenal twice, Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter Milan, AC Milan and sealing Champions League qualification with the 1-0 win at Manchester City.

For someone my age it was the first taste of the glorious nights I’d read about and seen fans of other teams enjoy. It was incredibly exciting – Gareth Bale burst on to the scene, Rafael van der Vaart added a touch of class and Luka Modric quietly became the most consistent midfielder in the country. I wrote in my blog of the Inter game:

Lastnight I got a glimpse of what it must be like to support Manchester United orBarcelona. For a brief moment I was able to sing ‘Tottenham are the greatestteam the world has ever seen’ and mean it.

Crace weaves his personal journey with what happens on the pitch at Spurs. The trouble is his story is not very interesting. Much of the book revolves around his ongoing battle with his wife over the amount of Spurs games he attends. He schedules holidays and social events around Spurs and secretly listens to radio commentary at birthday parties.

This isn’t a proper insight into a marriage. If he’d completely opened up about it, laid their relationship bare on the pages, written about the unspeakable things we all think and experience in a relationship, rather than this sanitised version he presents where the his wife grinds her teeth and shakes her fist in the background, very much in on the joke, it would have been more interesting.

The relationship with his son and the acquaintances he attends matches with is similarly mundane. Every exchange is reduced to bland soap opera dialogue (often peppered with gratuitous swearing).

There are a couple of nice little gems. The tears he cried for Jimmy Greaves after the 1966 World Cup final strike a chord and his relationship with the late John White and his family is an interesting take on the relationship between footballer and fan, but even then he undermines it when he muses about the fatherless Rob White growing up without having someone ‘to teach you bloke stuff’.

Crace repeats conversations and overhead remarks of the shelf-side crowd that are neither funny, interesting nor insightful. Nor are the snippets so moronic/ignorant/offensive that they’re funny, they’re just… not worth repeating.

In terms of the football I didn’t go in expecting a Michael Cox level of tactical analysis, but it would be nice to see some kind of insight from someone who goes to so many games. When football is spoken about its regurgitated basic punditry and a very whiny (he prides himself on how much he loves moaning). Its full of clichéd asides, at one point even comparing watching football to making love to a beautiful woman.

The highlight is Crace’s obsessive hobby/compulsion – collecting programs and ticket stubs. The time, effort and money he spends on completing certain runs of fixtures and seeking out rare items offers a level of detail that’s desperately missing from the rest of the book. The minutiae that could have elevated the book to something more than a run of the mill season recap and diluted biography.

Crace’s battle with depression is what got most of the press when the book was released and it comes out of the blue halfway through the book. Again, it’s not bold. If he doesn’t want to lay his soul out on the pages that’s fine, but it would at least have been interesting.

Crace and I have a different point of view. For him football seems to be as much about driving around the country as it is about kicking a ball around. He also sees supporting Tottenham Hotspur as a unique experience, when there’s probably more chance of uncovering universal truths about being a football fan if you recognise that that isn’t the case. Crace is happy to say Arsenal fans don’t have a sense of humour, while I find a comment like that crass.

It’s not a bad book and I’m sure lots of people will enjoy it, but it never transcends a mere recap of 2010-11 and a heavily edited diary entry. With such a wealth of material written nowadays you’d be better off going back reading blogs and listening to podcasts from the period.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Arsenal 1: Another north London derby victory

2011-10-02T22:43:00.000+01:00

It’s been said before, but this isn’t an Arsenal team that strikes fear into the opposition. Arsene Wenger enjoyed a full decade unbeaten in the north London derby, but in a short space of time getting a result against Arsenal has become routine.

We are the better team now and are on course to finish above them, something we haven’t done in the 15 years Wenger has been there.

With Jermain Defoe’s inclusion against Shamrock Rovers and the form of Sandro, Scott Parker and Luka Modric in the centre of midfield a 4-4-2 looked unlikely, but that’s what Harry Redknapp chose. He may be considered a bit of a dunce tactically, but the unpredictability, even randomness, of his selections give us the advantage of surprise.

