Watching the Arse lose 3-2 at home in the 2000th game at the Library knowing that we could have opened up a bigger gap.
Still, some positives came out of the game:
Sol Campbell at fault for their first 2 goals
Sol Campbell substituted early because he was not "mentally fit to play on"
Etherington & Zamora scoring against Arsenal
Arsenal losing their 2000th game at Highbury
Even if they win their game in hand, they still cannot catch us
So not all bad.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Danny Murphy
I wasn't aware that Spurs tried to sign him when he left Crewe for Liverpool, but I am glad we have finally landed him for what seems like a steal (circa 1.5M quid).
He is an intelligent passer and a good reader of the game, but what will help us most is his ability to score goals. Jol has talked about our need to score more goals from midfield, but until Murphy signed I wondered where these would come from. The centre of our midfield consists of mainly defensive minded midfielders who are never likely to get near the 10 goals a season a good attacking midfielder would bring.
Murphy has a good scoring record and if you look back at the games we have lost 1-0 this year, you can see that in those games, what is missing is a player to create something, find a pass or take a shot, something the current midifield seem to frightened to do.
Good signing. I hope he finds his feet quickly.
He is an intelligent passer and a good reader of the game, but what will help us most is his ability to score goals. Jol has talked about our need to score more goals from midfield, but until Murphy signed I wondered where these would come from. The centre of our midfield consists of mainly defensive minded midfielders who are never likely to get near the 10 goals a season a good attacking midfielder would bring.
Murphy has a good scoring record and if you look back at the games we have lost 1-0 this year, you can see that in those games, what is missing is a player to create something, find a pass or take a shot, something the current midifield seem to frightened to do.
Good signing. I hope he finds his feet quickly.
Fulham 1 v 0 Spurs
Most of the possession, none of the chances pretty much summed up our performance last night. We have become known for a tricky side to beat that likes to hold onto the ball away from home, which we certainly did, but at no point did it look as though we would be able to find a breakthrough.
Rasiak is a disaster, quite what Jol was thinking deadline day in the Summer. He does have the knack of winning headers, but manages to only send the ball straight up in the air or over the bar. He looked lost last night and completely devoid of ideas. I am sure if Defoe had come on 10 minutes earlier like he should have, the shot straight at Niemi might have been better placed. He is not an impact player, he needs time on the pitch.
The sending off of Dawson was a joke, the first yellow should never have happened, the second yes, but it changed the face of the game. Sadly 3 points lost, Arsenal have a decent chance to close the gap right up and worse still, Bolton can sail past us should they convert their 2 games in hand into 6 points.
Champions league? UEFA Cup if we are lucky.
Rasiak is a disaster, quite what Jol was thinking deadline day in the Summer. He does have the knack of winning headers, but manages to only send the ball straight up in the air or over the bar. He looked lost last night and completely devoid of ideas. I am sure if Defoe had come on 10 minutes earlier like he should have, the shot straight at Niemi might have been better placed. He is not an impact player, he needs time on the pitch.
The sending off of Dawson was a joke, the first yellow should never have happened, the second yes, but it changed the face of the game. Sadly 3 points lost, Arsenal have a decent chance to close the gap right up and worse still, Bolton can sail past us should they convert their 2 games in hand into 6 points.
Champions league? UEFA Cup if we are lucky.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
IT'S ALL GO AT TOTTENHAM
From the excelent www.football365.com Transfer gossip section
Tottenham have made a £20.5m offer for Atletico forward Fernando Torres, according to the Independent, but they have apparently been told to increase their offer. Meanwhile; it seems that Danny Murphy could finally make the switch to Tottenham after initially rejecting the move when he joined Charlton 18 months ago. Anthony Gardner may or may not be offered in part-exchange. They are also still being linked with Hossam Ghaly.
Spurs will get some cash by selling Michael Brown to Fulham for £1.7m and perhaps Stephen Kelly to West Ham
Comments from Lee:
i note today that we have also loaned Wayne Routledge out to Portsmouth. Has Harry Redknapp got something on Martin Jol or something? That is the fourth Yid to Pompey in a few weeks.
Torres would be a superb buy, but unlikely - Chelsea have been tracking him for a while. I am content to let Brown go, and Gardner, but not Kelly. So by my reckoning the following have been sold or loaned, or are slated to leave:
Sean Davis
Pedro Mendes
Wayne Routledge
Antony Gardner
Michael Brown
Reto Ziegler
Noe Pamarot (already injured, quelle surprise)
Leaves us fairly threadbare in midfield. Murphy would be a good acquisition, though I would question his commitment. I know nothing of Ghaly. We had a bid for Jonathan Zebina turned down by Juventus.
When does the transfer window close? If it tonight we are leaving things rather late. Shades of panic a la Raziak?
