Class of 2010-12

[Sevens]

09-10 was the best team. It achieved more than the sum of its parts. It was well balanced and made up for some (on paper, compared to the players of the next couple of years) less than stellar individuals.

The teams in the next two seasons definitely had more ability, but didn't seem to be able to grind it out when it mattered. I also think Redknapp didn't learn from 09-10... That year we were helped by players being fresh and coming into the team and having impact in the second half of the season when called upon (Modric back from injury, Bale, Pav(!), even Bentley you can make a case for). What happened after that was little rotation, mainly the same players (remember the likes of Kranjcar never being seen) and that group running out of steam. For it to happen two years in a row as well doesn't reflect well on the manager.

I don't think we ran out of steam in 11/12. We finished the season very strongly. We can all spin stats but if you take the last 10 league games (pretty much a quarter of a season) our record was W4 D4 L2. 16pts out of a possible 30. Or 1.6pts per game which would get you 60/61pts a season. Not top four material but certainly not terrible either.

What was poor was the one win from nine matches. But even when you break down those games it was our lack of firepower that hindered us. And that lack of firepower came from two things. 1) Adebayor when through a phase of missing absolute sitters & 2) We switched formation after Lennon got injured. Sadly many of the games are burned into my brain.

Losing 5-2 to Arsenal was criminal. We collapsed.

Losing 3-1 to Man Utd at home was just unbelievable. Even the Utd fans I knew couldn't believe they won that game, let alone 3-1. We played them off the park for large portions of the match.

We lost 1-0 to Everton after absolutely dominating them.

We drew 1-1 with Stoke at home. We didn't play that well.

We drew 0-0 against Chelsea after playing well. We probably should have actually won the match.

We lost 2-1 against Norwich at home after an absolute cluster**** of tactics by Redknapp. Ironically considering your post, we lost because he chose this game to rest players.

We lost 1-0 to QPR after dominating the game and failing to find the net time and time again.

We then won three and drew one of our last four (the draw against Villa was disappointing and another game where we'd played well enough to win).

 

[Vulcan10]

I don't think we ran out of steam in 11/12. We finished the season very strongly. We can all spin stats but if you take the last 10 league games (pretty much a quarter of a season) our record was W4 D4 L2. 16pts out of a possible 30. Or 1.6pts per game which would get you 60/61pts a season. Not top four material but certainly not terrible either.

What was poor was the one win from nine matches. But even when you break down those games it was our lack of firepower that hindered us. And that lack of firepower came from two things. 1) Adebayor when through a phase of missing absolute sitters & 2) We switched formation after Lennon got injured. Sadly many of the games are burned into my brain.

Losing 5-2 to Arsenal was criminal. We collapsed.

Losing 3-1 to Man Utd at home was just unbelievable. Even the Utd fans I knew couldn't believe they won that game, let alone 3-1. We played them off the park for large portions of the match.

We lost 1-0 to Everton after absolutely dominating them.

We drew 1-1 with Stoke at home. We didn't play that well.

We drew 0-0 against Chelsea after playing well. We probably should have actually won the match.

We lost 2-1 against Norwich at home after an absolute cluster**** of tactics by Redknapp. Ironically considering your post, we lost because he chose this game to rest players.

We lost 1-0 to QPR after dominating the game and failing to find the net time and time again.

We then won three and drew one of our last four (the draw against Villa was disappointing and another game where we'd played well enough to win).

That Norwich game, talk about a bad memory. My overriding memory of the villa draw was harry sending on scott Parker instead of Defoe late on in a game we had to win and were on top despite the 10 men (rose). He took the draw in the hope arsenal would mess up on the last day. I was furious for weeks over that.

 

[Sevens]

That Norwich game, talk about a bad memory. My overriding memory of the villa draw was harry sending on scott Parker in a game we had to win. He took the draw in the hope arsenal would mess up on the last day. I was furious for weeks over that.

I remember him putting on Parker but I also felt at the time it was a good move. At face value it seemed like a defensive move but by putting Parker on and telling him to sit it allowed us to pour players forward into attack, so it was actually an attacking move. Weren't we down to 10 men at the time?

 

[sunnydelight786]

We then won three and drew one of our last four (the draw against Villa was disappointing and another game where we'd played well enough to win).

That was the game where Rose got himself sent off and, with us needing to win to stay ahead of AFC in the league, he took VDV off and brought on Parker.....

