Today we should be going about our work with a whistle at our lips and a spring in our step. Instead we lurk in corners, trying desperately to avoid eye contact with supporters of The Scum, The Chavs and The Pikeys.
We’ve played well for most of the season, but there have been sporadic occasions when we just haven’t performed. Unfortunately, we choose the FA Cup semi-final to be the latest game that we would attend in body, but not in spirit.
In my preview of the game I suggested that by rights we should win very comfortably. The comments section rather predictably now features remarks from Portsmouth fans suggesting that I was arrogant in my summary; but regardless of the result, was I really wrong?
With or without the deducted nine points, Portsmouth are bottom of the league and a team that Tottenham have beaten at home and away this season. We are fifth in the league. Of course there was always a chance that Pompey would upset the odds, but are we not entitled in this situation to expect victory? If we drew Barcelona in Europe, I would fully expect their fans to be throwing their castanets in the air at the expectation of an easy win.
Perhaps we’re not entitled to expect anything, because we do support Spurs after all and the first lesson that is drummed into us as fledgling fans is that absolutely anything can and will happen to our beautiful, flawed and ridiculous club.
You can call us unlucky and in many ways we were. Dawson slipping over like Tucker Jenkins on ice, Crouch’s wrongly disallowed goal and the penalty for a perfectly legitimate tackle, are all examples of bad luck. However, you could say that this luck was of our own making, because all of these incidents occurred in extra time and had we done our job properly, the game would have been wrapped up within ninety minutes.
We really lacked imagination. Our only tactic was to give the ball to Bale and hope that one of his crosses would be converted. Aaron Lennon – we need you back. At least with him on the right we would have two tactical ploys with which to bamboozle the opposition.
I’ve just had a look at the match stats and wasn’t exactly surprised to learn that of our 16 shots at goal, 15 were off target. Most of those chances seemed to have been missed by Crouch. Why did he start? Before injury disrupted their partnership, Defoe and Pavlyuchenko were in fine form and scoring goals. Crouch might have scored a couple of goals of late, but it’s hard to argue that he’s currently playing better than Pav or Gudjohnsen.
Oh well… good luck to Portsmouth and Jamie O’Hara in the final. I still tend to think that they will get annihilated, but if there’s anything that I’m determined to prove on this site, it’s the fact that I’m often wrong about things. The Pompey fans deserve their day in the sun, because they will be spending some wet Wednesday nights in Scunthorpe and Doncaster next season.
Our attention turns to the North London derby and whether we can salvage anything from this season. With Manchester City thrashing Birmingham, we just cannot lose if we’re to have any hope of catching them. With Wilson suspended for the Arsenal and the Chelsea games, things don’t bode well, but to repeat the line like a mantra – absolutely anything can and will happen to our beautiful, flawed and ridiculous club.
One last thing. If we happen to play at Wembley again next season, is it possible that the club could somehow arrange it so that I’m surrounded by fans from the Park Lane, who won’t be mortally offended by people standing up at a football game? There are just some things in life that don’t work as well when you’re sitting down. Gigs are one example and football is another. If you want to remain seated for two hours then the opera is in Covent Garden.
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The form book indeed showed Spurs winning comfortably, no arrogance there. But I always had a bad feeling about this match. Its the !@@#%^&**() magic of the @#$%^& FA Cup!!! You just knew that pathetic little Portsmouth would get a fairy tale and we would be bit-part players in it! Good luck to them.
You were outplayed. Simple.
Oh yes, and out sung too. Never heard such a quiet set of fans since last Aresenal game. Shame on you all.
Oh, and I share your misgivings about Crouch. I can’t understand why he started, his partnership with Defoe has not been the best. He did win a lot in the air – for a change – but fat lot it helped us.
PP, Well done to your lot, but don’t talk crap.
Good luck for the cup, well done and also deserved a bit of luck….come on you Spurs, give us 4th place
…those starts appear to be very wrong – I can remember a number of shots that James saved – that were on target. Grant had the Tactics spot on – and it helps that he has worked and observed Redknapp’s style closely when they were both at Portsmouth. Good luck to Pompey as we didn’t do enough to win outright, so no real complaints about the result. Although I am annoyed the Palacios is suspended for the very 2 games I did not want him to miss. He really did not need to play yesterday – win or lose.
Couldn’t disagree more. Didn’t give it up even up to the end. Deserved so much more. They had the luck. We didn’t. Pompey Paulo, you won but to say we were outplayed is just a plain lie. You were clinging on for vast lengths of time and only bad luck, last ditch blocks (too many to count) and poor finishing prevented us from stuffing you. If the ref wasn’t such a tit and allowed Crouch’s perfectly legitimate goal, we would most likely have gone on to win. Good luck to you in the final, no bad feelings towards Pompey but dont kid yourselves that you won without a huge slice of good fortune.
