Not everyone will remember him with fondness and respect, but I certainly will.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... y-23437937

I see Spurs are donating £100,000 to North Middlesex University Hospital’s staff using money raised from fines issued to Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon. How generous. How public spirited.

Read on though. It's £100,000 worth of gift vouchers. All very well if our NHS heroes need a club keyring or training top, but not a busting lot of use otherwise.

They could have donated their trophy case as it's seen little use.

I do.

Always gave of his best (such as it was) and seemed committed to the cause. A likeable player. Somewhat similar to Senderos really.

Happy that we have replaced him though.

I agree that most referee decisions are down to a subjective viewing and accept every fan will generally feel their team is the most hard done by in the league. The problem with VAR now is that those inconsistencies are highlighted far greater. Each penalty incident now has 3 go's at getting it right, the initial ref decision, Var giving it a review and finally the on field ref giving it a slow motion review. What will frustrate fans is how 2 different referees can interpret situations so wildly differently - even allowing for a subjective view it is crazy.
Before VAR there was the legitimate argument that sometimes the ref just really didn't have the best view of something that looks obvious to everyone else. I've read Howard Webb's book and he openly admits there were incidents he just didn't see properly and he had to go with his gut, and instantly after he made the decision he knew it was the wrong one. Var has taken excuse away. By the way I am a fan of Var, just not necessarily the way it is being used. But the fact is we are getting more correct decisions - but there are still inconsistencies in var and what is chosen to be reviewed.

Martial clearly dived the other night, I won't go in to the red card or not debate, but it really isn't a penalty. Then Jesus gets kicked in the back of the leg as clear as day and it isn't given as a penalty. The two incidents are chalk and cheese yet they end up with the wrong result despite every possible angle and slow motion replay.
If you try to defend the Martial one you can only use the line "well, there was contact and if there is contact, however small a ref can give a penalty"
If you try to defend the Jesus one you can only use the line "well, there wasn't enough contact to warrant it being a penalty" - you can't have it both ways.

I'm certainly not a believer in any contact should be a penalty, that's ridiculous, but I can't see how collectively refs can see things like these so differently. These refs regularly meet up, train and receive instructions on what is and what isn't a foul - so there should be greater consistency than we're getting.

The amount of away wins is huge compared to any normal season as well. We might as well forget the concept of home or away this season as other than travel (which footballers are well used to) and the familiarity of your home dressing room every match is basically a neutral venue without fans.

I think the bunching together of the league has to be a bit of the top teams being weaker or more vulnerable but more to do with the quality the lesser sides can put out.

Results where a top team lose to a very weak team like Liverpool's last two home defeats and Man U v Sheff Utd I think can also be attributed to the tiredness of players given the schedule and lack of break or preseason. The high tempo of relentless attack after attack is just not there.

Traditional mid table teams now have some excellent players. I look at leicester, west ham, everton, villa, southampton, wolves, leeds and even palace and think there are players who play in their attacking front 6 who could slot comfortably in a lot of the top sides.
Teams like West Ham and Villa have benefited hugely from no injuries. No way could I have named either team's best 11 at the start of the season but each 11 rolls off the tongue now, partly because they're making the headlines but also because it is the same 11 every week.

So Luiz red card will stand after our appeal, but Bednarek's red card from the same night has been overturned. Watching this clip it's very hard to see how they can reach different conclusions from such similiar incidents.

https://youtu.be/HNtmgbHQSFw

The only way they can overturn one and not the other is by basically saying the Bednarek one wasn't a penalty and Luiz's was. They can't differentiate based on the red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity - it has to be more fundamental that it wasn't even a foul in the first place.

I don't see much difference from the defender's side of things, neither is making an attempt at a challenge, any contact is minimal and accidental both are pulling out of the challenge (bednarek more obviously so)

The only difference is from the attackers side of things where Martial is already going down and it is he that makes the contact happen. A pedant may argue the Wolves player did the same because it his his leg that kicks Luiz but I cant bring myself to go there!

Essentially it is guesswork and I think they may have made a rod for their own back by treating two such similar incidents differently because now you have a situation where anything worse than Luiz has to be punished and anything better than Bednarek has to be let off simply because the two incidents are so alike and the decision to uphold or reprieve the red card is binary.

By the way that is also a pretty damning indictment of Mike Dean who were the ref and var at the Man U v Saints game.
Basically Dean called it wrong, Var said he might want to take a look at it, Dean watched it all in slow motion from multiple angles and still maintained his view it was a penalty. It has been appealed and the 'panel' disagree with Dean and say it shouldn't have been a penalty.

Ive said before I'd rather have Dean than refs who bow to certain players, crowds, the situation. but with that you have to take the arrogance of Dean that it is all about him - it is just pot luck whether his rubbish decisions go for or against you

http://youaremyarsenal.com/arsenal-referee-bias/

If you read the title of the link and think this is a long rant about how refs are biased against Arsenal it isn't. But there is something in what it says about the subconscious bias all refs, all humans will have.

