A case of 'Let it be' for Lennon's groin

We must be the unluckiest team in the league for injuries at the wrong time!!

Have to say that I had my head in my hands when Kaboul came on to replace TH, but in all fairness he didn't do a bad job. Not the solution to our problems though. After Fulham we've got Blackburn and Stoke, so expect injury crisis to deepen.

I hear Clattenburg's the ref for Fulham. Expect the usual controversy.

Kaboul didn't do a bad job ??????? at what avoiding contact with the ball, since his return played twice looked awfull twice

This is dreadful news, another 6 weeks without our best player is unthinkable! If my maths are correct he might make it back for our games against the two scums, hopefully. As Alan says we are showing signs of coping without him but Bentley has shown he isn't the answer and we just look totally inept at creating anything unless our other pocket rocket Modric produces miracles like he did yesterday!

I for one am also concerned by the hudd situation. Kaboul didn't do a bad job but cannot distribute the ball like Hudd and he at the moment is the only fit option. I dread to think of the possibility of Penis playing alongside Wilson for an extended period!

Huddlestone is a bigger loss than Lennon as he dictates the pace of the game, at least with Lennon we have Bentley or Kranjaer who can step in, we have Kaboul who is a centre back. Maybe Bostock or Parratt but in Arry we trust!!!

kaboul was shocking we he came on. just proves the point to some fans on here saying to play him as def mid. square peg for round hole!

Yoda, we won't have Penis available either as he is having surgery for a groin injury on wednesday. At the moment we're looking at no peg for a round hole!

The Lennon injury gets more and more baffling surly we have medical staff overseeing is groin injury and Harry said he is flying in training. Then the next thing he has broke down and another scan .So its of to Germany to see another specialist we have machines now that can tell you what is wrong so how come we got his groin injury so badly wrong and we started training him what the hell is six week going to do if he runs and it breaks down again thats another wasted time .He must be the most fowled player in the Europe if not the World and because of his speed players take a yellow card to stop him and it looks like its taken its tole on his little hip.Harry is not happy about this injury because it started when he slagged him of for walking of against Stoke then he backtracked on it later probably because when Keane through is shirt of at City in the Summer he left us .Lets hope the little fellow has not bean tapped after is england man of the match display all the manx and scousers want him

Hud a bigger loss than lennon!!! very weird statement indeed,yes he certainly does set the pace VERY SLOW, we all think tom is a talented guy but has not stepped up,he needs the rest etc he will get.
right side is a problem,esso could allow bale to go into left mid but not to happy with kranks on right or the mod.
Harrys non excistant youth policy has now bitten us on the arse (no pun intended)who are our youths? i cant remember.

Davspurs There is nothing wrong with Lennons hip, he's got a hernia in his groin known as a femoral hernia.
Big Mart, our youths are a bunch of lads currently match fit due to playing proper competitive football, I'd assume we are able to recall any one of them if need be.

Agree with Big Mart re Hudd. I was at the game sunday and I thought he was the only Spurs player not performing(first half).Also, I think arry nearly cost us that game by bringing on Kaboul. Why on earth did he not do the obvious and push bale to left half and bring on BAE at left back put Modric left central midfield. Hope he goes with this next game. Also gives us a bit more defensive strength across the middle with the ever improving Bale.
At this rate, Bale is going to be attracting some serious interest at the end of the season!!

dickie - kaboul has been played at right back and in midfield, how can you judge him as a player in those positions

I hate to sound like a broken record, but the obvious solution is to play Modric in the centre of midfield alongside Palacios. I agree with surreyyid, play Bale wide on the left and move Modric inside. Play your best 11 players and play each of them in his best position. That's a pretty sound philosophy. Of course, Modric will lose a few challenges because of his size, but that's a small price to pay to have Modric in the lineup and Kaboul on the bench.

I wouldn't push Bale to left midfield. The beauty of Bale pushing forward from left back is that teams can't mark him and struggle to pick him up when he bursts forward. Move him to midfield and teams can attempt to mark him out of the game.

I can see harry maybe having a change in formation i dont think he should but maybe a back 5 with bae right and bale left of a back three of corluka,dawson and bassong and a short midfield of modric wilson and kranc!

