Eight points down to five...Tick Tott Tick Tott

[London's Only EC Winners]

This myth that Spurs were ever in a title race has to end

They were for three days until they drew at home to Wolves and lost to City reserves.

When is the DVD out of Spurs' legendary 2011 title challenge?

[Moorpheus19]

This myth that Spurs were ever in a title race has to end

Unlike a fair few Spurs fans/those in the media, I could never realistically sit back and say 'after all 38 games have been played do I see us sitting top of the league and therefore winning the title.'

However, if you want to concentrate on the present (which is what the media like doing) then sure we were in the title race - before the last 2 games (City & Wolves), we were a few points off the top and playing decent enough, whilst City & United were going through a bad patch (City's loss to Sunderland and United's loss to Blackburn were the feature games here).

But, the league isn't 20 games long or whatever - it's 38 and, as I said, I couldn't ever see both our form and United/City's lack of form continuing.

They were for three days until they drew at home to Wolves and lost to City reserves.

I'm also curious as to what you consider City's first XI? The team that Chelsea beat?

[District Line]

They were for three days until they drew at home to Wolves and lost to City reserves.

When is the DVD out of Spurs' legendary 2011 title challenge?

Probably the same date as the "Above Chelsea and Arsenal for Christmas" DVD

[London's Only EC Winners]

Probably the same date as the "Above Chelsea and Arsenal for Christmas" DVD

LOL

[London's Only EC Winners]

Probably the same date as the "Above Chelsea and Arsenal for Christmas" DVD

LOL

[District Line]

Unlike a fair few Spurs fans/those in the media, I could never realistically sit back and say 'after all 38 games have been played do I see us sitting top of the league and therefore winning the title.'

However, if you want to concentrate on the present (which is what the media like doing) then sure we were in the title race - before the last 2 games (City & Wolves), we were a few points off the top and playing decent enough, whilst City & United were going through a bad patch (City's loss to Sunderland and United's loss to Blackburn were the feature games here).

But, the league isn't 20 games long or whatever - it's 38 and, as I said, I couldn't ever see both our form and United/City's lack of form continuing.



I'm also curious as to what you consider City's first XI? The team that Chelsea beat?

Spurs weren't in the title race, the pro-Spurs media were doing their best to try and sell that to your average football fan but those of us that have intelligence could see it was a myth.

Spurs are flat track bullies. In the last 2 months Spurs have had 3 difficult fixtures (on paper) Stoke (A), Chelsea (H), City (A) and not won any of them. That will continue against the likes of Liverpool (A), Arsenal (A), United (H), Chelsea (A) etc.

Spurs fans were getting carried away with the media bull and were lulled into the hype. My housemate who is Spurs said all along they weren't in it and expects a 4th place finish. I commend him for his honesty. He said that with the games Spurs have left it would be impossible to keep their run of form going, something I also said on this forum.

For a top 4 team, the likes of WBA, Sunderland and Everton (H) are bread and butter games, it's against the likes of Chelsea, City, Arsenal, United, Newcastle etc when you really separate the men from the boys.

United 08/09 who only won 1/6 (losing 3) vs the top 4 were a rare exception to the rule.

You can't expect to challenge unless you start beating some teams in and around you in the table

0/9 points from the Top 2

1/10 from the Top 4

[Moorpheus19]

Spurs weren't in the title race, the pro-Spurs media were doing their best to try and sell that to your average football fan but those of us that have intelligence could see it was a myth.

Spurs are flat track bullies. In the last 2 months Spurs have had 3 difficult fixtures (on paper) Stoke (A), Chelsea (H), City (A) and not won any of them. That will continue against the likes of Liverpool (A), Arsenal (A), United (H), Chelsea (A) etc.

Spurs fans were getting carried away with the media bull and were lulled into the hype. My housemate who is Spurs said all along they weren't in it and expects a 4th place finish. I commend him for his honesty. He said that with the games Spurs have left it would be impossible to keep their run of form going, something I also said on this forum.

For a top 4 team, the likes of WBA, Sunderland and Everton (H) are bread and butter games, it's against the likes of Chelsea, City, Arsenal, United, Newcastle etc when you really separate the men from the boys.

United 08/09 who only won 1/6 (losing 3) vs the top 4 were a rare exception to the rule.

