Interest in Shaun Wright-Phillips Grows

You've got to be kidding me? I know that we've come to the point in this pre-season when the tabloids go into overdrive, but Shaun Wright-Phillips??

"Arsenal face competition from Tottenham and Liverpool as they try to sign Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips." - Daily Mail

Who dreams this stuff up? I personally think the guy is useless. If the ball isn't deflecting off his shin, then it's coming off of an opponents body part. Has SWP really fulfilled his potential over the past decade? To be fair, he was pretty decent prior to moving to Chelsea, but since then, he has been awful. How he got on the plane to South Africa still baffles me. The fact that he still thinks he's worth £75,000 per week is also a conundrum not many of us will ever be able to answer.

In other news, Niko Kranjcar has fully recovered from the ankle injury he picked up against Portsmouth in the F.A. Cup semi-final. It will be good to see the lad back in action once again. Maybe his form in pre-season can persuade Harry Redknapp to not sign Joe Cole?

I have started to warm to the idea of Cole joining though.

Before I go, Harry is set to be on talkSPORT later on today. Should be interesting!



_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Redknapp on possible formation and Cole

Harry Redknapp has recently spoken about Joe Cole and the possible formation that Tottenham will be implementing.

When asked where he would play Joe Cole (if we were successful in signing him), Harry had this to say: "I think you'd either play him in behind, like the boy [Mesut Ozil] plays for Germany - he could play that position off a striker and be free - or I even think he could play in the middle of the park in whatever system.

"If you play with two up front you could play with a diamond. He could play in behind. I think Joe's strong enough, he's a lot stronger than people realise. He can run all day, he plays with great enthusiasm and skill, I think he's got everything.

"I think there's a good chance [that we can sign him]. A few weeks ago I probably didn't think there was a lot of chance. I really felt that Joe maybe had decided to go somewhere else. To be honest I thought he had maybe done a deal with another club.

"But I don't think he has now and if it's possible to get him I would like him. I'm not going to tell a lie, yes I have spoken to Joe. He's got lots of options, I think quite a lot of clubs want him but I had a great relationship with him as a kid [at West Ham]."

As regards the formation we'll be using next season, Redknapp said: "I think that rigid 4-4-2 formation is the problem when you go in to play teams who can keep the ball.

"Chelsea and Arsenal didn't go into Europe playing that way. Liverpool don't go away from home in Europe and play this way.

"Take Germany - they played with Ozil in the hole behind the striker, two midfield players, and they popped it around.

"I think you can get away with 4-4-2 in the Premier League. Most teams are playing open, but in the World Cup, in European games, and certainly away from home in Europe... I think we're going to have to look at it [at Tottenham]."

With the players we currently have in our squad, I feel that we could implement the below system (click on the image to enlarge it). If Cole does sign, I suppose you could rotate him with Niko Kranjcar.

Source: Ham & High

_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Cole is popular, but not popular enough

It's time to join the Joe Cole fan club. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to praise the out-of-contract playmaker, from his England and former Chelsea colleagues to Harry Redknapp, a man never shy of placing a tactical quote in the press.

It is hard not to admire the ability of Cole, who was England's best player at the 2006 World Cup - an honour admittedly nearly as easy to achieve as it was this time around. He was at his peak then, full of dangerous running, clever passing and important goals. I remember thinking how well he played in the famous 4-4 draw at White Hart Lane three seasons ago.

Injuries have taken the edge off of Cole's game since then, but his currency was still high. High enough for Fabio Capello to include him for South Africa despite the fact he was a bench-warmer at Chelsea last term and high enough for John Terry and most of the media to demand he play a central role in the England starting eleven, they certainly thought he would help England justify their World Cup 2010 odds.

However, the praise only goes so far. Capello did not fully trust Cole and it seems as though Carlo Ancelotti was similarly not persuaded by the player power at Chelsea to give him a new contract. Despite seemingly having plenty of suitors, Cole is still a free agent.

His £100,000 a week wage demands are perhaps a factor and could be the reason why he may not agree to be a Spurs player next season. Cole and his agent must assume that if no one else will splash out then Manchester City will, but the demands may have to change.

Tottenham's Premier League odds suggest they face a challenging season, and Cole would be a decent addition to a squad which will be playing in four competitions.

If he is available at a level that fits into Tottenham's wage structure then we should pursue him, regardless of the fact it is hard to see how he will fit into the team. Until then we should, like everyone else, admire him without acting on it.

_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Tottenham players at the centre of England future?

There has been a lot of talk since England’s World Cup exit about the future of the national team. Fabio Capello is staying on as manager, so it is the playing staff where things need to change or at least be freshened up somewhat.

This could be where Tottenham come in. There are several English players at the club that could force their way into Fabio Capello’s reckoning in the next couple of years. Who am I talking about? Take a look below.

Michael Dawson
Having had a superb season for Spurs, Dawson only got on the plane following Rio Ferdinand’s injury and this wasn’t on. He should have been ahead of Jamie Carragher, Ledley King and Matthew Upson.

