Lop-sided line-up could lead to King-sized problems

Harry Redknapp has been relatively quiet in the transfer market so far this summer, adamant that he will not pay over the odds and that the team he has is capable of achieving the required improvement on last season. And I couldn't have agreed more - until this week.

To my horror, Tottenham announced on Thursday that a trio of centre-backs are injured and struggling to recover from injuries in time for the opening game of the season against Liverpool.

Hardly a cursed stroke of bad luck when at the centre of that trio is one Ledley King -whose ongoing knee problems have seen him ruled out for the majority of the last three seasons.

Possible cover comes in the form of Vedran Corluka and Alan Hutton, both of which are naturally full-backs and, when you add them to Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Gareth Bale, Pascal Chimbonda, Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton you have to wonder what is going on.

Essentially, Spurs have seven full-backs to fill two positions, yet only three centre-backs - two of which are injury prone.

When he arrived in October 2008, Redknapp expressed his shock at our 'unbalanced' squad, and looked to set things right in the January 2009 transfer window.

Why, then, with the 2009-2010 season hurtling down upon us, are Tottenham so ill prepared? 

Last season, we walloped Roma 5-0 at White Hart Lane in our last pre-season friendly, then a week later succumbed to the almighty Middlesbrough at the Riverside and went on to take a rather famous "two points from eight games".

If nothing else, this should have taught us the importance of a good start, of having a settled team that is fully prepared for the opening game. 

So maybe it's time to call time on the quiet summer, stop all the striker speculation and look to sign a solid centre-back, because relying on a crocked King and a wobbly Woodgate is no ideal tonic for a team desperate not only for some consistency, but a good start to the season.

 

Sh*t kits are fit for the bin

England's Under-21s may have progressed to the final of the European Championships but it's been a bad few weeks for English football.

Fans of no fewer than three large clubs have hit the roof. Not over ticket prices or transfers but over - you guessed it - the new kit!

The red side of Manchester's worldwide support is apparently united in  its hatred of the new black V plastered shoulder-to shoulder across the front of the new home shirt. 

Unfavourably compared to  a modern rugby league shirt, the design is meant to be a nod to the Red Devils' history  (the 1909/10  season saw a similar design) but, in truth, the shirt is an identical design (not colour) to the Mexico national shirt. 

Traditional it may be but surely one of the richest and most famous football clubs in the world would warrant their own unique kit design? Maybe not.

Nike are not the only kit manufacturers that have a habit of producing a template design, which is then used across a number of club jerseys, Tottenham Hotspur fans are having the same grievance with Puma.

Spurs' home shirt is traditionally lilywhite and navy blue but this year's features a  yellow strap across the collar bone - a move that has sparked fury among the fans, to the point that an online petition has so far collected 2381 signatures in a matter of days.

Choice comments from the petition describe the shirt as 'worst kit ever' and 'pure dung', alongside calls of 'we are not Leeds United' and 'change the yellow to blue'.

The club's kit launch claimed that 'Glory Comes in Three Colours' necessitating the inclusion of yellow. However, a quick google image search reveals that this proposed 'glory' also comes in a kit design identical to that of Olympiakos and Lazio.

I've saved the best for last though, as Manchester United and Spurs fans can all take solace in knowing that, in the world of ludicrous football kits, they got very lucky indeed. One team have gone all out to totally embarrass their already red-faced players.

With another nail in the coffin of a disastrous year – step forward Newcastle United.

I'm totally speechless.

Surely I'm too young for Premiership Amnesia?

During my lifetime, Tottenham Hotspur have not been a successful club. Sure, as a 25-year-old fan we hear older generations talk of a long-gone golden age that brought numerous FA Cups, two league championship titles and even European silverware but my alluding to that sort of "success" would only be to play into the moniker of "living in the past".

This said, there have been triumphs and tribulations spattered among the dark days and close shaves; Lineker's first Spurs hat-trick, against QPR, Gascoigne's free-kick, Iversen's lob in the second leg at Selhurst Park and a few 5-1 scorelines that will live long in the memory.

And, placed alongside relegation dogfights and cold 0-0 draws against rubbish opposition, these are just as memorable as any other football fan's highs and lows.

Yesterday, however, I found my long-term football memory let me down, which was a shock to the system. My short-term memory, i am aware, is struggling - i lose my keys within seconds of entering my flat, I can even lose my train of thought mid-word but I though long-term memory was exactly that - long-term.

My dad can recite the Spurs side to beat Leicester City at Wembley in 1961 - fair enough, it was a big day but last night I watched "The Premiership Years 97/98" and forgot a large chunk of the season .

I gleefully boasted to my uninterested girlfriend at the start about how a returning Teddy Sheringham missed a penalty for Manchester United in front of the White Hart Lane faithful. Explaining how it didn't matter a jot that United went on to win 2-0, seeing as the striker was made to look silly after his bitter summer transfer.