You can't expect to challenge unless you start beating some teams in and around you in the table

0/9 points from the Top 2

1/10 from the Top 4

Finally, it's nice to get dialogue that isn't just 'herp derp Spurs are the worst side in the PL' or other similar WUM posts.

I disagree somewhat with the pro-Spurs media line - when the words 'Spurs' and 'title race' were being bandied about on here etc, it was several games later before the media did the same (not really before we beat Everton at the start of Jan).

With regard to the 'three difficult fixtures' - there is no question in my mind that we lost to Stoke due to the terrible referee-ing from Foy (something which Chelsea fans are also painfully aware with QPR). However, discussing Foy is irrelevant - we lost to Stoke, just like Chelsea lost to QPR - discussing the games won't change the result, no matter how aggrieved a fan feels.

I would say we have a decent chance against Liverpool and Arsenal, Liverpool in particular - they really haven't impressed me lately and we actually have a decent run of results against them. Arsenal is always a difficult one to predict - the NLD result usually flies in the face of either (or both) team's recent form. United - yeah we'll probably lose that. Chelsea - again hard to predict, we've certainly improved against Chelsea recently but we should've beaten you in December so I dunno - no-one can say with certainty how that one'll go.

I wouldn't say no to 4th position - it's always been our aim for this season to get top 4. 3rd would be an amazing season for Spurs - no doubting that. Chelsea have had a poor season up to now - I don't think even the most ardent Chelsea fan could say they were happy at being 13 points off City at this point. If Chelsea go on a run however, I could easily see them taking 3rd.

[London's Only EC Winners]

Finally, it's nice to get dialogue that isn't just 'herp derp Spurs are the worst side in the PL' or other similar WUM posts.

I disagree somewhat with the pro-Spurs media line - when the words 'Spurs' and 'title race' were being bandied about on here etc, it was several games later before the media did the same (not really before we beat Everton at the start of Jan).

With regard to the 'three difficult fixtures' - there is no question in my mind that we lost to Stoke due to the terrible referee-ing from Foy (something which Chelsea fans are also painfully aware with QPR). However, discussing Foy is irrelevant - we lost to Stoke, just like Chelsea lost to QPR - discussing the games won't change the result, no matter how aggrieved a fan feels.

I would say we have a decent chance against Liverpool and Arsenal, Liverpool in particular - they really haven't impressed me lately and we actually have a decent run of results against them. Arsenal is always a difficult one to predict - the NLD result usually flies in the face of either (or both) team's recent form. United - yeah we'll probably lose that. Chelsea - again hard to predict, we've certainly improved against Chelsea recently but we should've beaten you in December so I dunno - no-one can say with certainty how that one'll go.

I wouldn't say no to 4th position - it's always been our aim for this season to get top 4. 3rd would be an amazing season for Spurs - no doubting that. Chelsea have had a poor season up to now - I don't think even the most ardent Chelsea fan could say they were happy at being 13 points off City at this point. If Chelsea go on a run however, I could easily see them taking 3rd.

Thanks Moorpheus wise words.

Let's not write Arsenal and Liverpool off yet for challenging (not necessarily getting) for a CL place

[PowerSpurs]

Spurs weren't in the title race, the pro-Spurs media were doing their best to try and sell that to your average football fan but those of us that have intelligence could see it was a myth.

Spurs are flat track bullies. In the last 2 months Spurs have had 3 difficult fixtures (on paper) Stoke (A), Chelsea (H), City (A) and not won any of them. That will continue against the likes of Liverpool (A), Arsenal (A), United (H), Chelsea (A) etc.

Spurs fans were getting carried away with the media bull and were lulled into the hype. My housemate who is Spurs said all along they weren't in it and expects a 4th place finish. I commend him for his honesty. He said that with the games Spurs have left it would be impossible to keep their run of form going, something I also said on this forum.

For a top 4 team, the likes of WBA, Sunderland and Everton (H) are bread and butter games, it's against the likes of Chelsea, City, Arsenal, United, Newcastle etc when you really separate the men from the boys.

United 08/09 who only won 1/6 (losing 3) vs the top 4 were a rare exception to the rule.

