1. I was impressed again by Gomes -- took charge on set piece, controlled his area and had quick reflexes when Thud was outmanouvered.

2. We desperatley need Hutoon and Woody by August 16th.

3. O'hara played a nice sweeping roll today and got forward well for his goal. (nice pass from the economist!)

4. Bale looked razor sharp.

5. Berba's did not want to play, his mind was elewhere.

6. COYS. I like wahet JR is building.

My one worry about the team so far is that Gareth Bale doesn't seem to have found a hair grip that stays in!! He stopped to push it back in at least 3 times!!

Agreed Harry. Great team spirit bar the wantaway sulk. Berba not really being part of the team, the only dark cloud taking away from the tournaments silver lining.

Gio is an amazing talent, bargain buy of the transfer window for me. Bent - another 45mins another goal. Nice cameo by Adam (who?) Smith - unlucky with the offside and lovely measured assist.

PS Glad to see Bale survive the nasty tackles he was being victimised with in the first half.

First silverware to Spurs.

Celtic going for their 2nd wooden spoon of pre-season....

Gio Gio Gio!!! Hope the lad gets his chance in the first game against 'boro. A good showing from him, a win for spurs and this kid could be what we have been looking for.. just look at the pass for Bentleys pen that we never got!!

Hi Harry,

Good post, but I'm still worried about the defence (yes - even after two clean sheets). If we have Hudd and Dawson against anyone except Hull or Stoke and we'll lose.

Also, I think we need either Modric or Berbatov in the team (both would be nice) to maintain possesion. We were giving the ball away for fun in the first half - it was just like the bad not-so-old days.

Not pouring cold water and I'm a spurs fan.
Watch the a5ena1 in the emirates cup and our afternoon stroll in Holland.We need to step up to have any chance to break into top 4.
All the fitness training is not going to make Huddlestone any faster.The same old problems with the same old players. Hopefully we are relaxing before the real thing.
Berbatov is not sulking ..lay off him.

Same old same old.

Berba sulks, Dawson still looks like an oaf even against weak attackers, and Zokora charges blindly into the space (holding onto the ball too long) when we have a promising counter.

On the plus side, Bale looks seriously good, O'Hara looks more assured than last year and might develop into the midfield general we need, GDS has world class potential and Bent is a predator without an ego problem.

But in this kind of fixture, I'm not getting over-excited by our performances. Despite two clean sheets, we look shaky at the back and (as yet) lack a true ball-winning midfielder.

Gio really is gonna be a star for us this season - totally agree with Trembly & Marky. Really pleased for Smith as well. Nice to see youngsters starting to get games.

Give Berba a break, he doesnt have to run around like a headless chicken. Almost on every occassion he kept possession when he had the ball, and a couple of smiles too. The guy is a class act whether you like it or not. Keeping him as our pinacle man up front sees us with a great chance of having a wonderful season. sure bent is getting the goals and we need that but everytime berba gets the ball it is poetry.

I think the lads are playing really well considering many of them haven't had a chance to gel yet and Modric didn't even play!

I like the tempo, making the opposition work for the ball, patient build up, pulling Dortmunds defence out of position and exploiting the gaps with the youngsters' pace.

I disagree about Berba. I think he played well, got a knock early on and was worried about worsening it. Dortmund were clearly worried bout him and kicked him, along with Bale and Bentley all over the park. Berba played some fantastic passes and showed good vision. Come the day of the race, lining up against Boro, I believe he will give 100%. I even saw him wink and smile at JJ (I would be careful doing too much of that!)

The Octopus, also proved his nickname. His reach is phenomenal, commands the box and is an excellent shot stopper.

I think we need a centreback, Woody and Ledley are well known by every physio at the club and they will need quality cover.

All in all, I dont think many teams will look forward to playing us next season, even the top 4.

Reply to J:

Not pouring cold water and I'm a spurs fan.
Watch the a5ena1 in the emirates cup and our afternoon stroll in Holland.We need to step up to have any chance to break into top 4.
All the fitness training is not going to make Huddlestone any faster.The same old problems with the same old...

Berba IS sulking...and playing at a ridiculously slow tempo. Forget his nice touches, he lost the ball more than most today and simply is not up for the fight.

Re: BruceCastle.
Ho Ho Smith-Economist-Nice .Still Think We Need a JM Keynes DM as Zokopops was poo poo again .Saw ramos give him lots of training ground hugs and stuff - worrying to say the least .Off to pompey with him and get in Gattuso or the like , only then can we spare any thought of the top four !!
Nice one benty working hard and flowing with confidence and apparent fitness , a reflection of the rest of 'em bar the 2nd greatest Living Bulgarian Footballer ! Roll On Boro !COYS.

Berba's brain has left the building.

Alex come and get him, £30m please.

All the pre-season served a good purpose - the togetherness of the team - everybody seems to be enjoying it. We just need them to perform like today and friday against the lower teams of the division where we gave up points last season.
BUT where is Hutton and another experienced centre half - is there another woody out there?

LORD OF THE WING
do you know what the bhoys chant about gazza was?


can anyone dismiss this orrible rumour about forlan?

How many times can we say "FUCK OFF BERBATOV YOU MOODY TWAT"?

There. Spurs looked pretty fluid. Nice to see some new faces being given a chance - Adam Smith, for example.

Anyway we all know my feelings on Berba. I was congratulating myself for not maintaining my venomous streak during the past couple of months, but I just don't want to see him in a Spurs shirt anymore. Even if it is as a substitute.

Who would have thought it? Did Berba really come on as a sub so we could wrap Darren Bent in cotton wool? Love it and love the way we are playing. Even if it's the way we're playing in "two bob friendlies".

Dos Santos is our new hero. And it is soooo nice to see a guy smile so much. Quite the opposite of Dimitar, very refreshing indeed.

