A Mixed Week For Tottenham – Alan’s Summer Diary

Summer Diary 16
Sat 27 July.

Tottenham’s current strike force – Defoe and Adebayor [Photo: Jav The_Doc_66]On balance, the past week hasn’t been a great one for Spurs but it ended on a bright note. We were comfortably beaten by a hastily thrown together Sunderland in the Asian trophy in horrendous monsoon conditions on a pitch like a ploughed field. Jan Vertonghen damages his ankle ligaments falling awkwardly coming down from a header.  Still no new striker and Benteke scores a hat trick for Aston Villa.

Things start to look up with a 6-0 win over South China in the 3rd place play off. Adebayor continues as the nearly man but Defoe finds his scoring boots and Dempsey remains Mr. Dependable. I’d rather we held onto him when the striker shake up eventually comes. The Soldado saga staggers on as Levy tries to avoid meeting the fee in his buy-out clause.

Sun 28 July.

Gareth Bale – Will he or won’t he? [Photo: Alan Hill]The Bale hysteria goes into meltdown in the Sunday papers. Everyone has a different slant on it, mainly on exactly how much Madrid  have got him for. From £50million to £100 million, depending on which paper you buy.  (By the way, I am sure that none of you reading these blogs is the sort who stands at the shelves reading the print off the papers without shelling out for one. That’s what libraries are for. Shops are businesses that rely on you purchasing the products they offer. So please don’t obstruct those of us who just want to get in, buy the things and get out again). Meanwhile I promise not to write another word about the Bale transfer saga until either he has been sold or the end of the transfer window. A bit of summer gossip and speculation is fun but this has all gone beyond a joke. Spurs are now closing down press conferences because they are sick of not answering the questions about whether they have actually received an offer.

Jeremy Clarkson

Oy Clarkson, get off my lawn. Jeremy Clarkson, you either love him or hate him. I have to admit I am a big fan. Why? Because he makes me laugh out loud whether it be on Top Gear or in his Saturday column in the Sun. I know it’s not fashionable to admit it but I agree with many of the common sense views he espouses and unlike many of the ecomentalists (his term), I usually get it when his tongue is firmly in his cheek. But hold on a minute – he has started to step onto my territory. The last two Sun articles have contained a box-out feature on a footballer.

Last week it was it was Wayne Rooney. Clarkson said that he has heard that Rooney had received offers to move to Paris or London. He was good enough to tell Wayne that Paris is much nicer. I’d be prepared to back that up by giving Wayne free French lessons. Yesterday, it was Luis Suarez’s turn. Clarkson said he can’t understand why Liverpool haven’t bitten Arsenal’s hand off to accept their offer to take him on. Nor can I. Liverpool have been paying the price for signing a world class footballer who had already shown serious character flaws. It’s all going to end in tears and his failure to repay their faith has already cost them dearly. Arsenal, if they sign him, will find themselves in the same position. He might just make the difference that will bring them their first trophies in yonks but signing him would be so out of character for Wenger and a club that likes to see itself as setting standards. It may be Wenger’s way of saying to all those who have encouraged him to buy a trophy –“OK, have it your way”, before walking away at the end of his contract. Typically Clarkson summed that up succinctly in about two sentences. Come on Jeremy, stick to cars and the rest of the world. Leave a little bit of the playing field for us amateurs.

Read Alan’s earlier article on Luis Suarez:    Tottenham fan Feels sorry For Liverpool Over Luisa Suarez