You can't expect to challenge unless you start beating some teams in and around you in the table

0/9 points from the Top 2

1/10 from the Top 4

Well argued but I think you are confusing outcomes with inputs. It is perfectly possible to win the league by beating all the lower placed teams and losing to your nearest rivals, indeed winning all the games against the bottom 15 and losing all the ones in the top five would make you certain champions. The reason this doesn't happen is that it is impossible to imagine a way of playing that could achieve this intentionally and it is never going to happen by chance. The reason is simple, the teams in the PL are not that different in standard but 38 matches is generally enough to sort out the best one and the best one is very likely to have a positive record against most of the others.
The term 'flat track bully' which you are so fond of, comes from cricket where batsmen with a good eye and no technique prosper on wickets which have no movement but can't cope when the wicket is not perfect. There is no real analogy with football.
The same logic applies to the 'bottlers' issue. This is just a simple outcome from the fact that 19 or 24 or 30 games is not enough to sort out the best team. If you happen to have played above your standard for the first half of the season it is very likely that you will do relatively worse in the second half. For sure pressure comes into it a bit - but I think this is over-rated - the best team usually triumphs irrespective of manager, history or anything else. Spurs have not been the best team for over fifty years - they hav'n't been bottlers, just not good enough.

[District Line]

Finally, it's nice to get dialogue that isn't just 'herp derp Spurs are the worst side in the PL' or other similar WUM posts.

I disagree somewhat with the pro-Spurs media line - when the words 'Spurs' and 'title race' were being bandied about on here etc, it was several games later before the media did the same (not really before we beat Everton at the start of Jan).

With regard to the 'three difficult fixtures' - there is no question in my mind that we lost to Stoke due to the terrible referee-ing from Foy (something which Chelsea fans are also painfully aware with QPR). However, discussing Foy is irrelevant - we lost to Stoke, just like Chelsea lost to QPR - discussing the games won't change the result, no matter how aggrieved a fan feels.

I would say we have a decent chance against Liverpool and Arsenal, Liverpool in particular - they really haven't impressed me lately and we actually have a decent run of results against them. Arsenal is always a difficult one to predict - the NLD result usually flies in the face of either (or both) team's recent form. United - yeah we'll probably lose that. Chelsea - again hard to predict, we've certainly improved against Chelsea recently but we should've beaten you in December so I dunno - no-one can say with certainty how that one'll go.

I wouldn't say no to 4th position - it's always been our aim for this season to get top 4. 3rd would be an amazing season for Spurs - no doubting that. Chelsea have had a poor season up to now - I don't think even the most ardent Chelsea fan could say they were happy at being 13 points off City at this point. If Chelsea go on a run however, I could easily see them taking 3rd.

Nobody has said Spurs are the worst side in the Prem

Advantage is Spurs and they are the better team at the moment all we are saying is that there is a lot to play for

Well argued but I think you are confusing outcomes with inputs. It is perfectly possible to win the league by beating all the lower placed teams and losing to your nearest rivals, indeed winning all the games against the bottom 15 and losing all the ones in the top five would make you certain champions. The reason this doesn't happen is that it is impossible to imagine a way of playing that could achieve this intentionally and it is never going to happen by chance. The reason is simple, the teams in the PL are not that different in standard but 38 matches is generally enough to sort out the best one and the best one is very likely to have a positive record against most of the others.
The term 'flat track bully' which you are so fond of, comes from cricket where batsmen with a good eye and no technique prosper on wickets which have no movement but can't cope when the wicket is not perfect. There is no real analogy with football.
The same logic applies to the 'bottlers' issue. This is just a simple outcome from the fact that 19 or 24 or 30 games is not enough to sort out the best team. If you happen to have played above your standard for the first half of the season it is very likely that you will do relatively worse in the second half. For sure pressure comes into it a bit - but I think this is over-rated - the best team usually triumphs irrespective of manager, history or anything else. Spurs have not been the best team for over fifty years - they hav'n't been bottlers, just not good enough.

Flat track bullies came from Athletics.

And in your position it isn't possible to win the league just by beaten the lower teams. For Spurs to realistically challenge, they would have needed to beat City and then beat United at home.

City are in a position now where they can win the league beating lower teams.

