Tottenham Memorabilia

Everyone is talking about Tottenham for the second season running, last year it was how we were expected to challenge for the top four, this year it is the Ramos revolution.

Having already signed playmaker Modric, Spurs have reportedly agreed a fee for another midfield playmaker, one Giovani Dos Santos, a Mexican playing at Barcelona.  What else do they have in common, well they both chose Spurs over Chelsea.

Two more players have expressed their interest in coming to Tottenham namely Manchester City central defensive rock Richard Dunne and 21 year old Nice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, regarded as the best young French keeper around.

Brazillian club Cruzeiro want £6 million in one lump for Bolivian striker Marcelo and Seville are considering Spurs offer for wide man Diego Capel.

And lets not forget Jonathon Woodgate also chose Spurs over going to Newcastle to win trophies and Alan Hutton left Rangers UEFA cup run to join Spurs. Two great signings who have picked up Carling Cup Winners medals already.

What does all this tell, Spurs have ambition, obviously, there will be departures from White The Lane, definately, but more than that, it tells us players know Tottenham are on the brink of Champions League football.  They are showing they want to come here and be a part of the fight, the journey, they are as excited as we are.  It matters not who comes in for our targets, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United or clubs with money like Manchester City and Aston Villa.  The Ramos revolution is a powerful lure and a selling point to entice.

Take heart fellow Lilywhites, we are going to be putting in a serious challenge for 4th spot next year, start looking forward to it. Let me ask you all a question, if these signings and more materialise, do you think this might just convince a certain Dimitar Berbatov to stay? Is that beyond the bounds of possibility?

The longer the break drifts on, the more stars we sign, the greater the lure becomes, will he or won’t he, dare we Spurs fans start to believe?

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to the 60’s.

It was considered impossible to do “The Double” as no team had achieved the feat in the 20th century, that is until Bill Nicholson came along.  He created the great “Push and Run” Spurs side of the sixties that wrote football history, not only doing The Impossible Double” in 1961, but becoming the first British side to win a major European Trophy.

League Champions and FA Cup Winners 1961 (The Impossible Double), Community Shield Winners

League Runners Up and FA Cup Winners 1962 (European Cup Semi-finalists), Community Shield Winners

League Runners Up and UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1963

FA Cup Winners and Community Shield Winners 1967 

Our hero’s in 61 were:

                       Brown

Baker            Norman          Henry

     Blanchflower       Mackay

Dyson           White              Jones
           Smith            Allen

The players:
Bill Brown - Scotland- GK
Peter Baker - England- RB
Maurice Norman - England - Centre-half
Ron Henry - England - LB
Danny Blanchflower - N Ireland - Deep lying play maker
Dave Mackay - Scotland - Defensive midfielder/ box to box midfielder
Terry Dyson - England -Right Wing
John White - Scotland -Attacking midfield
Cliff Jones - Wales- Left wing
Bobby Smith - England - Striker
Les Allen - England - Forward

Another winning streak like that under Juande Ramos would go down very nicely.

If you want signed shirts by the Double Winners visit Tottenham Memorabilia where you can also get DVD’s of all the finals.

Tottenham next season will have more new faces who may need time to gell together. We have seen it before when they don’t click straight away results suffer.

A new keeper will have to form an understanding with his defence. He is in charge and the back four need to have total confidence in him or it affects their play. Keepers tend to settle quickly so whilst their may be the odd misunderstanding this is not an area of concern for me. Cerny is off to QPR and Robinson will go so we will need to sign two keepers.

A new centre back. Yes we need another but I am a fan of Dawson, who last season was fantastic carrying the defence in King’s absence. He made the England squad but has not had such a good season this time around. He has looked as though he needed a rest after christmas but with no cover has had to continue playing or maybe a lack of confidence in Robinson and Cerny affected his performances. Whatever the reason, we need him back to his best next season. There are so many games in a season now that he is important to our squad, if he went we would have to sign two or 3 centre backs and I can’t see that happening. Kaboul and Rocha will surely both go and how many games will King be fit to play? Spurs need Dawson.

Left back. Spurs have been looking at left wingers which suggests to me that Gareth Bale will be playing left back and not in midfield. Ramos signed Hutton and he loves to attack on the right so Bale will suit the style Ramos wants us to play, quick passing and movement. Having him back will be like having a new signing and a good one. Gilberto is another who loves to attack, presumably he is the cover for Bale so Lee Young Pyo may go together with Chimbonda. Who will be our cover for Hutton? Stalteri signs for Fulham on a free transfer on 1st July.

In midfield Spurs will have Modric pulling the strings, I expect Lennon to be on the right, a new signing on the left, leaving the holding midfielder role. How many games will Modric and Huddlestone play together? Young Huddlestone can only get better and to have him spraying long balls to the flanks with Modric and Keane interchanging at the sharp end would be a very attacking option.