 

[Vulcan10]

I remember him putting on Parker but I also felt at the time it was a good move. At face value it seemed like a defensive move but by putting Parker on and telling him to sit it allowed us to pour players forward into attack, so it was actually an attacking move. Weren't we down to 10 men at the time?

We were, danny Rose got a daft red card but even with 10 men we were very much on top and as I remember it we lost all momentum after the change and settled for what we had. Just my opinion though.

 

[sunnydelight786]

We were, danny Rose got a daft red card but even with 10 men we were on top and as I remember it we lost all momentum after the change and settled for what we had. Just my opinion though.

Match report from that game http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17885326

 

[Sevens]

Match report from that game http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17885326

21 shots, 10 on target. We really did need to have signed a decent striker in that January transfer window. Another "what if" moment. Redknapp hasn't been the only Spurs Manager to suffer not getting in his preferred transfer targets in the January window though. I hope Poch is prepared and ready to handle the same thing happening to him this January!

 

[parklane1]

That Norwich game, talk about a bad memory. My overriding memory of the villa draw was harry sending on scott Parker instead of Defoe late on I n a game we had to win and were on top despite the 10 men (rose). He took the draw in the hope arsenal would mess up on the last day. I was furious for weeks over that.

That was a shocking decision by Redknapp, all of us at that game could not understand why he bottled it.

 

[Sevens]

We were, danny Rose got a daft red card but even with 10 men we were very much on top and as I remember it we lost all momentum after the change and settled for what we had. Just my opinion though.

I recall us attacking until the very end and it being one of those games. Away from home, down to 10 men a point was a great result in isolation. In context of the final outcome at the end of the season it was another two points that got away.

But we did finish 4th that season. We were back in the Champion's League until Chelsea fluked their way to the Champion's League. I think that really does rate as my worst ever moment as a fan. It's not as if Chelsea fluked through that game either. They fluked even getting to the final.

 

[Vulcan10]

I don't think we ran out of steam in 11/12. We finished the season very strongly. We can all spin stats but if you take the last 10 league games (pretty much a quarter of a season) our record was W4 D4 L2. 16pts out of a possible 30. Or 1.6pts per game which would get you 60/61pts a season. Not top four material but certainly not terrible either.

What was poor was the one win from nine matches. But even when you break down those games it was our lack of firepower that hindered us. And that lack of firepower came from two things. 1) Adebayor when through a phase of missing absolute sitters & 2) We switched formation after Lennon got injured. Sadly many of the games are burned into my brain.

Losing 5-2 to Arsenal was criminal. We collapsed.

Losing 3-1 to Man Utd at home was just unbelievable. Even the Utd fans I knew couldn't believe they won that game, let alone 3-1. We played them off the park for large portions of the match.

We lost 1-0 to Everton after absolutely dominating them.

We drew 1-1 with Stoke at home. We didn't play that well.

We drew 0-0 against Chelsea after playing well. We probably should have actually won the match.

We lost 2-1 against Norwich at home after an absolute cluster**** of tactics by Redknapp. Ironically considering your post, we lost because he chose this game to rest players.

We lost 1-0 to QPR after dominating the game and failing to find the net time and time again.

We then won three and drew one of our last four (the draw against Villa was disappointing and another game where we'd played well enough to win).

Didn't ade have a 1-1 with the keeper in the chelsea game which he fluffed? I was at the Stoke game and we were very poor, lucky to salvage a late draw (VDV header).
Still, none of this would matter if it wasn't for that corrupt turd of a west brom keeper. The only game ben foster missed all season & it was that one. Grrrrrrr.

 

[mil1lion]

We were so close to the top of the mountain with success in our grasp and then we tripped over and find ourselves a long way down again.

 

[ClintEastwould]

The CL spot was lost because of our huge collapse from the Newcastle game onwards, not because Parker was missing from that City game. We won 1 of our next 9 PL games after thrashing Newcastle 4-0.

Looking back, I hate that Newcastle match. We looked unstoppable in the match but having the arsenal game straight afterwards was a curse. Harry played a 442 with Ade and Saha up top and I firmly believe he thought he'd get away with it at the emirates because we looked so good against Newcastle. So he dropped VDV and we get hammered. That collapse was spectacular and the residual effects of it definitely contributed to our form afterwards.

