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Ahead of Saturday's game against Tottenham
Hotspur at The Hawthorns, we spoke with Alan from the Spurs' blog
Tottenham On My Mind.
He gives us his views on their season, Tim Sherwood, Saturday's match,
and more. You can also follow
Alan on Twitter @spursblogger.
Tottenham
currently sit 6th in the Premier League table, to outsiders it looks
as though you’re having a good season, what’s the feeling amongst Spurs’ fans?
The fact that Spurs are 6th is an indictment of the poor
quality and erratic performances of most PL teams this season. We have spewed
out a stream of rubbish since Christmas, got away with some of it and were
severely spanked on several other embarrassing occasions.
I have never known such disenchantment amongst Spurs fans in
the 45 years that I have been going, worse than when we were relegated in the
mid 70s. Some are angry, others laugh at it, everyone cannot believe that we
spunked £100m on players then sacked our 8th manager in 12 years and appointed
someone with no managerial experience whatsoever on a caretaker basis only.
This isn’t the distorted sense of entitlement of “big club”
supporters. I never for a moment thought we could finish in the top four and
frankly there are more important things. Rather, it is the dismay of loyal fans
who are expected pay top dollar only for chairman Daniel Levy to repeat an
endless cycle of recruiting players, seeing them develop then sacking the
manager before they mature so the best players leave and we start again.
If reports are
to be believed it looks as though Tim Sherwood will be replaced at the end of
the season, would it the right move by the club and if he does go is there
anyone in particular you would like to see take over?
Sherwood is passionate but inexperienced, and it shows. He’s
learning on the job, trying out different formations and managerial styles, e.g.
in a week he went from chucking his coat into the dugout and his toys out of the
pram to sitting in the director’s box, aloof and uninvolved. Neither approach
did the team any good. He’s naïve and out of his depth. This managerial
apprenticeship will serve him in good stead when he is sacked and picks up a
decent job in the lower leagues, where he will do well. In the meantime, I don’t
appreciate the fact that he’s practising on the Spurs first team.
And going back
a little, in hindsight, did the club make the right decision in sacking André
Villas-Boas?
Villas-Boas was floundering. He over-achieved in his first
season but proved that he was not a good enough coach to integrate the seven
summer arrivals with the existing squad. That said, I wouldn’t have dismissed
him without having a replacement lined up. Given that we didn’t, better to keep
going with him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Brendan Rodgers (who turned us
down because of Levy’s meddlesome reputation) and Villas-Boas were both heavily
criticised at one point.
Liverpool stuck with their man and look where they are.
Spurs are
currently four points behind Everton and five behind Arsenal, can you
realistically catch those two clubs or will you be happy to hold onto 6th place?
Catch them? No chance.
Highlight of
the season?
Highlights in short supply.... the win at Old Trafford, I
suppose.
Moment you
would rather forget?
Calamitous defending contributed to our surrender at bitter
rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, but the dark comedy of much of this season is summed
up by Andros Townsend coming on as sub to take the game to West Ham only to pull
his hamstring doing stepovers. We lost, he was injured for 6 weeks.
Player of the
season?
Genuinely struggling here. Not a single Spurs player has had a
consistently good season. Eriksen at a push, if nothing else he offers hope for
the future.
Villain of the
season?
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy
Premier League
champions?
Manchester City
Relegated?
Cardiff, Sunderland, Norwich
Prediction and
thoughts on Saturday’s game?
Tough to predict. Our lack of organisation, playing recently
without a recognised defensive midfielder, and tendency to make catastrophic
defensive errors renders us vulnerable, although keeper Lloris has been in good
form. Equally we have the individual talents to make something happen, scoring 5
on Monday against a poor
Sunderland side, and we can counter-attack at pace.
Eriksen is key – energetic, intelligent and skilful. Adebayor
has been playing well too but we will struggle if
West Brom press and defend as
stoutly as they did at
White Hart Lane.
Picking the splinters from my backside, I’ll stay on the
fence and go for a draw. How’s about you don’t take any more from us but get
enough points to stay up? Look forward to playing you next year.
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