If we avoid defeat at Eastlands, it is likely we will be the only team not to lose to City all season as we can't meet them in any cup competition now

[Hoddle Is A God]

If we avoid defeat at Eastlands, it is likely we will be the only team not to lose to City all season as we can't meet them in any cup competition now

If, if, if...

You've not done very well, so far. You are as likely to succumb to Arsenal as you are to catch us. As you say, it's all in the balance. All this nonsense about you having been there before so therefore we won't be able to sustain our push is just that, nonsense. In fact, it's more than that, it's garbage. Apart from the opening two matches, the only times we have slipped up in the EPL has been down to refereeing errors. Had the officials done their jobs correctly, we would not have lost any other matches. We have not shown any intention of slipping up, and it's only been down to the officials that we have had losses foisted upon us. You, on the other hand, have, at times, played truly dreadfully and have deserved to be beaten.

Of the two teams, I'll maintain that we remain favourites for 3rd, whereas you are currently in a battle with Arsenal and the Toon for 4th.

I know you won't like to admit that, but even you must know it's the truth.

[Hoddle Is A God]

My housemate who is Spurs said all along they weren't in it and expects a 4th place finish.

Are you sure he's a real Spurs fan? He doesn't sound like any Spurs fan I know, and I know only real Spurs fans, not made up ones. If he is real, he sounds more like a closet Gooner. I'd take anything he says from now on with a large pinch of salt

I commend him for his honesty.

As I say above, he's not a real Spurs fan, so he's lying right from the off, I'm afraid. Either that, or you've simply invented him, in which case, you are lying to yourself. Either way, it's all nonsense.

He said that with the games Spurs have left it would be impossible to keep their run of form going, something I also said on this forum.

Who said that? This made-up closet Gooner mate of yours?


Look, I don't care what other Spurs fans tell you, because it really does not matter, nor does it affect what's been happening in the league.

The only two games that we have actually been beaten in, on merit, were our opening two games, where we did not have Modric, Parker or Adebayor playing for us, and where the squad was unsettled by your oligarch's piss-poor attempt at mind games. They worked for a short while, but ultimately failed, as the table correctly shows. The fact that the Russian went to such great lengths to unsettle us must tell you something? He knew full well that we were going to be the on-form side this season, and he's right.

Our loss to £ity was a travesty of justice. Balotelli and Lescott should both have been dismissed, and we would have won that game by a country mile. When you have the ref complicit in your thuggery to the extent that Howard Webb was that day, what side is going to stand any chance? That we almost held them to a draw, despite them having 12 men on the field, is a testament to just how strong we are.

So, dream on, Chelsea boy, if you (and your imaginary Spurs mates) believe that we are about to fold any time soon

[5W6]

Are you sure he's a real Spurs fan? He doesn't sound like any Spurs fan I know, and I know only real Spurs fans, not made up ones. If he is real, he sounds more like a closet Gooner. I'd take anything he says from now on with a large pinch of salt

As I say above, he's not a real Spurs fan, so he's lying right from the off, I'm afraid. Either that, or you've simply invented him, in which case, you are lying to yourself. Either way, it's all nonsense.

Who said that? This made-up closet Gooner mate of yours?

Look, I don't care what other Spurs fans tell you, because it really does not matter, nor does it affect what's been happening in the league.

The only two games that we have actually been beaten in, on merit, were our opening two games, where we did not have Modric, Parker or Adebayor playing for us, and where the squad was unsettled by your oligarch's piss-poor attempt at mind games. They worked for a short while, but ultimately failed, as the table correctly shows. The fact that the Russian went to such great lengths to unsettle us must tell you something? He knew full well that we were going to be the on-form side this season, and he's right.

Our loss to £ity was a travesty of justice. Balotelli and Lescott should both have been dismissed, and we would have won that game by a country mile. When you have the ref complicit in your thuggery to the extent that Howard Webb was that day, what side is going to stand any chance? That we almost held them to a draw, despite them having 12 men on the field, is a testament to just how strong we are.

So, dream on, Chelsea boy, if you (and your imaginary Spurs mates) believe that we are about to fold any time soon

The Spurs supporters I know are loving it but have seen the bubble burst on numerous occaisions over the years, and none of them are parading around with your level of confidence/ arrogance, so I would say that it is you who is in the minority amongst Tottenham fans, given our sample size being around 8 for me and not sure for District but let's say one, that would put you at around 10% of the overall figure...therefore not the majority

[Drogs]

I have a couple of Spud friends, they think they'll finish above us but they're not as arrogant as HIAG!

