spurs-2 chelsea-1 (aet)
Once in a while a blogger does a post that he doesn’t necessarily want loads of people to read; this is one of them.
I would normally try to write about something that would capture your interest, even if you didn’t necessarily agree with what I was saying.
This time, though I know you probably don’t give a damn that my favourite football team won a trophy yesterday, I couldn’t care less…my motive for posting this particular entry is that I want to have something to remember the day by in years to come.
My son started showing an interest in the beautiful game two years ago, and although of course I always hoped he’d join me in supporting Spurs, I know what boys can be like in school so I just had to pray the club didn’t have a bad name around that time so he could be proud to say he liked them to his peers.
Luckily for me, we finished 5th in the Premiership two years in succession, but when you consider that this year our league form has been average to say the very least, we really needed to win some silverware to emulate that success.
And so we put on our jerseys and ordered a pizza to take in all the action yesterday afternoon. In Sky’s build up to the kickoff, they did a bit about how the two teams progressed through the competition, and Spurs’ path to Wembley had the look of destiny about it…
And so it comes to the day of the final. I could try to give you detailed analysis of every minute of the action and the performance of every individual player, but I really couldn’t do it justice, because when you’re watching a high stakes game like this, your critical eye gets covered by rose-coloured glasses, and afterwards you find it hard to remember what happened at any given time of the match.
One thing I CAN say for sure – we fully deserved to win having played them off the park for the bulk of the 90 minutes. It was as though they had one eye on their other cup involvements and we wanted the trophy more on the day.
The only moment that will live long in the memory was when Jonathan Woodgate, clear to play at Wembley thanks to his former boss, got his head to a Jenas free-kick to break the deadlock in extra time, leaving my boys a nail-biting 26 minutes to clinch our first trophy in 9 years.
When the full-time whistle finally blew, after much jumping around and whooping and hollering with my son, I said to him :
“THIS is what makes following sports worthwhile. Your team won’t always win trophies, but that’s good, because when they do, it’s all the more special. You will hopefully always remember this day.”
What he’ll probably remember most about the day is the series of new swear words his Daddy taught him when he thought his team weren’t going to win! But also, he will probably remember today when he goes into school and can take full advantage of the bragging rights afforded him by the boys in white at Wembley the day before.
Hopefully someone representing Tottenham Hotspur FC will think to send a thank you card to Gareth Southgate!
I would normally try to write about something that would capture your interest, even if you didn’t necessarily agree with what I was saying.
This time, though I know you probably don’t give a damn that my favourite football team won a trophy yesterday, I couldn’t care less…my motive for posting this particular entry is that I want to have something to remember the day by in years to come.
My son started showing an interest in the beautiful game two years ago, and although of course I always hoped he’d join me in supporting Spurs, I know what boys can be like in school so I just had to pray the club didn’t have a bad name around that time so he could be proud to say he liked them to his peers.
Luckily for me, we finished 5th in the Premiership two years in succession, but when you consider that this year our league form has been average to say the very least, we really needed to win some silverware to emulate that success.
And so we put on our jerseys and ordered a pizza to take in all the action yesterday afternoon. In Sky’s build up to the kickoff, they did a bit about how the two teams progressed through the competition, and Spurs’ path to Wembley had the look of destiny about it…
Wed Sep 26 Round 3
Tottenham-2 Middlesbrough-0
Boro boss Gareth Southgate decides to rest central defender Jonathan Woodgate because he has a feeling he can cash in on him during the January transfer window and he doesn’t want him cup-tied. Two quick second-half goals from Bale and Huddlestone see my Spurs through.Wed Oct 31 Round 4
Tottenham-2 Blackpool-0
New Spurs boss Juande Ramos takes the reigns for his first game, and his new charges impress to the tune of a comfortable win over the struggling Championship outfit. Despite the clean sheet, however, it is clear we have serious issues in our defence.Tue Dec 18 Quarterfinal
Man City-0 Tottenham-2
Spurs win for the first time away from home this season against a team previously unbeaten AT home. Paul Robinson defies his own poor form by pulling off a string of world class saves to keep another clean sheet in the competition, something we have trouble doing in the Premiership.Wed Jan 9 Semifinal 1st Leg
Arsenal-1 Tottenham-1
Further blunders since the last round cost Robinson his place for this big derby encounter at the Haemorrhoids Stadium. Radek Cerny does well despite allowing the Arse Bandits equalise after we dominated the play throughout.Tue Jan 22 Semifinal 2nd Leg
Tottenham-5 Arsenal-1
The Jermaine Jenas Show. Our North London rivals have no excuses about playing second string players as we tear them to shreds to make a mockery of our so-called difficulty in beating the Premiership’s Top Four.
And so it comes to the day of the final. I could try to give you detailed analysis of every minute of the action and the performance of every individual player, but I really couldn’t do it justice, because when you’re watching a high stakes game like this, your critical eye gets covered by rose-coloured glasses, and afterwards you find it hard to remember what happened at any given time of the match.
One thing I CAN say for sure – we fully deserved to win having played them off the park for the bulk of the 90 minutes. It was as though they had one eye on their other cup involvements and we wanted the trophy more on the day.
The only moment that will live long in the memory was when Jonathan Woodgate, clear to play at Wembley thanks to his former boss, got his head to a Jenas free-kick to break the deadlock in extra time, leaving my boys a nail-biting 26 minutes to clinch our first trophy in 9 years.
When the full-time whistle finally blew, after much jumping around and whooping and hollering with my son, I said to him :
“THIS is what makes following sports worthwhile. Your team won’t always win trophies, but that’s good, because when they do, it’s all the more special. You will hopefully always remember this day.”
What he’ll probably remember most about the day is the series of new swear words his Daddy taught him when he thought his team weren’t going to win! But also, he will probably remember today when he goes into school and can take full advantage of the bragging rights afforded him by the boys in white at Wembley the day before.
Hopefully someone representing Tottenham Hotspur FC will think to send a thank you card to Gareth Southgate!
UPDATE...Here's a pic of Spurs star Jermaine Jenas clearly the worse for wear in the early hours of this morning outside an Essex nightclub. According to the Daily Mail, who's editor must be a Blues fan, there was a bit of a scuffle among the Carling Cup winners' players after a night of drunken debauchery. Looks like noone was killed or seriously injured, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about really.
4 comment/s so far:
Great result and good to see the trophy going to a team other than from the English old firm. UEFA cup next?
Thanks, 73man.
As for the UEFA Cup, while of course I'd love us to do the double, I wonder if it will be Juande's priority over the coming months.
His remit when taking the reigns was to avoid relegation and somehow get into Europe - that job is now done, so if I were him I'd use the rest of the season to give his large squad the chance to fight for a place in his long-term plans so he can approach the summer transfer market wisely and launch an all-out assault on the Top 4 next season.
All out assault on the top 4??! you and Martin O'Neill, Sven Goran Ericktwat and David Moyes that is.
What, no Kevin Keegan? ;-)
Hey maybe you just listed the NEXT Top 4 lol.
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