New chant for Gareth sampled from Outhere Brothers:

"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"

"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"

"Boom, Boom, Boom... Let me hear you say Bale... BALE !!!"

(Repeat chorus x10)

I would prefer to get O'Hara back, I dont know if that is possible.Kaboul looked out of sorts but coming on as CM was mad but with no other option what can you do. How many on here have wanted a CM or DM since May 2007.
Defoe for Bellamy fuyk right off.

Gudjohnsen would be a better option in midfield than Kaboul

We have recalled Jake Livermore from Peterborough. I would assume if we could have got O'Hara back we would have.

Fukk me... O'Hara the answer to our problems...I'd rather we bought the prince back... the guy is on fire and full of passion. seems to have sorted his head out finally..... Bale is our new Lennon!

Si, we sold Prince, O'Hara is only on loan, hence suggestions to bring him back.

I've been trying to find out whether if it's a case of we can't or we won't bring JOH back...I've found nothing so far but it's a slow day so I'm going to keep looking.

I hear you MK. But A) selling players doesnt stop harry bringing them back...!!! B) portsmouth are in administration.... Every player they have is now for sale....i miss the prince!

'Agree with Big Mart re Hudd. I was at the game sunday and I thought he was the only Spurs player not performing(first half)'


That 60 yard pass he played through to Defoe was just awful!

surreyyid - ever been to a game???

But A) the transfer window is now closed and B) we need someone in yesterday.

Mind you, with that said I have read Hudd should be ok for Saturday so fingers crossed.

aaaah good point. i thought they were reopening the window for Pompey only...

BS from the Daily Mail MK unfortunately, the spurs website has just painted an altogether less optimistic picture on his injury.

I think he'll be out for 3-6 months depending on how bad the ligament damage is.

That's his career finished then. It'll take him a few years to shed the 8 stone he's going to put on.

He's brought back Livermore who from what I have seen is Tom Huddlestone without the passing range. Help!

Bentley being injured makes it difficult to put one of Modric or Kranjcar in the centre without moving Bale on the left wing?

Maybe Gudjohnsen in the point of a diamond with Modders and Kranjcar just behind with palacios as DM?

after trying to second guess Harry's teams over the past few months (since Lenon has been out) it'll be nice to see what he does with Jenas, Thudd Bentley added to his list.
I would say he will play Kaboul as another defensive player. or Gudjohnsen as an attacking player.

Is Bostock still out on loan or can Harry throw him in the middle and then realise that he's actually a decent player after all. That of course would need to be reliant on him actually being a decent player.
I'd imagine Harry will keep things the same as they were on Sunday with. Either that or he'll soil himself and decide to bypass the midfield with long balls to Crouch all day long.

..with Kaboul in the middle.

Put Joe Jordan in the middle, what he's lost in pace he's gained in teeth.

lets hope Palacios stays free of another yellow.
Or we'll be looking for two CM's!!!

Whether he picks Kaboul or Gudjohnsen in CM, it'll lack balance. One is a striker and the other is a defender. Looking at the way we sat back against Everton, I think a midfield of kaboul and Palacios lacks creativity in area where you need it most. He can't play Kaboul in the cup so my guess we'll see Eidur in a diamond with Bale providing the width. Just seems a little open to me. Lots of 3-2's!

the more you try and decide...it looks like BAE at LB and Bale at LW.
as much as I dislike it...it looks the better option.
it will mean Kranjcar on the right with Modric and Palacios in the middle.

with Lennon, Bentley, Jenas and Thudd all out we really are struggling.
if Palacios gets banned we could have an interesting midfield for some tough games

...I still don't see why we can't recall JOH. Not that he isn't cup tied too...

Maybe we are waiting till next week before recalling him as he is cup-tied for us anyway? A favour like that between harry and storrie wouldn't surprise me but I doubt we can call him back. It's a bit of a farce when you consider we had him at the start then Pompey, then us again, then back at pompey. There's got to be rule against that somehwere!

IF we do have to choose between kranjcar and Modric in the middle. I would prefer Kranjcar. I know at international level Modric plays centre but the prem is entirely different. Modric in the odd games he has played centre has been marked out the game. He looks far happier coming in free from the wing.

