A funny week. Funny peculiar, rather than funny haha. Not only did we beat the Hun soundly in his own front yard, but we returned from this forray 'sausage side' to revelations that there is trouble in paradise - or the Arse's dressing room anyway. Cashback.

William Gallas' identity crisis hit tilt as he decided to he couldn't save his William Wallace impression for the Emptycrates Multidedominational Non race Specific Party (formerly the Pagan Blood Sacrifice Chrimbo Bash).

Big Bad Bill told the Associated Press in Paris, "...there are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated.''

The only two things he was referring to there were obviously Van Pervert's first and last names... 

My guess is his words will turn out to be prophetic.

Wenger will be reminding him who the actual manager of the team is and that Billiam should have kept his trap shut. Running off to the press and revealing that your team's dressing room has imploded is indeed ...intolerable."

"We are not brave enough in battle. I think we need to be soldiers. We have to be warriors," continued Billiam Wallace. "I have to win something this year. I have to win something, Arsenal has to win something...''

Somebody buy this imbecile some face paints and a Kinder Egg. 

Or point another microphone at him. Funny hahahahahaha, after all.

****** 

 Here's more speculation over Sunday's fixture with me in conversation with BRFC.com's  supremo, Phillip L. 

HH: A game of two goal keepers. How happy have you been Robinson?

PL: Happier than you have been with Gomes recently I suspect. There have been a couple of clangers as he still is not brilliant at judging the "go, stay, oops" crosses into the box. However, his shot stopping has been superb and Scolari rightly singled him out as the difference between 0-2 and 0-7 when Chelsea came calling recently.

We were initially immensely impressed by the length and accuracy of his kicking but when you've got Jason Roberts trying to trap them, it all became it bit pointless and repetitive really.

Suffice to say we miss the reassuring sight of big Brad in goal but judging by Brad's Villa form I suspect we now have the better keeper and Robo being 100 years younger is a bit of a bonus as well.

HH: And can you see him getting his England shirt back anytime soon?

PL: Last man standing isn't it with the England keepers at present? I think it is inevitable he will get his chance on current form compared with the others and so he will have to make the most of it when it comes and watch those dodgy back passes. From what I have seen so far, I think he is England's number one again.

HH: What's your take on our latest media darling, the boy Gomes?

PL: Football is short of entertainers. I hear from inside your camp he is not the total car crash write off the rest of us believe so he might come good. I hope he gets another outing on Sunday.  
 
HH: What's the deal wth Paul Ince. Is he a flailing, out of his depth, idiot? 

PL: Yes.

Not impressed- he has divided the support between those going to Ewood to boo and those who have given up. We are grateful for Spurs/Ramos and now City/Hughes for keeping the Rovers off the back pages.

Joking apart, I am very seriously worried. Nothing would please me more than a stirring victory at the Lane heralding a long unbeaten run and a trip to Wembley with Ince the blue and white hero- but we live in the real world.

HH: If Ince were to go, who would be a 'sound' choice in the eyes of your average Blackburn fan?
 
PL: That's a good one. The fans have grown accustomed to top half finishes (three on the trot) and regular trips to humiliating exits in Europe. So in the summer we expected a bit of glamour and pizazz about the next appointment and knowing there had been contact with Advocaat (who hankers after having a go in the Prem) and Michael Laudrup describing our Chairman as the most knowledgeable and impressive raised hopes and expectations. Which to be honest didn't help Ince with the fans when we came down to earth with a bump.

Now it is all about making sure we are not the only debt-free club in the Championship next season so getting someone who looks to be a safe bet for avoiding relegation has got to be number one priority as we will be deeper in the mire by the time any change is made.  

Despite the (in)famous Facebook campaign against Big Fat Sam which undoubtedly weighed in the Chairman's deliberations; I suspect this time there would be a majority of fans who would welcome Allardyce now. It also pains us to admit but our hated neighbours and the inbred relatives of Sam Dingle have a cracking good manager in Owen Coyle but think of Arsenal/Spurs and add the bleakness of the moors and you will get an idea of how well hiring the Burnley manager would go down in both towns.