Zakora has improved as the season has gone on and gives us another style in the holding role but will he be at Tottenham or are we chasing someone already?

Malbranque is a hard working player who seems to dribble past players,  keep the ball, tackle back, ghost in for chances and miss them, another miss against Reading, will he stay? His downside for me is lack of pace and his finishing.

,Jenas turned up against Reading, he never stops running but if you remember the comment from Andy Townsend that he is a player who has to know he is loved, a confidence player, will his nose be put out of joint at the arrival of Modric? If so should Spurs let him go?

Berbatov is going for Champions League football so a top class striker will be arriving. Refusing to pose in the new kit and not ordering any for next season tells us he won’t be here. Thank you Dimitar for two seasons of sheer class, you have improved Robbie as a player as a result.

Ramos has said the area of the game we need to look at is our finishing, we create chances the chances, so whoever arrives will be a proven finisher and will therefore cost money. According to some reports Villa has told his agent he does not want to go to Spurs so doubt that it will be him.

We can look forward to more top signings over the summer, let’s hope they gell quickly because if they don’t we may not be challenging for the top 4!

Many more products have been included in the Spurs gifts section of Tottenham Memorabilia such as a range of golfing accessories.

No sooner had these new Spurs items been added when an order arrives from Australia, so they picked up a bargain.

I mention this as an intro, there is a strong following for Tottenham down under and not only with the ex-pats. Soccer loving Aussies clearly like a stylish game which of course is just our style.

This leads me to wonder where everybody watches the game, at home, at the pub, at the ground?

Are you aware you can get a FREE live football stream of Tottenham games direct to your PC via the internet?

There are many sites, and many that you pay for, but one I use more often than others is www.livefooty.doctor-serv.com

If you have difficulty accessing this direct, try typing live footy into Google and it will come out top of the list.

You can use this site for most games whether they are shown on sky or not. It is an easy site to follow. Tonight’s Liverpool v Chelsea game will be there.

Happy viewing.

Speculation time at the Lane with a host of old names and a few new ones thrown in the ring.

Harry Hotspur in his blog makes a case for Ronaldinho coming to Spurs to rebuild his reputation, stating he is only talking to Spurs and AC Milan. What do you think? Regardless of whether he would come to Spurs or not, are you for or against the idea?

Who would you like to see arrive?

Let me throw two names at you, one young, one experienced for the left side.

Having watched him several times I am a fan of Aiden McGeady at Celtic, a lovely left sided winger who can cross and is not afraid to take people on. He on one side and Lennon running at pace on the right would force teams to defend.

Another with a sweet left foot who has lost his form of late is John Arne Riise at Liverpool. He would add experience to the squad and can play in defence or midfield.

We have Gareth Bale coming back of course and we don’t know where Ramos will want to play him so do we need a full back or midfielder?

Bring on the summer and let’s see who we acquire.

Another game Tottenham take the lead, create chances and fail to put them away.

Spurs lead only lasted 6 minutes after Berbatov struck with his left foot after 6 minutes, the chance being created by Lennon.

Aaron Lennon never stopped taking people on today which was a welcome sight after what has to be considered a poor season for him. He made one cross into the 6 yard box in the second half which would have been a tap in if Keane or Berbatov had anticipated and taken the gamble of attacking space.

Over the last few months press speculation suggests Lennon may be part of the clearout but Ramos has stated he has the potential and needs to improve his end product. On the form of today I can’t see Tottenham selling Lennon. He went on runs, had close control and was beating players on a dreadful surface.

Radek Cerny showed again he just is not good enough when in the second half Bent was through and should have scored. His positioning was wrong (not by far, but enough) and went to ground too early. With a bit of composure Bent should have lobbed it over him, instead he blasted it against the bar.

Jamie O’Hara has been a midfield find, I am not convenced about him as a left back yet though. Still, with Bale to come back and Gilberto we at least have 3 left footed players.

Who is the full back cover for Hutton who has been an excellent buy? Who will be the 4th centre half? Who will be the left back if Bale plays in midfield?

Which of these 11 will still be at Tottenham next season: Jenas, Zakora, Huddlestone, Malbranque, Chimbonda, Lee Young-Pyo, Bent, Kaboul, Tanio, Boateng and Rocha?

At last someone has admitted it, Spurs prolific strikers do not score enough goals.

Don’t be daft some will say but stop and think how many chances Tottenham create. Often Spurs are all over teams but do not tuck the ball away. This has to improve.

There have been over 100 goals at White Hart Lane, but not enough of them scored by Tottenham. Attack is the Spurs philosophy now, that’s great, but you have to back it up will goals aplenty, 4 - 4 draws are not good enough.

Look at the Chelsea game, Spurs could and should have won 5-4 in the dying moments. This is exactly the type of chance that Tottenham have missed to many of, the type Spurs must score more of.

