[craguuscool]

Sven-Goran Eriksson signs fellow countryman for Tottenham

Sven-Goran Eriksson, the current Swedish manager of English Premier Division side Tottenham Hotspur has today went into the transfer market to sign up another striker as back-up to the current strikers at the London club. Eriksson has signed up fellow countryman Henrik Larsson on a free contract agreement which will see the former Celtic and Barcelona man join from Helsingborg on Thursday the 1st of January.

The UEFA Cup Finalist and UEFA Champions League winner who spent seven highly-successful years at Celtic will move to his second English club, the first being Manchester United where he acheived a league winners medal, Tottenham in a move that will most likely see the Swede end his career at White Hart Lane.

The thirty-six year old who played a part in Sweden's European Championship 2008 Group Matches has signed a contract that will eventually see him earn around fifteen thousand pounds per week and a deal that will keep him at the club until 2011.

Larsson, who has a large fanbase around the world because of his career acheivements seemed excited when talking to reporters outside Helsingborg's Olympia stadium in Helsingborg, Sweden.

"At this stage of my career, I felt that I would be at Helsingborg until the end of it, I've enjoyed a glorious career, I loved it at Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United but I always said that I will end my career at Helsingborg, unfortunately I have decided against that because I have been given the chance to play in the Premiership, maybe only as a back-up but it's still a big chance for me to shine on a big stage again and I hope the fans and staff at Helsingborg understand that."

"There will be a lot of competition from several players at Tottenham, you've got Andrey Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Obafemi Martins, all fantastic players but I will enjoy the competition and I will enjoy working under Sven-Goran Eriksson, a fellow Swede because he did work wonders with England and he did well with Manchester City so hopefully he can do the same with Tottenham when I sign for the club."

Larsson will spend around five more months in Sweden before move.

[shan0811]

Larsson would had a lot of experience in the side.

[craguuscool]

shan0811: Possibly, he's one at his age that can be a game-changer and he's reliable back-up. Thanks for commenting.

Saturday 23rd August 2008
Tottenham 0-2 Arsenal


Adebayor scores in front of Tottenham support

The frustration that Tottenham Hotspur felt on the first day of the season after drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough in the Premier League returned this evening when they fell to London rivals Arsenal in a one-sided game which seen once rumoured Tottenham manager Arsene Wenger get one-over on new Tottenham boss Sven-Goran Eriksson. The game was controlled from start to finish by Arsenal and it continues the poor start made by Eriksson.

This game, much like Tottenham's match with Middlesbrough only seen two goals, only this time Tottenham didn't get any of them. The first goal came just after half-time when in the forty-seventh minute Emmanuel Adebayor slotted past Gomes when he was played through by Robin Van Persie. He was booked for celebrating right in front of the Tottenham support.

The second goal came just nine minutes before time when in the eighty-first minute Robin Van Persie popped up to well and truly but the game beyond Tottenham. Van Persie was played through by Alexandre Song and he didn't need to be asked twice as he put it by Gomes to send the Arsenal fans crazy.

The man of the match was Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes who made sure Arsenal's goal tally was halted at two. He made a terrific double save when Adebayor's header came towards him that he parried away before punching clear the attempt by Van Persie that tricked the whole of the Tottenham defence.

Tottenham hardly got a sniff in and when they did it fell to Dos Santos, again still filling in for Obafemi Martins but Manuel Almunia was able to get his leg out right in time to stop the ball from going into the net.

After the match, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reserved special praise for the Tottenham goalkeeper saying that he was impressed with how well he had performed against his side and said that Tottenham should be grateful to have such a fantastic player in the ranks.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "Another game, another poor performance, like I said last time we need time to gel but even then I expect a better performance than that. I can say this to the Tottenham support, I plan to turn things around."

