Yep, we lost. No, we didn't deserve to Yep, the ref was ****. I hate to break it to a few of you but it won't be the last time it happens. At least our house is in order. We play decent football, and we win most of the time (recently). Sod Stoke. If their fans continue to pay to watch ****e then so be it, not our problem. No point having a go at their fans, of course they're happy they've won. A few years ago, after a bad start we played Liverpool. We got completely played off the park for 80mins and were 1-0 down. Then we scored 2 late goals to take a completely undeserved victory. Did i celebrate? You bet i did, despite the fact it was undeserved and a poor performance. Hopefully the team will learn from this. We are a SCALP now. We need to learn how to beat teams that set up to frustrate us and get points at any cost. We won't challenge for the title until we can. The "traditional" sky 4 are well drilled at this and City have bought enough experienced players to be good at it too. The title race is not over yet. If we are out of it then so are United (only 2pts ahead if we win game in hand). If they are out of it then what is the point in playing the rest of the fixtures? Lets man-up and move on
my only issue is and was with the referee...it is not about finding a scapegoat etc etc. not botherd about their fans...we all have banter and rub things in etc given half the chance. my concern is the way the referee was totally inept in doing his job,what he is paid to do...to make inpartial decisions...no doubt you watched the match and that performance was disgraceful even for sunday park football..it is not as though he made a bad decision,the one,and we cant get over it...he was for me totally a Homer,hence my article regarding this yesterday straight after the match..... played 12 won 10,drawn 1,lost1....im well happy about that....but that ref was appauling..its an observation. no doubt we will move on and upwards as you say
If you'd offered me, at the start of the season, 31 points after 14 games, sitting in 3rd place with a game in hand on those around us (except Chelsea and City atm) and playing good football I'd have taken that everyday of the week and I think the rest of the Spurs fans on here would've, especially after our first 2 games. As you said in the OP, spurfectionist, the real test now is reacting to yesterday - manning up and preparing properly for Sunderland.
Good point Luke. I think out reaction to being 2 down showed that in the future we have the ability to get results in similar fixtures. Skill wise I think we are up there but mentally we are still fairly novice in the art of title chasing. If they learn from it then great, if not then we can't challenge.
What can you do! move on and look forward to the next game. One thing! The time Stoke take over throw ins should be looked at, the rules include time wasting, they need to be used. Every throw in takes as long as a corner.
What about the towel material that Shotton had up his shirt (MotD reckoned it was sewn onto the inside of his shirt) - I wonder if that breaks any rules regarding football kits (honestly don't know) But yes - the time it takes it ridiculous - I said yesterday: A keeper who time-wastes in the 90+2 minute gets a booking, the Stoke thrower does it constantly all match and doesn't...
I wouldn't have thought that it breaks any rules. Quite inventive really, though probably not in the spirit of the rules, if the towels were removed for the same reason. The thing that made me laugh was that Shotton took ages over about 10 different throw-ins and Foy ended up booking Wilson as soon as he took one! Truly clueless.
What about the towel material that Shotton had up his shirt (MotD reckoned it was sewn onto the inside of his shirt) - I wonder if that breaks any rules regarding football kits (honestly don't know) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Its an unfair advantage end of. Why should he have a dry/drier ball to throw? Bale and Walker have decent throws on them, but not in those conditions. Thats out of order imo. I've siad this elsewhere, we did enough to win the game, but the decisions conspired against us. The match was no different to Fulham, W.Brom etc, in that we were under the cosh for a fair part, but came out on top with some quality. In this game we scored (disallowed) and had efforts illegally blocked, this won't be happening every week. We've all had a good gloat at other teams refereeing nightmares, and now its our turn, at least its done and out of the way.
Presumably there's no rule to stop anyone doing it, so it's a level playing field, Notso. Stoke can't be blamed for everyone else not doing it. I'd like to know why our pitches can be smaller than those used for European football, though. Probably to do with Arsenal's illegally small pitch, prior to their move to the Emirates.
Can't say I know for certain PNP without asking someone in the know, I'll let you know...when I know...know what I mean! We only have to adhere to FA rules, I looked at this a while ago, and there is no size, there's a quite ridiculous range that the length and width can be. Looks like an old rule made to accomodate all the random sized older pitches.
Not in the PL you can't - regulations say the pitch has to be between 100 and 110m long and 64 and 75m wide. But in Europe they have to be exactly 105m long and 68m wide. That's pretty much the size used by most clubs - some have shorter pitches but get away with it due to their smaller grounds. I think Stoke are the only ones who have to change their pitch size cos they have their pitch as small as you can in the PL, but no good reason to keep it that small in the EL. Btw, guess you guys are still smarting at the injustice, but maybe this will brighten your day a wee bit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/dec/12/chris-hoy-not-chris-foy-spurs
So, if we had beaten Stoke and Man City had beaten Chelsea would we have still been in the title race? If yes, then we are still in it. The only difference is that Chelsea are back in it too
I've said, on more than one occasion, that Harry should go 3-5-2 against inferior teams, using the pace of of both Walker and Bale as wing-backs. That he reverted to that formation for the second half of the match against Stoke and used it to pummel Stoke, gives me great hope that Harry has complete tactical control over a passing-side that has the technical ability to play any number of formations. That is a game that we should have won, and would have won but for the gross incompetence of the ref and his assistants. We needed to keep possession and restrict Stoke's long-ball opportunities, during that second half, and we did. There is everything to be optimistic for, in the future. As for Stoke, their one-trick pony tactic will keep them in the EPL for a period of time, but ultimately they will be undone by their lack of ability to adapt, and they will be relegated back to obscurity.
Eh? Hasn't Delap worn a towelling contraption beneath his shirt before? He has, I'm sure. Can't see any substance in that Mail story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...toke-facing-probe-use-towels-v-Tottenham.html