I was in the upper tier of the south stand and took a beverage in the face from an angry Spurs fan with a bad aim. The idiot was sitting in row 20, somewhere between seats 140 and 148 and probably the sort of person who’ll happily yell accusations of child abuse at Arsene Wenger. If that’s you, dear reader, please have a think about your behaviour.

This was a game we were expecting to win and the team went for it from the start. Wojciech Szczęsny had to work hard saving a one-on-one from Parker and Rafael van der Vaart shot from close range.

Arsenal’s didn’t create much and when they did their finishing was poor. Robin van Persie skipped past Younes Kaboul out wide and squared for Gervinho who missed the target.

Five minutes before half-time Emmanuel Adebayor (subject to taunts about the sniper attack in Angola) lifted a ball into the box, Van der Vaart controlled with his armpit and put the ball in the back of the net.

Gareth Bale had a couple of excellent hits either side of the break, but in the early part of the second half Arsenal got on top and deserved their goal. After Kaboul’s headed clearance the Spurs defence opted to stay deep and Alex Song and Aaron Ramsey combined to punish us.

The game was crying out for Sandro in the midfield. He came on with just under half an hour to go and changed things. The other key substitution was Bachary Sanga. He went off with a broken leg 5 minutes later after a mid-air clash with Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Bale had the freedom of the wing and we dominated in the middle.

Szczęsny made more great saves, Adebayor should have scored a one-on-one, and in the 73^rdminute we got our winner. A loose ball ran toward Kyle Walker, he took a touch and belted it past Szczęsny from fully 25 yards. It was a great hit.

More important than the local rivalry is that Arsenal are our competition for 3^rd/4^th place. We’re five points ahead with a game in hand and its only the first week of October.

“You do not have permission to use the club’s logos. Please remove these items from your website immediately”

2011-09-27T11:00:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago news broke that Arsenal were taking legal action against an independently-owned hat shop in Seville in order to ‘protect their global brand’. A day earlier I received an email from the head of retail at Tottenham Hotspur PLC alleging unauthorised use of the club’s logo on my website.

Like Arsenal Tottenham were also trying to protect their global brand… from perceived antisemitism. (A full explanation of why I’m happy to use the word ‘yid’ can be found here.)

The offending image was a hand drawn version of the crest done by my younger sister.

Below is my email correspondence with the club verbatim, complete with misplaced apostrophes and erroneous capitalisation.

Subject: Use of Tottenham Hotspur Club Logo's

To Whomever it may concern

I am writing to you on behalf of Tottenham Hotspur PLC (the “Club”) with regards to the Tottenham Hotspur logo’s you are using on your website.

The Club logo’s are trademarked and are owned by the Club. They are also protected under copyright, again owned by the Club.

For anyone to be able to use our Logo’s you need to have permission from the Club to use them. This permission has not been given to you and I would therefore ask you to remove these items immediately from your website.

If you have any further questions about this please contact me directly.

Regards

Victoria

Victoria Howarth

Head of Retail

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Dear Victoria

Despite the nature of your email there’s a part of me that’s thrilled to have (semi-) personalised correspondence with the club. In the modern game the relationship between fans and football club is very much one of customer and business. As the Head of Retail you know that better than anyone.

It is also comforting to know that the email system at White Hart Lane is working. Last season I sent four emails (about being overcharged for postage, inadequacies of the e-ticketing system and to report problems caused by a reduction in policing at White Hart Lane station) without receiving a single reply. The club still owe me a pound by the way…

I assume the copyright infringement you refer to is the You’ll Win Nothing With Yids logo. It was drawn by my younger sister Kezia and I’m sure you’ll agree it is a wonderful piece of work.

Beside the text is a freehand drawing (blue ink on yellow sugar paper) of the Spurs crest, which I considered to be an artistic interpretation with significant modification from the original rather than a direct copy. If it is the view of the Tottenham Hotspur PLC lawyers that my image is too similar to the copyrighted club crest I would appreciate if you could give me an idea what kind of variation would be acceptable. For example would a different cockerel on a different ball, perhaps in silhouette, be considered acceptable?