[craguuscool]

UEFA Cup First Round Draw

Today in Monaco the draw was held for the First Round of the UEFA Cup 2008-2009. Eighty teams were drawn together in the draw which sees thirty-two teams enter through qualification in the league, the thirty-two winners from the Second Qualifying Round and the sixteen who failed to reach the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League. The draw was made by the UEFA General Secretary David Taylor. The draw is as follows:

Benfica vs. M. Netanya
Brann vs. Partizan
Galatasaray vs. A.S. Saint-Etienne
Feyenoord vs. Napoli
Borac vs. Deportivo
Rosenborg vs. AaB
Rapid Wien vs. Sampdoria
Valencia vs. Litex
Salzburg vs. Dnipro
Club Brugge vs. Metalist
Kalmar FF vs. A.S. Nancy Lorraine
Kayserispor vs. sc Heerenveen
Udinese vs. MOTHERWELL
Dinamo vs. H. Tel-Aviv
Basel vs. Zilina
Slovan Liberec vs. Levski
AEK vs. Standard
A.C. Milan vs. NAC Breda
CSKA Moscow vs. Wisla
Debrecen vs. Sparta Prague
Ajax vs. FC Haka
PORTSMOUTH vs. NEC
Sevilla vs. Urinea Urziceni
FC Twente vs. Stade Rennais F.C.
Timisoara vs. Stuttgart
HSV vs. Vojvodina
Wolfsburg vs. F.C. København
MAN CITY vs. Viking
Grasshopper vs. Racing
Dortmund vs. A. Madrid
EVERTON vs. Maritimo
Banik Ostrava vs. ASTON VILLA
Brondby vs. Dinamo Bucharest
Hertha BSC vs. Zurich
B. Jerusalem vs. PSG
AA Gent vs. Besiktas
FC Vaslui vs. Braga
Dinamo Kiev vs. Vit. Setubal
Red Star vs. Rapid
Vit. Guimaras vs. Tottenham

Who will be victorious this year?

[craguuscool]

Carling Cup Third Round Draw

Wembley Stadium was the venue today as the Carling Cup Third Round Draw was made, the draw seen the big teams in the English Premier Division enter into a round which is considered the "round of shocks" as many of the major upsets happen in this round. The draw is as follows:

Sunderland vs. QPR
Middlesbrough vs. Bristol City
Man. City or Sheffield Wed. vs. Man. United
Wigan vs. Bolton
Sheffield United vs. Leicester
Aston Villa vs. Everton
Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace
Burnley vs. Derby County
TOTTENHAM vs. Newcastle
Reading vs. Portsmouth
Fulham vs. Blackburn
West Brom vs. Cardiff City
Chelsea vs. Hull
Norwich City vs. West Ham
Stoke vs. Birmingham
Liverpool vs. Watford

Can Tottenham repeat this feat, the only success they had under Ramos?

[craguuscool]

30th August 2008
Stoke City 0-4 Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur today finally recorded their first win of the season on the third game of the season by trouncing Stoke City by four goals to nil away from home at Britanna Stadium. This result moves Tottenham up to fifth place in the table where they could stay depending on the results in the Super Sunday games.

This game marked a huge leap-up in performance from their previous two games and newly-promoted Stoke City could not handle a Tottenham side who were back to full strength following the return of Obafemi Martins from international duty and Roman Pavlyuchenko from a broken nose that put him out for one game.

The first of four goals for Tottenham came in the thirty-seventh minute when debut boy Obafemi Martins broke free from his marker and was played through by Roman Pavlyuchenko, Martins then calmly slotted it past Sorenson to give the Spurs the lead, the first lead that they have held all season having only scored one goal previous to this.

The second came in the fifty-sixth minute when Obafemi Martins was fouled inside the box, Luka Modric stepped up to take the penalty that came as a result of the foul and cooly placed it into the net wheeling away to celebrate.

Twelve minutes after this, the poor tackles from Stoke City continued as they gave away another penalty, this time when Roman Pavlyuchenko was brought down by Carl Dickinson who was sent off for his second yellow card. Pavlyuchenko stepped up and put it in the net to put the game pretty much beyond Stoke City.

