· Brian Judson's Preview
· Last Year's Game - Spurs 3 Bolton 1
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 11 2002-3
Last Six Premiership results:-
Spurs
Chelsea 4 2 Spurs
Spurs 1 3 S'hampton
Man City 0 0 Spurs
Spurs 3 0 Everton
L'cester 1 2 Spurs
Spurs 0 0 M'brough
Bolton
Bolton 2 0 M'brough
Newcastle 0 0 Bolton
Bolton 1 1 Wolves
A. Villa 1 1 Bolton
Man City 6 2 Bolton
Bolton 0 1 B'mingham
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
12 Spurs 10 3 3 4 10-13 -3 12
18 Bolton 10 1 5 4 8-19 -11 8
Last season's last gasp winner at the Reebock Stadium was the only time Bolton have beaten us in the Premiership, and they have only managed one draw at The Lane. That draw came on 23rd December 1995, under the management of Gerry Francis. Spurs were on a high then, and that match was the 10th of an eleven match unbeaten league run. My recollection is that Spurs were 2-0 up, but that the Wanderers got two back to go home with a Christmas point. Spurs goals came through Chris Armstrong and Teddy Sheringham, and one of the Bolton goals was scored by Gudni Bergsson. The other Bolton goal was scored by Scott Green. After a patchy holiday period, Spurs did manage to beat Manchester United in the New Year by 4 goals to 1!
Had Spurs won that Bolton game they would have been second in the league, but many consider their failure to win that game as a turning point, not only in that season, when they finished 8th, but in the managerial career of Francis, which went into demise. None of his successors to date have managed to consistently put Spurs in the upper reaches of the Premiership.
A few things are certain regarding the Spurs team selection for tomorrow's game. Fredi Kanoute and Christian Ziege are certain absentees. It is a blessing that Ziege's injury on Wednesday night was not a recurrence of his thigh problem, but he will be out again for a few weeks. Simon Davies and Jamie Redknapp will probably also still be on the treatment table. Darren Anderton and Mauricio Taricco are doubtful, so maybe my dream of starting with the line-up that finished impressively against West Ham will come true. Oh - with the exception of bringing back Dean Richards for Gary Doherty.
Bolton will be missing a recognised centre-back, as Emerson Thome picked up an injury in Bolton's Carling Cup game, whilst recent signing Laville is also missing. Sam Allardyce continues to get the best out of something of a cobbled-together army, but look out for Campo, and Jardel, who is getting fitter all the time. My prediction? 3-1 to Spurs.