So if the Southampton one was not a red nor a penalty I assume they’re inferring it was a dive. Will Martial get a two match ban for simulation then.

When Bale returns to Real Madrid at the end of the season, because surely Spurs or anyone else is stupid enough to sign him permanently, he will return as a non-EU player due to Brexit. Apparently in Spain teams are only allowed 3 non-EU players in their 25 man squad. It seems strange because teams like Barca and Real always seem littered with Brazilians in particular but also other non-EU players. Perhaps there is some creative passport wrangling to get EU nationality for certain players

Reminiscent of Edu’s on/off arrival with us.

Don’t know if anyone watched any of Spurs game but I would love to know how their fans think the Maureen plan is proceeding.

Jose Mourinho “We miss a lot of important players but the spirit in the second half is untouchable”

They are missing Kane, reguillon and lo celso. We’ve missed more players than that every single match this season

Can’t wait for the world to collapse in on Jose and Spurs. Levy was like the cat that got the cream when he got Jose, he’s a proper Jose fan-boy and was fawning over him in that documentary. Touch decision when he has to sack him

Everyone gasps with surprise

Don’t you don’t see a player’s attitude as a worthwhile quality then?

I've rarely heard of this guy. Even on here (unless I missed it). I recall a docu on his personal struggles, demons I think.

I know quite a few spurs fans and I’d say the general Mourinho reaction was/is:
On appointment: reserve judgement but he is a winner
Early days: he’s winning games that’s what counts
As things have gone badly: the football is terrible, he’s being a d*ck and we’re a laughing stock, why did we sell our soul to the devil

A journalist asked Mourinho why he left Bale on the bench last night. His answer was ‘it’s a good question, but you don’t deserve an answer’ haha, the wheels of Jose’s demise are turning and the pattern is repeating itself. The Jose love-in by the media is over, results are bad and the press will probe more and more. Jose will snap back twice as hard, will throw excuse after excise, blame his players and remind everyone of his past achievements.
As you can tell I detest Mourinho

This is pretty staggering. What is the point of Peter Walton as a referee 'expert'. There is so much waffle and nonsense in this. He justifies Luiz red card by saying he's not slowed his momentum (incorrect), and that he's clumsy or careless - more than debatable. He then goes on to say Bednarek's penalty and red card was totally the right call but also rescinding it was also the totally right call because when the appeals panel look at the incident they look at it with full context - whereas Mike Dean was apparently only looking at var to check the sanction of red card or not!

That is nonsense. Walton is basically saying Dean gave a foul so he was just checking the red card on var - so even if var showed clearly that there was no foul Dean HAS to stick with the decision to award the foul? Come on. Walton always sticks up for the ref - just sack him and get someone in who is willing to be fair. I can't take anything he says seriously on the subject

https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/sta ... 6571218944

What exactly is the 'full context' that doesn't show when Dean looked at it? Asking Bednarek about his overall mood that day and decide to rescind the card because he was feeling gloomy before the incident?

It does seem like the last cycle of Mourinho is coming sooner than usual. Because of the pandemic and isolation I've watched a lot more football than usual this season and at no point during the season have Tottenham looked impressive to me. They're good defensively and pretty well organized, like any Mourinho team, but there's not even a semblance of a gameplan going forward. All they do is chuck the ball up to Kane and Son and hope they do something with it - it works sometimes because they're brilliant players, but in the long run you'll never get anywhere playing like that. Far removed from Pochettino's Tottenham side that attacked with purpose, and had many players involved.

I just wonder how many more big clubs will fool themselves into thinking Mourinho still has it.

He is a busted flush. I began to form that impression when he was at Manure. You are correct in that few big clubs will bother with him.

Thanks for that AG - what a mover as Kenneth Wolstenholme probably said.

It kills me to be fair to Mourinho, but should they win a trophy this season, then he will have done something only one manager of Spurs has achieved in the last 30 years. Spurs has been his biggest challenge since turning Chelsea from an occasionally good into a great team.

Team for Villa should be:
Ryan (hopefully)
Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Teirney/Cédric
Partey, Xhaka
Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Pépé
Lacazette

We will have had decent rest from Tuesday to Saturday and will have had 24 hours more rest than Villa. We don't play again until we play Leeds the saturday after with 7 days rest.

Then we need to think about squad management for a very tough run of 4 games in 10 days!
Feb 18th Benfica (a)
Feb 21st City (h)
Feb 25th Benfica (h)
Feb 28th Leicester (a)

I think that is fair. They desperately need a trophy. I suppose the question for Spurs fans is after a long time without a trophy, and after the last 5 years with Poch playing some very good football but just falling short - would they be satisfied with a league cup/fa cup once every 3 years if it means putting up with the dour brand of safety first football Mourinho produces.....and the circus that comes with Mourinho?
Football is about winning and maybe that is all a lot of Spurs fans crave now - at any cost. But as fans we also surely want to be entertained.

