It’s something a little bit different this weekend for Tottenham Hotspur, as we put the Premier League aside and go into what will be an incredibly tough battle with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in the EFL Cup Final.
Results and form of late has been mixed and we’ve seen the departure of former manager Jose Mourinho as a result of that (or the Super League nonsense?), but plenty would argue that we’ve seen an almost immediate reaction from the side to the appointment of caretaker boss Ryan Mason, as we turned our habit of losing points late on around with a 90th minute winner against Southampton in midweek. Few however, wouldn’t say our performance should’ve been far improved.
Victory was certainly much needed given how the week started and the confidence boost everyone has taken from that is the perfect preparation for Pep Guardiola’s side on Sunday afternoon, but nobody will be under any illusions as to how difficult this tie will be.
It is a chance for silverware though, so the players will definitely be up for this one and Cup games especially are definitely a ‘funny old game’ as one legend used to say.
The biggest question that remains for fans is will Harry Kane be passed fit for this one, as if he returns our chances of a result dramatically increase. Mason could also welcome Matt Doherty back aswell, but Ben Davies will need longer.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that I was going into tomorrow’s match ambivalent. Of course I wanted Spurs to win and I cannot imagine not wanting that. But I feared that winning any cup might be enough for Mourinho to stay, and that I would have found intolerable. Now that possibility has been removed and I will go into the morrow with no ambivalence. COYS. Kick some behinds with those Spurs. Let the cockerel do his banty thing.
Can we be considered favorites? Of course not. But no one though Cassius Clay could survive against Sonny Liston in Miami and he not only survived but thrived for the next few decades while Liston gave up on live after Miami and Lewiston. Lewiston? Look it up.
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We can win on the morrow and have a far better chance now than we would have if the lads went on the pitch filled with fear and misery. More important than winning: Make Us Proud. Play with pride. Play free from fear. Play the Tottenham Spurs way.
Up the Spurs and stick it up theirs, as they say. Let the cockerel awaken the dawn with coo coo caroo. The birds are waiting in the roost for a winner to return. Fertilize those eggs, mates. I have a flock of chickens and three roosters in Brazil. Free range is best. Shake of the shackles, run free and play.
Running free when there’s a fox about is more likely to result in a bloodbath for cockerels, particularly when the light blue predator is much more vicious than the darker blue Foxes.
Niall, another reason for playing Bale is simply his reputation. This will occupy a couple of City players at least and make a little easier to contain the rest. I used to think that was Dembele’s great strength in drawing players to him.
HT, I wasn’t even going to watch as the lack of anything embodying the Spurs ethos was making me miserable and not nice to be around. I might need a stiff drink first though.
Sorry TK not HT.
Kavanagh should never be allowed to referee another game at any level including schoolboy.
LT….are you thinking of the red card for Balbuena? Same as one the other week where the player played the ball but caught the opposition challenger on the follow through, there was nothing he could do other than not challenge for the ball which he was entitled to do. VAR is still ruining the game.
100%LT now yer suckin Diesel. 😉
Yes TQ, absolute disgrace. Have these guys never played the game. Coleman said it, never once thought about a follow through when kicking a ball.
LT….I had to laugh at the pundits and Lineker on MOTD, they said the incident today wasn’t even a foul never mind a red card, the incident a couple of weeks ago which was basically the same they all said on the same program it was definitely a red card. And they complain about referees being inconsistent!
Suckin diesel Niall? That’s a new one, so it is. Been away too long 👍
Suckin diesel = finally got it working. like fixing a diesal engine and finally go it working. is that it? am I finally suckin diesel on the slang front? if not, I’m total keet.
we skipped out on the super league. now we’re suckin diesel.
If Wigan can beat City in a final why not spurs. Sadly the weak mentality we have since poch, we will just mess it up for ourselves.
Perhaps this is just the match team needs to toughen up that weak mentality, 123S. Perhaps getting out from under the boot is what it will take to change the mentality from the weak, past the indifferent, to the strengthened, Now the boot has been booted. Being de-booted, the team need not hold back. COYS. The shackles and the boot have been removed. Show Ryan Mason that you’re fearless.
An alternative take on the situation: What have we got to lose? Go for it in a cockerel stylee. Play sharp. Play a sharp cut above. Rule the roost.
I couldn’t hear the TV so I had to CUP my ears.
Then I had a nice CUP of coffee.
I got the coffee from the CUPboard.
Now I hope to see Hugo lifting up a trophy CUP.
After Harry has scored a CUP full of goals.
It must be CUP day!
SORRY!!
Yer starting to lose it Geof :-), but I hope all your cup references lead to something for us today.
TK yer getting there m8, with all these new, sayings the Americans won’t understand you 😉
There are a lot of punters writing us off today, that’s good (IMO), they think that only with Mourinho in charge we even had a fighting chance, for me there are several reasons why they’re wrong.
We were stopping playing under Mourinho.
We are now a different set up which may give us a boost.
City have too many irons in the fire.
That’s not to say City aren’t a top team, they are, but we can and have beaten them already this season. I think we can do it COYS.
ND …. I lost it so long ago I can’t even remember what it was, mate!
Yes, we did beat City before Niall – under Mourinho . And that different set up against the worst performing team this year, only produced a win from a pen in extra time, which was down to an Aurier-like reckless tackle and VAR.
That’s not to say I won’t be rooting for a Spurs win today.
Cock-A-Doodle-Dare!
In N17, where the Roosters rule
We cock a snook at you, Jose
You Cockamamie fool
We cock a snook at you, Jose
Where the roosters rule.
And
Tottenham is where
We cock-a-doodle-dare
Oh Tottenham is where
We cock-a-doodle-do
And we’ll cock a snook at you, Jose
We’ll cock a snook at you
And we won’t cock it up
In the Carabao Cup
No we won’t cock-up
In the Carabao Cup
But we’ll cock a snook at you, Jose
We’ll cock a snook at you
And
We’ll be the kings of the Wembley coop
All smiles and cock-a-hoop
When we swoop, swoop, swoop
To lift aloft the cup
To Lift The League Cup, Up!
And…
Up Up Up
The Super Spurs!
Up Up Up
The Super Spurs!
Cock-A-Doodle-Doooooo!
Nice one, HT
Indeed, a very fine effort HT :- )
HT….a ditto of Geofspurs there, a great lead into todays BIG game for us.
It is not a must! win but a will! win, well hopefully lol!
Give it your best lads, no fear, battle and hit em where it hurts.
Come On You Spurs….for yourselves and for us your ever loving fans. COYS again.
Cheers guys!
Happy Cup Day to you all, my fellow Cockerels!
And now, after all that wordy effort, we had better bloody win it!
Tottenham all the way today, our WSL match v United is on the Beeb KO 12.30pm.