The North London Divide | Where Arsenal and Tottenham Collide!

Cesc's comedy hero

Whatever happened, I really can’t imagine Fabregas spitting at Brian Horton in the manner it is being alleged.

Maybe in the heat of the moment they were having words and a bit of spit flew out. It happens. A friend of mine coincidentally called Phil, cannot speak to you without spraying you. Some people just have that condition.

What evidence exactly are they presenting to the FA? Did they get DNA from the spit? I’ve read that fitness conditioner Sean Rush is also involved now so you’d better watch your back Cesc.

I can understand why a small club like Hull would not want Arsenal getting away with something like this but they have had their say in the press I think they would have put themselves in a much better light if they had just left it at that. Surely all this drama is the last thing they need when they are still in a relegation scrap?

Although it’s likely to have a negative effect on Hull I don’t think it will bother Arsenal in the slightest. In fact I think they love to be hated at times.

I realise you will likely defend your captain whatever you think but are there any Gooners that do believe he’s guilty and are brave enough to admit it?

Darren Bent is not the best player in the world but I believe he gets some unfair stick at times.

Yes, he cost a lot of money but was that his fault? Tottenham have a proven track record of over-spending, Bent is just  another case.

Fabio Cappello is no mug and he has called Bent up to his England squad. That must say something?

Sure, Bent may not be a world-beater but he is a good, hard-working honest player. I know I’d rather have a player like that than a tosser who doesn’t give a fuck about the club.

Two years ago Aaron ‘Lick em up’ Lennon was the player to fill David Beckham’s boots for England. In more recent times he would have been lucky if Beckham let him clean his boots.

I can’t understand how a player with such potential went downhill so fast. It was even faster than Aaron Lennon himself. And that is fast.

Lennon has an attribute that scares the living shit out of defenders. He can run through their legs………..Nah seriously he has pace to burn. The problem is he does all the hard work, running through defenders legs, very very fast, but then he crosses to the fat Spud in row Z. There is no end product.

It must be very frustrating to watch every week. Not for me, I piss me pants, but for Spuds. A player with so much potential, a potential world-beater ( I wrote that with a straight face) who can do everything but the very thing he is meant to do. Cross the fucking ball.

There has been a slight improvement this season. From what I’ve seen he has been one of the best players for Tottenham but unless he improves his crossing then he will never be a regular in the England squad.

Mind you, Harry Redknapp will see to that himself. I thought Tottenham were pioneers for the English game. Fabio Cappello doesn’t agree. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…….

I was out with Wrighty watching the Arsenal – Newcastle game on Saturday and we were discussing the upcoming Champions League fixtures and how the Villearreal game might not be as easy as some people are expecting.

Robert Pires came to my mind as a player that has done superbly for Villarreal and I questioned whether Arsene had let him go too soon. I know it’s easy for me to say after the event and Arsene has generally done well off loading your older players such as Lunjberg, Overmars and Petit but Pires certainly still had another couple of good seasons left.

How do you Gooners feel about Arsene’s obsession with having a young squad? For me it’s a good policy to follow but I think he could probably do with retaining a bit more of a balance where the average age of your squad is concerned. You do seem to be hitting form at the right time this season but I do think you have missed not having a few more senior players in your dressing room over the last couple of years.

I never really rated Gilberto Silva very highly as a Premiership footballer, but he did seem like a good character to have at your club. I was surprised by the decision to allow him to leave when you were already lacking in experienced players. He was a world cup winner and had a wealth of experience in both the Premiership and Champions League.

Arsenal’s season could yet turn out to be a very good one and with Fabregas to come back and Arshavin hitting form your destiny is certainly in your own hands, but I still feel Wenger needs to correct the age balance come the summer.

There is no denying the fact that a fit Ledley King is a class act of a player. I’ve always rated him despite the fact he plays for Tottenham. The problem is he is hardly ever fit and the reason is his knee swells up bigger than Robbie Keane’s head between matches.

I’ve no doubt that he would be a big plus for England, and obviously Tottenham, if he could have a knee transplant. Unfortunately for King, Tottenham and England, medical procedures are not that far advanced and whole knee transplants are unavailable.

Seriously, it is a real shame that King has this problem because a player of his quality deserves to have more England caps. Despite his call-up to the recent England squad I can’t see him gaining many more. Tottenham can find a way of utilizing King by allowing him the freedom not to train between games or only using him once a week.

England would not have the luxury of using King this way at International tournaments. With games coming thick and fast it would be an obvious problem and I doubt that Fabio Capello, the ruthless man he is, would take that gamble.

And for Ledley King, that is a real shame.

When it was announced that Tottenham had signed Giovani Dos Santos I was bewildered! When the price was confirmed at £4.7 million I felt sick.

This lad had real talent and played for Barcelona. Now he had signed for Spurs for peanuts. To be honest I felt a pang of jealousy. At first.

I felt that something couldn’t be right. A player of his calibre coming to the Premiership for such a low price. Something didn’t add up.

I’d heard he was a party animal but if Ronaldinho could go out on the booze then so could Dos Santos. After all, he was being labelled the new Ronaldinho by some. 

