The Club can confirm that the appeal against Robbie Keane's red card for
serious foul play has been rejected.
Robbie will now serve a three-match
domestic suspension as a result of his dismissal in our Premier League fixture
against Birmingham City on Sunday.
It turned out to be an afternoon of conflicting emotions for Robbie Keane at the
Lane, his two goals against Birmingham turning the contest on its head before a
red card cut short his contribution and the visitors went on to grab the
initiative and snatch a late winner.
Keane struck twice - once
from the spot - to overturn a first half deficit and it appeared that three
points would be making a happy deposit in our account. However, Birmingham
struck again out of the Blue and then the skipper was given his marching orders
following a decision that is likely to be debated for a little while yet.
Sebastian Larsson had the last and dramatic say in the encounter.Younes Kaboul
and Darren Bent were restored to the side in place of Lee Young-Pyo and the
injured Jermaine Jenas. It was certainly an attacking hand played by Juande
Ramos, with Keane and Steed Malbranque occupying a central midfield anchored by
Didier Zokora. Dimitar Berbatov was first to cause concern to the Birmingham
bench of newly appointed manager Alex McLeish and his assistant Jim Aitken when
he seized on defensive uncertainty and worked Maik Taylor for the first time of
the afternoon. Keane should then have worked him further after Bent slotted him
through on goal, but his effort was slashed high and wide. It was a lively
affair though under lights in the late afternoon winter darkness and drizzling
rain. You knew we are now well into the winter programme when news of the FA Cup
Third Round draw filtered through - Reading to visit the Lane in early January.
There was a blast from the past working with a Belgian TV crew on the Press Box,
one Nico Clausen, no doubt gathering preview material for our UEFA Cup clash
with Anderlecht on Thursday. Watch this space for Nico's thoughts. Berbatov and
Keane combined to create half a chance through the Bulgarian's header before the
same player dispatched a superb cutting throughball for Bent to pounce on. Bent
went for it first time and the legs of Taylor were enough to divert wide.
Completely against the run of play, Gary McSheffrey darted into the area and
Kaboul came across to deal, but ended up making more contact with the man than
the ball and referee Mr Dowd instantly pointed to the spot. McSheffrey did the
honours himself and drove down the middle to make it 1-0 to Birmingham on 23
minutes. The pressure continued to head in one direction only, with Lennon
posing the biggest threat, but Taylor really had to be at his best to keep out a
Gareth Bale free-kick that was arrowing into the top corner in the 36th minute.
There was some resolute defending in front of goal by the visitors, who managed
to slide in and apply a block to just about every low cross in the first period.
Like on Thursday it was the whistle for the beginning of the second half that
provided the spark. Zokora sped forward and linked up with Berbatov, who was
felled in the area by Johan Djourou. Again Mr Dowd showed no hesitation in
pointing spot-wards. Despite a delay due to Pascal Chimbonda receiving
treatment, Keane stayed cool and hit his penalty high into the net. There were
changes again at the resumption of play after the interval, Tom Huddlestone
being drafted in along with Jermain Defoe in place of Kaboul and Bent. The
introduction of Huddlestone once more paid dividends when a delicious chip into
the area was gobbled up by Keane, who hit his shot downwards and the bounce of
the ball beat Taylor and it was 2-1 with 53 minutes on the clock. It should then
have been three when Berbatov hit the post rather than the back of the net after
a stray defensive header fell to him in front of goal. The crowd of 35,635, bar
700 in the top corner, were stunned into silence just after the hour when
Cameron Jerome ventured forward and escaped Zokora before pinging in a low shot
between two defenders and beyond the reach of Paul Robinson's outstretched left
hand to make it an unlikely 2-2. Berbatov peeled away to connect with a Bale
corner a few minutes later and it took Stephen Kelly to chest away off the line.
There was a twist in the tale on 67 minutes when Keane challenged Fabrice Muamba
and Mr Dowd showed the skipper a red card. Replays showed there was contact, but
no way did it look a sending off offence and Keane looked suitably bemused as he
was leaving the field. Bale then had to be withdrawn following a hefty challenge
from Muamba and, with Lee now on the pitch, it was a case of seeing whether the
ten men could net the three points. It was Birmingham who next came closest to
winning the day with two minutes left on the clock when Mikael Forssell grazed
the bar from all of a few yards out when he connected with a low Olivier Kapo
delivery. Kapo went on to test Robinson with a fierce drive before, in stoppage
time, Larsson picked up the ball some thirty yards out and fizzed the ball past
Robinson and into the top corner.
