A weekend of sporting disaster...

As sporting weekends go, it doesnt get much worse than the one just passed...

I'll start with Spurs.  A 6-0 (yes, SIX - NIL) defeat to Champions-elect Manchester City.  I know we've been struggling recently but I never in a million years saw a hammering coming.  If anyone had seen our last PL game against Newcastle, where we had 31 attempts at goal and the Bar Codes Goalkeeper Tim Krul has single-handedly kept them in the game, most of us Spurs fans were left thinking it was only a matter of time before Spurs finally clicked in front of goal and handed out a good old-fashioned seeing to.

AVB looking just a little shell-shocked in his post-match interview...

Spurs started brightly.  95% possession for around 14 seconds then it all went drastically wrong.  I could write an essay in response to the defeat but I just want to touch on 4 specific points which AVB needs to sort out sooner rather than later...

1. Assou-Ekotto MUST be called back from his loan spell at QPR.  Why is the best left-back on the club's books on-loan?  You may not like him AVB but the sooner you get over your stubborn streak, he needs to be back in the team pronto, so that our first choice centre-back Vertonghen, can marshall the defence.  A centre-back pairing of Dawson & Kaboul just doesnt work.  The last time they played together...Spurs lost 1-5 to Man City at home.  It doesnt take a genius to work that out, surely?
2. Again, put your stubborness to one side and pick Adebayor.  Ok, he's had his issues but he's the only forward at Spurs capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
3. Soldado is struggling purely down to lack of service.  The inverted winger system needs to be trashed immediately.
4. Paulinho needs to be dropped.  Spurs played well last season when Dembele and Sandro were starting games together in the middle.  Paulinho seems to be starting every PL game ahead of Dembele and I'm afraid his performances just dont warrant being picked.  Dembele is excellent at setting the tempo, something Spurs havent played with all season.

Next up in the PL, Spurs play Man United at home on Sunday.  Another mauling at home may see Levy's patience finally run out.

Worringly, Spurs have got problems on a par with the England cricket team.

The notoriously slow tour starters were smashed by the small matter of 381 runs.  It was an absolute mauling.  Restricting the Aussies to 295 in the first innings seemed like an excellent effort from the England bowlers on what looked very much like a pitch where 400 runs plus would have been about par.  England capitulated to 136 all out in the final session of day 2 and by the end of stumps at day 3, the Aussie's had piled on another 401 runs before they declared and took the early scalps of Carberry and Trott, leaving England a hopeless task of trying to bat out 6 sessions.

The Aussie's were able to call on the explosive bowling of the rejuvenated Johnson and he rightly took away the man of the match award for taking 9 wickets and scoring 103 runs.  It was a remarkable turnaround for the bowler who was made the scapegoat of the last Ashes series in Australia.

This morning, England were rocked by the announcement that Jonathan Trott, England's number three batsman, was returning home because of a stress-related illness, invoking memories of Marcus Trescothick on an earlier Ashes tour.

 

Jonathan Trott is heading home from the Ashes tour...

David Warner described Trott as "poor and weak" following the first test in Brisbane, where Trott managed a paltry 19 runs in the two innings.  Warner has since released a statement to say his comments went too far.  As did Michael Clarke's sledging in my opinion, where he told Jimmy Anderson to prepare for his arm to be broken by Mitchell Johnson's bowling.  There's no disguising the Aussies are up for this Ashes series like no other before but they've crossed the line.  I hope and pray that that the England boys respond like they should and really comes at the Aussie's all guns blazing now.

There will be some serious needle in the second test.  With Trott heading home, surely England must now consider fighting fire with fire and bring in Finn or Rankin, who are both capable of bowling in excess of 90mph.

Most importantly, I'm sure every cricket fan will wish Trotty all the best and wish him a very speedy recovery.  Whether he is able to continue at the very top echelons of test cricket again is another matter but whether he does or doesnt, it hardly matters when his long term health is at stake.  He can be very proud of what he has achieved for England.

Sandwiched in between the Ashes and the Tottenham debacle was an absolutely cracking World Championship fight between WBA and IBF title holder Carl Froch and Londoner George Groves.

