Carling Cup Final Review

On cup final day, the result is more important than the performance. Tottenham Hotspur provided both as they deservedly won their first trophy this century after outplaying CSKA Fulham at Wembley today.

While the game wasn’t the most exciting as a spectacle (when are cup finals ever?), a heroic Spurs fightback saw them peg back the holders after going 1-0 down to a Didier Drogba free-kick in the first half.

CSKA have not had their full compliment of players for some time. Today saw the return of ‘Fwank’ Lampard (Lumpo’lard?) and John Terry. Add that to the fact the club’s African contingent were all back gave Avram Grant with one of those selection headaches that managers up and down the country would love.

The CSKA bench consisted of Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Alex. The term ‘embarrassment of riches’ has never been so apt.

Spurs started like a house of fire (if a house on fire is considered a good thing...) with Keane almost opening the scoring after just 25 seconds. Only a typical John ‘No regard for my own well-being as long as we don’t concede’ Terry block prevented the Lilywhites taking the lead while the national anthem was still ringing in everyone’s ears.

The first half continued in this vein. Tottenham were dictating the play as CSKA struggled to find their feet. I say this in the most literal sense as players falling over almost habitually. The over-zealous groundsman at Wembley had clearly over-watered the pitch beforehand. Of course, some players don’t need any such invitation to hit the deck. Didier Drogba was a frequent victim of the sniper in the crowd and I’m also sure I saw Jermaine Jenas rolling around clutching his face after bumping into Ricardo Carvalho. I was later assured that I was wrong as English players don’t dive apparently.

The Drog’s inability to stay vertical won his side a dangerous free kick on the edge of the Tottenham penalty area following a reckless challenge by his fellow countryman Didier Zokora. CSKA had missed 2 free kicks just minutes earlier so you’d think Zakora would have known not to make a silly challenge.

Then again, this was Didier Zokora!

The good Didier made him pay as he curled his shot around the wall into the bottom corner of Paul ‘Not as fat but equally not good’ Robinson in the Spurs goal. ‘Robbo’ was one of the few Spurs players not to come out with much glory. Having flapped at many a corner I’m going to quite harshly suggest he could have at least attempted to save the free-kick. He was on that side of the goal and shuffled across leaving the area exposed for Drogba. Not taking anything away from the free kick mind.

There wasn’t much to write home about either side of half time as CSKA reverted to the containment strategy that has become the norm at The Kremlin (Stamford Bridge) in recent years.

Tottenham were in control but struggling to find the breakthrough. Ramos tried to change this up by introducing Tom ‘Slim’ Huddlestone to add something extra to his attack. This proved to be a success but before that, a word on the substituted Pascal Chimbonda. There’s disappointment and there is being a twat. Chimbonda skulked off down the tunnel without so much of a glance at the bench. Lo and behold, when his side won, who was there in the middle of all the celebrations? You guessed it. Far be it from me to reinforce negative borderline racist stereotypes but what is it with the French moaning and sulking this weekend???

Back to the game and it was ‘The Hud’ who was directly involved in the Spurs equaliser. Having controlled a cross into the box, the bouncing ball struck Wayne Bridge on the arm. The linesman frantically waved his flag signalling the offence and Mark Halsey pointed to the spot. It may have been slightly harsh on Bridge but after his theatrics (2:12 – looks for the linesman before falling over) in last year’s final which resulted in Arsenal’s Emanuel Adebayor being wrongly sent off after a case of mistaken identity, you have to feel it was a form of poetic justice for the England man.

Berbatov rolled the ball into the net from the spot and the Tottenham half of Wembley stadium was rocking. 1-all and the north Londoners were in the ascendancy. They were unfortunate not to get a winner in normal time thanks to the ineptitude of, shock, horror, Didier Zokora. The Ivorian found himself bearing down on goal with just minutes to go. His touch let him down and he struck a weak shot straight at Cech. However good fortune saw the rebound fall back at his feet but with the goal at his mercy, he struck high and wide. Didier Zokora has never scored for Tottenham and if he can miss chances like that, he probably never will.

So to extra time. Within four minutes, Jermaine Jenas floated a free-kick into the box where a poor Pter Cech punch rebounded off the head of Jonathan Woodgate and bounced oh so slowly into the goal to give Tottenham a deserved lead. The marking by CSKA was amateur. I’m still not prepared to buy into the recent hype around Jermaine Jenas but I had to admit he did make ‘Fwank’ look quite average in the middle of the park during the course of the game.

Even the introduction of Ballack and Joe Cole wasn’t enough to inspire a fightback. CSKA dominated as they tried to find an equaliser but couldn’t penetrate the Spurs defence. The final whistle eventually came and Junde Ramos reinforced his reputation as a cup specialist.

People will cynically tell you that the Carling Cup doesn’t matter. That Tottenham’s jubilation at the end of the game was unwarranted.

This is slightly unfair as the win (despite Zokora) means Tottenham are guaranteed a place in Europe once again next season – something they can’t be sure of obtaining via their league position. Also, for a club so starved of silverwear every trophy is important. Beating CSKA and making John Terry cry must have also been quite enjoyable.

