Lotus

Complete and total sh*te for 75 minutes. Fantastic for 15 minutes.

Our problems all come down to our midfield not committing themselves into advanced positions when we have the opportunity. If they did then our forwards would vacate the central positions (i.e. 'movement'), as it there's no point

Bit of magic

He needs to play like he has some invested interest in the game.

Key man in the dressing room for Pardew though. AP would be in all sorts of trouble if he didn't have Saylor and Shola in there.

Actually think Obertan would have offered more at LW. Marv should only play centrally.

Such was the incredible gulf in quality between ManCity's attack and Wham's today i would hope it would be.

He doesn't show for them. It's as much the responsibility of the striker to create that kind of scenario as it is the midfielder. He's not playing on the shoulder effectively. His game is about ghosting into positions.

He actually made some nice moves in the box. Just the same as his 1st half season here. Just made himself the yard he needed. Difference was, the ball doesn't come anymore.

Did well enough. Only got done by Jarvis because he was standing square on to prevent Jarvis cutting in onto his stronger foot. When Jarvis opted to go down the line he could only pop the ball up, couldn't cross it with any pace. Wasn't Debuchey's fault the other 3 made a meal of floatied cross travelling at about 12mph.

Thing is, what we think of movement is running down the channels so the forward can get the ball, look up and realise the is ABSOLUTELY NO ONE within 25 yards of him and either pass it back to our FB or try to win a throw in. Cisse's idea of movement is move a yard or 2 away from the CB on their blind side, making just enough space for himself if we managed to put a quality ball in. As there is just slightly above 0% chance of putting a quality ball in it is incredibly clear that he's not much good for us and we're of no use to him. What we need is the Real Ronaldo. Someone you can give a shit ball to, he'll control it, take on 5/6 defenders all on his own and score and the only reason our midfield will need to cross the half way line is to jog over and congratulate him. Job for Graham Carr that one.

Definitely did enough to start against Fulham. Think with Sissoko and Marveaux in the middle we'd do quite well against Fulham.

Since the EPL, i really struggle to think of a time when we've had less clue about how to get the ball in the opposition's box. It's actually baffling.

He was awful today. Really bad. Shame.

Was ok today, definitely.

nah

Good in possession. Let's be honest, he hasn't been tested much without it. Hopefully he'll shine, though!

That would render possession a waste of time then.

Wish this guy would actually will himself into the game. He could make a real difference if he wanted to enough.

Wish HBA would get his head up.

I Bobby Moncur with that word for word.

You're talking about 2 different periods of Spurs' history as if they were one. 91-01 they were majority owned and run by a top English businessman who made his fortune selling cheap tat to the mass market. He supposedly saved them from their financial troubles (I have no idea if this is actually true or a myth spread by himself) and ran them as a proper business. In Sugar's 10 year run they finished 15, 8, 15, 7, 8, 10, 14, 11, 10, 12 - the very definition of mediocrity (the 10 years prior to Sugar they finished 4, 4, 8, 3, 10, 3, 13, 6, 3, 11). If forums existed then they'd probably have had Sugar apologists telling everyone they should be grateful he saved them, they were doomed before he arrived, how he had sorted out the finances and was running the club on a sound financial footing, etc, but they were going absolutely nowhere on or off the pitch, and we easily out performed them financially. It's only since ENIC & Levy took over that the club actually started to be run with the ambition we once had, which sees them where they are now. Yes they have sold their best players on occasion when they have wanted out - NO club is immune to that - but when they do, they spend all the money they get and more on top to try and keep pushing forward. This obvious ambition is what brings in the supporters, the corporate money and the sponsorship, plus it tends to have a happy side-effect of better football, higher league finishes and the extra cash which that brings in. Now they are on the up and making money they are not looking to pay off the debt, instead they are looking to invest in the infrastructure of the club and build a new £250m stadium to bring in even more revenue. I'm convinced Sugar would never have spent £250m on a new stadium, just as Ashley would never have spent £42m to extend St James - in 6 years, a bore hole, underground heating for the training pitches, and lots and lots of advertising hoardings is the sum of Ashley's investment in the infrastructure of NUFC. Under Ashley we're absolutely nothing like the Levy-run Spurs and never will be until he's gone or has a genuine change of purpose towards the club (but that's just a fantasy IMO). Any short term success like the 5th place season will always be a blip and we will never look to build on it, rather it will be a reason to sit back and run with what we have for another year without having to spend money on improving the squad. Any windfall player sale will not be used to boost the season's transfer kitty, but will be used to fund it entirely for the next few years. The commercial and matchday income we had which set us apart from the second tier of well supported clubs (Everton, Villa, West Ham, Sunderland, etc) was down £23.5m per year from when he bought the club in the last set of accounts. The longer he's here, the closer we get financially to theses clubs, and any advantage we built up under the previous owners will soon disappear. Eventually if they're run half decently they too will start to pull away from us. A quarter of the club's yearly revenue gone and nearly double the debt despite a £35m windfall from a player he inherited, and people say the club is better off financially than when he bought it. ridiculously good post. No response from Toonpack?

1 in 2 man, i believe.

Going to be very interested to see how we line up for this. It seems we've only really got the 'technical' players left in midfield. We'll either be weak as p*ss or actually retain the ball. Interdasting!

Happiness takes effort