JOH got loaned at the beginning of the season, his loan expired in Jan so he returned. Pompey then, when their transfer embago was lifted, loaned him again.

I can't see why we can't recall him. We have that option with all our kids on loan so why not with 1st teamers? We've got the likes of Blackburn (H) and Stoke (A) coming up after the cup game with Fulham, I'd be worried about Modric would fare in the middle against those teams, even Kranjcar might struggle. (Corluka might do alright though) I wouldn't be too worried about throwing Kaboul in for the Stoke game but for both games I'd much rather have O'Hara just purely on his current form as a CM.

Cudicini, King, Woody, Bentley, Lennon, Thudd Jenas.

to be honest thats not a bad 7-asisde in the 'treatment room league'!

I suspect Corluka would get passed around far too easily lots more pitch in the middle than the sides.
Like you MK Yid i cant see why O'Hara cannot come back especially with Wilson set to be banned pretty soon.

I am available

I am Spartacus.

obvious choice would be king?? how injured is he?? i wouldnt be surprised if harry pushed bale into the middle.

Redknapp clearly does not rate Jenas so our midfield is weak, why doesnt anyone at our club realise the shortcomings we have and take advantage of our assets. Going into major games with one recognised CM is crap. King in midfield ?The guy cannot turn, too injured to compete he is not the answer.
I hope Bale doesnt go central as attacking is our only option.
Defoe for Bellamy, if Redknapp sanctions that its for his own pocket.
We are twitched on too, Mr Redknapp.

Bellamy is as good a finisher as Defoe, is not as selfish, can create goals for himself and others, and is intimidating for defenders, so all around a better player than Defoe.

Having said that he's an awful dickhead who I wouldn't want at spurs so I'll stick with Defoe thanks.

Dead on here??

What can we say Wert, we going for 4th place and the FA cup with only 1 CM available...I guess instead of speculating we're all just waiting to see what Harry is going to do.

is that you speculating MK??

i was at the match on sunday and i could not understand why harry brought on kabul?
why did he not push bale to lw and bring akotto to lb?

still we got the 3 points -however luck is now against us on the injury front .
i agree with posts here get o hara back

coys

Didn't see you at the Lane on Sunday tenchman???

MY DEAR NOBBY, until recently jenas was an ever present we on the shelf thought he was an adopted son.thank god he's gone for a while.
modric and kranks together in central midfield is the best we have had for years.(fact)the only prob is right side, how bizarre as it has always been left, harry always gets obssesed with a player ie corluka,an no one else plays we have had 3 full backs who played less
games for us than taraabt,the way forward is 20 mins at the end of a game,not jenas again!!!.lets ave a look at em pleeeese.

Big Mart.. i dont rate Jenas at all.. my comments were badly worded.Even with Jenas we would have a weak midfield which is why redknapp doesnt play him.My loathing of JJ is well documented and as a season ticket holder in the shelf upper I have never thought Jenas was God at all even his goals against the arse were just a tease to another inept season.
the immediate problem is some guts in CM I do not see Krancjar doing that so who can ? This coupled with Card collecting Wilson means we have to find someone to run about the midfield to break up play and put a foot in. I say just for the short term put Benny Ekotto there to replace Thud. He moves the ball well would link up with Modric and has a good engine so could play deeper at times. Bale would continue as LB. Just a thought.

Crouch has proved again that he can score with his feet - so we don't need to keep humping the ball to his head!!!!! i would still stick with Pav Defoe at present but well done last night big man - got to be on the plane COYS

yep it is startling to see what Crouch can do if played differently.the pitch at Wembley looks huge.

Crouch is a target man. His goal record (at club level) won't blow you away but his movement, passing and general mentality is very selfless. As mentioned when played the right way, he is a big plus for any team. Pav and Defoe are goalscorers but outside of that they won't contribute to the game. I was interested to see Harry take them off once Everton really pressured us. I think we'll see that quite often. As long as both are scoring the fans will let them off the other stuff.