The final goal came from Tom Huddlestone in the ninety-second minute through Tom Huddlestone, a player many expected to be sold this transfer window but he has impressed with recent performances and his stunning strike from just outside of the area was enough to see the game out.

The other incident of concern was when Roman Pavlyuchenko received another injury in the eighty-third minute. It seems that the injury won't be long term and that Pavlyuchenko should be back in time for the match against Hull.

This post has been edited by craguuscool: 25 May 2009 - 06:53 PM

[Euan]

You signed Henrik? Well thats it, no one needs to turn up

You've won the league :delighted:

[craguuscool]

Euan: I certainly hope so man, once again thanks for reading and commenting.

14th September 2008
Hull City 0-1 Tottenham

After an impressive four-nil victory over Stoke City away from home two weeks ago it was expected that the Spurs would do the same to promoted Hull City. However, Tottenham came into this game with a much different squad than the one that had steamrolled Stoke having most of their players away on international duty such as Johnathan Woodgate, Jamie O'Hara and Tom Huddlestone all with England and injuries to Corluka also meant changes.

It seemed that this Tottenham team weren't used to playing as a unit as they were very shaky early on and any chances on goal were spurned. Hull City looked more confident going forward and had a few chances they should have put into the net.

The one and only goal in the game came right at the end of it when in the ninetieth minute Tottenham scored, it came from a corner which was whipped in by Roman Pavlyuchenko as the ball floated over defender Martin Caceres rose above everyone else to header the ball into the back of the net to give Tottenham a very late three points.

That goal for the time-being puts Tottenham right up into a UEFA Champions League spot just behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in that order.

The major worry coming out of the game for Hull City was that star striker Daniel Cousin suffered an injury although there isn't word on how that will turn out.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "I thought, considering the players we had away on international duty that we played well. I still think that many of our back-up players should've performed better and by half-time I expected better from the more experienced stars such as Roman Pavlyuchenko but it is a good victory to have and a very healthy three points."

Martin Caceres: "To get the Man of the Match award and to have scored such a crucial goal at such a late stage of the game was great. I really want to keep up my good performance and help this club succeed."

This post has been edited by craguuscool: 25 May 2009 - 08:11 PM

[craguuscool]

18th September 2008
UEFA Cup Football Live on Five
UEFA Cup First Round Leg 1
Vit. Guimaraes 0-3 Tottenham

The recent good form displayed by Tottenham in the English Premier League recently has transferred over to the UEFA Cup as Tottenham produced yet another good performance in the First Round of the competition which sees them head to the second leg at home with three crucial away goals and the game also seen the return of several players who missed out on the Hull City game because of international duties.

The first of three goals for Tottenham came in the thirty-third minute through a penalty kick. Obafemi Martins raced through the Portuguese sides defence but was brought down by Manuel Marques who was booked. Roman Pavlyuchenko then stepped up confidently to score the penalty kick.

Five minutes after this Obafemi Martins got the chance to score that was taken away from him a few minutes before when a penalty was given. This time Jamie O'Hara played through Martins who dribbled past a defender before sliding it under the goalkeepers legs to make the lead more secure and send Tottenham two nil up.

Into stoppage time in the first half, Tottenham wrapped up the game through youngster Jamie O'Hara. O'Hara scored a wonderful volley that came from a corner, the ball came in and the Englishman let it drop and his stinging shot was parried into the goalkeepers net.

After half-time Tottenham took their foot off of the gas at Vit. Guimaraes got more into the game and battled hard to salvage something but goalkeeper Gomes prevented them from getting anything and it's almost certain Tottenham will reach the group stages.


Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "Another good performance today and I felt that for the first half we played the best we have all season, the second half wasn't so good but I told the players they could relax and I guess they took that a little bit too seriously but we definitely have a comfortable lead to take to White Hart Lane."