Quite a few fans are watching the goings on at City with interest- most would be elated to see Sparky back and certainly there was an extremely warm and productive working relationship between John Williams (Chairman) and Mark Hughes.

But the real answer is that Roberto Mancinni is in London learning English because it is his lifelong dream to manage the Rovers... 

HH: Some Spurs fans, me included,say we are crying out for a proper DM. Any glaringly obvious pieces missing from your own jigsaw puzzle?

PL: Jigsaw puzzle is an apt metaphor as the boss hasn't got the hang of the sky going at the top and ground at the bottom judging by the way he is forever playing people out of position.

Taking Bentley from us has wrecked us to be honest. Last season he had the highest number of crosses in the League and I think he was credited with 20 assists. Quite why Ince thinks Roque Santa Cruz can thrive in a team playing without proper wingers is beyond me but we are doing a nice little line in signing league 1 and 2 players. 

HH: Where are your goals going to come from on Sunday?
PL: Gomes

HH: Between us we've kept only four clean sheets so far this season. What's the basketball score going to be?

PL: 0-0 if Robinson has a blinder. 4-1 to you wouldn't be a surprise. 
 
HH: THFC are blush resistant. Shameless marketing ploys and money spinners seem to be their forte. Do you release DVDs of games you draw?

PL: What's a DVD?
 
HH: The last transfer window was painful for us. Do you have anyone special 'earmarked' for January? 

PL: Macclesfield's centre forward and MK Dons' keeper. Much as I wish I were, I am not joking.
 

The highly esteemed Blackburn Rovers Football Club Supporter's forum got in touch and here's what transpired.

The first chunk is their man Phillip's 'pre match prattle' so to speak - and if you click on the link beneath that you get the relevant page on their forum and so their responses. 

I thought the 'who needs Eurostar when you have Tottenham Hotspurs - our portal into Europe. Bring 'em on' was good...

"When the Premier League fixtures for 2008/9 were announced in mid-June I wonder how long the odds were against the Spurs v Rovers fixture on 22 November being a relegation 6 pointer pitching 19th against 18th? Something pretty astronomic I would imagine.

Spurs at the time had done a lot of early shopping including snaffling the destroyer of England's Euro08 chances, Luka Modric, one of the hottest properties in Europe. There was disquiet surrounding Berbatov but Spurs seemed to be in reasonable control of the situation and the club was more famous for its embarassment of having an excess of £10m+ strikers than being in danger of having no target men at all.

Equally, Rovers were being linked with calibre of Manager targets befitting a club regularly qualifying for Europe from the world's richest league- Advocaat, Ten Cate, Laudrup et al as well as the most recent England boss and the guy many had tipped to have been an English England boss although the fans were totally disdainful of both McClaren and Allerdyce (me included!). And the transfer fund of £10m whilst nothing to disturb the Premier rich boys league was significantly more than Hughes had spent net during the whole of his time at Ewood. There seemed every prospect of it being boosted by the £5m compo yanked out of City before they could talk to Hughes and another £3m donation from the Walker Trust. Bentley was being a drunken fool in front of the Sky cameras on the Costa Lampard but surely a new Manager of sufficient gravitas would be appointed to sort that idiot out?

In the event, both Bentley and Berbatov departed and Robbie Kean jumped ship as well leaving both clubs looking at how Villa had managed to ride the Barry storm (and pinch Friedel which prompted the other Spurs/Rovers trade bringing Robinson to Ewood). More poignantly, when the dust had settled at midnight on 1 Setember, Rovers and Spurs stood alone in the transfer league table having made substantial and surely wholly unintentional profits from the previous two months' window of trading activity/inactivity.

Those of an economic bent would argue that both clubs' disinvestments in footballers alone would qualify them for tumbling from Euro tyros to relegation sweaters but as we all know, there is much more to the story than that.

Harry Hotspur (http://www.oleole.com/blogs/harryhotspur), a doyen of the football club blogerati and at times total pain in the side (and other parts of the anatomy) of Tottenham's owners and management and other Spurs' fans has kindly agreed to help enlighten us following on from Rovers' abject surrender and Gomes' special at Craven Cottage last week-end (and despite of, or perhaps inspired by, a bad chest infection):

1) Does 'arry walk on water?

