And by it, I mean beat Spurs. YES WE CAN!
Evening everyone on this fine Wednesday day. I shall be filling in for Quentin for the rest of the week, so if you happen to dislike my opinions on our little football club, please return to the site on Monday.
Still here? Great, let`s get cracking!
So Saturday then? We all excited yet? I must admit that the slim chance of returning from White Hart Lane knowing I have to book another trip ‘down London’ is making me shake. I have the early symptoms of Wembley fever, and why not? We’ve had an awful year and this, apart from hopefully staying up, is all we have to look forward to. That shining FA Cup in the far distance, three games away.
This is probably as close as we are going to get to it this year, but let`s look at it optimistically. Tottenham have had a horrendous couple of weeks, losing first to Arsenal and then more surprisingly, to an Everton side that were last night comfortably swept aside by a Liverpool who have been bereft of goals this season. There are now only a point above their local rivals, and with their Champions League position almost secure, I think they want to really push on in the league to make sure they get that third place, and the bragging rights (PL Prize Money) that come along with it.
With their priorities away from the FA Cup, what sort of team might they play? No Bale? No Van Der Vaart? No Adebayor? None of them? Tottenham certainly do have a squad packed with quality, but I see no reason that on any given day Bolton Wanderers cannot beat any team Tottenham Hotspur can throw at us.
We even have the luck of the (Former Republic of) Irish (International Striker) with us, and I`m sure Coyle will be tucking into a nice Guinness come the final whistle. Tee total, you say? He`s from Paisley? Oh, this is all very confusing?..
Moving on, I have some good injury news. No, Darren Pratley hasn`t broken both legs, causing him to retire immediately (I don`t care what some people have said about him scoring, anyone of apparent Premier League quality should score a free header from two yards out, and this doesn`t make him the midfielder we need). It`s that Marcos Alonso managed 59 minutes in the reserves` 2-1 defeat to the Pies yesterday.
Although the trip to WHL may come a little too soon, there`s a better chance he could be back in time for the derby next week. This ironically is the reverse fixture to the one he picked up his injury in way back in December. Before his injury (a comeback game itself if memory serves correctly), he looked very lively and competent at left-back, providing the steady platform that had failed the unidirectional play of Petrov throughout the early stages of the season.
The return of Alonso could lead to the shifting of Ricketts to right back, and suddenly we look like having a much more secure back four. It`s bizarre to think that the four that started the QPR match on the opening day of the season was Robinson, Cahill, Knight, Steinsson; and that six hard months down the line we find two gone and the others heavily out of favour. However, it wasn`t working, and I like to think that Coyle would`ve made changes quicker if it wasn`t for the injuries and suspensions he has had to contend with.
Right, till tomorrow.