Jamie O'Hara: "You know, growing up I'd always been a fan of Tottenham, I won't lie I grew up in London so I knew the rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal and I did train with the Arsenal academy but my heart has always been at Tottenham, it's just huge to be able to play for your team in Europe and week in and out in the league."

[craguuscool]

21st September 2008
English Premier Division
Tottenham 1-0 Aston Villa

This evening Tottenham secured their first win at home this season to take their English Premier Division record to three straight victories. It only took one goal for Tottenham to get a victory over the Villians and despite Villa having more chances on goal they could not finish them and that ultimately lead to the Spurs picking up a vital victory which propels them up to third place in the table behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

The only goal of the game came in the thirty-third minute when Obafemi Martins who is being tagged a 'goal machine' popped up to give the victory to Tottenham. The goal came from a corner which was whipped in by Andrey Arshavin, the Nigerian international was the unlikely person to get his head to the ball to put it past Brad Friedel.

Aston Villa pounded the Tottenham Hotspur goal for almost the entire game after this but in-form goalkeeper Gomes who has not conceded in four consecutive games managed to keep out Aston Villa's dangerous strikers John Carew, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor much to the dismay of Villa manager Martin O'Neil.

It wasn't a happy return to White Hart Lane for Darren Bent as he had to sit on the bench and watch his former side take a vital three points from his side.

Next up for Aston Villa is Everton in the Carling Cup Third Round whereas for Tottenham they face Newcastle United in the same competition.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "It wasn't the best performance today but we grinded out a victory, the defence was strong as was Gomes who has really been delivering with his performances in the past few games. We sit in third place which is big for us considering we played poorly in our first two games. We just need to continue the good results and hope to be sitting at the top soon enough."

Didier Zokora: "I've wanted to break back into the team as I've been playing with the reserves and I've been trying my hardest and I'd like to say that I have earned my way back in, I've impressed so far this season and have impressed tonight and this Man of the Match so far."

[.Jay]

Great start.

[craguuscool]

Jaygull: Thanks man, I really appreciate the comments and I hope you continue reading.

24th September 2008
Carling Cup Third Round
Tottenham 2-1 Newcastle United

Tottenham Hotspur picked up a two goals to one victory in the Third Round of the Carling Cup to successfully begin the defense of their trophy that they won against Chelsea last year. The London club dominated the early-going in the contest until just after half-time when Newcastle got back into the game and looked very threatening although at the end of the game it could be said that the result was fair and Tottenham deserved to go through.

The first goal of the game came thirty-seven minutes in through Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko when he was played through by Jamie O'Hara, the star managed to turn one Newcastle defender before slotting it under Shay Given to give Tottenham the lead in the tie. Pavlyuchenko was close to being booked as he reached for his shirt but stopped himself.

Three minutes into stoppage time in the first half Tottenham gave their lead a boost by adding a second to the scoreboard. Youngster Jamie O'Hara was on hand to score another vital goal which technically put Tottenham through, O'Hara was fouled outside the area and asked to take the free-kick which he did and scored surprisingly.

In the fifty-second minute the nerves returned to White Hart Lane as Jonas scored for Newcastle United from a corner, the ball came in and he managed to beat Gomes for the first time in three hundred and sixty nine minutes with a header that Gomes was unlucky not to tip out of his goal, the disappointed of his record being broken was clear to see.

Michael Owen was the most frustrated player on the field by the end of the night as he had multiple chances to turn the game around and even when he had an open goal to shoot at he smashed it over the crossbar to everyone's amazement furthering claims that the England international has lost his touch as a footballer.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "This game was very similar to the game against Aston Villa, we played much better than we did in that game but it was like, we scored in the first half and then in the second we just really let them come at us and it really cost us. There were several good individual performances out there also though which was nice to see as the manager of this club."

Jamie O'Hara: "I just try and try to perform to the best of my ability, I understand that I cannot do that all of the time but when I do I want it to be a huge influence on the rest of the game and today I think my performance had that, I think I won it for the team without sounding too big-headed and I'm just grateful that Sven has given me this chance."