The build up had been hyped.  Froch had been accusing Groves of a lack of disrespect and Groves was saying all the right things.  It appeared that Groves had got inside Froch's head and the result was going to be a real grudge match.  The pre-fight comparisons to Eubank v Benn were laughable but you could see Eddie Hearn and Matchroom desperately trying t sell the fight to the public and they certainly caught the public's imagination.  The experts couldnt decide what way the fight would go, most agreeing that Groves was more than capable of causing Froch problems with his speed and work rate but Froch's pure strength would show through in the later rounds...

Froch v Groves: A stunning fight but marred by controversy

Groves was booed into the ring.  A few minutes later, Groves had dumped Froch on the canvas in the first.  It was a stunning start to the fight.  Froch somehow survived to the end of the first and so it appeared on a number of unofficial scorecards, Groves won the first round 10-8 and the next 5 10-9, so he was well clear.  Rounds 7 & 8 went to Froch, so  there was at least 4-5 rounds between them.

Froch was getting stronger and one punch caught Groves.  He looked in trouble, there's no denying that but the referee jumped in so quickly to stop the fight, it made a mockery of the contest.  As is turns out, two of the so-called judges had scored the fight 75-76 in favour of Groves so you have to wonder what fight they were watching.

I've watched the fight again since Saturday night and I'm still convinced that Groves would have recovered but Froch was getting stronger and I dont doubt that Froch would have gone on to win the fight at it neared its end.  Groves' lack of experience saw him work so hard in the earlier rounds, it appeared he'd hit the wall by midway through the 8th.

Didnt get the result I particularly wanted but at least I got my prediction right...

Prediction = spot on - Round 9.

The post-fight analysis by McCrory, Khan and Haye in the studio was spot on.  All three were appalled that the contest was ended like it was.  However, you can sort of accept why the referee did jump in when he did.  Its the culture nowadays.  No referee wants to have a Eubank v Watson or Benn v McClellan fight on their hands.  Although the refereeing could almost be excused, there can be no excuses for judges who seem to be more bent than a FIFA voting process.

Post-fight, I dont think I can ever say I've seen a boxer who was booed into an arena be cheered out of it at the end, like Groves was on Saturday night.  That was remarkable.  Froch was his usual arrogant self and done himself no favours whatsoever with his post-fight interview.  I hope that Eddie Hearn can somehow make a rematch but I dont see it can be of any interest to Froch now.  Froch will be running scared.  He knows, like the rest of us that the best boxer on the night lost.  Groves will have learnt a great deal from that fight and I have no doubts that he will go on to be a World Champion in the next few years.  Froch may now be thinking about retirement.  He's had some real big fights in the last couple of years and his age and speed is beginning to hinder him.

Groves: the boos turned to cheers...

Here's hoping next weekend brings some better luck...

My sporting highlight of the weekend is reserved for the awesome guys and girls of Plumstead Runners who put on one hell of a special KFL cross country race at Oxleas Woods yesterday and a huge well done to the Plums that completed the course because it looked truly horrific.  The course is hard enough during the summer months, let alone when there's mud everywhere.  Am really sorry I couldnt run yesterday and I could only make a flying visit...but I did manage to get some video footage...

Palace 0 - 1 Spurs

1/1 for Roberto Soldado

A potential banana-skin of a game against Ian Holloway's newly-promoted Crystal Palace was dealt with in efficient fashion by Spurs.  With Spurs lining up 4-5-1, with fit-again Vertonghen returning alongside skipper Dawson, debutant Paulinho anchoring a 5 man midfield with Dembele, the attacking trio made up of new boy Chadli alongside Lennon and Sigurdsson with £26m Roberto Soldado up front on his own.

A game of few chances but Spurs bossed the possession.  Dembele and Paulinho set the tempo excellently, the midfield attacking trio linked up well with Soldado and it was good to see the full-backs Walker and Rose over-lapping and getting beyond the midfielders.

Chadli missed a far post header in 1st half injury time, Sigurdsson's stinging drive brought a save out of Palace's keeper Spironi and Dembele shaved the cross-bar from distance but Spurs were by far the busier team.

Spurs started the second half brightly.  One penalty appeal turned down but then the Palace left-back handled Lennon's cross and referee Clattenburg righty pointed to the spot and Soldado put the penalty away with aplomb and wheeled away in delight towards the Spurs fans in the Arthur Wake stand.  Selhurst Park is a sh*t hole and always will be.