I must say find it curious that the Head of Retail should contact me when clearly I’m not selling anything on my site. I’m an independent blogger with a relatively modest readership, although numbers are increasing. I don’t make any money out of Tottenham Hotspur. Quite the opposite in fact. I am a lilywhite member and spent more money than I could afford going to 15 games last season.

One final thing - is it possible you could send your response by post as well as email? I’d love to have something on headed Tottenham Hotspur paper for my scrapbook.

Kind regards,

Jack McInroy

You’ll Win Nothing With Yids

www.youllwinnothingwithyids.com

Dear Jack

Thank you for your email and I am glad I have restored your faith in the email system here at the Club.

However, I was concerned to read that your past email correspondence had gone unanswered. So I have picked up with the Customer Service team this morning to check what has happened to them. We pride ourselves on answering all emails within 48 hours and take very seriously when we hear that someone has not heard back from us. Unfortunately we have no record of your emails being received or being rejected by our firewalls when we have looked for your email address, so if you would like to send any queries you have again to me I will pass them on for you.

With regards to the use of the Logo, as Head of Retail, I am also responsible for Brand Protection here at the Club, which is when someone uses the trademarks unofficially and without the Club's permission. As well as this being on merchandise a majority of the time it also includes any use of the logo without our permission on websites, blogs and printed material and this is why I have emailed you.

When the Club logo appears on websites and blogs it can come across to visitors to that site that they have official endorsement from the Club and that includes the content of these sites also being seen to be an official Club opinion.

As you will no doubt be aware, historically the 'Y word' chant has been adopted by Spurs fans as a “call to arms” in order to own the term and thereby deflect anti-Semitic abuse. However, we are aware that while a number of both Jewish and non-Jewish Spurs fans use the Y word in what they consider to be an inoffensive manner, we recognize the use of the word is extremely complex and there are great sensitivities around its meaning.

Therefore, with those sensitivities in mind the Club cannot condone its use given that some fans find the word extremely offensive hence our concern that this is linked on the site with our logo.

In terms of what you can and can not use I can only guide you in the IP Rights we hold, but would always suggest that you look online or get legal advice if you want to use any logo or name as you would be amazed at what is actually protected under people’s IP Rights.

If you have any further questions I would be happy to help.

Regards

Victoria

Dear Victoria

The emails I sent to the ticket office came from a different email address, which is probably why you’ve been unable to track them down. I sent them from [alternate email address] on 1st October 2010, 15th November 2010 and 17th January 2011. If you’re still unable to locate them I will send my complaints afresh.

I appreciate that you are unable to talk me through the finer points of trade mark law, but would you give me your opinion on my new temporary logo? In my opinion it is pretty clear that the website has no official endorsement from the club, and I have never pretended to.

I intend to fully cooperate with the club, so if there is an issue please let me know and I will make further modifications.

In regard to the word ‘yid’, I appreciate the club’s position, although my own view is that we’ve fully appropriated the word from the fascists and the antisemites, which is admirable rather than condemnable.

One final thing, would it be okay to reproduce your emails on my blog? The subject of copyright infringement and modern football is of great interest to the public especially in light of the recent news story about Arsenal suing a Spanish hat shop.

Regards

Jack McInroy

Dear Jack

Thank you again for your email and the fact that you used a different address probably explains why we could not find your previous emails. They may have been caught in the Club’s firewalls and spam. Do you want me to pass on any of the queries you had ?

Unfortunately we would prefer you not to reproduce any of my comments on your website as we try to be accommodating and flexible, taking into account the specifics of each situation, so having the details of what we have discussed that are particular to you could be misleading to others.

However, I would be happy to give you my thoughts where I can on the new logo, but again would always recommend you check with a legal person first.

Thank you again for working with us on this matter, it is really appreciated.

