Tottenham Seeking Win At Wigan But We’ve Much To Be Thankful For

Wigan is another ‘must-win’ match for Tottenham in their pursuit of a Champions League finish. Whatever the result, however, we, as fans, have much to be thankful for over the past few seasons.

Tom Huddlestone gave an imperious cameo performance against Man City. [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]I’ve never been to Wigan. Southern softie me. Well, Southern anyway. North of Birmingham it gets a bit cold for my liking. North London is far enough thanks. I have seen a few matches at White Hart Lane where we have taken on the Latics though. Logan has done his usual immaculate job of reviewing this weekend’s game. Every one of his memos to Tottenham  about this game is spot on and I hope the players get to read it and will take the messages on board. If I was a Spurs player I’d be an avid reader of his stuff.

The good news is that against Man City the team and the manager really showed some character in the last 20 minutes. They blew away the worries and doubts that Spurs fans have developed due to the slumps and misfortunes in recent years. It must have done wonders for their confidence and self-belief. It was not just that Gareth Bale picked up where he left off but Jermain Defoe looked really sharp again and Tom Huddlestone was imperious. It’s now time for one of your blockbuster goals Tom, everything else in your game is back – then you can get that bl**dy hair cut! Clint Dempsey has that look of the quiet but deadly assassin about him. Ignore him at your peril. Opponents often do, thank goodness.

We Spurs fans are a critical lot and expect much and can be slow to get behind the team. Especially at home we can sit back with the attitude, “right show us what you’ve got” and the tune of “when the Spurs go marching on” often doesn’t roll down the terraces until something significant has happened”. We need to be yelling out constant noisy support in these last five games for 95 minutes.

Given our hard to please approach, I think it’s worth me reminding us all of how far the team has come in recent years. On 21 September 2008 I was at the Wigan game at White Hart Lane. At the time, Spurs, not Wigan were bottom of the Premier league. The match was a dull 0-0 draw. I saw plenty of dour matches in the years running up to that too. I did learn something though. I had never been a fan of Emile Heskey because he was not a prolific goal scorer and for years could not understand why England managers persevered with him and club manager after club manager put their faith in him. That all changed on that September day. He led the line for Wigan magnificently. He permanently occupied at least two and sometimes 3 Spurs defenders. His hold up play and lay-offs were fantastic. Defenders bounced off him. If the rest of the Wigan team had half as much about them, they would have won that game comfortably. It took me most of his career to appreciate him but I came away from that game thinking “Emile Heskey, I finally get it!”

So remember Spurs fans, those dour performances and seriously dodgy league positions were not that long ago. By and large we have been royally entertained since.

Logan is right though, fighting for their life again, Wigan are a dangerous prospect. Nevertheless, I am optimistic. The media are making much of the fact that they know what they are doing and always go on a run at this time of year. I really like the team, their owner and their manager. They are a real community club and I would like to see them stay up. To keep pulling off a great escape though, you need luck as well as skill and commitment. I just have the feeling that they have used up their share in recent years. As far as I am concerned they can win the rest of their games from next week on.

Spurs players, thanks for the entertainment. You have shown real character. Repeat this over to yourselves,

"“We have beaten Arsenal, we have beaten the champions Manchester City, and we have beaten the new Champions Manchester United. We will beat Wigan; we will win our last five games. It is our turn.”"