We were never in it ,Bentley Crouch Rednapp Bassong
(Hudd)All fall a little short of the mark (the bullseye)
.Irrespective of sentiment. Im aware that n17 is millon miles from catalonia(Arsenal Hell)but we have the most annoying of habbits ,where we look like a bunch of amatuers..against a bunch of nearly menthen a quite tasty
bunch the next. Hate to repeat myself …but Betty Crouch
needs putting down or what ever it is u do with dieing giraffes….Rednapp strikes again. He never evr had achance of being an anything manager and a long as hes at spurs neither do we. Of that hes now convinced me.
please excuse exceptionally bad grammer ,as Im still mentally recovering from that hit of shameful embarrasment
we took yesterday. It was Portsmouth we were playing wasnt
it………Portsmouth ??!!!!
…and spelling…(grammar)…
I think we got what we deserved. There were people saying that we could put out our reserves and beat them. In the end, we put out our best team (apart from Lennon) and got beat in extra time. Sadly Redknapp fell for the option of trying to get the best theoretical lineup, but half of them were not fit. After 120 minutes of football, it is likely that they won’t be fit on Wednesday either! I am gutted about that more than the actual game.
This is the reason we want 5th Not 4th… we are not ready yet and do not have the depth of squad. As for the game, we expect to win – they wanted to win, big difference!! as 4 the team selection, bad bad day for Harry, once again like MJ he has shown that he hits the panic button on the big occasions and screws it all up. Lets face it with Redknap in charge we will never win the Prem, said that when he joined and I will stick by that till he is gone.
Ok so Spurs as a team did not play as well as they can. What really antagonises me however, is fans capacity to blame Crouchy in the face of all the evidence. Look at the paper ratings week after week and he is one of the most consistent players. This week all the other strikers scored consistently below him and yet forums and blogs target criticism at him. Defoe missed two sitters – where’s the criticism of him.Pav wasnever on target and quickly drifted out of the game. Super Pav? I don’t think so.
Spurs problem is not Crouch – its the failure of the midfield to both get forward and get wide. and to go missing. How many goals has the midfield scored since Christmas? They aren’t a threat and thats why they resort to high balls and put pressure on the strikers.Thats why Crouch scores for England – he has a decent midfield Every time he got the ball he had 2-3 players around him – because of the danger he presents. There isn’t a side in the Premier League who wouldn’t welcome him with open arms – Liverpool fans were gutted when he left because they knew how to play him and they had the vision and the understanding not to play constant long balls to him and then blame him when there are no other ideas.
I’m beginning to think Spurs fans deserve what they get – if I were Crouch I’d be off in the summer and go and play for a team that isn’t one dimensional, doesn’t value ephemeral butterflies over hard work and graft and who get behind their players.
Portsmouth won because they grafted as a team and their fans get behind them in the face of adversity. Says it all really
We were not outplayed, we we kicked and pulled all over the place by a team playing anti football. Lower class teams are resorting to this style to combat passing teams like Spurs and Arsenal. We had no protection from that useless prick ref and he even had the temerity to disallow our goal for a non existent foul and to award a penalty for a cleanly won ball. Spurs were not at there best that was obvious, but the pitch and decisions against us were huge factors. I am bitterly disappointed today with Spurs and that prick Alan Wiley.
Hey,Shannon…read what you manager said.
Harry said: ‘Full credit to Portsmouth, they are always dangerous on the counter-attack.
‘The game was just as difficult as I knew it would be., When people started saying “it’s only Portsmouth, you’ve got an easy game”, it was never, ever going to be an easy game. When they’ve got their best players, they are a threat.
‘They’ve got pace up front, pace out wide and are always dangerous on the break.
‘Full credit to them, full credit to Avram. He did a great job. They were well set-up, well organised. We missed our chances and they took theirs.
‘Their fans were superb, too. You only had to hear them to know that.
Q.E.D.
Pompey 1st XI 2- 0 Pompey 2nd XI
I agree with all of that, PP. But we weren’t “outplayed”. In the first half alone we had 17 corners to your 4! Your first goal wouldn’t have happened if Dawson hadn’t slipped on tht pitch. We scored a legit equaliser and your pen wasn’t one. We should have had a few pens too, come to that. But I’m not complaining about the result. I just want you to see it for what it is. Best of luck to you, mate. Though you might have used it all up already.
pompey pauolo you can hardky say we were outplayed we were the better team fair play if you played like you did today all season you would not be in position you are now but you a had huge chunk of luck the freekick for the goal was a pathetic descion, the goal was legit infact james fouled nico and he knew it and the penalty may have looked a penalty from a distance (although i could see even though i watched it on tv straight away) and would look to point out i dont think boateng got booked for his celebration wiley once again proved he is unfit to ref a game ! none the less i wish you luck in the final and begrudginly hope you do win also would like to say i still remain hopeful we can beat arsesnal wednesday if pompey can beat us why cant we beat arseanal still all to play fot
p.s excuse my awful spelling and grammaical errors at work lol
oh yes and because im annoyed next season youll be playing doncastor and we could be playing barcelona 🙂
Those people who criticise Harry need to get real. 16 months ago, we were in Pompey’s position (albeit not financially). You cannot always get it right, and there will always be little misjudgements along the way. We all make mistakes – I bet most of you used the backspace key a few times when entering your comments on this page…
Yes, Redknap was and still is a mistake, he is a two bit second rate manager who is more akin to Arther Daley than a football manager. 99% of the football managers in the conference would have got us out of the mire that was last season. The sooner we rid our team of HR the better. Thank god Levy is at the helm and does not let HR near the cheque book because if he did we would be another Pompy … I will always say the same, in the big games HR has not got a clue … Pompy showed that and good luck 2 them …
Southampton are a much bigger club than Rompey anyway !!! Ps wos the odds that once we sack Twitch he ‘ll come back to be your only claim to fame once again.