Graig grant Bostock is a good shout but Harry has messed him up by sending him to a scrap heap relegation dog fight. He started in great Fashion scoring twice then he got bored after tasting a few moments of glory with us Harry sends him a Division below from where he came now is Dad rang Talk Sport freaking at Harry for slagging is son of quoting Lampard when he was boss going on loan at To a lower club .So along with Dosantos Hutton Ohara Naughton Walker we must be one of the best for ruining talent up Harry Give Bostock a go you may just mend another player like Bale .

Alan what you say maybe right but the way Crouch is used at Spurs turns him and us into second rate player and team. Redknapp uses Crouch as a lampost whereas for England he comes deep knocks the ball back and creates a bit of space/time for others. Does he do this t Spurs no..why not couldnt be Redknapp my way or no way could it ?
The way Crouch is used at THFC means we play better football without him on the park,which must psss him off.

I agree that, particularly in the last month, we looked for the long ball too often. By in large I was happy with the football played with him in the side although the first half against Everton was a joy to watch at times. I have my reservations about Pav and Defoe as a strike pair. I think they are great when we have the ball and dominating but when we are under pressure, I can't see them holding the ball up. We'll see. I really hope I am wrong because we look like scoring goals when we get chances.

nobby nobbs agree with you totally, have been saying it all along. crouch is wasted the way spurs play him, cross from byeline only for crouch

Thing is, there have been plenty of games where we have dominated and failed to make anything of it, games where we should have started with Defoe and Pav. Other games when teams actually come out of their half and attack, use Crouch. As long as he comes deep so he's not tying to control such a long ball he'll be much more effective.

I think what some underestimate is that it's not just Crouch who gets the team playing one dimensionally (I think that's a word) but also Defoe. I love Defoe but what even Berab struggled to come to terms with is that when you play up there alongside him, you play for him not with him. Everything infact centres around him. 1 touch and shoot. Maybe it's because he doesn't respect Crouch's shooting ability or he just takes advantage of Crouch's selfess play but I can remember too many occasions where he has step him for a shot or dropped deep so crouch can go forward. It just doesn't happen.

Berba not Berab!

I think the starting point for a striker is goals. I would love to have two forwards who score goals AND work hard for the team. But if I have to choose between one who scores goals but doesn't work hard and one who works hard but doesn't score goals, I'll start with the goal getter every time. If the game changes and we are under pressure then change things.

What about one that works hard partnered with a goal getter? :)

He'd need to be a very very very good goal getter and his mate would have to work awfully hard.

Just think, Old Rednose could have had Tevez and Rooney up front this year. Two workaholics who score for fun.

We went with crouch and it wasnt working, at the moment we have two players that are scoring and winning us games and neither player has to rely on one another to get their goals.

I feel sorry for Crouch, but Spurs clearly play better football when he is not on the pitch. It really isn't Crouch's fault. I blame Harry. Either he chose the strategy of playing constant long balls over the midfield to Crouch, or he allowed his players to implement this plan on their own. Either way it reflects badly on Harry.

As Cappello has proved you cannot have the focus of the team on one goal scorer who does not contribute to the overall pattern of the team, which is why Owen is not chosen.

Crouch is being blamed for Redknapps tactics which is unfair on the guy.

In replay to a couple of earlier posts...Livermore is a very good player who has bundles of potential. Probably the closest of the young players who can be a regularly involved in the first team...certainly not a 'like Hudd but cannot pass'!

Surprised supporters think Bassong is having a good season. He could not even make the final squad for Cameroon for the ANC...there are 4 better Cameroon CB's then him! When he plays he looks like a rabbit in the headlights of a car!!

fulham to win tomorrow

I have only ever seen Livermore play twice but both times he has lacked pose. His first touch and general passing was poor but he has got an eye for goal and looks the part physically.

Raver, I am not optmistic either. All the injuries and with most of our team being away on international duty we are not in the greatest shape going into the game. I'd definitely take a draw!

alan...you cannot have seen the same player the rest of us have seen!! Physically strong, good touch, good passing and movement and pace. He also reads the game very well and has an eye for a goal.

