· Brian Judson's Preview
· This season's game between the two sides at White Hart Lane
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 35 2001-2
Last Six Premiership results:-
West Brom
S'hampton 1 0 West Brom
West Brom 0 2 Chelsea
B'mingham 1 0 West Brom
M'brough 3 0 West Brom
West Brom 1 2 Everton
Sunderland 1 2 West Brom
Spurs
West Ham 2 0 Spurs
Spurs 2 3 Liverpool
Bolton 1 0 Spurs
Spurs 2 1 Birmingham
Leeds 2 2 Spurs
Spurs 0 2 Man City
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
9 Spurs 34 13 8 13 47-49 -2 47
19 West Brom 34 6 6 22 24-53 -29 24
Saturday's win at The Stadium of Light over fellow relegation team Sunderland ended a dismal run of 7 consecutive defeats for West Brom, who (as Rodney Marsh said on Sky yesterday) were really relgated before they started, having decided to enjoy the ride and not put themselves financially in hock.
Patient and enthusiastic Baggies' fans have not seen a league win at home since 30th November, when Middlesbrough were their victims. A week later thay came to White Hart Lane and put on a good show, when the 3-1 deficit was somewhat flattering to Spurs. Robbie Keane did take great pleasure though, in celebrating in front of the away fans, who had been giving him stick due to his Wolves antecedents.
So, with relegation confirmed, and Spurs only just outside the bottom three form sides, what is the point in giving up a Bank Holiday afternoon to travel to this fixture?
For one thing there is Jason Koumas, who surely will be on the market at the end of the season. Spurs have already been linked to this player who has made the transition from Second Division Tranmere to the Premiership in fine style. What would he give to Spurs? He has pace, and plenty of skill in the middle, with an ability to put the ball in the net at the top level, as he has demonstrated with three goals since December, by which time he had settled in. Koumas is still only 23, and will be worth assessing tomorrow.
As for Spurs, the hope would be for youngsters such as Dean Marney (who could replace the out-of-form Stephen Carr at right back), Lee Barnard, and Mark Yeates (who has scored in just about evry game he has played recently) to get a game.
In reality however, the best we can probably hope for is that Hoddle will start with something like the team that finished the game against Man City on Good Friday. That means Toda to start in place of Bunjevcevic in the middle, maybe a return for Dean Richards to bolster a back three, that maybe will include the reliable Chris Perry, who brought some stability to the shaky King and Gardner last time out.
It should be a free running game, with nothing at stake (no doubt Glenn Hoddle still hangs onto the mathematical possibility of a UEFA place for Spurs), and whilst one would expect a stung side to bounce back with some vigour, there has been little evidence of that from Spurs this season, and like Brian, I fancy West Brom to be the victors, in line with our habit of losing to relegated sides.