This was exactly my point when people were getting worried about Spurs strong start. The stats behind their performances and their over reliance on some unbelievable efficiency from 2 players was simply unsustainable. Perhaps Pep was right when he tongue in cheek described Spurs as 'The Harry Kane Team'
I'm amazed Kane and Son haven't pushed for big moves, the pair could double or triple their wage and play at the very best and win and challenge for trophies every season. I expect City will test Spurs hard for Kane in the summer. A new striker will be top of their shopping list

For AG and anybody else interested in the Brazilians, this from November 1965. "Arsenal triumphed 2-0 over a visiting Brazilian Eleven. It was all a bit embarrassing. The club had responded to a Brazilian request for the fixture as part of a European tour. Secretary Bob Wall was assured that a national team would be sent, including the renowned Pele. Tickets had been sold at higher prices in expectation of a bumper crowd, and part of the proceeds were to go to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. Instead, players from Sao Paulo club sides Corinthians and Portuguesa de Desporto made up the opposition, although they did agree to play in the national team colours! Wall complained. ‘In good faith we organised the match on the basis of Brazil sending a national team. Our supporters will blame us for the situation, but it is not our fault. Instead of a 60,000 crowd we shall be lucky if we get half that many.’ No, Bob. On a piercing cold evening less than 18,000 souls bothered to attend. Sammels scored with two rocket shots and according to McClintock, Skirton was the best player on the field. Other than Roberto Rivelino, none of the Brazilians were to feature in 1966 World Cup. Spectators saw an entertaining match ‘in weather fit only for penguins and polar bears,’ according to The Times. Clive Toye in the Daily Express thought the Brazilians could feel the cold through their boots and were disinterested. ‘Their football plainly suggested that having flown 9,000 miles from a tough league game in the blazing sunshine of Sao Paulo, they had no inclination to be kicked at, worn out, or otherwise harmed in any way in the bitter cold of North London, even though it was in the cause of charity.’ In defeat the Brazilians retained some charm, providing a gift of two pounds of coffee for each Arsenal player."

Yes, their fans are desperate for a trophy - they have more ambition these days than finishing ahead of us in the league. Mourinho likes the League Cup, so I can see it breaking their drought - sadly.

'Rivelino humbled by Gunners.' I'd never heard about this game, OMOH. Great stuff.

As Arteta will attest, winning the FA Cup gives you about three weeks' respite from the critics. The League Cup would probably be about a week and a half. Good luck with that, Jose.

I think you just made sure we have an "Mourinho makes sure to win the league cup early with new clubs" post coming from AG. But they still have to beat a far superior Manchester City in the final to win it. And by that time, I can see Man City having secured the league title already, allowing them to put out a full strength side.

I haven’t checked whether she’s right, but a Tottenham fan I’m friendly with told me the League Cup final isn’t until the last week of April. Think she said the 25th. So if she’s right it’s still some time away, the best part of two months. Plenty of time for things to get better, or worse, for them.

Having said that, beating Manchester City in the final will I’m sure earn Mourinho a lot of gratitude. It’s a proper trophy, even if it’s the least prestigious one. Moreover it’s so long since their last trophy, the younger Tottenham fans won’t even have ever seen them win a trophy.

Arteta didn’t have that benefit when Arsenal won the FA Cup last year, despite it being more prestigious than the League Cup. It was only three years since the last one. I therefore expect winning it will get Mourinho a fair bit more breathing space with the Tottenham fans than the FA Cup gave Arteta with the Arsenal fans.

Leno and Saka both nominated for PL player of the month for January. Well deserved for both, Saka has obvioulsy been hugely influental for us, and Leno with four clean sheets and one goal allowed in five games.

I think familiarity with the pitch size and playing surface may also come into the equation.

From memory they said on MOTD that 52% of Premier League games this season have been won by the away side, which is a lot more than previously. This made me compare the results for Arsenal alone in the last two seasons between games played in the Emirates when it’s full and empty, as Lineker’s stats obviously covered all teams.

Arsenal have had fourteen league games behind closed doors, four last season and ten so far this. In them we have won 25 points, and average of 1.79 points per game. In the last fourteen games in front of a full stadium, Arsenal won 23 points, an average of 1.64 points per game. On the face of it, Arsenal seem to be an exception to the overall trend by getting slightly better results (if that’s what winning more points is taken as) in an empty ground.

One qualification I will mention is this season’s Burnley game, where 2k fans were allowed in. It’s miles from a full stadium, but it isn’t empty either. So I excluded it completely rather than include it in the full ground stats when it’s 58k short, or the empty ground stats when the 2k (I wasn’t one of them) were reported as making an impressive amount of noise to create a decent atmosphere.

Also I’ve taken no account of the opposition over both sets of games.

Gaz wants to sell them both

Leno deserves a written apology from half a dozen on here

How are the games against Benfica going to work under the proposed travel and quarantine restrictions?

Any clues, anyone?

Heard on TalkSPORT yesterday that it might be changed to a one game tie at a neutral ground.