If you needed a game to sum up
the term 'smash and grab' then this was it.
It didn't quite go according to the preferred script, but a second win of the
UEFA Cup Group Stage was recorded by beating Aalborg 3-2 on Thursday
night.
It really wasn't going to plan at half-time when the team trooped in
two goals down and a little shell-shocked before a couple of changes at the
break galvanised affairs and we were back level six minutes into the second
period. The party was then over for Aalborg and their vocal band of followers.
There was one change to the side that began proceedings at West Ham on Sunday -
Lee Young-Pyo drafted in for the injured Younes Kaboul, with Pascal Chimbonda
making the switch to central defence. With under two minutes on the clock a tale
of the unexpected unfolded when Thomas Enevoldsen scambered forward towards the
18 yard line and then tried his luck from outside the area and the flight of his
shot beat Paul Robinson and 1,300 Danes started an unlikely celebration. Their
side responded by maintaining the momentum and zipping the ball about with
considerable conviction. It wasn't until the 14th minute and a brilliant darting
run from Jermaine Jenas that a threat from our attacking sorties emerged.
Aalborg claimed a penalty midway through the half when Rade Prica went down in a
tumble with Lee, but the claim was dubious and replays showed the forward to be
offside anyway. Pressure was being applied in the direction of the Park Lane
end, but goalkeeper Karim Zaza was not being tested as moves broke down at the
final ball. Punishment for this was dished out in the 37th minute when a low
cross cum shot from Prica was bundled into the back of the net by Kasper
Risgard, despite the attentions of two defenders. It was time to regroup and
make a battle of this tie. Jenas was just beaten to the ball by Zaza after being
cleverly set through on goal by Robbie Keane before a Gareth Bale free-kick
caused a degree of panic in the visiting defences. Juande Ramos reacted to the
deficit at half-time by replacing Jenas with Tom Huddlestone and Lee with Darren
Bent. The change paid almost instant dividends when a low Huddlestone ball
literally dissected the defence, allowing Berbatov to steer past Zaza and half
the Aalborg advantage. Huddlestone set the ball rolling again in the 51st minute
when he picked out Lennon who in turn sent Berbatov gliding away down the right
flank. Berbatov centred and Bent was denied by a brave block from Zaza, with the
ball running loose and for Keane to tee up Steed Malbranque to drive high into
the net to make it level pegging. A cranking up of the pressure followed with no
further reward before Enevoldsen wa about a foot away from netting a second from
a similar distance as his first just after the hour mark. On 66 minutes the lead
taken after a Bale free-kick was parried away by Zaza and Lennon was quickest to
react by drilling back across goal. Bent was on hand to tap home at the far post
and from two goals down, an advantage was created. A fourth was sought in front
of a gate of 29,758, with varying degrees of closeness, the best being Lennon's
that forced a superb stop from Zaza in injury time, then Malbranque scooping
wide at the death - until the whistle sounded on a night of
contrasts. Something along the lines of that old saying about two halves...
The Chairman's address to the EGM at White Hart Lane at 2pm this afternoon,
Monday November 26.
Before we start on the official business I should like to
say a few words to the meeting.
We have much to be optimistic about going
forward and that is what I wish to concentrate on today. We have made changes
recently in order to strengthen our position in several areas. This is a dynamic
business and as such we have to constantly respond to changing circumstances,
some within, but many outside, of our control.
As a result, these last three
months have been testing times for us all. Both the Club and I personally have
endured much criticism. We have absorbed much blame – very little of which was
justified with facts. But we elected not to respond and rather to hold our
counsel. We took the clear decision that we would not discuss private matters in
public and we did this in the long-term interests of the Club and all parties
involved.
I should now like to take this opportunity to once again thank
Martin Jol, Chris Hughton and Hans Segers and wish them well in their future
careers.
We have a new and respected coaching team and I look forward to
introducing Juande to you after the formal proceedings today and for you to hear
his thoughts on the remainder of the season.
The performance of the business
means that we retain the ability to invest and, in respect of players on long
contracts, we have no need to sell. It is noteworthy that all key players are on
long-term contracts with the exception of Jermain Defoe, who has expressed
publicly that he wants to remain at the club and I put it on record that we want
him to stay.