HH:  No, but he does occasionally skim across the surface like a well propelled flat shiny thing.

2) How could Ramos be so fantastically good in Spain and a complete dud at White Hart Lane?

HH:  Despite a decent CV, that guy had too many things not going for him. He was as about as interesting to listen to as Stephen Hawking and his people skills were non-existent. Motivationally he had the midas touch in reverse. Never undervalue the fact that where he came from they didn't put the kettle on.

3) It must be so frustrating to be the best financially managed club in the Premier League yet you famously buy rubbish players every transfer window

HH:  Untrue. In the main, we historically buy good players and fail to get much out of them.

4) How is David Bentley?

HH:  He's stuck on level 6 of Dragon Quest SwordsThe Masked Queen And The Tower Of Mirrors.
OK - He's happy Ramos is gone.
My guess is he's looking forward to settling in, assisting more, scoring more and establishing himself as an England player.

5) You are the archetypal marzipan layer club- you wrecked Rovers' team by buying our best player but Man U and Liverpool do the same to you. Are you going to join the cake mix or the icing?

HH:  First of all I want to make it quite clear I hate Jane Asher and when she was voted out of Maestro that was a happy day in our house.

There's a food chain alright. And it's built on the desires and appetites of the players.

I haven't got any time for the idiots that say a Chairmen shouldn't have sold Player X or Player Y.  Contracts or not you can't MAKE someone play for you.
At the end of the day clubs are at the mercy of the whim of their players.

6) Paul Ince- should Rovers keep him or fire him?

Fire him out of a cannon.

Ever heard of the Peter Principle?
Your problem is who you would lure if he went?
I mean, we're frequently as rubbish as you, but we're never linked with the Ian Dowies of the world.


7) Who is going to get relegated this season?

HH:  West Brom are gone. West Ham would be nice and I always wish it on Fulham.
The mathematicians will start drawing up their shortlist at Christmas.
Newscastle would be hilarious and if their home form collapses they're gone.


8) Any special memories of playing against Rovers in the past? (I can think of one in Cardiff)

HH:  Would you be very deeply offended if I said, "None." ?


9) How many are you going to beat us by?

HH:  That's a generous question but I think a messy 2-2 draw is on the cards.
A game of two goalkeepers, perhaps?

Ah well, that's me told re my persistent criticising of Ince for selling Bentley or perhaps Harry is toeing the WHL party line.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

My recollections of Rovers at WHL include some cracking wins for Rovers not least the 3-2 at WHL which I think was the last appearance of the SAS together (albeit only for the 5 mins Sutton appeared as a late sub but enough to set up Shearer for a fulminating late winner), the 4-0 season ticket confetti game and Samba's wonderful late strike last season. But I can remember two very honourable 3-2 defeats in which Rovers played the Spurs off the park and still lost; 1965/6 and 2005/6 (the Bellamy/FSP double act where we maintained 85% posession for 20 minutes).

I also remember the 4-0 thrashing we took in the old second division in Jim Smith's wonderful season at Ewood and fear that is the precedent for Sunday as surely Gomes will be dropped.

In truth I can scarcely see an honourable defeat let alone a Rovers win this coming week-end. But if we do win, it will feel like Cardiff all over again.

Finally I asked Harry what prompted him to start the blog?

HH:  I wanted a wall for the wise and the witty and the winos to write on.


The pleasures and pitfalls?


HH:  The pleasures are endless.
The mob that contribute and make the blog what it is and are exactly the the sort of degenerate superstars you would want to talk to in the pub about your club.

The pitfalls are as in real life.
Dull people.

What does the club think of your blog?


HH:  I'm sure senior personnel at The Lane couldn't care less about me. I'd like to maintain that relationship.


http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php?showtopic=20215&st=0&#entry693370

'Arry has come out and said he wants fans who throw coins banned for life. After this game against Fulham it would be interesting to know what action he might propose against players who throw matches.

This isn't a cue for Gomes haters to form an orderly queue.

