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Here is Brian Judson's preview of the game
Read my comments here
... and here are some statistics
Premier Pl W D L For- Ag Pts
Home 10 4 3 3 16 - 11 15
Away 10 1 2 7 8 - 19 5
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Total (Premier) 20 5 5 10 24 - 31 20
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1) 28 14 8 6 47 - 34 37
Away (Div 1) 28 6 10 12 32 - 42 23
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Total (Div 1) 56 20 18 18 79 - 76 60
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2) 4 3 1 0 10 - 4 7
Away (Div 2) 4 1 1 2 3 - 5 3
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Total (Div 2) 8 4 2 2 13 - 9 10
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Total (Premier) 20 5 5 10 24 - 31 20
Total (Div 1) 56 20 18 18 79 - 76 60
Total (Div 2) 8 4 2 2 13 - 9 10
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Grand Total 84 29 25 30 116 -116 89
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There are many people who believe Terry Venables is a coach who is the
best thing since sliced bread. I am not one of those. I have never been
impressed with Venables as a manager, coach or player. I concede he was
brilliant at Chelsea and QPR and achieved things as a manager with other
clubs but Venables was always a misfit at Tottenham. To my mind, he never
fitted in the role of being a Tottenham player at all. Even in those days,
he was always looking for a deal to conclude. He always gave me the
impression that he was a wide boy, a spiv if you like. The ONLY thing I am
grateful to Venables for was in his persuading Sir Alan Sugar to become
chairman of Tottenham Hotspur plc. Without that, I doubt very much whether
there would be a club in existence, although I expect some people
might have reformed the club and gone to the bottom of the pyramid to
restart the club.
The events of the last few months suggest that Venables is out of his
depth at Leeds. He has taken a side he inherited from David O'Leary into a
bunch of misfits, talentless has-beens and seemingly destined for a
relegation battle if they continue in free-fall. Yet it is not so long ago
that I was tipping Leeds to herald a post-Manchester United dynasty. I
don't think Leeds have become a poor team overnight. The only thing that
has changed has been the manager.
Leeds have broken a manager in the past. Does anyone remember how Brian
Clough was appointed to succeed Don Revie, when the latter left for
Lancaster Gate, and the players rebelled and had Clough sacked? The same
could happen with Venables. He has already upset a number of players,
including David Batty, who has ignored broad hints from Venables to find
another club, preferring to see out his contract.
When I first started to watch Tottenham in March 1957, I did not see very
much of Leeds. But I soon grew to revile them when Don Revie brought Leeds
to Tottenham on the first occasion after their promotion in the 1960s.
Revie had coached his players to waste as much time as possible and to
make the other side frustrated. They were a dirty side, conceding
free-kicks by the score. The familiar photo of a confrontation between
Mackay, holding by his shirt, the young Billy Bremner will best exemplify
just how frustrated teams could become.Ed:- Did you know that Terry Venables features prominently in that photo?
My happiest memory involving Spurs -v- Leeds is of a match in May 1982
when Spurs beat Leeds and virtually condemned them to relegation. Our
goals were scored by Gary Brooke and Kenny Burns, who conceded an own
goal, to his horror. That, as it happened, was our last victory that
season.
But too many games have been dour over the years. And yet Leeds could play
superb football when they put their mind to it. The Leeds side that won
the League Championship in season 1973-74 was one of the finest I have
seen. They ran rings round the opposition. I particularly remember a game
where Leeds played Southampton and simply made fools of the Saints by
pushing the ball around the pitch with Saints players being unable to gain
possession of the ball for at least five minutes. And this was during the
middle of the match!
So to Sunday's match. Tottenham, of course, have as many problems as Leeds
do. We are patently not destined to make the breakthrough to the upper
reaches this season. I don't think Hoddle or Gorman have any idea how they
are going to achieve the break through. Too many players have been
infected by the Tottenham malaise where they play for a short while,
switch off and then find themselves in arrears. What we desperately need
is a player who can organise and demonstrate how to play for 90 minutes. A
Dave Mackay or Alan Mullery or Graham Roberts, if you like. Until we solve
that problem, we will continue to have transitional seasons.
I would like to believe that we could snatch the points on Sunday but I
fear Leeds will have far too much firepower for us. They have Viduka,
Kewell, Smith, Harte (if fit) and others, all of whom are capable of
scoring. Who do we have? Well, Robbie Keane will undoubtedly want to score
against his former club and Sheringham or somebody else might actually
head a goal. But, realistically, I see Leeds ending their recent run of
disappointing results.
But let's get behind the boys! COME ON YOU SPURS!
Cheers, Brian
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