Bonnet De Douche season preview.

5th July 2010 – Interview with Goal.com by Bonnet De Douche

The target must be...
Not to go backwards. This is not meant to be negative but Spurs need another top four/70+ point a season to put a floor under Spurs progress over the last few years even if it may seem running to stand still. This will allow both friend and foe to accept Spurs as an established and worthy member of the Premiership Elite. Over the summer, we have never been far from snide comparison with Everton and their implosion after breaking into the top four a few years back and avoiding this with a similar haul of league points and a creditable run in the Champions League will represent another high water mark in Spurs first golden age since the 80s.

My thoughts on the gaffer...

Redknapp Snr has been a revelation. Starting with a team in disarray at the bottom of the league, he averages a very healthy 1.75 points per game which is head, shoulders and navel above his EPL contemporaries and has achieved this by playing positive football. While Redknapp’s years of managerial experience and good footballing sense have been important, the key issue was that he was the first manager for a generation to work without the hindrance of a director of football looking over his shoulder. As soon as this dead hand was released, Spurs started to rise and fulfil the potential of the hitherto sleeping giant.

Our key man for the season..

All of them. Where once Spurs have been characterised by individuals, New Spurs is all about the team or more accurately the squad. Established stars provided the basis for the good season but some of the most important moments of last season were produced by players previously out in the cold such as Bale, Bentley and Pavlyuchenko, and even the much maligned Kaboul did a great job towards the end of the season.

Youngster to watch...
Relying on the Youth set up which has not produced a striker who has scored more than five goals for the first team since Falco and Gibson in the late 70s is usually a waste of time at Spurs. A few decent defenders have emerged but both managers and fans seem not to trust home grown players in at the business end. That said, it will be fascinating to see how Danny Rose copes with expectations after his wonder goal against Arsenal, Andros Townsend seems a good lad and looking further into the academy, hopefully Frederick Champion has a prophetic name.

A player who must deliver..

One of the few disappointing stories of last season was the decline of Jermaine Jenas, a former stalwart of the mini revival under Jol. To a lesser degree, I think Peter Crouch will need to show a lot more in a Spurs shirt this season a year into the job. If the question is angling towards who has greatest distance between transfer fee and ability, step forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, David Bentley and the re-signed Robbie Keane all of whom look well short of £15m players

Our achilles heel...
Depth of squad. Spurs have an excellent first team but as last season exposed, injuries and suspensions in some areas do not have adequate replacements. At least relative to our other champions league rivals. As Spurs grow into an established member of the Premiership elite, another area which Spurs may find increasingly tricky is trying to break down well organised defences of teams trying not to be beaten


Fixture I am looking forward to the most

The way Sky hype each week of the EPL, it seems that every week is the most important fixture in the clubs history… until the next one. All games come pretty much alike now in the EPL, however, this season Spurs do genuinely have a stand out fixture in the form of the Champions League qualifier. Hopefully the second most important fixture of the season will not be a UEFA cup or whatever its called now.

Our toughest opponents will be..

Ourselves. To achieve success you need the ability but to maintain it you need the mentality. Spurs never dropped below 6th place last season but the sense of crisis which followed a run of two draws and a defeat to Wolves, one of only two instances that Spurs went more than 2 games without a win, was symptomatic of the fragile confidence under the surface of many fans. Hopefully the fourth place finish will have done something to cement the belief both on and off the pitch. Spurs have got the players to do well again but the manager and his staff most important role will be sustaining motivation and re-enforcing belief, especially during dips in form. Aside from this, the stats show that Spurs have just two wins (both in 1993) from 72 matches away against the Sky4 sides since the start of the Premiership and last seasons return of 0-3, 0-3, 1-3 and 0-2 is a 12 point handicap that needs work.

Player we love to hate (opposition or in your club)

Hate is such a negative emotion for something a hobby which all too often is taken far too seriously, but aside from the occasional Michael Dawson, its pretty easy to dislike virtually everyone involved in football. From ‘star’ players detached from reality, journeymen players who are more athlete than artisan and move from club to club without any feeling for their location, the culture of cheating which links both star and journeyman, snide agents, bent refs, club executives squeezing the last pips of fans under the blackmail of loyalty and the way the game is marketed as something more important than a weekend recreation.

My verdict...(where do you think you will finish in May 2011/silverware etc)

In the October of the eighth year of the 1950s, Spurs replaced the manager of a side struggling in the league and the new man managed to keep Spurs in the top division while upgrading the squad. The next season saw progression to the top four, which was sustained to deliver a league and cup double the following year.
In the October of the eighth year of the 2000s, Spurs replaced the manager of a side struggling in the league and the new man managed to keep Spurs in the top division while upgrading the squad. The next season saw progression to the top four….
It would be wonderful to think Redknapp Snr could continue to follow in the footsteps of the great Sir Bill but another 70-75 points, good runs in the domestic cups and a good showing in the Champions League into the new year would be another reason to sing ‘its lucky for Spurs when the year ends in one’!

My verdict...(where do you think you will finish in May 2011/silverware etc)

In the October of the eighth year of the 1950s, Spurs replaced the manager of a side struggling in the league and the new man managed to keep Spurs in the top division while upgrading the squad. The next season saw progression to the top four, which was sustained to deliver a league and cup double the following year.
In the October of the eighth year of the 2000s, Spurs replaced the manager of a side struggling in the league and the new man managed to keep Spurs in the top division while upgrading the squad. The next season saw progression to the top four….
It would be wonderful to think Redknapp Snr could continue to follow in the footsteps of the great Sir Bill but another 70-75 points, good runs in the domestic cups and a good showing in the Champions League into the new year would be another reason to sing ‘its lucky for Spurs when the year ends in one’!


I keep saying it Max, the planets are aligning! The comparisons, the symmetry of everything between the Bill Nick side and the Redknapp one is becoming more and more apparent.


It's Kismet mate ......................... Bring on the Glory.

And there was me thinking Kismet was a Jewish Musical ! Tis true my beauties. The coincidences and historical mish mash are being seen in the tea-leaf's (and I don't mean Scousers !) Anyway it's got to be this season, as according to some, the Mayan calender states the world will end in 2012 so if we hold the trophies we keep them for etenity. It's true I tells ya, true hahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahhahahahahahahhahahahahahhaha . . . .. . .

Vis. We're doomed, doomed I tell ya.