TOTTENHAM IN MELT-DOWN : VILLAS-BOAS AND LEVY HAVE TO GO.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked what was wrong with Tottenham Hotspur. After their abysmal display yesterday, there can only be one answer.

 

Having spent a fortune on new signings in the summer, most pundits had them pencilled in for at least a 'top-4' finish, some even tipping them as real contenders for the Premier League title. After their 6-0 thrashing at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, I suspect that some may now be wondering whether they will even finish in the top half of the table. Their defence was non-existent, the midfield 'prissy' and their attack totally impotent.

 

No one can doubt that they have a huge amount of talent in the club, the trouble is that it's not being used to best, or even any, effect. This failure has to be laid fairly and squarely at the door of the manager, Andre Villas-Boas. Already kicked out by Chelsea after a miserable spell there, he must now be on his way out of White Hart Lane in the very near future.

 

The only remaining questions are "Who will replace him ?" and "Will Chairman Daniel Levy be on his bike too ?"

 

The answer to the first is "Anyone, please !"  The answer to the second, as the club surely embarks on the search for its 18th manager in the last 40 years and 8th in the last 15, has to be that he most certainly should follow Villas-Boas out of the door. Despite spending vast amounts, he has failed to bring in a manager who can mould the available talent into any sort of cohesive unit; he has to go.

 

With the team now in total melt-down, the sooner these changes happen, the better. Until they do, things can only get even worse and supporters will desert in droves.

TROTT AND ENGLAND FALL PREY TO PRESSURE.

The pathetic performance of the England cricket team in the first Ashes test in Brisbane tells us just how over-rated this lot are. The subsequent departure of Jonathan Trott from the touring party for what has been described as a long-standing stress related illness possibly indicates the extent of the effect of unrealistic expectations on mediocre performers.

 

A few years ago, Marcus Trescothick departed the Test Match arena on similar grounds, never to be seen wearing an England shirt again; Trott's departure has been accompanied with comments that he will now take a break 'for the foreseeable future' and that his return to the game 'will be decided in due course'. This doesn't bode well for the ex-pat South African.

 

The simple truth is that our media makes so much of sporting success and expectations that the players can't cope with it. Being told, day after day, that you're the best in the world or that you'll win whatever it is easily, cannot be comfortable, particularly when you're not as good as the press continually says you are. As soon as the conditions are not in your favour, you fail; then you fail again and the analysts are on your back. You fail again and the press is on your back; the pressure mounts and you crack.

 

Trott is a good solid batsman but he's not Bradman and he's not infallible; Trescothick was the same. On the manicured, home-grown  pitches on which they normally play, making runs can be relatively easy but when it is the opposition's turf, things can be different. The great players prosper in all conditions, the more fallible do not, but the media do not care about such distinctions. One good swallow, for them, makes many summers, at least in the minds of their headline writers and pundits.

 

We can only hope that Trott recovers well enough to at least be restored to county cricket but whether he will ever again appear for England must be questionable. As for the Ashes, I think this team can forget them; a fired-up bunch of Aussies looks like eating them alive.

FORMULA 1 SEASON ENDS : NOW FOR 2014 !

The end of the 2013 Formula 1 Championship saw yet another utterly dominant display from the 'driver of the moment', Sebastian Vettel. Leading almost from start to finish, even a problematic pit-stop couldn't prevent him from winning easily, and for the 9th race in a row; only Alberto Ascari before him has ever achieved such a run.

 

Mark Webber, in his farewell to Formula 1, did what he's done for so much of the last few years and finished second to his team mate, while Fernando Alonso came home a creditable third in a car which was not really up to the job, and claimed the runner-up spot in the driver's championship. Penalties for both Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton somewhat cancelled each other out and Hamilton's Mercedes team clung on to second place in the Constructor's championship, while the challenge from Lotus faded away with Romain Grosjean's early blown engine.

 

The surprise package of the race was undoubtedly Jenson Button. After a really miserable time in qualifying, the 2009 champion started 14th on the grid but made rapid progress through the field. A storming drive saw him achieve his team's best finish of the season; even though this was a modest 4th, it was quite a result for the beleaguered McLaren firm.

 

Next year will see a raft of changes to cars and teams. New engines, limited fuel, narrower front wings and unlimited use of 'Kers', no Mark Webber and new driver line-ups for several teams. How will Alonso and Raikonnen get on ? Will Ricciardo prove much of a challenge to Vettel ? How will new boys Kevin Magnussen and Danil Kvyat do ? Will Paul DiResta have a drive at all ? So many questions to be answered and we have to wait until March to even start finding out most of the answers.

 

Roll on March.

ENGLAND TAKE ALL BLACKS TO THE WIRE !

Yesterday, England's Rugby Union team faced the ultimate test, playing the All Blacks at Twickenham. Last year, they achieved a remarkable victory over the World Champions and inflicted their only defeat since they lifted the trophy in 2011. However, over the last year the All Blacks had swept everyone aside and looked pretty invincible, so how did England measure up ?

 

After 2 very 'in-out' performances against Australia and Argentina, England had to do better and things started badly. Within 2 minutes the visitors had a try and were 7-0 ahead. Although England cut the deficit with an Owen Farrell penalty, the All Blacks played at a ferocious pace and threatened to overwhelm the home side; after less than 20 minutes, it was 17-3 to the visitors and it looked like being a very bad day for England.

 

From then on things were different. England began to get into the game and a hard won try reduced the deficit to 17-10; although the All Blacks scored with a penalty, 2 penalties by Farrell meant that England went in at half time only 4 points adrift, at 16-20. For significant periods, they had pushed the All Blacks back and really looked on a par with their illustrious opponents.

