All Action, No Plot

Spurs-Stoke Preview: A Chance To Pay Tribute To Bill Nick

Believe it or not, win this by four goals and we’ll be top of the table, albeit until Chelski conclude their evening game. Try informing your nearest Spurs-supporting chum of this fact, and the chances are that you will be greeted with little more than a nod of approval and a healthy dose of perspective. Along with our consistency to date, the general realism of fans this season has been just as startling. We are all aware that we could be on the brink of something very, very good; but equally, there seems to be a healthy realisation that we remain a work in progress. That said, we’ll all be demanding three points today.

Crouch Get His Chance

No Defoe this week, which means the gangly one will get his chance. Although the absence of Defoe is an undoubted loss, a run in the team cannot come too soon for Crouch. He comes across as a thoroughly decent chap, cheery and of good attitude, never one to moan about lack of opportunities in his impeccably straight-bat interview answers. Nevertheless, deep within the Courch bosom there must lie a mild irritation, and indeed, with the World Cup looming, an anxiety, that he will only ever be used as a late cameo-man. He presumably will get the nod today, and who knows, we may even catch a glimpse of the rarely-sighted Pav.

Crouch was snapped hurling down some slightly awkward-looking shapes after last Saturday’s game, and although the media did their best to sensationalise the “story” beyond all reasonable sense of perspective, they soon tired of that, particularly as ‘Arry treated it with little more than a shrug. I suspect it’s not what the continental players do, while rugby players apparently spend their post-match hours indulging in such unholy practices as sitting in ice-baths for reparatory purposes. Nevertheless, there seems no harm in a cheery night out with team-mates, a full week before the next game. Certainly the patrons of AANP Towers are in no position to judge a man who spends his Saturday nights on a London boogie floor…

Squad Depth. Ruddy Marvellous.

Woodgate should be back in the team today, for the first time this season. While Liverpool whinge about losing Gerrard and Torres (both of whom featured in their defeat at the Lane on the opening day of the season) it is a sign of the strength of our squad that despite the absences of Woodgate all season, Modric for half the season, and the likes of Ledley, Palacios, Dawson and Defoe at various points, we are deservedly in the top four.

So, aside from three points obviously, what would AANP like to see transpire from its lofty perch?

1. A Four-Goal Win To Take Us To The Top Of  The Premiership

Being top in August is fun but inane; being top when the clocks go back is, frankly, fantastic. ‘Tis true, ‘Arry would be unbearably smug if it transpires that he takes us from bottom to top in exactly a year, but I’d still give my right arm to see it happen.

2. Goals From Woodgate and Dawson

When Ledley nodded home last week it meant that every outfield player used until that point this season had scored, which neatly sums up just how well things are going round these parts. However, this record was inadvertently sullied when Michael Dawson came on as a second half sub, and with Jonathan Woodgate due to take to the pitch today here’s hoping that both pop up to nod home at some point.

3. A Clean Sheet

We at AANP like nothing more than indulging in a spot of censorious pedantry, so even if we hit top-spot this afternoon there will still be grumblings about our lack of clean sheets. Just one so far, would be nice to clock up another, and turn the Lane into something of a fortress.

4. A Blinder From Jenas/Hudd

Both are playing well, but neither are showing, say, international form. It still leaves me thinking that come next summer, in order to hit the next level, we will need another truly world class midfielder to slot in alongside Palacios, Modders and Lennon. Unless, of course, one of Jenas and Hudd can produce truly breathtaking seasons - and Stoke at home is a great chance to shine in midfield. As Ben Stiller neatly put it – do it.

5. A Tribute To The Great Bill Nicholson

Bill Nick passed away five years ago, God bless him, on 23 October 2004. Every Spurs fan knows his name, and speaks it in respectful, reverent and affectionate tones, but for this Spurs fan it was only in researching my book that I began to understand the magnitude of his contribution to the club. As a member of our Championship “push-and-run” side of 1951, then manager of the legendary Double-winners of ’61, as well as a host of other cup-winning Spurs sides, Nicholson was integral in cultivating the tradition of slick, attacking football that was both pleasing to the eye and devastatingly effective. Fans have demanded that every Spurs team since then has replicated this style, and it is to be hoped that every player who arrives at the club is aware of this legacy.

I am sure the fans will pay tribute to him today, it is to be hoped that the club does likewise in some official capacity – and how fitting it would be if we could end the game sitting proudly atop the table once more, as Bill Nicholson took us as both player and manager.

As ever, all are most welcome to leave memories - and browse those of others - regarding some of the players to be featured in forthcoming book Spurs’ Cult Heroes: Dave Mackay here, Cliff Jones here, Glenn Hoddle here, Chris Waddle here, Ossie and Ricky here, Gary Mabbutt here, Graham Roberts here, Jimmy Greaves here, Clive Allen here, Jurgen Klinsmann here

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