Reply to summerspur:

LORD OF THE WING
do you know what the bhoys chant about gazza was?


can anyone dismiss this orrible rumour about forlan?

The one that was heard last season -albeit very briefly- was "Gazza's a psycho" repeated over and over...

Mart- 'he who must not be named' said at the beginning of last season that he had asked Berba to try and score a goal before Christmas. When he scored 4 against Reading at the end of December he doubled his goal tally. Berba is not likely to contribute much until 2009 even if he stays. Mind I agree he is not sulking thats just the way he looks. However if Darren makes him spend a couple of months on the bench he might get really moody.

Great result and some good finishing by the young guys. Was happy to see Smith not only get some minutes on teh pitch, but also a good assist in the process.


What do you guys think about Bent wearing #10? With his current form, I certainly won't argue...

Reply to J:

Not pouring cold water and I'm a spurs fan.
Watch the a5ena1 in the emirates cup and our afternoon stroll in Holland.We need to step up to have any chance to break into top 4.
All the fitness training is not going to make Huddlestone any faster.The same old problems with the same old...

fuck off.

the same old problems? what the fuck are you talking about. We are purring like a kitten beating everyone put in front of us and playing superb football to boot.

just fuck off. you piss me off you boring little twatty whiner.

for a complete egowank like Berbatov the distinct and sudden lack of interest in him from his suitors and his current club must be hard to take.

Hero to unwanted zero. yesterdays papers. i feel for him. poor little mite.

Yeah couldtn agree more, not the hardest ame for us but then we didnt field our strongest team. Things are lookin good for us at the moment but htne saying that we cruised through last years friendlys and then it went tits up.
I can see Berbs stayin now not because he wants to or the board wants to keep him but due to the fact we cant find a replacement!!!

Roll on Boro... 3 points me thinks~!!

BIOYFC

Agreed with dos santos, lovely seeing a smiling face wearing a Tottenham shirt. HOPEFULLY, that will rub off on some of the other spurs boys, berba even, come on berba even you had a smile today. Team looking young, fresh, dynamic, show them that you can lead the line up front and drop deep when you have to, show them that class, that vision, that ability to get out of situations with 3 around you. At United you will just be another star, playing with an all star line up. At spurs you can be the pinacle, in those big games when it matters turn on the style and do something special that not many in the world could do. Senor Ramos is building a young , fresh talented team here, players with flair, poise, ability, get arshavin to cover that left side and we have 4 midfielders that can interchange, mazing, will have managers and defences bamboozled. Tell ya, we are amassing a serious team now at the lane. I was never a fan of jol, nice guy and all but never had the tactical Know how, never had the ability to inspire players and make them believe that they are champions. Ramos is doing that, and delivering the carling cup in that short space of time is impressive, especially as there are only 4 prizes you can win, and we had not done so in 9 years.

This gaffer of ours is serious, he is a fair man and again proved that today with young smith. Who is that? I asked when I saw him come on.

And surprise surprise, comes out of now where from right back, (a position we could have trouble with if hutton is out( recieves the ball and puts it on the plate for o hara.

I dont think this season we will break into the top 4, but I have a tiny bit of hope, that says if things click and after 6 games we are in contention it could happen. Berba if we are not in contention by Jan will leave then. Ramos might have said look if we are not up here in Jan you can go, at least give me a chance to show you. And Ramos commands respect, a man of his word.

Benty arguably earnt his detractors last season. Arguably only in that we didn't see too much of him and statistically he wasn't a disaster.

Okay, JGM's 'Armstrong 2.0' last season was so bloody funny Bent could have scored every game and some of us would have still been saying, "Still waiting for the £16 mill to really kick in."

So Bent has earnt his praise. Nine goals. Thank you, I grasped they weren't against PL top four sides, but he must be feeling it's back.

No coincidence that his ability to shoot to kill policy has rolled out just as we have loaded our midfield with invention and class.

J2S. What a find. Looks about 15, be amazed if he lands as few goals next term. And well said on the smile comment. I know it isn't compulsory, but what a great sight. Someone enjoying it.

Bentley is a find. Not only wants to be there but briming with what can only be descibed as daring do.

We have won a second tier trophy, sure. But the manner in which we did so is the gig.

Lost your kitten? Kite stuck in a tree? Girlfriend doesn't love you anymore?

DON'T call JGM on 1800 666 666




Couldn't agree more. We are playing sweet push and run - and finishing like a really expensive Swiss finishing school. That finishes expensively. Er..

hypothetical question.

If Bent wasnt a 16m turkey does that mean Comolli is doing a decent job?

Never been a comolli basher myself but many Spurs fans have lower opinion of him than Myra Hindley - it is beginging to seem to me his list of pretty fucking amazing signings are growing by the week.

Can anyone tell me what is actually wrong with Hutton? I've heard/read nothing, which is very unusual these days. He's obviously injured, but what is it? Berbatov - silky but sulky vs Borussia. We need that matter settled one way or the other ASAP. My choice to replace him would be Huntelaar. We must find a holding midfielder (Albelda?) and a reliable centre-back (don't know) before the start of the season. Otherwise it's all very encouraging, esp if the remaining dipsticks (K-P B, RR, YPL, YK) all leave. But am I right in thinking we STILL haven't signed a left-sided midfielder? Bizarre.

Reply to Russell Hope:

Can anyone tell me what is actually wrong with Hutton? I've heard/read nothing, which is very unusual these days. He's obviously injured, but what is it? Berbatov - silky but sulky vs Borussia. We need that matter settled one way or the other ASAP. My choice to replace him would be Huntelaar. We...

Your right no natural left winger BUT!

We have signed Bently and Gio.

Gio can play left wing and with Bently in the team Lennon will be playing mostly on the left wing again.