 

In the second half, England continued to press although the All Blacks remained very dangerous on the break. The pace of the match was awesome and both sides were playing at full tilt. One great improvement from the England of last year was the dearth of penalties conceded, while the visitors gave away too many; Farrell converted his first of the half after 53 minutes and, miraculously, put England ahead with another on the hour. Was it possible that England could repeat last year's momentous victory ?

 

Sadly, it was not. A converted try and penalty put the All Blacks back in control and, despite their best efforts, England could not score again. In fact, as the match drew to a close, it was the All Blacks who looked more dangerous. The final score of 22-30 was fair but didn't really tell the story of a terrific match. Playing against the team acknowledged to be the best in the world, England came close to causing a huge upset and can certainly hold their heads high. They weren't perfect and there are areas of their play that need serious attention, not least the open play of the backs, but this was a performance full of guts, determination and marvellous forward play. They gave the All Blacks an almighty fright and can look forward to the Six Nations in February with considerable confidence.

 

The All Blacks played like the champions that they are but England did very well indeed and can be real challengers come the World Cup in England and Wales in 2015. Here's hoping !

WHAT IS WRONG WITH TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ?

As a long-suffering Tottenham fan, in fact I've been following them since 1962, I'm more than used to being disappointed. However, this year I expected better.

 

After the excitement of Gareth Bale's performances last year Spurs' fans looked forward to either a side built around him which became even better or, God forbid, a side built from the proceeds of his sale. In the event, Bale chose to leave the Spurs' management brought in a gaggle of new players at great expense; supposed experts and pundits lauded their choices and supporters looked for a year of great things, minus Bale. So far, so good.

 

Sadly, reality has now intervened. The new-look Spurs team has enormous talent and enormous potential, or say all the 'experts', and all at great cost. The actual truth is that they appear to be a group of players who simply don't work together and have great difficulty penetrating the defence of any half-decent team, and their defence is dodgy. Yes, they haven't conceded many goals but then they haven't played anyone of real note, except Arsenal to whom they lost and Chelsea with whom they gained a slightly lucky draw; God help them when they play anyone really good.

 

Today, they contrived to lose at home to Newcastle. It was only 1-0 but the manner of the defeat was enough to make any Spurs fan weep. In the first half, they were inept and impotent; Dembele, who seems to have more bad days than good, seemed to be half asleep, and poor old Soldado at the front was given no opportunity whatsoever. Instead, a simple through-ball found an unmarked Remy who placed the ball into the Spurs goal.

 

The second half was a slightly different story as Spurs replaced Dembele with Sandro and AVB had clearly read the Riot Act; Tottenham actually looked as though they wanted to compete. However, their multitudinous attacks ended with no result. Spurs' management will no doubt claim that they were denied by the Newcastle goalkeeper, who did have a good day, but the truth is that Spurs are simply not good enough. They failed to create real opportunities, failing miserably to breach their opponents defences while Newcastle still presented a threat on the few occasions when they were able to break out.

 

Tottenham are still a team in the making and one can only hope that they will eventually make it. However, at the moment they are second rate at best and their inability to score goals is becoming highly embarrassing; the ludicrous claims that they are title contenders have been well and truly shown to be nonsense. On today's showing, it will be a miracle if they make the top 4 and a huge surprise if they even get into the top 6 at the end of the season; winning cups is just a joke. It will even be a surprise if AVB is still the manager come the end of March.

 

Oh for the days of Billy Nick !

ENGLAND HANG ON TO BEAT PUMAS.

The second match of England's autumn campaign, against Argentina at Twickenham, was a mirror image of the first game against Australia.

 

Last week, England were a disjointed team in the first half but played much more solidly and cohesively in the second. Today's match saw them play controlled and dominant rugby in the first half, but almost fall apart in the second. After dominating possession and territory for 40 minutes and gaining an advantage of 24-6 at the break, they completely lost their way and allowed the Argentines to dominate the second half. Two penalties reduced the deficit to 24-12 and a little luck could easily have seen it reduced to vanishing point as England really looked second rate. In the end, Ben Morgan took his chance to break through the Argentinian line with just a couple of minutes to go and the final score was 31-12; to say that this flattered England, especially after their miserable second half performance, is a huge understatement.

 

Next week it's the turn of the All Blacks and there can be little doubt that England will have to play much better for a full 80 minutes if they're to stand any chance of even staying close to the World Champions.

ENGLAND OVERCOME WALLABIES AT TWICKERS !

As we build up towards the Rugby Union World Cup in 2015, the progress of Stuart Lancaster's developing England team is becoming more significant. After the last 6-Nations' tournament, when they were roundly slaughtered by Wales, England suddenly realised that they were not, perhaps, developing as quickly as they'd believed; a summer tour of Argentina restored some belief but the real measure had to be the autumn series.

 

Yesterday, that autumn series got under way with the Australians visiting Twickenham. After a stuttering first half in which Owen Farrell managed to miss 3 penalty kicks and England failed to make any real impression on the visitors, the half-time score of 6-13 looked pretty gloomy. However, the second half produced a much more coherent performance from the home side with 2 converted tries and eventual victory by 20-13.

 

Although this was a decent result and, in the end, a strong performance at least from the forwards, no one should be carried away. Australia have not been a great power this year; although they haven't exactly played badly, their results have been disappointing, so an English victory cannot be seen as a pointer to World Cup success - yet. Next week, they take on Argentina and the week after that it's the real test, against New Zealand. The 'All Blacks' are undoubtedly the best team around at the moment and how well we do against them will tell us much more than did yesterday's match. Let's hope we at least give them a run for their money.