In Attendance: Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic

Over the summer, many footballing 'experts' predicted big things for Tottenham this season. The Liliwhites were supposed to be ousting thier arch rivals Arsenal from the 'top four' and the premier league's upper echolon.

However, Spurs' start to the season reminded us of Spurs teams of years gone by. Wins were few and far between, goals were being leaked left, right and centre and the sacking of the best manager the club has had in about 15 years off the back of a slightly iffy start to the season. No-one in their right mind would have ever predicted that come the start of November Wigan would be going to The Lane to contest the proverbial relegation six-pointer.

Two Spurs-supporting mates offered me the opportunity to join them to watch Tottenham take on the managerless Northerners.

Having taken the train from Liverpool Street at about half 12, we arrived at White Hart Lane at around 1 o'clock. After picking up the tickets, I asked the lads how they thought the game would pan out. They were generally optimistic.

We found our way to The Bell. A Tottenham pub by the ground populated by fans attending the game. Some very relaxed pre-match chat with a few Kronenberg's centered around painful defeats of the past and the resounding conclusion that supporting Spurs, with all the 4-all draws, 6-1 cup defeats against lower league opposition and frequent sacking of managers, is far more enjoyable than regularly winning trophies and ridiculously long unbeaten runs.

We got into the stadium and observed the minute's silence for rememberance day immaculately.

Once the game kicked Tottenham played just as you expect any half decent side at home would. It took no time at all before they took the lead. Just 12 minutes in and Robbie Keane made Andreas Granqvist look silly, squared the ball across the 6 yard box where Kirkland failed to get any sort of decent contact on it (Robinson would have been crucified had he done the same) and the usually hapless Jermaine Jenas managed to bundle it over the line.

Wigan, under caretaker manager Frank Barlow looked set to be in for a long afternoon.

After taking the lead, Tottenham played with an air of confidence that has clearly been lacking thus far this season. They could have easily been mistaken for a team looking to chalenge for honours! Wigan on the other hand seemed to run out of ideas very early on. Marcus Bent looked like a little boy lost up front.

With Titus Bramble in defence, the latics were always suseptable to conceeding a second. And so it came to pass on 26 minutes. Jermaine Jenas latched onto a through ball from Berbatov and found himself in a two on one situation in the box with Robbie Keane. Having opted not to return the favour from the first goal, JJ rounded the flailing Kirkland and slotted the ball into the net for 2-0.

At this point I feel it necessary to point out that Jermaine Janas and Titus Bramble are two players I, to put it as nicely as possible, have very little time for in terms of what they offer at top flight level so to see the two in flesh lining up against one another was a frightening prospect for anyone who enjoys football. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be a counter-metaphor for 'The unstopable force aganist the immovable object' When the initial pass was played, Bramble stood on the halfway line with his hand in the air claiming offside against Keane. Jenas took the opportunity to race past him for the second Spurs goal. Every negative thing ever said about the former Newcastle defender was summed up in this passage of play.

Wigan continued to offer nothing and on 35 Berbatov brilliantly controlled a long ball and played it to Lennon who chested and Volleyed past Kirkland for 3-0. A great stike nicely set up by a man who for the first time this season looked like he actually WANTED to play for Tottenham.

The game was over as a contest and the handful of Wigan fans who made the trip South were fearing the worst considering the number of high-scoring thrashings we have already seen this season.

The second half ultimately became a non-event with Spurs happy to keep possession. Wigan for some reason started doing backheels and fancy flicks. Why?

The atmosphere in the ground was uncharacteristicly subdued. The high scoreline was expected and it was difficult to be inspired at this stage. The most audile sounds over 90 mins were the groans from the Tottenham faithful whenever Lee Young Pyo misplaced another pass.

Big Summer signing Darren Bent was brought on and it wasn't long before he made it four shooting across Kirland and off the inside of the post.

I felt a slight pang of sorrow at the poor Wigan diehards who bothered showing up.

The rest of the game panned out like a training session with Spurs playing out time. Kirkland was forced into a couple of half decent saves and the frame of the Wigan goal took a brief battering. Wigan's eventual shot on target was not met with a great deal of enthusiam from anyone.

So Spurs finally got the elusive league win that has been much sought after in recent months. 3 points dragged them out of the relegation zone should help inspire Juande Ramos' side to surge upwards in the league. Wigan on the other hand were awful and should they get relegated, would probably fit in with other teams not quite ready to compete at the highest level of English professional football. Any team that allows Jermaine Jenas boss the midfield needs to take a good long hard look at themselves.

Final Score: Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Wigan
Attendance: 35,504
Man of The Match: Jermaine Janas for actually not being poo for once

The Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Back when Baddiel and Skinner were funny, their much-loved Fantasy Football show featured a sketch called the managerial merry-go-round. The basic premise of which saw a currently unemployed manager aimlessly going round and round on a deserted fairground carousel.

It was hardly the height of comedy nor the funniest thing on their show (That will forever remain the momment when Statto does a Cantona into the crowd).

My point? None really. Just felt the need for some form of introduction to this piece.

