The Fight for Fourth and Advice for Palacios

How about them Spurs? Despite all of the injuries, we have managed yet another win. I would have been extremely disappointed had we lost at home to Blackburn. Pav just keeps on scoring. Joe Jordan, our assistant, has come out and said there is still a spot in the squad for Keane and that he will definitely be returning next season. I can tell you how this is going to play out in one of two ways. Defoe will be sold for upwards of 30 million pounds or Celtic ends up ponying up the transfer fee we demand for Keane. There is just one too many roosters in the hen house. I don't even want to think about Pav being on the way out. He is quality. I love his left footed finishes. He always seems to create just enough space for himself to get off an accurate shot. Harry...sell Keano, keep the others. You hate drinkers, and despite what you said, you hate that he corrupted everyone on the Christmas party to London. By the way, who doesn't allow a team Christmas party with a little booze? I would want to leave Spurs, too. Harry claimed that "you don't put diesel in a Ferrari" when asked why he is so against his players drinking. You are paying them upwards of 60,000 pounds a week and they are surrounded by babes. Why not just ask them to quit masterbating while you are at it. Try telling an 18 year old sailor not to buy a BMW. It's just not happening.

In other news, Palacios has come out and said he would love to play for Real Madrid at some point. Here is a piece of advice, Wilson. Never leave a good time looking for a good time. You are cult hero at Spurs, and you would never be fully appreciated there. Look at how they ran Makelele out after everything he did for them. You are basically a spitting image of Makelele. They want superstars and flash, not hard working midfielders who send too many errant passes downfield. Stick with us, buddy.

Thoughts on Birmingham and Huge Moves

I've taken the necessary amount of time to cool off and give some game analysis. I was extremely disappointed at throwing away two points in stoppage time. The biggest difference between Tottenham and the Chelskis and Manures is the fact that those teams grind out the wins and put scrappy teams like Birmingham away. I have a lot of trouble watching Birmingham play with their organized, compact defensive style. I hate them, but Goddamnit do I respect them. Alex McLeish knows the team and has them play to their strengths. Their league standing is not a fluke. If you can be sound defensively, you can stay in games and scrap points against anyone especially with the pace of their two strikers in Chucho and Cameron Jerome. Mark my words, if Chucho finds some sort of scoring touch, he could become a hell of a striker. His nickname in his home country is Chunky which I love even more. Keep eating those Shepards Pies fatty. As for our squad, Gareth Bale was again the most impressive player on the pitch. He helped create the goal and his runs down the left caused trouble all day. Bentley and Palacios worked hard and played well. Our goal was vintage Defoe. He sees the ball, he smashes the ball. He didn't do shit for 68 minutes and then pops up to blast one home.

There was a lot of moaning from a certain family member of mine about Harry's substitutions. I will counter his view. Bringing on Keane for Defoe was the right move. Defoe had already picked up a yellow card and has a penchant for losing his mind. Keano works harder defensively and adds more grit to the team. We didn't need another goal. We needed possession and hard work up top which Robbie always brings. You can say what you want about his form lately, but you can never question his work ethic on the pitch. As for Jenas, I would have liked to have seen young Danny Rose come on instead. The kid is quicker than snot and would be pumped to run around for ten minutes. Jenas is pissed coming off the bench. The youngster would do everything in his power to show Harry he was an asset. Just watching Jenas lately, it looks like he has already checked out of a Spurs uniform.

For the first time in a while, I actually agreed with the commentator's reasons for giving up the goal. Fact is, we sat too deep, invited them in, and then paid a cruel price for it. We lost two points and now teeter on the brink of a Champions League spot.

Onto the future....Keano is gone for the rest of the season on loan to Celtic. I had mentioned last week that I had been tipped off about a possible Robbie move, but I am still surprised. What does this mean? It could very well mean Pav stays. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing more of him. His finish in the Leeds game last week and the finish against West Ham last year showed his quality. I think Harry felt obligated to play Keane at times this season. It's obvious Harry doesn't have that problem with Pav. We knew one striker would head out with the acquisition of Gudjohnsen but it wasn't the one I expected.

Tottenham also sent Alan Hutton on loan to Sunderland. One thing Harry doesn't appreciate is boozers. By getting rid of Hutton and Keane, our alcohol consumption has been cut by 83%. Of the 83%, Hutton was responsible for 75%. This was the same guy who got plastered with his family in a pub in Scotland, got into a verbal altercation with his father, and then proceeded to punch his father in the face while his father was wearing glasses. If Sunderland wants a psycho, they got it. We have another young right back to fill his back up spot in Kyle Naughton, so its not a big loss. Corluka will remain our first choice.

We picked up Kaboul again. It seems like we get rid of players only to buy them back at a higher price. It's not exactly what we call good business tactics, but fuck it, its Tottenham, and normal doesn't apply to us. My brother is furious with this, but I'm not so downtrodden. Woodgate is out for another decade. King has a left knee that looks like a 36C cup after a game. We don't have any consistently healthy center backs except Dawson and Bassong (knock on wood). If one of them went down, we are proper fucked. We paid a high price for insurance essentially. Shitty insurance to be exact, but it still plugs a necessary hole. I don't want to see Corluka or Huddlestone at center back again. You see my point.

If any other transfer moves go down, I'll be sure to keep you posted. As always....COYS.

Iceland's Greatest Export at Tottenham

We have been hearing the rumors swirling on the internet about the move for Eidur Gudjohnsen for about a week. My own good Icelandic friend Gylfi Gylfason even gave me the heads up on it. By good friend, I mean he left me to rot in an Icelandic jail overnight a couple years ago, but that's neither here nor there. I digress. I didn't put much thought into the move, but now it has come out we have landed him on loan until the end of the season. We managed to beat out West Ham, who is apparently steaming over our late involvement. Two nights ago, it looked certain Gudjohnsen was heading to the Hammers. He even went in for a medical, but wily ole Harry swooped in to steal them. This is a huge blow for an underwhelming team in a huge need of offensive creativity. You can always count on Harry making a sly transfer move during January. Here are his comments on Gudjohnsen:

"I just thought he's a good player and he can play several positions for us, he can play in a midfield or attacking-midfield role if we want to change our system. We've lost Aaron Lennon [to injury] so we haven't got a great deal of width. We can play a diamond formation if we want to and he can be a big player in that system. So, yes, we took him on loan until the end of the season to see how it goes."

I remember watching Eidur when he was at Chelsea and his creativity on the ball was mesmerizing. The other thing I remember was how absolutely lazy he was. After my last ode to Palacios, Eidur is pretty much exactly the opposite. It will be very interesting to see if he actually gets time and how he will fit in with the rest of the team. I just hope to see a little more hustle out of him. Despite the laziness, I like the move for a proven, decorated club player. The last couple of seasons he hasn't seen much time for his clubs, so he also has a great incentive to make an impression and prove the doubters wrong that he isn't over the hill. This move could very well signal the end of Pav's time at the Lane. It is rumored he is heading to Birmingham. This would signal Birmingham's intention to try and really make a full push for a European spot. Pav is not heading out on the cheap so Birmingham would be making a statement that they want continued success.

There is a strong rumor out there that Spurs are shopping Robbie Keane. I caught wind of it on a Spurs podcast I listen to and the source said he got it from someone on the inside. Oh how I love the January transfer proceedings and ridiculous rumors!