A friend of mine who is a member of Crewe Alex coaching staff informed me that when the Alex tried to sign Livermore on a perm deal that Spurs told them in no uncertain terms that he is not for sale and is expected to be part of the Spurs first team within the next few years. This conversation was about 18mts ago.

bostock on the wing, modric centre. harry will just have to give young players a chance. fulham are strong at home i would take draw as well

team will be...gomes, corluka, daws, bassong, bae, modric, wilson, livermore, bale, defoe/crouch, pav

Spurs to win 3-1

It was only the two games to evidently not, I hope you're right as we need a spurs man coming through the ranks. It's been way too long!

I was impressed with what I saw of Livermore pre-season, by no means the finished article but definitely one for the not too distant future. I was hopeing he'd be in and around the 1st team this season for his education if nothing else. At least he comes back from his loan spell match fit and I look forward to him adding some more muscle to our midfield.
------------Gomes-----------
--Corluka---Daws---Bassong---Bale
Kranjcar--Palacios--Livermore--Modric
---------Defoe---Pav----------
2-0 Spurs win!! COYS!!

This is why spurs never bring players through. We have kids who have great potential. We play them once or twice and find out they are not the finished article and not ready for the Premiership. So we leave them out or loan them out to a lower league team. How will they become the finished article and premiership quality if we don't give them the chance to learn? Sure they'll make a mistake but the club should be willing to take one step back to take two forward.

We as fans should play our part by not slagging them off and calling for them to be sold the way we did with bale when they underperform.
Fulham 1 - Spurs 3 COYS

Looks like Pompey are in the semi, it'll be hard on O'hara to call him back and deny him (again) a start at Wembley.

Apparently we can't recall O'Hara as he is loaned from and to a premier league club.

Bit boring but I would have taken the result before kick off and the performance was solid. The games are mounting for Fulham and we've got to be strong favourites for the home game.

It'd be nice if we could look at having a few more players available for the replay but considering Lennon and Hudd are out for some time I'm expecting more of the same at The Lane.

I agree MK, it's a shame because I don't think either positions suited Bale or Modric. They were both marked out the game. Pav and Defoe will probably start the home game.

Craig made the point earlier about Bale not having a marker when coming from full back and I believe he was right. Bale done well but he is so much more effective when coming from the back, it gives us an extra man in the midfield too.

I think the jury is still out on Modric in Central midfield. He wont come across a more destructive, defensive, negative midfielder than that Etuhu. I still think he can do a good job there.

I think for the foreseeable, Modric, where possible, should only be put at CM for certain games.

Poor game but a good result. Fulham are always going to be difficult to beat at home and a draw was really the best I thought we could hope for. We'll need to be a lot better at WHL and hopefully Bale will revert to LB where he's far more dangerous going forward. Not sure who can play on the left of midfield though. I thought Modric did well in the middle today. He had a pretty thankless task of trying to pull the strings though with no pace up front and our only 'flyer' being marked by 2 men for 90 mins.

It's no secret that I don't think he can play there. He played with Palacios who had a great game but Modric was muscled and crowded out. Like Bale at left back, Modric benefits from coming in from a position that makes him difficult to pick up. One of Modric's better games for us was Fulham at home where he played left. We as a team look more dynamic with him on the left. It was a little too predictable.

most teams struggle to play football at craven cottage its just to smaall,fulham only try to play their football in the final third and thats what makes zamora look like a good player but in reality we all know he's shit! those same teams,same starting positions and at home we win this game quite easly. Corluka still scares me though and is it me or does kranc look slower playing on the right than he did when he was playing left??

Modric did not play well. We created very little upfront, it was a good draw to get but the Corluka Shite Cross routine did my head in.
Having said that Fulham have a solid defence and we will need to be more creative upfront to beat them at WHL.

As much as I think Modric can be a great central midfielder I do agree with Alan at the moment that we look more dangerous with Modric coming in off the left. He makes room for Bale too who is currently our greatest threat.

For the replay he could go with Gudjohnsen at CM to allow Modric and Bale to return to their original positions. Pav and Defoe up front. I wish Palacios would play like that more often. It's as if playing alongside a more attacking player made him more discplined positionally. He was more DM than CM today.

Harry would prefer both side to be like that "ron greenwood" system and watching bale it has to be a must for us the rest of the season but i guess with such low numbers harry got it right tonight but if murphy had played i think harry may have thought differently?.

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