[craguuscool]

27th September 2008
Carling Cup Fourth Round Draw

Just a few days after the Carling Cup Third Round matches were played, the draw was made today at Wembley Stadium in London, England for the Fourth Round draw which will see sixteen teams battle it out for a place in the Quarter Final of the competition. The draw is as follows:

(PRM) Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool (PRM)
(PRM) Middlesbrough vs. West Brom (PRM)
(PRM) Sunderland vs. Stoke City (PRM)
(PRM) Arsenal vs. West Ham United (PRM)
(CH) Burnley vs. Blackburn (PRM)
(CH) Sheffield United vs. Tottenham (PRM)
(PRM) Portsmouth vs. Chelsea (PRM)
(PRM) Manchester United vs. Aston Villa (PRM)

All games will be broadcast live on the twelfth of November on Sky Sports' new interactive service where all eight games will be screened and you can chose what game you want to watch from the red button option. The main game will be the mouth-watering tie between Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Fired his side into the Fourth Round.

[Ana_Garcia]

Very good so far! I wish you good luck

This post has been edited by AC/DC: 25 May 2009 - 10:20 PM

[shan0811]

Noce win against Magpies, and next Carling Cup match against Sheff Utd looks to be a easier one. KIU

[Todd]

Looking good Craig, hope you can progress in the Carling Cup

[craguuscool]

AC/DC: Thanks for the luck and the comment, it's appreciated.
shan0811: Yeah, expected a tough game from the Magpies but I managed to get the victory, well shocks happen but I also hope I get through it. Thanks.
Todd: I hope I can progress too, thanks for the comment.

27th September 2008
English Premier Division
Manchester City 3-1 Tottenham

Manchester City today brought an end to the four game unbeaten streak of rivals Tottenham Hotspur be defeating them at the City of Manchester Stadium by three goals to one. Tottenham never looked to threaten Manchester City and the result of this match puts the Eastlands club into third position in the league whereas for the time-being Tottenham Hotspur sit in fifth position behind Arsenal, Liverpool, the aforementioned Manchester City and Chelsea.

It took thirty-eight minutes for the deadlock to be broken in Manchester and it was Italian midfielder Angelo Palombo who scored the goal, the highly-rated former Sampdoria man was on hand when he was played through by Robinho, he took it past Jamie O'Hara before slamming it past Gomes into the net to put City into the lead.

In the fifty-second minute Manchester City doubled their lead through English international Shaun Wright Phillips. The former Chelsea man scored a wonderful goal when he sped down the wing before turning inside and putting it past Gomes to put Manchester City in a more comfortable position but Tottenham didn't really threaten from here on out.

The game was well and truly wrapped up in the eighty-second minute when Brazilian striker Robinho charged forward and then chipped it over the oncoming Gomes as the City of Manchester Stadium erupted in cheers.

There was a consolation goal from Andrey Arshavin one minute into injury time, the Russian got on the end of a pass from O'Hara and put it by Joe Hart but there was little joy from the player.

Next up for Tottenham is Vit. Guimaraes in the UEFA Cup First Round Second Leg, as for Manchester City they find themselves entertaining Viking at home in the same competition.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "I wasn't exactly pleased with what I saw today, we didn't have drive, determination or passion at all throughout the game which in my opinion was disappointing after some good performances. We can only look to improve."

Shaun Wright Phillips: "It's a hugely important victory for us, one that we can really enjoy because we knew given Tottenham's form it would be tough."

This post has been edited by craguuscool: 26 May 2009 - 01:21 PM

[craguuscool]

2nd October 2008
UEFA Cup Football Live on Five
UEFA Cup First Round Second Leg
Aggregate Score: 5-0
Tottenham 2-0 Vit. Guimaraes

This evening at White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur booked their place in the UEFA Cup Group Stages after eliminating Vit. Guimaraes defeating them by two goals to nil on the night and five nil on aggregate. The result was never in doubt before the game or during it as the confident flowed through the stadium, Tottenham bounced back from their defeat against Manchester City to deliver an efficient performance.

