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May 2011

The devastating month of May 2012

Spurs' playing season ended on Sunday May 13th, but the review of our form in May had to be held over until the result of the Champions League Final was known. In the end, Spurs did their bit by at least finishing in the top four, but once we knew that Arsenal had held onto third place, the last day atmosphere at White Hart Lane was a little subdued, because we knew there was a risk of Chelsea actually beating Bayern Munich and depriving us of qualification for the Champions League.

Our caution has been justified, and Chelsea's penalty shoot-out win over the Germans (who never lose a shoot-out) surely became our worst result of the season , and possibly the most devastating result in our history. There are massive financial implications because of lost revenue next season, and now we have to face a summer of uncertainty regarding players such as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. I made a brief radio appearance on Sunday 20th May, 2012 on Radio 5 Live, and said then that any player who does not want to play for Spurs should not be forced to stay. I referred to Modric when I said that Daniel Levy should not force him to stay this time around.

In the end, we all know that Spurs, and only Spurs blew it. Arsenal slipped up in their penultimate game at home to Norwich, and we should have secured a win at Villa Park, where the "Villans" have played moderate football all season. Their manager, Alex McLeish has since paid the penalty for his failings, as has Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool, despite winning the Carling Cup, and reaching the FA Cup Final. Had we beaten villa, we would have held the box seat on the last day, and held onto third place at the final reckoning. That didn't happen. I'll write a "What if?" themed review of the season in the next few days, but at the end of the day, it really is no use crying over spilt milk.

In this age of ultra high standards and demands placed upon high level football managers, what does the future hold for Spurs manager Harry Redknapp? Well, despite his foibles (and we do all have them, don't we?), Harry has given us a top four finish for the second time in three seasons, and fifth place in his other full season. That's the first time for 47 years that we have had such high placings in three consecutive seasons. In my view, Harry's place should be secure, although I do admit to having said "I wouldn't wish him upon England" when asked by Mike Parry recently on Sports Tonight TV. My reason for saying that was that I was too often disappointed with Harry's tactics, strategy, team selection and public statements. Harry has however got plenty right as Spurs manager and holds one of the best records of any Spurs manager regarding win percentage in League games.

For the record then, Spurs form improved dramatically, and they won two and drew the other of their three games this month. Score-wise we made mince-meat of relegated Bolton, failed to create and convert enough chances against Villa, and then beat Fulham without too much threat. In doing that, we became the winners of the unofficial "London League", overtaking Fulham. Ironically, it was Chelsea who finished bottom of the five London clubs this season. They managed just one win and averaged one point per game, whilst Spurs won 4 and averaged 1.75 points per game.

Sandro was your player of the month for May by a clear margin, with Younes Kaboul, Adebayor and Luka Modric a little way behind. Sandro was voted man of the match in two of the three games (Villa and Fulham), whilst Modric headed the scores at Bolton. Sandro's form has flourished at the end of a season, in which he has suffered too much with injury (missed 20 games), and in which he has been second choice to Scott Parker, who made only one ever so brief substitute appearance at Villa Park. I can tell you now (the accumulated scores are below) that "Super Scott" held onto the Spurs Odyssey player of the season vote, but I'll write more about that in the review of the season later in the week.

If, in the midst of your despondency over that Chelsea result, you are looking for inspiration, then surely you need look no further than when we saw Fabrice Muamba walk onto the pitch at The Reebock Stadium, where he was greeted with great emotion on all sides, little more than two months after his dramatic collapse and miraculous recovery following heart failure. There is a photograph of Muamba embracing Harry Redknapp before the game that I shall cherish for all my days. You see, life really is more important than football.

...if you want to read reports of the matches played during this month, then links are on the Spurs Odyssey Fixtures page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances over more than 11 years!

* less errors equals a higher mark

The Spursometer was brought to you by Spurs Odyssey in association with My Eyes Have Seen The Glory.

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