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2006? - well what do we make of it as Spurs fans? - Overall a decent
year, with some low points it has to be said. One particular low was
back in may at the ground pictured on the left, where we fell short at
the final hurdle in our quest for Champions League qualification. That
real low at Upton Park apart i feel we have made significant steps in
the right direction and look forward to 2007 with some excitement.
The year started well with a fantastic 2-0 win at Manchester City
on 4th january. On what was a bitterly cold night Mido and Robbie Keane
got the goals that took the three points back to North London. The
performance on the night is right up there in the "best away
perfomances" category. Our next match though, is at the other end of
the scale - what looked a fairly straight forward FA Cup tie at
Leicester ended in a 3-2 defeat, made worse by us surrendering a 2 goal
lead achieved through Jenas and Stalteri.
Another away fixture was next, this time at Liverpool, and
although we played well enough to earn a point, Harry Kewell scored the
only goal to give the Reds the points. A week later we entertained
Villa at The Lane and should have run up a cricket score, but for the
brilliance of Sorensen in the visitors goal. In the end we had to
settle for a scorless draw.
After the Villa game we lost 1-0 to a late goal at Fulham then on
february 4th at The Lane Charlton were the visitors - a double from
Defoe and a single Jenas strike had us on easy street before Jerome
Thomas grabbed a consolation on 70 minutes. The following sunday we
were in the North East to face Championship bound Sunderland in front
of the Sky cameras, and although we never played well in the game we
probably did enough to scrape a win. It was not to be though as The
Black Cats salvaged a late point through sub Darryl Murphy to cancel
out Robbie Keanes' opener.
Next for us was the visit of Wigan to White Hart Lane for the first
time. To give The Latics some credit they played well on the day and a
2-2 draw was a fair result with Mido and Defoe grabbing our goals. A
fortnight later we had another exciting encounter at The Lane, this
time with Blackburn, which thankfully we kept the points for with Keano
at the double and Mido scoring to give us a 3-2 win. Ledley King is
pictured battling it out with Sinama-Pongolle during the hard fought
win.
The following saturday we faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge,
losing 2-1, although it took a last gap wonder strike from William
Gallas to defeat us. Jenas had scored what looked like a point winning
equalizer just on half time. A week later it was another away trip,
this time to St.Andrews, to face Birmingham. Despite the freezing
weather and the best efforts of Uriah Rennie to spoil the match, we ran
out comfy 2-0 winners, with Lennon grabbing his first Spurs goal before
Keano sealed the win.
The following monday, 27th march, West Brom were the visitors to
White Hart Lane, and although we ran out 2-1 winners it took a late
Keano penalty to seal the 3 points. The Irishman had earlier scored,
deftly flicking Kuszcak (pictured right), to cancel out a Curtis Davies
goal for the visitors. The victory kept us in 4th with a tricky tie to
St.James' park on the horizon.
That visit to Newcastle, on April Fools Day, was to prove
fruitless as we went down, lamely, 3-1, with Keano heading our only
goal. The misery was compounded with the sending off of Dawson in the
second half. A week later we got back on track beating Manchester City
2-1 at home with Stalteri and Carrick grabbing our goals to render a
Reyna strike for City worthless.
A week later saw us putting in our most accomplished away
performance, better even than the one at Eastlands, when we beat
Everton at Goodison. How we only won 1-0, and from a Keano penalty at
that, is beyond me. Even Everton boss David Moyes admitted we were the
best team to grace their turf that whole season.
Two days later though and we were brought back down to earth -
Manchester United were easter monday visitors to North London, and a
Rooney double was enough to see us off, despite a Jenas goal giving us
some second half hope. The saturday after we made the short trip to
Highbury, for our last meeting there with old foes Arsenal. Despite
being the dominant side for much of the game we had to settle for a 1-1
draw with Henry cancelling out Keano's opener. The game also saw Wenger
and Jol having a wee ding dong - the Arsenal boss wrongly believed we
had scored our goal through unsporting play.
Eight days further on and another vital game - this time Bolton -
was played out in front of the Sky cameras. A Spurs win would see us
confirm a Uefa Cup place at least, and finish off Wanderers season into
the bargain. As it was Bolton were probably marginally the better side
on the day, but we won 1-0, thanks to an Aaron Lennon goal in the
second half. Lennon is pictured celebrating the strike with Carrick.
