A Taxing Weekend

Remember way back when, well 2006, when the joke after Bolton beat Portsmouth shortly after the infamous Panorama programme was that neither manager would see the press as "Sam is all bunged up and Harry isn't feeling two grand"? No? Well, Tottenham and their, allegedly, tax avoiding manager come T'Reebok on Sunday looking to improve on their wretched record at the ground. After being systematically outplayed for large parts of the game by even the former manager in October, yes credit where it's due, Spurs have managed to put some good runs together to find themselves sixth in the table and get to the point where they may even be able to back up the suggestion by the majority of their deluded fans that they are a "big club", who have been slightly less than big since, oooh, before the cold war. Started. Their problem has always been the same. For a big club, they have always had a problem putting the little clubs away, hence this week's loss to Wolves, Wolves completing the double over them, has come on the back of being unable to beat Hull, Birmingham and even Leeds since the decade turned.

It isn't hard to like Harry Redknapp, he wheels and deals, more or less tells it like it is, and deserved a chance at a club who could offer more to him than West Ham and Portsmouth. This is what Spurs needed, after all the fancy dans who have managed them before, always following the fans mantra of scoring one more than the opposition, but unable to do this due to buying either bad, crocked or (possibly) dead defenders.

Their problems against us ostensibly lie in what Bolton fans hate to be told their team are but is used to great effect against teams like Spurs at home. Physicallity. Our defence can deal with high balls to Crouch all day long and Defoe seems to have the Indian sign hung over him by the time he reaches the M61. We are normally torn off a strip by Aaron Lennon, but he's out, although Bentley seems to have found some of the form that caused Spurs to sign him. Eidur is in their squad and, as always, it will be good to see him back at the ground where he always gets a good reception and acknowledges it, but I wouldn't expect him to start.

For Bolton, both Weiss and Wilshere are cup tied, which is a damn shame as it would have been nice to seem them twisting and turning and testing Ledley King's knee. So I would expect the same line up as Tuesday, with Little Davies coming in for Little Jack. I think we can safely assume that Stefan Dennis will keep his position at left back, although for what reason I don't know, as playing him must surely make the left wingers job harder, especially if that winger is Matty Taylor who we all know couldn't track a Royal Mail parcel, never mind an opposition player.

Here at T'Towers we are going for 2-1 win, simply because St Owen has more or less said he will be putting out a strong team. However, Lawro seems to think that just because Spurs are a good cup side they will win (pardon me, two league cups in twenty years does not a good cup side make. So did Leicester), while Gudni unsurprisingly backs T'Wanderers.

Elsewhere, St Owen has told the press that Gary "Gaz" Cahill, may be back in the fold before the end of the season. Reporting that he may have been misquoted he says

I never gave up hope anyway. I said we suspected he would be out for a period of time, probably a couple of months. Then obviously because in a couple of months there's not long to go, it all of a sudden became he's out for the season

Obviously this is good news as this would put him back in sometime early April, just in time for the run in and is probably one of a select group of Bolton players who could fit into any new system the manager is running by then. And obviously it would mean Ricketts can move over to the left, negating the Stefan Dennis effect.

Elsewhere he attempts to pick up his troops, which means you and me as well as the players, in a kind of vaguely, 'we were behind Derby but look at us now' sort of way, although that is obviously not what he means. He says

We came into the club in the bottom three — so it isn’t as if we have been sitting around at the top, and started slipping down the table

Now, we aren't going to go over old ground, four games in six against those in the top five, blah blah blah, next games are winnable ho hum, although it is predictable that if we had known that we would be taking four points from six games under St Owen we would still be looking through rose tinted glasses, but now is the time to shut up about it and get on with the business of climbing the table. And to never ever say anything former managerial again. He got away with the Sammy Lee like "positives" and he will get away with this, as long as he isn't sat in the Goals on Sunday studio in two years still saying it.

And, just before I finish, go back up the page, look at the picture, and tell me Jamie doesn't get his looks from his mum, although his botoxed like expressions while being a pundit obviously come from having a fence rammed up his arse.

As Arnie would say, I'll Be Back. I am going to run out of these quotes quite quckly.