It could turn out in his favour that he wasn’t involved in the shambles of England’s 2010 World Cup though. Now he should become first choice England centre back and show everyone why Tottenham have the best central defender in the country.

If Fabio has learned anything, it should be that you don't cross John Terry and then expect him to perform for you. I can see Dawson starting for England when we face Hungary in the ludicrous friendly that's set to take place a few days prior to the Premier League kicking-off.

Tom Huddlestone
The Tottenham midfielder must now overtake Michael Carrick in the England pecking order and start to push Gareth Barry – who was awful in South Africa (didn't it look like he was wearing stilettos when trying to catch Ozil?) – for his place. Hopefully he'll be in the starting eleven come Euro 2012.

Aaron Lennon
For whatever reason, he wasn’t at his best under Capello this summer and I personally think he was one of the main players to suffer from the fear factor. Let him loose Fabio, tell him of his worth and you'll unleash the best right winger England have, torturing defences for the next few years.

Jermain Defoe
As he rightly put it, Defoe should have started each of England’s games. He is a goal scorer and England don’t have them in abundance at the moment. Give him a run of games in the international side and by the time 2012 comes around, he will be an automatic choice for a starting role.

The Rest
The above four are the main players that, in my opinion, should be heavily involved in the England team pretty much straight away. Slightly further down the line though, Spurs have some young English players that could, if given the chance, make a serious impact.

These include Kyle Naughton, Kyle Walker, Jamie O’Hara and Danny Rose. All of whom have massive potential. Basically, if Tottenham are successful over the next four years, you can certainly bank on England having some excellent young players to choose from White Hart Lane.

Elsewhere, it is time to place your 2010 world cup semi final bet, so who do you fancy? Personally I think Germany and Holland will reach the final and then, World Cup final betting tells me England will have been knocked out by the eventual winners!

_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Sponsor to be announced this week

Spurs forum threads everywhere are going mad with the announcement that Tottenham Hotspur Chairman, Daniel Levy, has brokered a deal with a "secret massive company" that has, in principle, agreed to pay the club more than the £8.5 million per season Mansion were shelling out.

Some of the ITK's (yeah, I know a lot of you hate that term) have said that the deal is only for Premier League games. All cup games such as the Champion's League, F.A. Cup and Carling Cup, will be sponsored by another company, but a deal hasn't been arranged for that part of the sponsorship as yet.

Apparently, the "massive organisation" that has agreed to sponsor us, isn't one of the already mentioned names, such as Bloomberg, Zurich, etc.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see who this mystery sponsor is.

COYS!!!

_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Spurs must hope Capello keeps his job

Now that England's farcical World Cup campaign has finished, fans can start looking ahead to the domestic season. For Spurs supporters this should be a time of excitement, as the usual summer optimism is justified like never before. However, a dark cloud hangs over White Hart Lane - the potential departure of Harry Redknapp to become England manager.

Once Roy Hodgson is installed as Liverpool boss, Redknapp will become the bookmakers' favourite to replace Fabio Capello should the Italian be sacked. Redknapp has already expressed his desire to fill the role, albeit when Capello's contract runs out, but our manager knows the Italian is on borrowed time and his comments represent his hat landing in the ring. The World Cup betting made England third favourites pre-tournament, and Capello could get the boot after a woeful showing.

There is every chance that the popular Redknapp will get the job. The F.A. have had their fingers burned twice by installing costly foreign 'super coaches' and the experiment with internal promotion failed when Steve McLaren was given the job.

They know Martin O'Neill was the popular choice when Sven Goran Eriksson left the post and they will not risk ignoring Redknapp in the same way they did the Ulsterman four years ago. The Harry bandwagon has already started and will be hard to stop, especially as alternatives are thin on the ground.

Hopefully this will not be too much of a distraction during pre-season. Everything is in place for another excellent campaign, not least as Tottenham's England players return home relatively unaffected by the South African calamity.

Tottenham's Premier League betting odds suggest another successful campaign could be in the offing, and their underused internationals will have a key role to play.

Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe should all have played more but their lack of action does Spurs a favour as they will all start the season refreshed and with a point to prove. Some of their international colleagues will take some time to rediscover their confidence after performing so badly on the biggest stage.

_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More

Cole in Talks with Spurs

COYS very own Legend and ITK (In The Know), POTL, yesterday announced that Joe Cole was in talks with us over a move to The Lane.

Apparently, the Spurs lads at the World Cup did a pretty good job of convincing Joe that White Hart Lane is the place to be. Let's face it, Cole wouldn't have received any advice from the England Arsenal players, would he??

Joe Cole will also talk with Arsenal, but chances are, he'll sign for us, but I suspect he will wait until Harry commits himself to Spurs.

Good or bad move?

******************

We received the below image in an attachment from one of our German mates who lives out in Cyprus. Cheers Marcus.





_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter

Read our latest Evening Standard Blog

Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....

Big Chiv: My Goals in Life - Get it now!

Read More