I should also like to correct newspaper reports that have
existed, despite my denials, that ENIC has agreed to sell its shareholding in
the Club. For nearly 7 years we have, I believe, moved this Club forward, but
have had to endure constant speculation from those who would seek to detract
from what we are achieving. For the record yet again, no offer has been made for
the Club during my time here, not even by Roman Abramovich as was so incorrectly
reported.
This year sees us report record financial results. TV, sponsorship,
retail, ticket and corporate hospitality revenues have all contributed to an
increase of 39% in turnover and good management of the business has seen profits
rise to 31% of turnover. We have continued to upgrade the Ticket Office and this
has now been relocated to Paxton Road. Service levels are critical in this area
of the business and it is important that we continuously evaluate and raise
standards of delivery. We have centralised customer service and this has been
well received – we shall, however, continue to seek further
improvements.
Investment and work on valuable community-based projects
through the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation continues to go from strength to
strength. In conjunction with our application for the Training Centre at Bulls
Cross is a commitment to deliver a 10 year outreach programme within the local
community worth in excess of £2.3m.
We currently have a minimum of one player
per week attending a community event in areas local to the club and our
facilities. It is a tremendous commitment not only by your club, but also by the
First Team and Academy players who derive a genuine benefit and enjoyment from
this aspect of their footballing lives. It is also a much valued and appreciated
service to the communities.
Earlier this month we also launched our Spurs
Learning Zone – a dedicated state of the art facility located here at the
stadium, that will host daily classes of up to 30 local children, providing them
with access to cutting edge information, communication, podcasting and digital
editing technologies - a resource much welcomed by our local council.
Not
only as a football club, but as a business in general, the level, quality and
effect of our contribution to communities and good causes, is outstanding and
sets us apart. We should recognise this and be rightly proud.
Looking to our
capital expenditure projects - In respect of the stadium I can report, as
promised in January, that we have refined our options. At this stage, as I am
sure you will understand, it would be commercially inappropriate to discuss
these in further detail. To date, Matthew Collecott and I have directed the
project and we are making substantial progress. Last week we added to our
project team with the appointment of Paul Phillips, who will be the project
manager on a day-to-day basis. Paul has a proven track record in delivering
complex stadium solutions and was the project leader on the Emirates
Stadium.
We should all be conscious of the fact that we face significant
hurdles and disadvantages in our search for an optimum solution to increased
capacity. For example, with our current location, we do not have inherent land
values in Tottenham that could drive enabling development and regeneration.
Additionally, the Olympics is taking significant public funds out of the public
purse which could assist with any major schemes. There is no easy option for us
but we are determined to find a solution. We shall announce our preferred option
in the first half of 2008.
Please be assured that your Board is applying the
same vigour and determination towards achieving a successful outcome on this
capital project as we did for the Training facility and I am pleased to be able
to report good news on that now.
We achieved a terrific step forward with
future plans when earlier this month Enfield Council Planning Committee voted to
grant planning permission for our Football Training Centre – a combined First
Team and Academy facility - at Bulls Cross, Enfield. We were absolutely
delighted with this outcome, the culmination of years of hard work and
determination by a dedicated in house team and external consultants. The
application will now pass to the Mayor of London and the Government Office for
London for final approval.I shall now ask James Budd of architects KSS to
make a brief presentation on an overview of the scheme.
Thank you
James.
As you can see it is an outstanding facility – the creation of a world
class First Team and Academy training facility set on over 60 acres and we have
now achieved an important first step towards realising this vital project for
the Club. It will be instrumental in attracting the best young talent and afford
our current squad state of the art facilities in which to train over the
season.
Our Academy is already home to some of the most outstanding young
talent in the country. When much has been said about the need to nurture young
home grown English talent, you can be proud that your Club boasts no fewer than
8 academy players in the England youth teams. Additional to this are a further 8
players who represent their countries at youth international level. The Club now
has a total of 34 international players and 7 full England internationals.
We
shall keep you informed as we progress the Training Centre project – our current
timetable aims for completion in the summer of 2010 but I would stress once
again that there are still further stages to be passed in the next few months
and we should also expect opposition to continue. I would ask that you continue
to give it your support as we progress through those stages.
In closing, I
should like to thank everyone at the Club for their contribution to last
season's success and to the Club's supporters for their magnificent support.
This year we celebrated our 125th Anniversary – a notable landmark for a great
football club – but equally important that we now look ahead with confidence and
ensure that glory is not a term used only to recall events from the past. We
have much happening now that will impact greatly on our future.
Thank you
Gus Poyet was left in no doubt that we deserved to win Sunday's derby at West
Ham.