The first goal of the game got rid of any worries or doubts that anybody had as just three minutes in midfielder Tom Huddlestone struck, Luka Modric laid off Tom Huddlestone outside the area and the Englishman jinked past one Vit. Guimaraes defender before lifting the ball high into the top corner for an brilliant goal which many are saying is an early contender for 'goal of the competition'.

Eleven minutes after this it was another midfielder who scored for Tottenham, this time it was youngster Jamie O'Hara who scored another great free-kick similar to his previous ones. Luka Modric who was involved in creating the first goal was also involved in this one as he was fouled by Gregory, O'Hara stepped up confidently flighting it over the wall into the bottom right hand corner.

The game should have seen more goals as Tottenham could and should have got more goals, they were constantly on the attack but either the goalkeeper kept denying them or they would fluff the shot.

Vit. Guimaraes only had one chance of note when Douglas was played through by Makukula, Douglas struck towards goal but was left disheartened when the ball cannoned back off of the crossbar, he kicked the turf in frustraton.

Now, Vit. Guimaraes will continue in the Porteuguese league while Tottenham play Everton in the English Premier Division.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "A better performance but that is what can be expected because we have the mentality to bounce back when things go wrong, in Portugal it was shown that Guimaraes were a tricky side capable of creating goal-scoring opportunities and we seen glimpses of that tonight but the game was never in doubt and we did really well tonight."

Jamie O'Hara: "It seems that every domestic cup match or European night I get this award but I am not complaining, to get a goal that sends us to the group stage, for me, is absolutely huge and one I will savour."

[safcrhys]

Good update mate, keep it up.

[craguuscool]

safcrhys: Thanks for the comment, much appreciated and I hope you continue reading.

5th October 2008
English Premier Division
Super Sunday
Everton 0-1 Tottenham

Just three days after a victory in Europe, in-form Tottenham Hotspur picked up another victory in the English Premier Division winning a hard-fought narrow match at Goodison Park against the evenly-matched Everton. Both teams battled hard but in the end it was Tottenham coming out on top which means they move up to fifth in the league table while Everton slip to ninth position in the league which is sure not to please Everton fans.

The only goal of the game came late on in the seventy-second minute and the crowd, no matter how hard it was to say it chanted the name of Roman Pavlyuchenko after a scorching goal that sunk a gritty Everton side. The goal came about when Didier Zokora played a high ball forward which Gareth Bale who had made his way to midfield latched on to, he played it forward to Martins who was looking for a one-two with Russian Pavlyuchenko but Roman didn't return the ball instead surprising many by shooting, the annoyance of Obafemi Martins disappeared when he seen that the ball had crossed the line for a spectacular goal.

Some would say that a draw would have been better suited as the end result in the tie simply because both teams really went at it and gave as good as they got, many chances were created at both ends with Tottenham cracking the post with one effort and Everton's Yakubu blasting it over the bar.

The major flashpoint in the match came when Yakubu was fouled in the box by Johnathan Woodgate but the referee waved away the penalty claims which infuriated Yakubu so much he insulted the referee and was lucky on to receive a yellow.

The league takes a mini-break as international duty resumes but in thirteen days Tottenham will be back in action against Fulham in the Premiership and Everton will be facing West Ham United.

Final Thoughts

Sven-Goran Eriksson: "We knew that coming here we would have a rough ride, they'd come at us and they would make it difficult to break them down, Tottenham and Everton are two evenly-matched sides so I expected a tight game and that is what happened, I am delighted to get the victory at the end of it though because these are a potentially vital three points."

Didier Zokora: "I don't think there has been a time in my career where I have enjoyed my football more than right now. I really hope I can help the team to progress."

This post has been edited by craguuscool: 26 May 2009 - 03:00 PM