You Don't Have to Be Mad To Work Here... But It Helps!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, being a Spurs fan may not reward a person with endless silverware and top of the table drama, but by god there's never a dull moment. Like the plot in a badly written soap opera, events down at the Lane recently once again leave me shaking my head in disbelief. Although, perhaps disbelief is the sensible course of action judging by some of what is circulating at the moment.

The latest story to fall out of the arse of someone 'in the know' is that Spurs have tried a last ditch attempt to sign Sunderland's bruising striker of limited talent, Kenwyne-Jones. Hardly breaking news you might think, but today's twist is that we have tried to throw £20m at them! Twenty-million-pounds. On what footballing planet is a player of Kenwyn Jones' ability worth twenty-million-pounds??? I mean, he's ok, and perhaps I would have been delighted if we had done a straight swap - him for Bent, but should we really be breaking the club record for someone like him when we have Pav, Defoe, Campbell and Mr Mardybum? I'm afraid someone creative (yes, like Berbatov) is what we need, not another battering ram. Anyway, after moaning about it to anyone that would listen, Sunderland have finally shoved a stack of money, a new contract and a pen under his nose. Utter insanity narrowly avoided!

The alternative strikes me as equally loopy, today's other big "news" is that we'd like to have Keano back. Now, ordinarily I'd have rubbished this as a non-starter, but as we have already spent £18m on two players we owned this time last year a person has to at least consider the possibility.

Now I don't mind our Robbie. He was a great servant to the club, scored plenty of goals and certainly could not be accused of lacking passion. Although the more immature amongst us were upset by the manner of his departure I think holding a grudge against him is a bit silly. However, Bent, Defoe and Keano joined by Pav and Campbell all fighting for one, possibly two starting places? We couldn't keep 3 of them happy last time, I doubt we would keep 5 happy now - and is Keane really about to swallow his pride and risk swapping the Liverpool bench for the Spurs one? No, fortunately I think I've just talked myself out of entertaining the remotest possibility of this ever happening.

A bit of stroppiness on Carling Cup day means Shimbomba probably won't get a wander round the pitch at half time tonight, but he's a decent player so his return is hardly a slap in the face. With any luck he'll slot straight into left back and stay there until we eventually sort that shit-storm of a position out in the summer.

Cudicini is an unbelievable signing, "I had to quit Chelsea to save my career" he said. Well at 35 I'd have thought it a bit late for that sentiment, but if he defines sitting on a different London bench as career saving then who are we to grumble?

Actually, when you step back from the hype regarding our league position, it has been really a rather good couple of weeks for Tottenham. We booked a place at Wembley, played 40 minutes of outstanding stuff against the best team in the world, signed a quality, versatile defender for half the amount we sold him for, The Best Second Choice Keeper In The League, a 20 goals a season England international and a combative box-to-box midfielder that Madrid, Man U and Citeh wanted. I'm not convinced that's the end of it either as Harry seems determined to trade Bent for someone... anyone!

Knock a few past the Potters tonight and then take three points off eminently beatable Bolton on Saturday and all of a sudden things are looking much, much brighter.

Talk of Stuart Getting me Downing

Why are Daniel Levy et al so obsessed with Stuart Downing? I mean he's no donkey I suppose, but if he's worth over £15m then so is... erm, David Bentley! The player obviously does a lot of work that your average Joe just doesn't notice because Spurs seem desperate for him, Boro' refuse to let him go under any circumstances and a succession of England managers have been convinced that he's the best left winger in the country. I just don't see it myself.

Anyway, the good news is that Boro's hilarious faux disgust at another club legitimately offering a vast sum of money for a distinctly average player seems to have done enough to rebuff our advances yet again. Thank God for that. Money may talk but surely the powers that be at Boro' would look like complete dingbats if they let him go now they've thrown all their toys out of their pram.

Anyway, I don't think we need him. The other night Jamie O'Hara showed glimpses of what I really hope is things to come. For me this boy has the potential to become a key member of the team. He can pass, shoot, tackle, take a player on and is clearly committed to the shirt. Just look at how he was shouting encouragement to his team mates, really revving people up. You could see what that second half performance meant to him at the final whistle. I know he gets a bit of stick every now and again on the message boards, but people need to remember he's still developing. Teams are rarely made up of 11 superstars, every team needs it's grafters and journeymen. I believe academy graduate O'Hara could be the beating heart of Tottenham for years to come - future captain material no less.

And let's not forget the impending return of Giovanni (when did we stop calling him Dos Santos by the way?). Much has been made of whether he will a Spurs player for much longer, but he is already a fans favourite and 'Arry has shown he's not one to flog a perfectly good player for no reason. I'm hoping that the little smiling Mexican is the main beneficiary of our failure to land Downing. I think he's already proved he can cut it with the big boys, he has all the flair and running of Lennon but with a bit more end product. I'd love to see him on the comeback trail getting half an hour here and there over the next few weeks.

So all this talk of handing Boro' the remains of our transfer kitty is getting on my nerves. Sometimes, not often mind you but sometimes, I wish we'd just give our existing players a fair crack of the whip.