"It was Twenty Years ago today!"
article published April, 2018, but first written in 1998 by the late Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Barnsley



Prem           Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home            1   1   0   0     3-0    3
Away            0   0   0   0     0-0    0
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Total (Prem)    1   1   0   0     3-0    3
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)    0   0   0   0     0-0    0
Away (Div 1)    0   0   0   0     0-0    0
===========================================
Total (Div 1)   0   0   0   0     0-0    0
===========================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   13  11   1   1    36-10  23
Away (Div 2)   13   2   3   8    11-24   7
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Total (Div 2)  26  13   4   9    47-34  30
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Total (Prem)    1   1   0   0     3-0    3
Total (Div 1)   0   0   0   0     0-0    0
Total (Div 2)  26  13   4   9    47-34  30
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Grand Total    27  14   4   9    50-34  33
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1908-09  4-0  Middlemiss 2       1-1 Minter
              Walton Woodward
1919-20  4-0  Grimsdell Banks    0-3
              Cantrell Bliss
1928-29  2-0  Osborne Elkes      1-4 Scott
1929-30  2-1  O'Callaghan Cook   0-2
1930-31  4-2  Harper 2 Hunt 2    1-0 Bellamy
1931-32  4-2  O'Callaghan 2      2-3 O'Callaghan, Hunt
              Brain Bellamy
1935-36  3-0  Morrison 2 Duncan  0-0
1936-37  3-0  Meek Duncan Edrich 0-1
1937-38  3-0  G W Hall Gibbons   1-1 Sargent
              Miller  
1946-47  1-1  Dix (penalty)      3-1 Burgess, Medley, 
                                     Foreman
1947-48  0-3                     1-2 Duquemin
1948-49  4-1  Baily 2            1-4 Bennett
              Bennett Duquemin
1949-50  2-0  Duquemin Baily     0-2
1997-98  3-0  Ginola 2 Nielsen

Such is the limited number of matches that we have played against Barnsley! This Saturday's match is a vital fixture for both clubs. Neither can afford to lose this match. Whoever loses the game will be red hot favourites for the drop.

Barnsley have won many friends this season with their refusal to adopt defensive tactics in their dire straits. Most teams adopt a defensive counter-attacking strategy when the brown stuff hits the fan. Barnsley, to their eternal credit, have not done so. They have won games that they should never have won, for instance against Manchester United in the Cup. They have been a breath of fresh air this season.

In the first half of the season, Barnsley took a long time to adjust to the demands of the Premier League but have now done so. If Tottenham do not remember the lessons of their Cup tie defeat at Barnsley earlier this season, it is safe to say we had better start looking up the routes to travel to Bristol City, Watford, Stockport and Crewe next season.

It will be interesting to see the team Herr Gross decides to field at Barnsley. Personally, if I were Gross, I'd take Klinsmann to one side, point out to him that he's still struggling over 90 minutes and use him as a substitute for the final half hour. I'd start with Ferdinand and Armstrong for the first hour and pull off whichever of the two looked the more tired as neither are, in my opinion, match fit.

I'd start with Ginola but it has to be said it has to be impressed on him that he's part of a team and he should be more aware of other, better-placed players, rather than trying to score the goal of the season. I'd send Anderton on with say 20 minutes left if it looked like we were getting nowhere with Ginola.

But whatever the make-up of the team it is vital that the players scrap for the ball and fight hard for the control of the midfield. It is a thousand pities that we do not have a midfield ball winner like Graham Roberts used to be. We need someone to ensure that Redfearn doesn't have too much freedom in the middle of the park. Many of Barnsley's goals have come from nowhere simply because Redfearn is prepared to get muddy and kicked in his attempts to get the ball.

Perhaps we ought to ask Cliff Jones to explain the technique for flinging one's self into the middle of a ruck to score vital goals? Anyone who saw Cliff do so will know what I am talking about!

The outcome of the match is very hard to predict. Much will depend on whether Spurs are prepared to scrap for the ball. If they do *and* they score the vital first goal, I am cautiously prepared to back on a Spurs win. But if they lose this game, then that's it : we will be going down. And, worst of all, we will thoroughly deserve to be relegated because we are simply not good enough and because too many players prefer to pose rather than to break sweat for the club.

Cheers, Brian

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