With 20 mins to go, Holloway prompted Palace into action with a triple change, bringing on veteran Kevin Phillips and new signed Chamakh (aka Ars*nal failure) and resorted to the long ball game but Dawson, Vertonghen and the returning beast of Kaboul, on for Danny Rose with 10 mins to go, held firm.  There was one last chance for Palace but it was hit straight at Lloris who in fairness had little to do throughout.

A great, workman-like win for Spurs.  The new boys Soldado, Paulinho, Chadli and Capoue [who came on for Dembele in the second half] looked at home and are now fully aware of the kind of thing that will be thrown at them on a cold Tuesday night in November or February up at somewhere like Hull or Stoke.

MOTM by a mile was Paulinho for me.  Hard to remember an occasion where he misplaced a pass.  I'm pretty sure he didnt all game.  Put himself about, made a couple of breaks forward.  Very promising indeed.  Strength in depth in that position is now excellent.  Dembele, Paulinho, Sandro and the impressive Capoue along with the likes of Holtby when he is fit, Spurs are clearly moving from strength to strength.

As for Palace, they worked hard but showed very little quality.  If throwing the kitchen sink for them means lumping the ball long to the likes of Chamakh and Phillips, they're going to have a very long season indeed.  My prediction is that they'll be relegated by Easter.

Next game up for Spurs, a little trip to Georgia, where we take on Dynamo Tblisi in the Europa Cup qualifying round on Thursday evening.

BBC Match report here

EDIT:  Check out the stat on the picture below...seems I didnt give Capoue as much credit as he deserved...

Capoue...The Beast Mk 2?

Spurs v Espanyol friendly at WHL...impressions and thoughts

Roberto Soldado scored his first Spurs goal at WHL from the spot...

Spurs finished their pre-season programme with a sell out at WHL against Espanyol.

The game finished 1-1.  Roberto Soldado opened his account for Spurs from the spot midway through the first half after Danny Rose was brought down in the box, although the replays showed it was a tad harsh on the Espanyol defender.

In typical Spurs fashion, Spurs failed to defend a near-post set piece, conceding just before half-time.  The second half turned into a feisty, scrappy affair but a draw was a fair result.

The biggest cheer of the day was on the 60 minute mark when Sandro "The Beast" Raniere made his first appearance this rupturing his knee ligaments in the QPR game back in January.  Kaboul played the full second half too and it was absolutely brilliant to see the two power-houses back in the side.  I certainly feel full of optimism with both of them back.

Without wanting to go into a full review of the game, I wanted to pick up on a few observations:

• Danny Rose - may have won the penalty and looked ok going forward but he is not a left-back.  Still far too much to learn.  I dont know what Disco Benny has done to upset AVB but surely BAE is the better option at left-back?  (As Chandra rightly pointed out in the Gym, both Vertonghen and Fryers can play the position so we do have cover there even without BAE anywhere near the starting XI.)  Talking BAE, comments he made on Twitter over the weekend seem to suggest he will be leaving sooner rather than later.  If this happens, I'll pay my personal tribute to him later.
• Soldado - only played 60 mins but if he works as hard as he did in very game for Spurs like he did in that 60 mins, we've got one hell of a centre-forward on our hands.  Looked sharp throughout, always looking to come off the shoulder of the last man, looked comfortable dropping deep to receive and lay off, looked good in the channels.  Impressed.
• Chadli - saw a bit of him last weekend against Monaco and he looked as though he was a little nervous and took a few touches too many at times but he looked much more composed.   Linked up well with Soldado, Dembele and Rose down the left, especially an excellent little flick around the corner for Rose.  Good work rate.  Impressed.
• Paulinho - looked very good.  Good use of the ball, good work rate, good link up with Dembele.  Scored with a header early in the first half but was incorrectly ruled out for off side.  Excellent 60 mins.
• Kaboul and Sandro - great to have them back in the side.  Fabulous.  Read AVBs thoughts on the returning pair here

Sandro...aka The Beast back in the side

Of course, the main TV footage by ITV concentrated on the one issue that we're all sick of right now.  Gareth Bale.  In the quick pre-match interview, AVB said Bale is still suffering from a sore foot.  You could tell he didnt mean it.  I'm assuming he's off.  To be quite honest, for anything in the region of £85m+ he can go with my blessing.

Spurs are looking good right now with or without him.