After a bright start, West Ham capitalised on a mistake by Younes Kaboul
to take the lead but a change of formation 10 minutes into the second half
(three at the back, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon as wing-backs) saw us take
control and equalise when Michael Dawson headed home Jermaine Jenas'
free-kick.
Both teams had opportunities in a frantic final few minutes.
Paul Robinson saved well from Scott Parker and Carlton Cole and we had a golden
chance to win it in injury time when Jermain Defoe was fouled by Lucas Neill and
took the penalty himself, Robert Green saving well.
"We're disappointed
because we didn't win, we wanted to win from the outset," reflected first team
coach Gus, back at the Lodge and preparing for Aalborg in the UEFA Cup.
"We
thought we were doing alright until we made a mistake and that mistake made us a
little nervous for 10 minutes or so, then came the big penalty decision at the
end of the first half.
"We had a good meeting at half-time, the lads reacted
well and knew we would change it within a few minutes if we hadn't come back.
From the moment we went with the different shape we were in control, in fact, we
looked like the home team.
"At the end, because of the penalty, there was a
little sadness because we'd done everything to win.
"Now we have to win our
next game and that starts in the UEFA Cup, then Birmingham in the Premier
League."
Jermaine Jenas marked a new arrival with a return to his goalscoring habit
against Wigan Athletic on Sunday afternoon.
The speedy midfielder netted two
first half goals, added to by Aaron Lennon before the break and Darren Bent
afterwards as three Premiership points were banked for the first time since the
visit of Derby County to this arena back in August. Lennon's curling shot after
a Keane-Berbatov combination just failed to result in a shooting chance in the
opening stages, before a period of slick interchange had the Wigan defence
marking shadows and only a couple of fortunate deflections prevented likely
profit. It took until only the 13th minute for the deadlock to be broken and it
was Keane who brilliantly skipped past Andreas Granqvist on the left before
dispatching a low centre that evaded Chris Kirkland and was prodded home by
Jenas. Cue the baby rocking celebration, since the goalscorer last week became
father to a baby girl. A long ball from Michael Dawson was then nodded into the
path of Keane by Berbatov, but the leading scorer has not quite found his range
at that point. Dawson was later not too far wide with a big flick on from a
Jenas corner. JJ doubled the advantage with the clock showing 25 minutes.
Berbatov superb threaded throughball was left by the offside Keane and the
midfielder sped onto the pass, rounded Kirkland and applied a finishing touch in
front of goal. It was goal No.3 of the season for the athletic middleman.
Fatherhood clearly suits. Berbatov was the class act of the half and none more
so then when he plucked Paul Robinson's long clearance out of the air in the
Wigan area and calmly laid the ball back into the path of Lennon. Not known for
trying his luck from distance, the winger took a touch before steering firmly
past Kirkland from around 20 yards. The spark was well and truly back in the
side, they were hunting in packs, defending in numbers, while the football was
slick and efficient. Wigan, by contrast, looked all at sea. Just before the
break Jenas should have completed his hat-trick. Brilliant approach play from
Berbatov and Lennon set him off and running into the area before beating a
couple of defenders and looking like the easy bit was to come. The net did
rattle, but it was the side netting. It remained one-way traffic at the
beginning of the second half, one which saw an early entry for Teemu Tainio as a
replacement for the injured Malbranque. Wigan attempted to rally but were being
consistently picked off by the poise of Berbatov, the pace of Lennon and the
waspish attentions of Keane. To try and address the balance, caretaker boss
Frank Barlow introduced the tenacious Michael Brown. Jenas then thought he had
his third with a superb lift over Kirkland from Keane's supply line, but was
offside along with Berbatov. Shortly after the applause were huge when Keane
made was for Darren Bent. Lennon forced Kirkland into a stooping low save after
a darting run, but we didn't have to wait too much longer for the score to be
added to. Berbatov again was in creative mode, picking out the run of Jenas who,
in turn, located Bent on the run. The sub took the ball to the right of the area
before firing across Kirkland and in off the post. Bent later went for power and
was too far adrift when Berbatov once more set up a chance. It was that sort of
afternoon, you even suspected Didier Zokora might just get in on the scoring act
and he nearly did - his surging run and shot forcing a fine save out of
Kirkland. Berbatov next hit the underside of the bar and Younes Kaboul did
likewise with the follow-up in a game that saw confidence restored to the
mindset of seemingly each and every player.