Regards

Victoria

At this point I replaced the You’ll Win Nothing With Yids logo with the below image:

Dear Victoria

As I said I have no intention of misleading the public into thinking my website is officially endorsed by the club. I have a new logo on my website - www.youllwinnothingwithyids.com. I have blurred out the cockerel. If it is the opinion of the club that this is still an infringement of copyright then I will happily change it, otherwise it will remain.

My complaints last season stemmed from the inadequacies of the new e-ticketing system. I assume the errors and miscommunication were teething problems that have now been sorted out, so there is little point rehashing my issues in full, but I do have one complaint that hasn't been resolved.

I was charged £1 for postage for the Manchester City game for a ticket that was loaded on to my membership card. I was in email contact with the ticket office, but I didn't recieve a reply once I asked for the pound to be refunded.

I feel it would be a little petty to request the overcharge to be refunded 13 months on, although I would happily accept a pair of complimentary tickets for the Liverpool game on Sunday if you have any spare.

Kind regards

Jack McInroy

Dear Jack

Thank you for your email.

I will have to look at your website logo when I am back in the office tomorrow. I am working at the Stadium today due to the game and can not gain access to your site from the hot desk I am working at as it does not have the clearance to the website that my own PC does.

Also, thank you for sending me your queries about the new e-ticketing system from last year. I have passed them onto the Customer Services Manager here at the Club to look into for you. I am sure he will respond shortly.

Regards

Victoria

Dear Jack

I have managed to look at your website this morning and unfortunately you can still not use the logo in this way as it is still very clear it is our cockerel and ball logo, which is trade marked, and we have not given you permission to use it.

Please can you take this logo down from your site as soon as you can.

Many Thanks

Victoria

With the club’s position unchanging I decided to remove the famous cockerel and ball altogether and replaced it with:

Dear Victoria

I have removed the cockerel and the ball from my site logo.

Jonathan Waite, Customer Service Manager, has been in touch and assured me that the £1 I was overcharged will be refunded in the next 5 days. My suggestion of complimentary tickets seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Regards

Jack McInroy

Dear Jack

Thank you for removing the logo from the site and I am glad Jonathan has arranged the £1 to be refunded to you.

In terms of complimentary tickets, this is not something we would offer to you, as the gesture does not reflect the circumstances that have taken place between yourself and the Club.

Regards

Victoria

You'll Win Nothing With Yids is on facebook and twitter.

Wigan Athletic 1 Tottenham Hotsur 2: It could have been 9.

2011-09-24T18:20:00.000+01:00

Toward the end of last season Rafael van der Vaart inexplicably was subject to blame for Tottenham’s lack of punch in front of goal. When he suffered an injury a couple of weeks ago that looked like it might keep him out for a while some Spurs fans even dared to call it a blessing in disguise. He didn’t have the impact in the second half of the season that he had in the first, but that was largely due to his struggle for fitness. The quality of forward he had been playing with didn’t help either.

A couple of minutes into his first match with Emmanuel Adebayor he was on the score sheet. Adebayor worked hard for the ball, poached on some lacksidaisical Wigan defending and slid the ball in for Van der Vaart, who swept it into the roof of the net. The Defoe-Adebayor partnership that has excited many may not be our first choice set up.

Tottenham were cruising. A midfield of Scott Parker, Sandro, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale overwhelmed Wigan and we had a second when Bale headed in Modric’s corner after 23 minutes.

The whole game was Tottenham’s, the gulf in class apparent everywhere but the scoreline. Benoit Assou-Ekotto gifted Wigan their goal just after half-time and nearly cost us an equaliser in the 87^th minute. He was suffering with a sore throat, so perhaps we’ll go easy.

The lack of experience (and a striker) on the Spurs bench meant that Adebayor had to play a full 90 minutes despite taking a whack to the head that plagued him throughout the second half. Assou-Ekotto was denied a certain penalty and Kaboul’s free-kick struck the bar.