During the summer Ramos must be ruthless with under achievers and buy quality. Tottenham after the sale of Defoe have 3 strikers, Bent will surely go, Berbatov might be tempted by the Champions League, leaving Spurs only with Keane. To try and find 2 quality strikers is difficult, 3, well I just can’t see that much money being available when you consider the need for a central defender, a full back and a new creative spark in midfield.

Will he be a Hit or  a Miss?

It’s very hard to tell after half a game but if you had to side one way or the other which way would you go with Spurs new signing Gilberto?

He can certainly use his left foot, seemed to be the only one he could use, which does beg the question, why can players of today not use both feet like Sir Bobby Charlton?

Whenever possible Gilberto was seen going down the left touch line and wanting the ball with some attacking flair. He reminded me of an England and former Gooner full back, being left footed and adding width. When settled next season with Gareth Bale in front of him they could form a left side pairing not many sides in the top flight have.

Clearly he is comfortable on the ball, has skill and a mean line in rugby tackles!

Ok the goal was his fault, a pass to Chimbonda and not a dribble was called for. He had no idea what his fellow defenders were doing and was constantly getting caught out of position, but they will be resolved with a greater understanding of his team mates, which only matches can provide.

Gilberto’s first game makes me think back to the debut of Kaboul, he looked skillful and very promising before the realisation that he wants to dribble his way out of defence every chance he gets.

So for me pushed to side one way or the other, he will be a hit. How about you, what do you think?

A couple of things catch my eye today.

Reports suggest Spurs are making a second attempt to sign Aiden McGeady from Celtic and Juande Ramos waiting until the summer before appointing a goalkeeping coach.

Aiden McGeady plays on the left of midfield for Celtic and has 17 caps for the Republic of Ireland. I have watched him twice and he looks a very skillful player. I was very impressed especially for one so young.

The 21 year old Scottish Premier League February Player of the Month states on his website, that his is playing a more direct style, using his pace and ball skills to tryand get to the byline to cross.

He is not the finished article and at 21 you would not expect him to be, but he is of the age that the club like as an investment for the future.

Have you seen him play, what do you think, would he be a good addition to the squad? Leave a comment and let’s hear your views.

It has been forgotten that we have not had a goalkeeping coach since Hans Segers left with Perry Suckling from the Youth Academy filling in. Like everyone else goalkeepers need a coach, but for them it does have to be a specialist coach, otherwise all they are working on are the basic training routines and not improving their positional play for instance.

I do feel this is where Paul Robinson has been unfairly left to work on his own problems with an inexperienced coach at Premier Leagus level. I am sure this could not have helped him when his confidence was low. Personally I think he should have been taken out of the firing line earlier, but I totally agree with him returning. Presumably the manager was not impressed by Cerny and had to stick with Robinson.

Backroom staff are often overlooked but are vital, just look when England won the Rugby World Cup in Australia under Sir Clive Woodward. he left no stone unturned putting in place an array of specialists the like of which England had not seen before. This is an overlooked area when you consider most sports these days are played in the mind. On the field it is all about making the right decision at the right time and that not only comes from the experience of playing but also from the mental approach.

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For all those Spurs fans remembering the glory years, make your way over to Tottenham Memorabilia where you can pick up his Limited Edition Autobiography on CD, Steve Perryman - Tales of a Tottenham Legend.

 It is a 60 minute question and answer session about his career and comes with a signed photograph and Certificate of Authenticity for £27.97 which includes Free postage and packing.

There have only been 1,000 of these made and they are not widely available. You can pick one up for

It didn’t take Avram Grant long to start bleating did it, is he Arsene Wenger in disguise? The pressure of losing is clearly getting to him. The reports in the paper were commincal this week, he has to win a trophy or at least finish in the top 4 to get money to spend this summer! That’s no target, finishing below 2nd is abject failure for that squad for goodness sake.

 There have been many injuries in football but never to my knowledge has a manager come out and said a player should never be allowed to play again. That, despite a later retraction, is despicable and Arsene Wenger should have been asked at least to explain his comments. Just ask yourself how can a player get a 4 game ban for a tap on the face (whilst the other guy gets nothing) and a manager making a comment like that gets off scott free?

Tottenham Memorabilia offer our best wishes to Eduardo and hope for a speedy recovery, which was a pure accident. He just got to the ball as Taylor was making the challenge, a guy 3 clubs have sold or tried to sell because he is too soft.

Onto better things a Spurs tie away to Birmingham City which we must be looking to win even if we do not need a league place to qualify for Europe. A cup double would be nice but that is a long way off yet.

Who is the 19th highest payed player in the world on basic wages? Why it’s the overpriced Darren Bent, he must have a good agent or our board are idiots to pay him £4.55 million, no wonder we can’t wait to offload him at a hugh loss. Great business guys!

Hutton has settled in well, as has Woodgate, it will be good to see Gilberto and of course next season we will have Gareth Bale back, that will seem like another new signing. I can’t wait for next season already.