So that left only the small matter of a trip to East London, and
Upton Park in particular. Spurs knew a win would cement their Champions
League qualification with the result a few miles west a Highbury purely
academic should we have won. It was not to be, and there is nothing
more i can add that has not already been well documented, and the squad
came down with a mystery illness on the eve of the match. Was it food
poisoning? , was it deliberate? , was it just a virus? - who knows, we
may never know. As it happened we lost the game 2-1 to West Ham, with
Defoe getting our goal.
So that drama brought the season to a close, amid huge
dissapointment at the ultimate failure to reach the promised land.
Still, a Uefa Cup place was now ours and we looked forward to our fist
Euro adventure since 1999.
A NEW SEASON, NEW HOPES
We kicked off the new season full of renewed hope, the signings of
Berbatov and Zokora looked astute buys, and it was with a little
confidence that we travelled to The Reebok on opening day. It was
though, the same old story, even the Bolton fans woke from their
slumber to tell us that we "never win at The Reebok". As it was Campo
and Davies scored the goals in an easy 2-0 win for the home side.
The midweek after we had the ideal chance to put the opening day blues
behind us with the visit of newly promoted Sheffield United to WHL.
Dimitar Berbatov and Jermaine Jenas got our goals in a 2-0 win and
everything seemed ok again. Just 3 days later though and we were an
absolute state again - losing 2-0 at home to 10 man Everton. Suddenly
the outlook was just a little more bleak.
There followed a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford - Giggs got the goal
- but we at least played well on the day and perhaps might have nicked
a point.
Then came the game we had all been waiting for - Slavia Prague -
finally our labours were being awarded with some action in Europe. On a
crisp night in the Czech capital at least 3,000 travelling fans saw
Jermaine Jenas fire us to a 1-0 win. At last we were back where we
belong.
The sunday after our Euro trip we welcomed Fulham to The Lane and
despite a host of chances were left wondering how we could only draw
0-0 with the men from Craven Cottage. Six days later we travelled to
Anfield. We played well in the first half and should have been ahead
just after the restart when Jenas missed the gaping goal from 6 yards.
Liverpool raced up the park in a flash to make it 1-0 and after a
collapse we were well beaten by three.
The following thursday provided a welcome bit of Uefa Cup action,
with the second leg against Slavia being won 1-0 courtesy of a Robbie
Keane goal. We had now booked our passage to the Group stage, and would
be drawn against Besiktas, FC Brugge, Bayer Leverkusen and Dinamo
Bucharest. It looked a tough group.
Sunday october 1st saw Pompey as our visitors, and it is a game
that probably got us back into some decent form. Danny Murphy opened
the scoring inside the first 90 seconds, then Zokora won a dubious
penalty which was converted by Defoe to give us a 2-0 lead. Kanu pulled
one back for Pompey just before the break but we held on to record a
2-1 win.
A fortnight later we went to Aston Villa, and played particularly
well, only to have to settle for a 1-1 draw after a late Gareth Barry
strike cancelled out an Angel own goal that had given us a deserved
lead.
Following hard on the heels of that terrific win in Turkey was
the visit of West Ham to The Lane. Mido got the only goal, just on half
time, as we continued our return to form. The match also saw Defoe
accused of biting a West Ham player, namely Mascherano. Spurs were in
action the following wednesday, visiting MK Dons for the first time.
Mido and Defoe grabbed a brace apiece whilst Keano grabbed a late goal
as we ran out 5-0 winners at The National Hockey Stadium.
The next game, a trip to Watford, ended in a dissapointing 0-0
draw. Lennon in particular squandered a handful of chances. Next up was
The Uefa Cup visit of FC Brugge. Although the Belgians took a 14th
minute lead, we ran out comfortable 3-1 winners, with Berbs grabbing 2
and Keano the other. It was possibly one of the best performances of
the year.
Well that was until three days later at White Hart Lane. Chelsea
came a calling, fully expecting to win at "3 point lane" as they like
to call it. On the day we outfought them, scored a couple of terrific
goals and rode our luck a little when we had to. Despite Claude
Makelele scoring something of a collectors item to put Chelsea ahead
after 12 minutes or so we clawed our way back, levelling before half
time through Dawson, who headed an excellent floated Jenas free-kick
past Hilario. The goal that proved to be the winner was something
special, not just the goal itself but the way it was created - Keano
took up the ball wide left on the half way line and started running at
Boulharouz, before making the Dutchman look a bit silly and leaving him
on his bum, then crossed for Lennon who was arriving at the far post.
