9 points from first 3 games?

Sunderland (A)
Everton (H)
Derby (H)

If we beat Sunderland on Saturday, I think we can get 9 points from the first 3 games. This will give the lads a lot of confidence heading to Old Trafford as the early leader. Get a draw there and Martin Jol will be named "Manager of the Month"!

COYS!!!!

Hmm Everton home last year didn't work out how I wanted...

DannyBoy wrote:

Hmm Everton home last year didn't work out how I wanted...

I lost big $$$ on that. Always a banker vs Everton - even playing away. Last season's a fluke - should make amends this season.

We should have 9 from 9 after three games, by which time the expectation will be MASSIVE!

Oh dear, no pressure then lads.

Please, calm down people.

As we all know, Tottenham never do what is expected of them, be it good or bad.

Please no manager of the month awards... they are always the precursor to a disastrous following month on the pitch.

Everton's win last season was no fluke. They fully deserved it. We were awful.

I watched ESPN football focus last night. I've thought the panel got it right. We've done well not to lose key players but the defensive aspect of our game remains weak. Pascal and Bale are not defensive full backs and the midfield doesn't provide enough cover for defenders.

05'06 when we looked a serious top four contender only to fail on the last day, we had Carrick/Davids for defensive cover and King fit for majority of season.

06'07 - snatched 5th spot LAST game of season - never a top four contender - lost Carrick and King was out most of season.

Jol's spent a lot on a new striker - who I rate and expect to be a firm favourite - however scoring goals wasn't a problem last season. There's new addition to the last line of cover but nothing of any note in midfield.

Spurs will do okay this season - 5-6th, maybe a pop at 4th, however there are plenty of weak areas for opposition managers to expose.

Spurs players like for like are better than those of Everton. However, as a team, Everton are better organised and are my tip to finish 4th.

I wouldn't rule out Newcastle either.

DannyBoy wrote:

Hmm Everton home last year didn't work out how I wanted...

I was at that game. Trufax.

spur'don wrote:

Quote :

I watched ESPN football focus last night. I've thought the panel got it right. We've done well not to lose key players but the defensive aspect of our game remains weak. Pascal and Bale are not defensive full backs and the midfield doesn't provide enough cover for defenders.

I hate Jamie Reeves, he's an out and out gooner, but he was fairly accurate with his assessment of our squad, albeit way too over-enthusiastic in the way he went about cutting us down.

Last time we won the first three games was the 1960/61 Season. In fact we won the first 11 games, + did the double of course. This does feel like a 'Double' year somehow.

http://www.topspurs.com/6061.htm

.

Only one defeat before Christmas that year, could do with another run like that, couldn't we?

A good start to the season is KEY. The most tricky game is Sunderland (A) IMHO. If we can get past the Mackems, then who knows.

spur'don wrote:

Everton's win last season was no fluke. They fully deserved it. We were awful.

I watched ESPN football focus last night. I've thought the panel got it right. We've done well not to lose key players but the defensive aspect of our game remains weak. Pascal and Bale are not defensive full backs and the midfield doesn't provide enough cover for defenders.

05'06 when we looked a serious top four contender only to fail on the last day, we had Carrick/Davids for defensive cover and King fit for majority of season.

06'07 - snatched 5th spot LAST game of season - never a top four contender - lost Carrick and King was out most of season.

Jol's spent a lot on a new striker - who I rate and expect to be a firm favourite - however scoring goals wasn't a problem last season. There's new addition to the last line of cover but nothing of any note in midfield.

Spurs will do okay this season - 5-6th, maybe a pop at 4th, however there are plenty of weak areas for opposition managers to expose.

Spurs players like for like are better than those of Everton. However, as a team, Everton are better organised and are my tip to finish 4th.

I wouldn't rule out Newcastle either.

I agree with most of that, especially the weak areas. Despite buying some good players this season, I don't think we have enough strength at the back. Kabul, yes and Dawson is a good 'clearer' of the ball, but I would of honestly hoped for another quality centreback, knowing as we all do that King can be injury-prone. I guess you can never have enough good centrebacks, especially when we have some good attacking midfielders.

One thing that I beg to differ on is that I don't think Newcatsle will come that good this season and Everton will remain a notch or two behind us. Regarding the competition for the upper places, I'll wait till we see the first few results of the season, as there are a few unknown quantities there at the moment.



Stew.

Masefield even said he expected Spurs to be batlling it out for the TITLE with 6-8 weeks remaining. But what does he know?

twiglet wrote:

Masefield even said he expected Spurs to be batlling it out for the TITLE with 6-8 weeks remaining. But what does he know?

That's interesting coming from him as he hates Spurs.

Maybe Chivers thinks that the Masefield opinion is still not representitive of the masses !!!




Stew.

Sunderland is a winable game for a side with top four ambitions. You need mental toughness to go to those sort of grounds and pick up 3 points. Who are the mature heads to call upon for leadership and experience if we're leading 1-0 with 10 minutes to go. Can we bolt the door this season ?? We're know a bit more by Saturday night. A win against Sunderland gives me confidence on our away travels to Derby, Reading, Fulham, Birmingham, Wigan and perhaps Boro.

Everton are an organised side who know how to distrupt our game plan. Difficult defence to break down, plenty of energy with a never say die attitude. Beat Everton and I'll feel confident playing the likes of Blackburn, Portsmouth, Bolton and Villa.

Derby at home - 3 points. Nothing else to say.

Man Utd away - okay, difficult place to go, however in past seasons we put on a semi decent performance but you can sense there isn't the believe from players and supporters in coming away with 3 pts ( or 1pt). Its as though we're content to put on a display to suggest the gap has narrowed despite losing.

Spurs can finish 5th without collecting points from the top four.

However to break into the elite its important to get 12 points from 24 pts from the big guns, minimum.

That's when I'll start to believe Spurs have broken the mould.

twiglet wrote:

Masefield even said he expected Spurs to be batlling it out for the TITLE with 6-8 weeks remaining. But what does he know?

He knows how to gel his hair!!

haha..yes he does. Mase - a tribute to the 80's

Paul "He does ever so well there, the big lad" Masefield

A walking cliche factory

Id be happy with 7... but 9 ideally.

Think we need our home form back from 2 seasons ago if we are going to push for 4th.

And we need to take more than 4/24 off the top four. As I've posted elsewhere, in the last ten years our average points per season against the "top four" has been 4.7/24, which is pathetic.

9 from 9 should be a must for us.
14 from 24 should be the target against the top 4 this season.
And no less than 16 from 18 from the bottom 3 will do.

Second best is for losers!

C'mon and Berba We're all behind you.

Daniel's not going to be happy with that level of pressure on the squad, he's going to need serious beer on Saturday tao calm him down. "Come on Tot'nam!"

GDG, you make one sound awfully common