I know that this is another “just point the camera at something and shoot” looking pic but it was actually surprisingly complex to shoot and get the lighting right. It took me 20 shots! Basically this means I am justifying its inclusion for Day 1 of the new PaD year on that basis.
Anyone who’s been around these pages for a while will know that there is little more dear to me than my beloved Spurs and towards the end of 2013 we had some torrid times. There is little more humiliating than a 0-5 thumping at home…other than a 6-0 one away. The last few weeks have been strange. The sacking of AVB was, in my view, an inevitable outcome of these results. The appointment of Tim Sherwood was greeted with incredulity by many but for me, he’s Spurs through and through and therefore giving someone with his heart in the club a chance seemed like a great idea. So far, so good.
Today’s match was never going to be an easy game. Moan U are a bogey team for us and our win there last season was the first in donkey’s years. I must confess to not being overly hopeful for today. All I wanted was a committed performance from a proper team. I got that by the bucket load and so much more. I can’t tell you how thrilling the game was or how much strain was put on my heart, especially at the end when we were getting pounded. It truly was heart attack city! We seem to have found our team spirit and we played our hearts out. It’s impossible to describe the tension and the scene in our lounge. I’m jumping out of the chair every few seconds, groaning and holding my head in my hands as yet another wave of United attack surges forward. I’m taking the goal line clearances myself. I’m even begging our players to hold up the ball instead of trying to counter-attack and losing possession – in other words, I’m asking the team to play in a way that I hate, just to protect our lead. Anyway, it worked and we notched up our second victory at Old Trafford in two seasons and it feels wonderful.
Last time we watched a game on BT Sport, I wrote to BT saying they’d failed to uphold proper moral standards by allowing Michael Owen to get away with using the expression “taking one for the team” when a player committed what is sometimes called a professional foul. I explained that "taking one for the team" is nothing to be proud of, it's cheating, pure and simple and therefore, as role models for children, that sort of talk was unacceptable. I got an apology back but it was a bit half-hearted and I fully expected to hear the same again today but the phrase didn’t come out of his mouth once. I still can’t abide him as a commentator but at least he’d cleaned up his act a bit.
Today’s game may not have been good for my heart on one level, but on another it was great. What better way to see in the New Year, let’s hope it’s a good one.