The flying winger took a touch then as cool as you like fired a left
footer past Hilario. The 16 year wait was over, but not before a wee
scare near the end when Arjen Robben curled a 20 yarder off the right
hand post.
Our next action was a Carling Cup tie with Port Vale at White
Hart Lane. The match saw full debut's for Dervitte and Barcham. Spurs
made hard work of it, going behind to a Leon Constantine goal before we
levelled to take the game into extra time at 1-1. Huddlestone grabbed 2
and Defoe got one as we eventually ran out 3-1 winners after the
additional 30 minutes.
The next game, away to Reading on the sunday, was one of real
disappointment. Looking in total control at 1-0 up we proceeded to lose
3-1 after losing our way after about 35 minutes. Keano got the opener,
from the spot, before The Royals turned the screw.
A week later we travelled to Ewood Park, to face Blackburn, and
although we fared a little better than the previous sunday we had to
settle for a point after a 1-1 draw. Tugay scored a terrific opener for
Rovers which was cancelled out by a Defoe penalty after the Blackburn
scorer was adjudged to have fouled Ghaly. The Turkish midfielder walked
for the foul, and Ghaly would later follow him for an elbow in injury
time.
Next was the trip to face Bayer Leverkusen in The Uefa Cup. Spurs
took a fantastic and noisy support to The Bay Arena and they were
rewarded with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Dimitar Berbatov, who was
returning to his old stomping ground. When the Bulgarian was taken off
in the second half chants of "Berb-a-tov" could be heard from 20,000
German mouths. Respect indeed. The result itself once again proved that
Spurs were perhaps suited to the European style of play, with the
German's never really in the game.
Following that thursday night match was the visit of Wigan to The
Lane on the sunday. Despite the Latic's taking the lead through Camara
we came back to win 3-1 with Jermain, Berbs and Lennon getting our
goals.Six days later we made our first visit to The Emirates Stadium,
and we did not do ourselves any justice, going down 3-0.
Luckily though we had a game on the tuesday after, and it was
Middlesborough who left North London with nothing after Berbatov and
Keano had scored our goals in a 2-1 win. There is no better tonic for
losing than having another game soon after and of course winning it.
Next up at The Lane were Charlton on the saturday. Spurs were
awesome for about a 35 minute spell either side of half - time. We
finally found our scoring boots and fired five past the hapless
Addicks' with Berbs grabbing 2 while Tainio, Malbranque and JD all hit
a single counter. Some of our play was excellent at times and some of
the goals were top drawer.
Five days later Dinamo Bucharest travelled to London for our last
game in The Uefa Cup group stage. Spurs were on fire and probably
should have racked up a cricket score. It ended 3-1 in the end with
Jermain grabbing 2 and Berbs the other. The Romanians managed a late
consolation, but they barely deserved even that, so little was their
contribution to the game. Overall it was a good night though, with us
clinching top place in the group.
Three days later we travelled to Eastlands to face Manchester
City. As it was we continued our good record against The Citizens
winning 2-1 thanks to Davenport and Huddlestone. Hudd created the
opener for Davenport and his own goal was a cracking low volley from
outside the area after he was teed up by Hossam Ghaly. A good day for
the young midfielder. Joey Barton grabbed a consolation for City.
That midweek saw us face Manchester United's conquerers Southend
United in The Carling Cup at WHL. The Shrimpers put up a spirited
fight, taking us to extra - time and very nearly a penalty shoot out.
As it was JD grabbed the only goal with 5 minutes of the extra period
remaining and we were through to the semi - final for the first time in
5 years.
Next was a trip to the North East to face Newcastle. Two down
after 7 minutes we never really looked like taking anything from the
game. Murphy got our consolation. On boxing day we faced Aston Villa at
home and ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a JD double. Both goals were
well taken after assists from Berbatov. The little striker and The
Bulgarian look to be forming a decent partnership and that can only
give us hope for the next 4 and a half months. We can also look forward
to the return of Keano early in the new year.
Oh and i know we still have a further game this year, the visit
by Liverpool on the 30th. I will update the review after that game.
Anyway hope you all have a great 2007 when it comes.
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