I happily pointed out who was who, which grounds had been knocked down or turned into flats and how long certain managers were to last after thumping the turf in anger.

But my downfall came after seeing Spurs spanked 4-0 up at Liverpool. I knew that Gerry Francis' resignation was soon to follow but I could not for the life of me remember who replaced him. At which stage I was at a loss to remember the rest of the season. Who stepped in? How did we do?

Don't get me wrong, I knew we were crap.. I went to almost every home game but the problem was I had my years mixed up.

Anyway, the problem was momentary and everything came flooding back to be ironed out with the arrival of Jurgen Klinsmann... I even have the t-shirt for crying out loud and I maintain to this day that we would have been relegated would not have been for the German's second spell of service but at that time I was convinced it was the following season.

20 hours later, and the shock is subsiding. In fact, i'm starting to think that if my long-term memory is giving up, and the past in my mind isn't quite the past in the history books, then there is an outside chance I will wake up in the near future believing with all my heart that Tottenham have won the double in my lifetime - as long as I stay away from watching "The Premiership Years"!

Can Claret and Blue come back to bite the Blades?

So, it's Championship Playoff final day. And I'm only too aware that by declaring myself an honorary Preston North End fan I should be hoping that Burnley crash and burn - but I'm not.

Not least because they are a local side with a modest, yet terrific, fan base and a promising young manager in Owen Coyle - so involved in his side that he actually plays in the reserves to give promising youngsters some on-pitch guidance.

But there is one other reason I do not want Burnley to lose today that eclipses all others, and that is my dislike of Sheffield United.

Since the moment they were relegated last year we have heard nothing but whingeing from the Yorkshire club about the dreaded Carlos Tevez saga.

Clubs like Bournemouth and Luton have all fallen foul of a harsh system. But they have knuckled down and turned poverty into promise, making all the right noises to make the rest of the football world applaud in admiration.

But let's not forget, Sheffield United were not docked points or even hard done-by. Over 38 games they did not accumulate enough points. Which means that they were not good enough, regardless of how many goals Carlos Tevez scored.

But the Blades cried, whined and probably dined all the way to the bank on that massive parachute payment that comes with relegation, as well as the £25million coughed up by West Ham.

They could have kicked up a fuss when West Ham first signed the aesthetically challenged Argentine but no, they waited until their fate was sealed before attempting to wriggle out of relegation on a technicality.

My advice to avoid the drop would have come much earlier in the season and involved more man-to-man marking and shooting practice.

So, come 3pm, i'll be cheering on the Claret and Blues. Heaven knows, after 61 games using only 23 players, they deserve it more than anyone.

However, if Sheffield United do win through, I will not be complaining to the FA and I certainly won't want compensation. I'll just keep a keen eye on next season's fixture list hoping, and praying, that they get West Ham on the final day.

The Deepdale Roar - Myth or Legend? (after a brief introduction)

Greetings and welcome to my football blog. First things first, I originally hail from Barnet in North London and my father is a Black Cab-driving, Wood Green grocer's son. Therefore I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan first and a Barnet fan second.

People sometimes ask me who I'd want to win if Tottemham and Barnet played each other. To these people I seldom reply but i'll say now, while i'm in a good mood... You've missed my point – I am a Tottenham fan. But I lend my support to Barnet when possible as they are my local team.

That brings me to this evening. The Championship Playoffs first leg. You'd be forgiven for wondering why on earth the first post of a blog whose title references the Premier League's elite would focus on the second tier of English football.

However, if I tell you I've lived eight brilliant years and counting in Preston, to add to what you already know about my affinity to local teams (and yes, I'm still a Tottenham fan) then you won't be surprised to learn that I will be lending my support to the local team as they embark on a somewhat unexpected playoff campaign.

Last Sunday, as the news of Sheffield Wednesday's goal (which opened the gate for Preston to steal the fourth Playoff spot) filtered through Deepdale, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy until the noise levels reached fever pitch – and stayed there.

For years Preston fans have waxed lyrical about the fantastic atmosphere at home games and, I'm sorry, but it's just not true. I've worked the turnstiles at Deepdale and have been to numerous important games and the noise level rarely ventures above average.

But against QPR, with the atmosphere hotter than it had been for years, the players responded, laying siege to QPR's goalmouth in search of that vital winner. Preston manager Alan Irvine has since said he'd never heard anything like it and it makes you wonder – if the atmosphere was like that all season, Preston North End may already be a Premier League side.

Tonight there have been measures taken by the club to improve the atmosphere further. Free banners and clapping boards could ensure that the Deepdale "roar" is louder than ever and, although Preston are probably rank outsiders in the Playoff race, if the team responds to the crowd as it did last week then anything is possible.