The last week has seen a spate of managerial changes which may have far reaching effects as far as the rest of this season develops.

Lets start at White Hart Lane. Much has been said about the treatment of now former manager Martin Jol and how inappropriately his inevetable sacking was handled by the Spurs board so I wont regurgitate what has no doubt said over and over again in recent weeks. What I will say is that Martin Jol is not completely innocent in all of this. In the summer, the big Dutchman emphatically proclaimed that Spurs would be making waves this season and the only logical progression from years gone by would be qualification for the much sought after Champions league.

Tottenham fans have a lot of affection for Jol and it's easy to turn on the board after the alleged first contact with Juande Ramos. However, Jol unfortunately showed his limitations as a manager by not being able to cope once the heat was turned up on him a little. Tottenham have performed poorly against opposition they feel they should be beating (The surrender against Newcastle last week could have warrented a sacking in itself). That can not be blamed on Levy, Comolli or anyone else. The sign of a good manager would be to ride the wave when the pressure is on. BMJ failed spectacularly in this respect and it's good he got out now before the damage was irrepairable. I was on his side for a while a truly believed he was made of stronger stuff.

And so to his replacement. Juande Ramos has been a revelation in Spain, having led Seville to the brink of the Spanish title, back to back UEFA cups and a place in this season's Champions League, the Spaniard's stock had risen considerably and it's no shock Spurs were so keen to get him in after his record over the last 3 years.

But what before that? Ramos was just your typical run of the mill mid-table manager in Spain before Seville. Successes were few and far between in his career and his almost immediate fall-out with the directors at Espanyol has been well publisised and leaves people to wonder how long or whether at all he would put up with the Levy's and Comolli's and their alleged interferances at WHL.

Ramos has a big job on his hands and unless the Tottenham board can harbour some realistic aspirations in the short term at least then I fear in couple of years we will all be talking about yet another false dawn in the white half of North London.

Staying in Spain, Ramos' old side thumped championship hopefuls Valencia 3-0 at the weekend signaling the end of the road for Los Ches manager Quique Sanchez Flores. Valencia have not had the same man in charge for more than 3 years since the seventies and are constantly subject to stories of in-fighting between the board, management and first-team personel. This from a side that has won 2 Spanish league titles, the UEFA Cup and reached the Champions league final TWICE this decade. It seems like it will be Ronald Koeman (Who, incidently, is set to be replaced at PSV by Martin Jol!!! That's why they call it a merry-go-round!) who will taking the hot seat at The Mestialla although there were rumours that the club were looking at the possibility of brining in Jose Mourinho as a replacement. Imagine the fireworks!!!

Back home, in the doldrums of the Championship, QPR have appointed little known Italian Luigi di Canio to help steer them out of relegation trouble. I'm not entirely sure that anyone really knows what Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore are planning down at Loftus Road but the first step obviously is to make sure they are still playing championship football next season and for some reason they see Di Canio as the man to do it.

The big question is why Mick Harford wasn't kept on considering the job he's done turning the team's fortunes around in the last month or so.

Norwich, gearing up for their big Old FARM derby against Ipswich on Sunday, have appointed Glen Roeder as their manager. If i'm being kind, i'd say that Roeder has a fairly unspectacular CV to date. The Inter-two-bob Cup with Newcastle is about the sum total of his achievements. After bright starts at Watford, West Ham and the Geordies, Reoder seems to get his sides to almost sink without trace - relegating the former two in his respective second seasons with both.

It seems like a desperate appointment by Norwich. They've seen a guy with Premiership experience and taken the plunge. Unfortunately, this doesn't tell you the whole story about the man. Roeder isn't the kind of manager who is able to rouse a struggling team low on confidence and quality. He also strikes me as a man who loses a dressing room very easily when things aren't necessarily going his way. Let's not forget that he struggled with a West Ham side containing the talents of Di Canio, Kanuote, James, Defoe and Carrick etc. He's hardly likely to fair much better with the far from prolific Chris Brown in his side.

So, how will each fair? The most important thing for Tottenham is patience. Rome was not built in a day and Spurs will not be 'great' in just 6 months. If Ramos is left to work without the added pressure from upstairs then he may well turn the club's fortunes around.

Valencia cant seem to do without politics and in-fighting and this will continue regardless of who they bring in. Far from being a bad side however, they will still always be there or thereabouts both in Spain and in Europe (Every season, I still always back them to get to a Champions League final and get it right! Granted things aren't looking so good right now but I'm keeping the faith).

In a few years time we may well all be talking about QPR as a top premiership side after much investment from the F1 guys but for now, thier priority is to avoid relegation. Di Canio has experienced this kind of thing before with Siena and Reggina in Serie A and should the typical unpredictability of the Championship work in their favour, a few wins before xmas could see Rangers out of trouble reletively soon. Norwich? Roeder has a huge task. Unfortunately for the Canaries, his previous record would suggest he's not up to it and sadly, they may well be playing in League one next season.

Finally, a word on Gary Megson at Bolton. Having had to put up with his idea of 'football' for a while when watching Nottingham Forest quite regularly a few years back, I can only say that Bolton Wanderers are doomed!