Tada
…and the reason to sack Harry would be what exactly? For giving us the best season in ages? He will retire in 2-3 years anyway. Get behind the man.
The only time I will be behind this man is as he is leaving the ground for the last time …
wat a great weekend the mighty hammers win and little old spuds loose. your just a small club from arsenal lol
Jesus…correcting my grammar and now my thoughts ,gis
a break tone…I am the one paying the bills where i live mate. Im behind my club Tony ,no one man is bigger than a club. So u get behind the man if you want and ill do what us in our family have done for 50 plus years.support Tottenham (managers are temporary appntmnts)Fans are permanent..maybe u could take some advice from me mte. Rednapp is a nearly man ,if tht’s what floats your boat im happy for ya. Its just this damn ambition and optimism thing keeps playing with my mind. H’es not got it
and if a man of his age and presumably yours has not familiarised yourself with the saying…’that if u always do
wht youve always done ,that youll always get what youve always got.’ case closed.
COYS
Well said … HR out … ASAP … at his age all he has to show is ONE FA cup … wow ….
Ok dude. The spelling thing was a little light hearted joke, and nothing personal – I make spelling mistakes all the time. You are of course entitled to your opinion. I just find it hard to understand that when we finally get a manager that is going to get us our highest points total for literally 20 years, and potentially our highest league finish in 20 years – that people still moan. Especially when if things went differently last season, we could have been playing in the Championship right now. I am not saying he floats my boat. I am just saying that he floats my boat more than Gross, Francis, Hoddle, Graham, Santini, Ardilles, Ramos, Shreeves and even Jol – at this moment – Just based on facts alone. I have a huge feeling, that when Redknapp leaves, we will do our usual 3 steps back. We all want the same thing, and we are close this season.
I agree we r kind of all in this together. No offence taken…
i just am not one for rose tints in times like this ,we were in Europe playying twice as many games..much more attractivel to wacth losinf=g 3 games all season (Bebrs keane in shape lennon davids)made us look and feel like the club i knew and loved.
Even under Ramos we beat chelsea in a final we were
(WINNERS TONY). this season by way of default we r still able to discuss matters in a senior tone ,but when it was our turn (Harrys)To make the difference win the must wins we never. he insisted on being wrong and strong…now like all of our scummy neighbours predicted it will probably end in tears and not by accident mate. I get your point on the poor managers u mentioned ,but since then we have invested money at a staggering rate …and all this to almost achieve what we did just 2 seasons ago. I am not
happy or convinced , also not shocked. (Its our way)
COys
‘Full credit to them, full credit to Avram. He did a great job. They were well set-up, well organised….
maybe you should ask him for guidance on how to do the above Harry!!!!!!!!
what a lot of people tend to forget or are afraid to mention is that if we do not make 4th spot then we will nolonger have the likes of Bale and Lennon to “terrorise” defences cos you can be sure they are being watched closely by managers who do an awful lot more for their careeers and obvious talent, Harry sits by like a confused Meerkat with hearing difficulties, and going out just before extra time and giving a team hug is a sure sign that this is a club too far for him, I will surely feel justified to say “thanks for feck all ” when I look at the table at the end of the season and see us in 5th or 6th, watching the semi-final was like going to bed on christmas eve and waking up on boxing day!!!!!
Why blame the players? The culprit will always be the Manager! Just look at those who left/sold-off or loaned out… Taarabt, O’hara, Naughton, Bent, KP Boateng, Malbranque, Simon Davies, Etherington, Hutton…even Keano..!!
On the other hand, well…this is Spurs. We are having this habit of off-loading the good ones and retaining/starting the “good for nothing” ones… A”subject” that will never be “best learned”. The same mistake over and over again…
‘Arry made a huge mistake on Sunday (apart from Alan “Blind B*st*rd” Wiley’s weird decisions).. the pitch…what is there to argue about? Pompey played on the same one, didn’t they?
The Elongated-retard Crouchie shouldn’t even been let into the stadium!! Pav should have started with Defoe as back-up striker (and shouldn’t have taken him off). Gudjohnssen should have started instead of Palacios (due to the 9 yellows…and he could provide the link), BAE should have started in the 2nd half for the injured Charlie (oh yes… he is a LB…so what? that’s the best option, he has played there and proven his capabilities last month!!). Pompey is a physical and robust team, ‘Arry and Jordan didn’t quite get that in the minds. Both have failed to strategize and read the game well from the dug-out, as simple as that!! Oh… YES I would support ‘Arry and his plight for more English managers (for PL clubs), only if all these managers are capable of thinking the way how Jose “The Special One” thinks!!
Come tomorrow, against the Arse…wonder what ‘Arry will have at the back of his mind/game plan…?