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· Away fans! Find a hotel near the ground here!
· Last Year's Game - 1-1
· This season's away Game - 1-0 to Spurs
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 30 2003-4
Last Six Premiership results:-
Spurs
C. Palace 3-0 Spurs
Bolton 3-1 Spurs
Spurs 3-1 P'tsmouth
Spurs 2-0 Fulham
S'hampton 1-0 Spurs
Charlton 2-0 Spurs
Manchester City
West Brom 2-0 Man City
Man City 1-1 Newcastle
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
Man City 0-2 Man Utd
Norwich 2-3 Man City
Man City 0-1 Bolton
Pos P W D L F -A GD Pts
9 Spurs 29 11 6 12 35-33 2 39
12 Man City 29 9 9 11 34-32 2 36
Spurs welcome Stuart Pearce and his Manchester City side to White Hart Lane this week, in the last Premiership fixture before a two-week break due to International games over the Easter period. It will seem strange not having a League game to watch next week, but I recall this has happened before in recent years.
Stuart Pearce has been appointed as Caretaker Manager till the end of the season, and has declared his determination to make the job his own, using the remaining fixtures as his proving ground. Pearce finished his near 20 year career as a player at Manchester City, having distinguised himslef over the years for Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, and West Ham, before helping Keegan get City promoted three years ago, when they achieved a massive 99 points as Champions of Divison One.
City have employed no less than 18 different managers over the last thirty years or so, since they were last a team to reckon with, winning their last major trophy in 1976. Kevin Keegan has famously walked out of the game for probably the last time. Whilst many Spurs fans like to denigrate Pearce for his aggressive attitude, and his participation in the 91 Cup Final, then the penalty shoot-out elimination of Spurs in 95-96, I have nothing but admiration for "Psycho's" 100% commitment to the cause of whichever team he played for. One of my favourite football pictures is the one taken after Pearce had exorcised his Euro 92 demons by scoring in the penalty shoot-out for England against Spain in 1996, when every corpuscle and every sinew was stretched to the limit as he demonstrated his passion for the game.
Spurs must hope that Pearce has not had sufficient time for his passion to rub off on a team which has had a pretty lack-lustre season. They have rarely ventured out of the bottom half of the league, and suffered early exits in both Cup competitions, losing to Arsenal Reserves in the Carling Cup, and embarrassingly at Oldham in the FA Cup at the first hurdle. Oldham are now battling against relegation to the bottom rung of the Football League.
Sean Wright-Phillips is out for the best part of the season with his cartilage injury, and McManaman, Jihai and Sinclair are also long-term absentees. Robbie Fowler is currently the main strike threat, supported by Sibierski. Jon Macken, who scored that dramatic winner in the 4-3 Cup defeat of Spurs last season, will be available.
It will be a guessing game again regarding the Spurs starting line-up. Simon Davies will be taking part after a mid-week rest, and should be needed on the right. I think that Ziegler did enough on Wednesday night to keep a place on the left, but I suspect that Andy Reid will get the nod again. Which two of Carrick, Sean Davis and Michael Brown will start in the middle? Fredi Kanoute scored a spectacular winner at The City of Manchester Stadium in December, and must surely start again tomorrow next to either Defoe or Keane.
City beat Spurs two years ago on what was definitely NOT a Good Friday, but Spurs do have an outstanding Premiership record against the Mancunians. Though City would go above Spurs with a win, I am going to back Spurs to get out of their rut, and win convincingly. I'll go for 3-1.
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