My Thoughts:
that is true, although that makes sense to me, Portsmouth are in trouble and need better players, so he will get the games he will not get with us while JJ and Lennon are in and around the side.
Agree with Torres being a great signing, he was also linked with Arsenal. I doubt he will go to Chelsea, he has had the chance before and opted to stay in Spain, plus, why would he want to go to a side that only plays one up front thus limiting his chances? I reckon we have a chance there, if Henry stays at Arsenal in the summer, he wont go there, and if we make the Champions league we have a good chance. Athletico Madrid are languishing mid to lower table and I bet he is missing playing in Europe.
I would rather we hung on to Brown, I like his energy, he is a box to box midfielder which we do not have a back up for. Murphy would be the attacking midfielder that we are clearly missing, although no where near as good as Lampard has been, he would improve us. Kelly can piss off if he doesn't realise that he is at a club on the up. Should he leave, i hope he does a Carr and ends up in a relegation scrap every year.
Gardiner definitely should go. I agree with Dave, he is too clumsy and is very error prone, plus it would give Davenport and Huddlestone the chance to join the first team more often.
Ghaly is an attacking midfielder who is currently playing in Holland, supposed to be quite useful, but I doubt he is the kind of player who would come straight into the side, he is Egyptian and has a potential work permit problem (he is not at the ANC).
Zebina will leave in the Summer, I see no reason why he would not join us. I have heard though that it rests on Juve getting Gallas from Chelsea (who wants to leave).
As the window shuts tonight, it looks like panic shopping, a bit disturbing considering that we have gone from a big squad to one that could be troubled by a few injuries....a bad mistake on the part of the club, especially as we should either have hung onto them, or had replacements lined up to keep us in 4th. I just hope it doesnt all go pear shaped.
Tottenham have made a £20.5m offer for Atletico forward Fernando Torres, according to the Independent, but they have apparently been told to increase their offer. Meanwhile; it seems that Danny Murphy could finally make the switch to Tottenham after initially rejecting the move when he joined Charlton 18 months ago. Anthony Gardner may or may not be offered in part-exchange. They are also still being linked with Hossam Ghaly.
Spurs will get some cash by selling Michael Brown to Fulham for £1.7m and perhaps Stephen Kelly to West Ham
Comments from Lee:
i note today that we have also loaned Wayne Routledge out to Portsmouth. Has Harry Redknapp got something on Martin Jol or something? That is the fourth Yid to Pompey in a few weeks.
Torres would be a superb buy, but unlikely - Chelsea have been tracking him for a while. I am content to let Brown go, and Gardner, but not Kelly. So by my reckoning the following have been sold or loaned, or are slated to leave:
Sean Davis
Pedro Mendes
Wayne Routledge
Antony Gardner
Michael Brown
Reto Ziegler
Noe Pamarot (already injured, quelle surprise)
Leaves us fairly threadbare in midfield. Murphy would be a good acquisition, though I would question his commitment. I know nothing of Ghaly. We had a bid for Jonathan Zebina turned down by Juventus.
When does the transfer window close? If it tonight we are leaving things rather late. Shades of panic a la Raziak?
My Thoughts:
that is true, although that makes sense to me, Portsmouth are in trouble and need better players, so he will get the games he will not get with us while JJ and Lennon are in and around the side.
Agree with Torres being a great signing, he was also linked with Arsenal. I doubt he will go to Chelsea, he has had the chance before and opted to stay in Spain, plus, why would he want to go to a side that only plays one up front thus limiting his chances? I reckon we have a chance there, if Henry stays at Arsenal in the summer, he wont go there, and if we make the Champions league we have a good chance. Athletico Madrid are languishing mid to lower table and I bet he is missing playing in Europe.
I would rather we hung on to Brown, I like his energy, he is a box to box midfielder which we do not have a back up for. Murphy would be the attacking midfielder that we are clearly missing, although no where near as good as Lampard has been, he would improve us. Kelly can piss off if he doesn't realise that he is at a club on the up. Should he leave, i hope he does a Carr and ends up in a relegation scrap every year.
Gardiner definitely should go. I agree with Dave, he is too clumsy and is very error prone, plus it would give Davenport and Huddlestone the chance to join the first team more often.
Ghaly is an attacking midfielder who is currently playing in Holland, supposed to be quite useful, but I doubt he is the kind of player who would come straight into the side, he is Egyptian and has a potential work permit problem (he is not at the ANC).
Zebina will leave in the Summer, I see no reason why he would not join us. I have heard though that it rests on Juve getting Gallas from Chelsea (who wants to leave).
As the window shuts tonight, it looks like panic shopping, a bit disturbing considering that we have gone from a big squad to one that could be troubled by a few injuries....a bad mistake on the part of the club, especially as we should either have hung onto them, or had replacements lined up to keep us in 4th. I just hope it doesnt all go pear shaped.
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