The Trouble with Listening To Tottenham Commentaries On Radio
By Alan Hill
Erik Lamela needs fans backing. [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Tottenham 8 Hull 7 on penalties (2-2 after extra time)
Capital One Cup. Sounds like a cup of tea. Like Ty-Phoo one cup. Anyone remember those pyramid-shaped bags? Sorry, I’m digressing before I’ve started already. For the uninitiated this is the League Cup, variously known down the years as the Milk Cup, the Carling Cup, the Littlewoods Cup and no doubt several other cups I have forgotten.
I was watching Gareth Bale start to resurrect his almost still-born career at Real Madrid on Sky as I kept my eye on the BBC Sports i-pod app for Tottenham vs. Hull updates.
NOT Listenin’ to the Radio
I won’t listen to radio commentary on Spurs or England games. It is a superstition I developed years ago when I used to drive a lot with my job and I remember the frustration of hearing us conceding goals and losing games late on as I was driving back to Bournemouth from Leeds or Sheffield. I’d be motoring along in the dark and wet, tired but listening happily to us dominating a game and the commentary would go something like. “It’s all Spurs. They continue to dominate. It’s surely just a question of time before they score. Here’s another corner swung in by Ginola, headed out by xxxxx. It’s dropped to xxxxx in the centre circle who heads it on to xxxx and (Jonathan Pearce suddenly demented, yelling like he’s back on Robot Wars as Matilda decapitates a rival) IT’S 1-0 to MIDDLESBORO /BOLTON/ SUNDERLAND/BLACKBURN.” Aaargh! That happened once too often. Never again. Logan has posted a comprehensive report on the game.
It would have been a nightmare listening to tonight’s penalty shoot-out on the radio. During that I temporarily switched to Sky Sports News for their live commentary – and we won our first shoot out in about 10 attempts! This was:
1. despite a tame penalty from Eric Lamela into the arms of the Hull goalie. Lamela clearly showing signs of nerves and feeling the pressure of adjusting to his new environment… and
2. thanks to two saves from Brad Friedel.
Obviously, my radio hex doesn’t apply to Sky Sports TV news.
Harry Kane – scored his second Tottenham goall [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]I then watched the highlights of the game on BBC1 just after 11pm. From that, I came away with a few impressions.
If I hadn’t realised it before, I have now. Harry Kane is a class act, a top striker who is already not far off the finished article. If he keeps his nose clean he is going to be a major star for Spurs and England. There is something old fashioned about him in a good way, something of a Jimmy Greaves.
The Spurs fans were livelier tonight after the criticism doled out by AVB on Sunday. The BBC commentator said they kept singing throughout the first half. AVB applauded them at the end of the game and said,
"The fans made the difference… it was great for the fans to feel that empathy with the supporters and that we are in this together."
All friends together again then? I hope so. There were some pretty disparaging comments about him and the performance on the BBC website during the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were from mischievous fans of our rivals. I found it a bit sad that the only time the fans’ contribution really stood out on TV was when we booed the Hull players as they were preparing to take their penalties. In the future, more positive chanting during the game when we are not performing up to scratch would be preferable. Getting behind Eric Lamela and making him feel he belongs whilst he is on the bench would be a good idea too.
Oh Joy, West Ham in the quarter finals.
We have used up a large percentage of our luck quota already this season. I hope we remember that come March when the goal line technology cameras break down in a crucial match just as one of our shots bounces out again from a yard over the line.
Thurs 31 October
Halloween. Check out Spurs TV on the official website for a video of Kyle Walker’s Halloween prank on fellow players. Andros says he wasn’t really scared, he was just acting. Yeah, right.
Was he scared? [Photo: Alan Hill]