 

[Sevens]

Didn't ade have a 1-1 with the keeper in the chelsea game which he fluffed? I was at the Stoke game and we were very poor, lucky to salvage a late draw (VDV header).
Still, none of this would matter if it wasn't for that corrupt turd of a west brom keeper. The only game ben foster missed all season & it was that one. Grrrrrrr.

It was almost like events conspired against us. Not that I believe in that sort of thing. Man City away and that Balotelli stamp. Rather than a red card if I recall correctly he scores the winner.

I also think we got carried away ourselves. On paper when you look at that second half of the season it was harder than the first. We still played brilliantly in the first half of the season (after those first two games anyway) but we didn't really have THAT much to beat. It was completely unrealistic of us to expect to be able to maintain that kind of form throughout the entire season. We were always going to have a blip at some stage.

 

[Sevens]

We were so close to the top of the mountain with success in our grasp and then we tripped over and find ourselves a long way down again.

I was posting on another forum at the time and even during our really good run of form there was a lot of bitterness towards Redknapp on that forum. Many wanted him fired after the first two games so I guess it was no surprise that when our results turned bad they'd get the knives out.

I just kept telling people that we were in the middle of a little golden era and it was a shame they couldn't enjoy it because they so badly wanted Redknapp (and therefore Spurs) to fail so he would get booted out. I was ridiculed at the time and most of them were delighted when a proper manager like AVB was appointed. I knew then that it was the beginning of the end of our mini golden era.

The good news is I can't really see much in other teams at the moment. I genuinely believe this season we can still get top four because other than City and Chelsea no team has really looked top four quality. I am sure Utd will do as the season goes on. So it's us, the scum and Liverpool fighting for 4th. We can finish above both of them. We just have to believe......

 

[sunnydelight786]

It was almost like events conspired against us. Not that I believe in that sort of thing. Man City away and that Balotelli stamp. Rather than a red card if I recall correctly he scores the winner.

I also think we got carried away ourselves. On paper when you look at that second half of the season it was harder than the first. We still played brilliantly in the first half of the season (after those first two games anyway) but we didn't really have THAT much to beat. It was completely unrealistic of us to expect to be able to maintain that kind of form throughout the entire season. We were always going to have a blip at some stage.

Define "a blip'....? Normally thats 2 or 3 games, not 8 out of 9 in my book Sevens....

 

[Vulcan10]

Looking back, I hate that Newcastle match. We looked unstoppable in the match but having the arsenal game straight afterwards was a curse. Harry played a 442 with Ade and Saha up top and I firmly believe he thought he'd get away with it at the emirates because we looked so good against Newcastle. So he dropped VDV and we get hammered. That collapse was spectacular and the residual effects of it definitely contributed to our form afterwards.

It's what it did for them as well - didn't they go on a massive unbeaten run after the lift they got that day? Just a horrible, horrible afternoon.

 

[Sevens]

Define "a blip'....? Normally thats 2 or 3 games, not 8 out of 9 in my book Sevens....

Over a 38 game season, I'd say for a team that should be finishing between 3rd to 6th a blip could last a quarter of the season. For a team challenging for the title I'd say a blip would be more like 1/8th of a season. For example City won the title that season but went through a spell of just one league win in five games.

 

[nightgoat]

But we did finish 4th that season. We were back in the Champion's League until Chelsea fluked their way to the Champion's League. I think that really does rate as my worst ever moment as a fan. It's not as if Chelsea fluked through that game either. They fluked even getting to the final.

And Drogba got away with a blatant bookable offence in the semi final which would have had him suspended for the final.

 

[nightgoat]

It was almost like events conspired against us. Not that I believe in that sort of thing. Man City away and that Balotelli stamp. Rather than a red card if I recall correctly he scores the winner.

I also think we got carried away ourselves. On paper when you look at that second half of the season it was harder than the first. We still played brilliantly in the first half of the season (after those first two games anyway) but we didn't really have THAT much to beat. It was completely unrealistic of us to expect to be able to maintain that kind of form throughout the entire season. We were always going to have a blip at some stage.

That was the season of that Foy performance. We were ten wins and a draw in our previous eleven games going into that match and the referee did literally everything to make sure we lost.

 

[Sevens]

That was the season of that Foy performance. We were ten wins and a draw in our previous eleven games going into that match and the referee did literally everything to make sure we lost.

Well one thing is for certain. It wasn't a dull season!!