holyrattlesnakes

Here's hoping Newcastle can bring something or Cisse can do one of his spectacular finishes and Spurs can get a comfortable win.

never say never, but it looks a forlorn hope at this stage. Arsenal have been very efficient over the past two months.

Spurs have done brilliantly this season, but those duff results against Wigan at home, the bizarre loss to a Liverpool side they'd hammered, and the one at Fulham have killed them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/may/09/andre-villas-boas-tottenham-chelsea

''Certainly there was evidence in the composed menace of Eden Hazard and the usual floating excellence of Juan Mata of the levels to which Tottenham must aspire, a team of pace in strictly delineated areas and one roving smart gun of a midfielder.''

Yep. Spurs must aspire to spunking a good 200 mil on three players to get where they want. that's the trenchant insight you pay top dollar for. heaven's spare us ...

Presume you mean Amy Lawrence? She's a tie-dyed Gooner through and through.

Amy Lawrence and Barney Ronay are Arsenal season ticket holders. Ronay in particular can barely hide is childlike gloating over Spurs. the critical article he wrote on AVB two weeks ago was utterly outrageous. you definitely get the air of contempt from Lawrence as well, but she at least makes some effort to show some professional balance.

So where's Bale off to then?

strong suggestions his parents and representatives are advising him to stay at Spurs for one more season.

could be tosh, and 80 mil. Euros from a Spanish side would probably force Levy's hand, but I'm convinced most of the speculation is coming from the 'Let's All Laugh At Spurs' brigade in the press (Lawrence, Ronay and the gooneriffic Guardian love to indulge this one).

I'd have no idea about the legal plausibility but it's a brilliant concept and would certainly help discourage these parasitic opportunists...

I like the Fuck You Arseholes reasoning, but it wouldn't last a minute in a higher court.

it certainly didn't endear him to opposition fans, but the pissing and moaning had strategic value - he created diversions and took the brunt of press criticism himself so players wouldn't get distracted by it.

also, it showed he genuinely loved the club and supporters and players responded to that - the moaning was just what you'd expect to hear from a fan, so it resonated with the United support. much better than mercenary shitheads like Mourinho.

er, Manchester United weren't in particularly good shape when Ferguson got on board. they hadn't won a title since 1967 and were a spent force well and truly in Liverpool's shadow.

it's easy to forget that United were joke back in the 1980s, and Ferguson spent a few years struggling with trying to get the right team together. in 1991, after building a team from the ground up he came agonisingly close and then watched it fall apart.

but then he succeeded and sustained it. Cooperative Music has already mentioned what he did at Aberdeen, which is a huge feat in a very uncompetitive league. I don't much like the man's public persona either, though he's mellowed (he's known as very generous and warm in private to anyone who isn't a journalist), but you can't dismiss his achievements: they're colossal

my wife's poor cousin is from Leicester. he's absolutely beside himself still.

Poor Mancini. How does this effect the players there? I guess it's money for them, don't care who's in charge.

I never really got the impression the players played for Mancini (certainly not in the same way as Man U's players played for Ferguson, Arsenal's players seem to really want to play for Wenger, and it appears Spurs now really want to play for AVB). that might be way off the mark. but nonetheless, it does nothing to dispel the impression that City, like Chelsea, really is just one big mercenary hoedown.

it's only appropriate that it played a role on yesterday of all days.

the most 'Spurs' thing to happen would be Arsenal to lose to Wigan, but beat Newcastle in the 15th minute of added time with a 30-yard ricochet goal from Walcott's arse, while Spurs concede a late equaliser to Sunderland. Arsenal take fourth on goal difference.

THAT would be about as Spurs as you could get ...