I want to push the boundaries of Blogging. Work with me. Let me see if this works. I'm going to type this really slowly. I'm telling you - Gomes is a great, great goalie. Supporting a man when he's down isn't easy. The easy route is to shout ' he's rubbish!' and demand the search for the replacement.

I try not to do blind faith. Well, beyond our badge and Eddie Rocket's Buffalo Wings anyway. The good that Gomes has done since putting on our shirt has been extraordinary. The bad has been sad but not a lamentable as some might make out.

"He's a top keeper, he's a brave keeper," Redknapp told reporters. "He doesn't hide on his line and let people head balls at his goal.

"If he thinks he can come out and deal with the situation he will do it. Everybody who has watched him over the years in Holland thinks he's a world class keeper.

"I like him, he's a character," added Redknapp. "He can go on to become a top goalkeeper in the Premier League."

Is it a trade secret that Andy Johnson is two bob? Then someone should tell Woodgate. 

And is it that Gareth Bale is so determined not to move to Manchester United that his tactic is to play like a man who's attentions are more on his naffing hair than the ball - so no functional alchoholic in their right mind would court his services?

  Just thought that this was worth a share.

More reasons for the Yid in the street to thank the sweet Lord and all his infinite mercies for the straight talking 'Arry Redschnapps. 

'So Harry, are these are nailed on or my money back piccies of the new Spurs stadium?'

My reply is that these are good. Very good indeed. And certainly head and shoulders above much of the rubbish that has been floating around. Therefore passed on in good faith.

The new public square that welcomes spectators to the venue will feature the roof truss of the previous stadium attached to two concrete columns acting as a memorial wall, remembering the history of the club.

Symbolically, it will act as the gateway from the old into the new.

As you can see, the bulk of the new stadium is much larger than the current white hart lane but the height is only slightly increased. The overall visual impact will change significantly, but the design prevents a giant towering and overpowering structure at the site, in terms of height. The translucent roof reduces the impact of shadows on the surrounding structures.

The roof concept is the same as this one, except this is an olympic athletics stadium proposal. The roof structure is not final, but its a lighter structure than this one, and smaller, so I don't think engineering is challenge.
 

Steep tiers close to the action

Allianz Arena
Tier 1 24 degrees
Tier 2 29 degrees
Tier 3 34 degrees

Spurs Stadium
Tier 1 25 degrees
Tier 2 30 degree
Tier 3 35 degrees

I think the design is still quite intimate given the steep tiers.
I'm more of a floating roof kinda person. Thats the aim of this roof i.e. to appear as if its floating above the stadium bowl.

Furthermore, its almost an indoor stadium since the roof opening is quite small and covers part of the field too.

Make no mistake, the team selected by Mariachi Man was an error of judgement and has cost him this competion. By contrast, Redschnapps sidesteps another potential banana skin and compounds his reputation as the Miracle Man.

Another game where the energy, the resilience and desire of Tottenham shone through. Our counterattacking was swift and largely unforgiving. This Liverpool tean wasn't the best, but we played who they put before us and we did 'em by two clear goals.

Huddlestone was exciting to watch. His ten yard passes were as useful as his twenty yard ones. We were dying for him to shoot.

So we survived. More than survived. When 'Arry took over we faced an immeadiate run of Bolton, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and naffing Liverpool again. Who could have predicted just how well we would account for ourselves? The next league run consists of Fulham, Blackburn, Everton and West Ham.

BIOYC!

Gomes 5 Fearless and nuts. Let's hope BJ and Honeycut can fix him up.  

Cesar 7 An outstanding save. Didn't look too shoddy at all.

Corluka 8 Calmer than a calm thing, more composed than an art student's picture of a bowl of fruit.

Hutton 6.5 Not outstanding.

Bale 6 Needs to get a plan. This one isn't entirely working.

Dawson 6.9 Looked re-invigourated and about 100 IQ points better off from his last appearance.

Zokora 7.5 This guy does impressions! Last night it was a 'Defensive Midfielder'. Astonishing gig.

O'Hara 7.2 Grafted.

Huddlestone 8 MOTM. Looked terrific. Creative, hard tackling and deserved a goal. Wunderbar.

Lennon 7.5 Motored all night.