Anyway, the new Ronaldinho now plays in the Championship with Ipswich. Some say this is a step up from Tottenham, some say that Spurs have loaned him to Ipswich so he can acclimatise to the league because Tottenham will be there soon.

All I know is if people thought that White Hart Lane was a come down from the Nou Camp then Dos Santos must have had a big shock arriving at Portman Road. It must have been paradise.

So what have Tottenham done to Dos Santos? I thought they were going to transform him from budding world superstar to actual world superstar. There has been a transformation, but not the way it was expected.

Tottenham pretty much secured 4th place for the Gooners yesterday. As hard as it is for me to swallow, the cracking performance at Villa Park was more than worth it. Admittedly, we were under pressure for large parts of the game and letting a goal in that late in the day made the end of the match a bit nervy, but it was one of the best results of Spurs indifferent season.

There is no question about it; the King/Woodgate partnership is up there with any other in the Premier League. If Arsenal had a back two as capable as Kingate, I don’t think it would be 4th place but 1st place they would be battling for. If it wasn’t for his prosthetic limbs, Ledley would be priceless in today’s market.

How many of you Arsenal fans were cheering ‘Lick em up Aaron’ as Lennon turned the Villa defence inside out? I’m sure Wrighty was.

There were a few slack passes from the usual suspects (Ekotto anyone?!) but on the whole, the players performed well. It was the type of away performance I hope for but don’t often get from Spurs. Harry was brave with his team selection and pulling Zokora off before half time probably made the difference between us leaving with 3pts or 0pts. I think Corluka should start every game personally. He has made one or two individual errors this season but no more than anyone else. He is certainly a better full back than Zokora for me and definitely more productive with the ball.

So as Harry’s got his sights on 4th place for us next season, maybe you can do us a similar favour at the business end!

There are times in life that you know who your mates are. Today is one of those days.

My co-author Mabbs is supposed to be a pal of mine even though he is a Spud. I can deal with that and I even put up with it but today he crossed the line.

About five minutes before the Spuds started against Aston Villa I had a vision of them winning 2-1. I didn’t have time to put on a bet with it being so close to kick-off so I thought I’d ring a well-known betting man, my friend Mabbs, to do it on-line.

Unfortunately for me Mabbs had decided to turn off his mobile and for some reason wouldn’t answer his house phone. I tried about 25 times but to no avail.

Around 20 minutes into the game, when the Spuds were already one-up, he decides to ring me back. I tell him what I wanted and he says that the way the game was going I’d have no chance anyway. He said the way Villa were playing they would beat Tottenham about 7-1.

I rang Mabbs on full-time NOW  knowing the game had ended 2-1 to Tottenham and he laughed. He thought it was funny that he hadn’t put the bet on but was adamant it was OK because Tottenham had secured fourth place for Arsenal.

What a tosser!

Mabbs, the Spuds may have helped Arsenal’s cause (although of course not directly) but it would have felt a lot better knowing I’d have won money on it too!

Cheers Mabbs………..

Harry ‘The Deserter’ Redknapp is already planning life without Tottenham Hotspur and to be totally honest that hardly surprises me.

The bloke doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything but himself and his precious reputation amongst the media.

Because he is such a diamond geezer it is conveniently forgotten that he walked out of Portsmouth, twice, and left Southampton in the mire after his appointment resulted in them being relegated.

He said that he would walk out of Tottenham if they were relegated. I’ve no doubt if that were the case then he would blame the relegation on somebody else.

The man never shoulders any of the blame and was happy to accept praise during the Spuds mini-revival earlier in the season but refuses to accept any criticism for the poor form that followed. Instead he blames the players and never the man in the mirror.

Perhaps after the way Tottenham have treated previous managers themselves and Redknapp are made for each other. Both are treacherous.

I wonder who will jump first, Harry or Tottenham?

Mr Arrogance

I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot with the Arsenal mob here, there are a number of your players I do rate and I even like a select few of them, Eduardo for example.

One player I can’t stomach however, is Emmanuel Adebayor. I think his attitude absolutely stinks, he thinks he’s better than he is and you should have cashed in on his one good season in the summer when he was demanding you break your wage structure to hang onto his services.

When the Gunners beat 3-1 Spurs at the Lane in 2007, I thought Adebayor was going to be a serious player. The problem is, Emmanuel thought he was better than Thierry Henry thereafter. His attitude has gone downhill fast since then.

I can understand why Arsene was so desperate to keep Adebayor at the club with Helb jumping ship and Eduardo’s injury, but I think you would have been much better off getting rid of Mr Arrogance for what would have likely been silly money at the end of last season.

I’m sure a number of Arsenal fans will disagree but I’m just as sure a number of you will feel the same way.

If you look at how hard Eduardo has worked to get his career back and how humble he is, then look at the way Adebayor acts like a prima donna and his poor work rate. I know which player I’d rather have in my team. I think a fully fit Eduardo is twice the player Adebayor is at the moment and has been for the last 18 months.

If I was in Wenger’s shoes, I’d be hoping a club like Barcelona or Milan comes in with a big money offer in the close season because Emmanuel Adebayor is a player Arsenal would be better off without IMHO.