Full Record of Spurs -v- Blackburn Rovers

Premier       Pl   W   D   L  For-Ag  Pts

Home           6   2   1   3    8-9    7
Away           6   3   0   3    8-5    9
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Total (Prem)  12   5   1   6   16-14   16
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  24  16   4   4   63-30   36
Away (Div 1)  24   5   5  14   23-50   15
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Total (Div 1) 48  21   9  18   86-80   51
=========================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   6   5   0   1   22-8    10
Away (Div 2)   6   2   2   2    9-7     6
=========================================
Total (Div 2) 12   7   2   3   31-15   16
=========================================
Total (Prem)  12   5   1   6   16-14   16
Total (Div 1) 48  21   9  18   86-80   51
Total (Div 2) 12   7   2   3   31-15   16
=========================================
Grand Total)  72  33  12  27  133-109  83
=========================================

As Wednesday's match approaches, Tottenham are entering a period of uncertainty whilst they wait to appoint their third team manager (or coach) in less than a year. Twelve months ago, the noise emanating from the Spurs-List was crudely demanding the head of Gerry Francis in no uncertain terms. After his departure, the speculation on his successor was even wilder until Herr Gross appeared at the press conference clutching his Travelcard.

No one had heard of him any more than they'd heard of Arsene Wenger but people did not wait very long to pass any judgement despite the fact he could genuinely point to a successful career as a manager. The vast majority of supporters will feel sorry that a decent man has gone because of the mob. I am thoroughly ashamed to be a supporter of a club where there has been a great deal of xenophobia displayed by some of the more ignorant.

But it's now another day and another game. Blackburn have surprisingly apparently gone backwards since the appointment of Roy Hodgson. They initially made a challenge for the championship but fell away badly towards the end of the season. This season they have made an indifferent start to the season and are halfway down the table.

There are a number of reasons for that. One has been the departure of Colin Hendry to Glasgow Rangers after many years of unselfish service. Another has been some indifferent displays by Sutton, who seems to have been sulking ever since Hoddle did not pick him for the senior England squads earlier this year. Age has caught up with some of the other players, who have left for other clubs. The team has yet to gel this season.

Tottenham and Blackburn have both been linked in transfer speculation. In an attempt to replace Hendry, Blackburn tried to prise Sol Campbell away from Tottenham but did not make too tempting an offer. Co-incidentally, Spurs have been linked to both Sherwood, the Blackburn captain, and Sutton.

Probably the best performance by Tottenham against Blackburn was in the 3-1 victory in February 1995 when Anderton, Barmby and Klinsmann were our scorers.

The first time I saw Blackburn was back in the 1960s one Good Friday. (Ed: Friday 20th April, 1962)We won 4-1. I think a very young Mike England was playing for Blackburn that day. (Ed: Correct!)We also won the return on Easter Monday, 1-0. Greaves, of course! But then, Blackburn generally rolled over for us in those days. Even in 1965-66 when we had the hapless Laurie Brown as centre-half, Blackburn could not score against us at all and made the big drop. It was because of that drop that Mike England asked for a transfer and shocked football by refusing to sign for Manchester United, preferring to sign for us. That was the last time Blackburn were in the top Division until being promoted into the Premier League from the old Division 2.

Apart from Manchester United and Arsenal, Blackburn are the only team to have won the Premiership. Most of the kudos went to manager Dalglish and striker Shearer but I suspect that most of the planning was devised by Ray Harford rather than Dalglish. I think it is damning of Dalglish that he managed to cock things up rather too well at Newcastle. I suspected from the outset he would be found out when he did not sack McDermott from the back room staff.

The Tottenham side will largely pick itself on Wednesday night, particularly if Anderton and Campbell return from their Swedish travels with injuries. For Anderton to be injured would come as no surprise : he'll probably be injured until the week before the Bulgaria match on 10th October! But if Campbell is out that will be disastrous as we do not have anyone remotely as good as the Sol-man to fill the gap.

And to succeed Herr Gross? I'm not going to be drawn into this speculation. I will leave that to the cackling mob. Suffice to say that whoever fills the vacancy, I hope the mob cranking up the guillotine in readiness for the execution of the next team coach/manager will pause long enough from their exertions to get behind the team and support them no matter who plays. Because if the team are not fully supported by its fans, we could well be looking forward to visits from Macclesfield, Walsall and other clubs of that ilk in two or three seasons time.

And when the new man is appointed, I hope people will remember that it takes time to build a team ............. Ten months is not enough ....

Cheers, Brian

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