Campbell 8.1 Intelligent kid. Ran all night and took advantage of a second rate Liverpool.

Pavlyuchenko 8.1 Doesn't muck about. Supercalifragilisticromanpavlyuchenko [repeat til fade...]

Boateng 7 What was that Madness lyric? 'Bring back the Prince..' Looked very useful.

Torrent for entire game HERE and first half HERE and HERE and second half HERE and HERE

It's all upbeat when it comes to 'Arry so far. And with the revitalised performances he's been serving up only rightly so.

Here's some gold from within the hallowed walls that may go some way to explaining where the feel good factor has come from.

In one of his first gatherings with the players, 'Arry said, "You boys look hungry" ...and proceeded to plant a bottle of ketchup on the table.

Huddlestone is being kept on a slightly shorter leash as 'Arry is determind to keep him 'lean and mean'.

This backs up what I was hearing from another source recently who told me that the Ramos food regime was so oppressive that a number of players were on more than one occasion sneaking off to a McDonalds after training.

'Arry was dumbfounded by the atmosphere in the dressing room. He felt the banter was 'criminal' and took immeadiate action. He instructed Pavlyuchenko and Modric to 'start taking the piss' out of the English players.

On player development some great news!

Lennon has been told not to worry about scoring. 'Arry wants all his attention on his final ball.

Bentley is well regarded. 'Arry sees him almost in the Ronaldo mould - going past players and the dead ball specialist.

Gareth Bale has had a bit of an earful. His development is a key concern. 'Arry is more than aware he hasn't been producing like he was.

Corluka has really caught 'Arry's eye and his progress viewed as a real positive. Hutton has not made such a good first impression but still very much being worked on.

That's all good in my book.

Viva 'Arry.

 SIGN THIS!

http://www.petitiononline.com/tr4n5f3r/petition.html

Word just in from the training ground that Jemaine Jenas is very unlikely to feature in tomorrow's Carling Cup game against Bindipper FC. 

The problem is toe shaped and one that has required holes drilled into the nail in order to release the pressure build up. Dependent upon how he responds to treatment it is felt he could even miss the Fulham game too.

Elsewhere, the most heavily substituted knacker in the history of substituted knackers looks certain to be benched by Benitez.

"People talk about big names playing but it is more important to talk about good players and we will have good players playing in the Carling Cup." said the most successful Mariachi player to have ever managed a Premiership side.

Yes Piltdown man, he means to rest you and unleash the proven and consequently feared Torres on us.

SIGN THIS!

http://www.petitiononline.com/tr4n5f3r/petition.html

A new dawn, another win. I could get used to this.

The difference is undoubtedly Redschnapps and the difference is these boys really believe they can turn things around. We're not quite out of the woods yet, but we're off bottom and able to start looking folk square in the eye again.

You see clubs come off the rails hit the relegation zone and and you watch them fight. You can see the fight has gone out of them. Drowning - not waving. Tottenham's performances since 'Arry came in have not been like that. More like masterclasses in common sense and a thing called ...will.  

Gomes 7 I predict a time when his critics will groan when he comes for a cross and he only catches it.

Woodgate 7 Kept them at bay using only a large broom and dustbin lid.

Ekotto 2.5 Hopefully we can appeal the card and get the ban extended so he can have a long think about what it is he wants out of life.

Corluka 7 Every game I see marginal improvement. Note to PSB: That is how you leave a club.

King 6.4 Uncomfortable viewing. The battery is going and it fell over at a crucial moment.  

Zokora 6.5 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest time. Is he a patient or a doctor?

Jenas 6.5 I'm beginning to think he might be agoraphobic.

Lennon 6 Came on and didn't change the game.

Huddlestone 6.6 Class in a glass. Unfortunately it was a flute and we need him by the pint.

Bentley 6.5 A day where he had to battle to do anything. I'd say the lid on his hair wax wouldn't undo the first time and his earphones on his iPod were all tangled up like you would not believe.

Modric 8.1 Man Of The Match. He's a terrier. Twice as good as any City player. Inspirational.

Bent 8 Super Darren Bent. Would you Adam and Eve it? Me neither.