Success as rare as an earthquake
APOLOGIES if this week’s column is a little rough around the edges: I’ve spent the last four nights partying like its 1999, the last time Spurs won something, in Faces – the classiest nightclub in Gants Hill to get chucked out of after a few too many lager tops.
There is certainly no better place to celebrate Top Four Tottenham winning the Carling Cup with a dodgy penalty and a goalkeeping mistake. Like an English earthquake, these kind of things only happen once a decade or so and who can blame Robbie Keane – a man who has won so little in the game – for getting a little overexcited.
Imagine what would happen if he won something even more important. Like the Monday night quiz at the Oxford Arms or a game of Jetman.
On a serious note, Ledley King proved to be Spurs’ genuine star on Sunday. However much you may dislike Top Four Tottenham, you have to recognise that even if Ledley always jumps the queue and bags the best seats in Faces, he is a quality player and admirable club captain (Gallas take note).
It would be a shame if injury ruined his career. The same goes for Eduardo. Whatever team you support, when you see a player’s foot half hanging off – you can only wish him well.
Maybe this is the start of something
IT is approximately 80 hours after Led hobbled up the steps to lift the Cup and I still have Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur ringing in my ears and my voice has a croak to it. This was special.
It wasn’t just because this was our first cup for nine years, and it wasn’t because we ‘done Chelsea. It wasn’t the fact this was at Wembley and the sun was shining. It wasn’t because I had a proper old sing-song.
No. It was because perhaps, perhaps, this is the day the Ramos Revolution became a tangible power. No longer will we turn in performances at places like Old Trafford and the Emirates but fail to come away with a result, or concede last-minute equalisers to teams we should have buried (think United and Liverpool).
No longer will we play cocksure football against lesser clubs before making a silly mistake and being beaten by a talentless but determined bunch (sorry, Bolton, Blackburn et al).
To be a goal down, fight our way back and then hold out for 20-odd minutes shows a new maturity I haven’t seen at Spurs since Gerry Francis paired Jurgen Klinsmann with Teddy Sheringham.
There are a number of knock on factors from our big day out. We are in Europe next year, which means we can relax and concentrate on the Uefa Cup. After beating the Abromovich’s half-a-billion-pound Subbuteo set, this team will be confident of taking on anyone.
A final thought: Dimitar Berbatov was bowled over by the camaraderie of the Spurs family. He must be thinking that another season at Spurs, to see how Ramos spends the transfer kitty he’s been promised in summer, isn’t a bad idea.