[totsfan]

i'm just taking it as it comes'as long as we get top 4,don't agree with district that were not contenders,we are until the Math's say's we can't catch up

[London's Only EC Winners]

i'm just taking it as it comes'as long as we get top 4,don't agree with district that were not contenders,we are until the Math's say's we can't catch up

Ok; we'll concede contenders but not genuine contenders: as you have not defeated anyone of note yet, and dropped points as soon as you got close to the top

[Hoddle Is A God]

The Spurs supporters I know are loving it but have seen the bubble burst on numerous occaisions over the years...

What bubble?

We've never before been in a position where we can genuinely challenge for the EPL title, so there cannot have been any bubble.

We've put ourselves in this position with some solid finishes over the last few seasons, since the days of Martin Jol. This is something we've been working up to, it's not happened over night. The idea that we are some how the village idiots who have gate-crashed a Master Mind contest in error is completely and utterly ridiculous. I don't know of any genuine Spurs fan who does not believe that we are genuine contenders. Sure, the natural modesty of most will encourage them to lack the belief that we will actually win it, but even they remain hopeful.

I'm sorry that you believe I am arrogant for believe that this Spurs side is a better football team than your current Chelsea side.

[London's Only EC Winners]

What bubble?

We've never before been in a position where we can genuinely challenge for the EPL title, so there cannot have been any bubble.

We've put ourselves in this position with some solid finishes over the last few seasons, since the days of Martin Jol. This is something we've been working up to, it's not happened over night. The idea that we are some how the village idiots who have gate-crashed a Master Mind contest in error is completely and utterly ridiculous. I don't know of any genuine Spurs fan who does not believe that we are genuine contenders. Sure, the natural modesty of most will encourage them to lack the belief that we will actually win it, but even they remain hopeful.

I'm sorry that you believe I am arrogant for believe that this Spurs side is a better football team than your current Chelsea side.

When's the 'We were genuine contenders for three days in January' DVD out?

[District Line]

What bubble?

We've never before been in a position where we can genuinely challenge for the EPL title, so there cannot have been any bubble.

We've put ourselves in this position with some solid finishes over the last few seasons, since the days of Martin Jol. This is something we've been working up to, it's not happened over night. The idea that we are some how the village idiots who have gate-crashed a Master Mind contest in error is completely and utterly ridiculous. I don't know of any genuine Spurs fan who does not believe that we are genuine contenders. Sure, the natural modesty of most will encourage them to lack the belief that we will actually win it, but even they remain hopeful.

I'm sorry that you believe I am arrogant for believe that this Spurs side is a better football team than your current Chelsea side.

I do, in fact nearly all Spurs fans I know just expect a top 4 finish. I don't know of any Spurs fan that thinks they are title contenders, moreso my housemate who basically said exactly what I have been saying for weeks in that with the fixtures that remain it will be impossible for Spurs to keep their run going meaning they can't challenge.

So you most only know Spurs fans as deluded as yourself. Delusion does seem to be a Spurs trait though and your fans are reknowned for it.

Last weekend just confirmed what we already knew in that City and United are the only title challengers with all the top 8/9 teams failing to win

With an 8 point gap, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all away and United at home all to play nobody is going to tell me Spurs are realistic title challengers, at best they will finish 12-15 points behind the league winners

Spurs are no better or worse than Chelsea, but this is Redknapp's team, he has assembled it. I have no doubt that AVB doesn't want at least 5 or 6 of these players we currently have, so yes I'd expect your flat track bullies to be doing better than us at this stage, but come May the cream has a habit of rising to the top

[District Line]

The only home games left that you could realistically look at for City to drop points are Chelsea and United. If they win those games they'll win them all IMO as I don't see Sunderland, Fulham, Bolton, Blackburn, WBA and QPR (all struggling teams) being able to take anything from there.

Away games are far less predictable but I'd again expect City drop points in no more than 4 of those

If City win 10 more games IMO it will be enough to take the title, all they'd need is a couple of draws as well and even for United they'd be uncatchable