Small-time thinking
IT IS a source of some angst among Spurs supporters that their once-great club is not ranked among the big boys, either in England or in Europe. By “big boys”, I mean the likes of United, Citeh, Chelsea, Arsenal and even Liverpool in the Premier League and of course Real, Barca, Juventus, the Milans, Bayern and PSG in Europe.
Now I don’t suffer from that angst; I just enjoy the footie that Spurs play and revel in watching some very good players putting bigger fish to the sword on a fairly regular basis. But I wouldn’t object to an injection of silverware now and again. Which is why I despair when the otherwise excellent Mauricio Pochettino constantly talks down the value of England’s domestic cups, particularly the granddaddy of them all, the FA Cup. Any Lilywhite worth his salt values the FA Cup big time and I would venture that it is far easier to win that than mount a serious league challenge or even — dare I say it? — win the Champions League. For proof of this theory, see Arsenal.
I fully understand Poch’s reasoning when he sent a shadow team to Rochdale following on from cracking performances against United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus, but a team composed entirely of fringe players and players rehabbing after long-term injury was asking for trouble, and trouble was what they got. Make no mistake, bottom-of-the-third-tier Rochdale deserved to beat Spurs; their football was excellent and some of their quality, in midfield especially, would put to shame at least five Premier League clubs. In the end a draw was probably the right result and ensures Rochdale a great away-day at Wembley with a fair few bob for the coffers — but if Poch sends out the same team again (and I think he will), an upset could still be on the cards. If it was down to me I would start with the big guns and then, if a good lead is established, sub them off. But what do I know?
He’s not the only one
It was good of Pep Guardiola to show solidarity with Pochettino when he sent out a Citeh team minus Kevin De Bruyne and some others to play at third-tier Wigan the day after Spurs so nearly came a cropper down the road at Rochdale. Might this have contributed to their 1-0 defeat to a team that registered a mere 18 per cent possession?
Teams of the week
Rochdale and Wigan; end of discussion. Managers: Keith Hill, Rochdale; Paul Cook, Wigan.
This week’s big games
Today: 2.30pm Leicester v Stoke; 5pm Bournemouth v Newcastle, Brighton v Swansea, Burnley v Southampton, Liverpool v West Ham, West Brom v Huddersfield; 7.30pm Watford v Everton, Fulham v Wolves. Tomorrow: 2pm Palace v
Spurs, Cardiff v Bristol City; 3.30pm Aberdeen v Celtic; 4.05pm United v Chelsea. Thursday: 9.45pm Arsenal v Citeh.
League Cup final — tomorrow: 6.30pm Arsenal v Citeh. FA Cup replays — Tuesday: 9.45pm Swansea v Wednesday. Wednesday: 9.45pm Spurs v Rochdale.
Game of the weekend is obviously tomorrow’s clash between United and Chelsea, with the former needing to win to put clear daylight between themselves in second and Chelsea in fourth. The smart money has this one down as a draw but I’m going for a 1-0 home win in a drab contest. All the other weekend Prem fixtures involve at least one side with genuine relegation fears so we could have a minor shake-up in the tightest relegation battle in many a year.
Citeh will start as favourites in the League Cup final, yet you can’t ignore Arsenal’s Wembley pedigree. Prior to their recent defeat by Spurs, the Gooners had won nine straight at the worst ground in north London and they won’t be overawed despite the obvious quality of their opponents. I think they can get at Citeh’s central defence and do some damage. The question then becomes: have Arsenal got the defensive fortitude to repel Pep’s quality attackers? I wouldn’t be too shocked if this comes down to penalties.
Six Nations
Today: 4.15pm Ireland v Wales; 6.45pm Scotland v England. Now it gets serious. With two teams, Ireland and England, still unbeaten we have the tantalising prospect of a winner-takes-all game at Twickenham on the final weekend, though it’s reasonable to assume that both Wales and Scotland will have thoughts of kyboshing that scenario.
Ireland thus far have blown hot and cold; unimaginative in Paris until one period of sustained brilliance in added time, and bright and inventive against Italy last time out. Wales looked the business against Scotland yet, barring one exception, never looked like scoring a try at Twickenham. The Irish are surprisingly strong favourites for this clash and though I can’t see them losing, I fully expect the Welsh to wake from their Twickenham stupor and give the home side a game. Meanwhile it’s business as usual up in Edinburgh, with the Scots accusing England of arrogance and threatening to “send them homeward tae think again” (I hate that awful dirge). The Scots looked bright in beating the French last time out but I think they’ll find the English defence an entirely different proposition to that of Les Bleus. I also think that England can prosper out wide and if they can keep the penalty count down we should be looking at an away win, though it probably won’t be the shellacking that some pundits are predicting.
And finally
Last week’s question read thus: what was significant about the 1965 league fixture between Blackpool and Blackburn? A long-forgotten tradition during the festive season was that there would be a full set of league fixtures on Christmas Day, with reverse fixtures being played on Boxing Day. Gradually these games were phased out and when the two Lancashire clubs met on December 25, 1965 the final whistle sounded the death knell for Christmas Day football.
This week: Citeh’s defeat at Wigan meant that they lost out on the chance to win an unprecedented trophy quadruple (Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League) this term, but one British team did win five trophies in one season many moons ago — which team and when?
I would like to thank the lorry driver who decided to bowl down the coast road in Karşıyaka without regard for the height of his load and the lack of height of the power cables traversing said road. As a result my laptop is now in the repair shop, where the prognosis for its health is not good. Being a good Christian I’m not in anyway bitter but hopefully someday soon some water will find its way into his diesel tanks, miles from anywhere.
That Amanda Gunning doesn’t miss much, does she? “Oh, Rev, you’re watching Spurs,” said she on Sunday evening. Now I wonder what gave her that idea? Could it have been the Spurs scarf round my neck? Or the fact that Rochdale v Spurs was on the box 10ft from us? Or even the fact that I’m quite a well-known Spurs fan, as can be seen in the picture in this column every week? I tell you, Miss Marple’s got nothing on our Amanda.