By Sunshine
May 2 2006

Yes, I know: The season isn’t over, yet. Spurs could still finish 5th if AFC were to do well in their remaining three league matches and we were to fail at the last hurdle away to West Ham. On the other hand, Spurs could finish 4th and that would mean taking part in next season’s Champions League preliminaries, unless AFC do the unthinkable and win this year’s edition.

The question is, would these three different possible outcomes alter my assessment of the 2005/06 campaign if I were to gauge it after the final whistle of the very last game? Well, I pride myself on my objectivity and I’m pretty certain that I would remain steadfast by my opinions whatever the Premier League judgement day decrees come early May.

There is one thing that I am keen to avoid, though, and that is being accused of forming an opinion with the benefit of hindsight (although 37 games out of 38 isn’t exactly the equivalent of playing roulette).

Has this season been a success? Well, it sort of depends on what your expectations were on the eve of the season and those expectations really do depend upon whether you’re a pessimist, a realist, an optimist or a raving lunatic.

The raving lunatic is the type of person who thinks relegation is on the cards if we lose a match and yet believes we’ll be top of the tree next season after each win (draws leave the loony in a state of confusion, rather like most referees when a Man U player deliberately handles the ball in his own penalty area at Old Trafford). At this stage, the loony will be disappointed we’re not already qualified for the Champions League (with the late goals conceded against West Ham, Sunderland, Chelsea et al each being considered an unforgivable hara-kiri) and he’ll be foaming at the mouth at our inability to annihilate any team which dares cross our path.

The optimist expects a top 4 finish, 5th at worst, so this season will leave him feeling all smug and avenged (for he will have been the butt of many a joke since the season started, with good cause, in my opinion).

The realist will have predicted 6th to 8th, but will have feared 10th and hoped for 5th.

The pessimist will have foreseen mid-table mediocrity and a dogfight to establish ourselves as the top club on the right hand side of the league table.

Me? I’m a realist, so this season is like a breath of fresh air after so many years of humiliation for a club which was part of the elite of English football when I was growing up and stood far, far above the likes of AFC in terms of the quality and the spirit in which the game of football should be played (we never lost the spirit, but the quality…oh, where did the quality go?!).

So, since we’ve established that I regard 2005/06 as a vintage season, a cracking campaign in which our consistency in the league has seen us in the top 4 for the last six months or so, it surely follows that my ratings for each player are highly favourable. Err, nope. Sorry to disappoint, but they’re not.

The old adage recites that you’re only as good (or bad) as the opposition put in front of you, which means that Spurs don’t have to be perfect in every aspect in order to achieve a successful season….and perfect we certainly have not been. Just better than many of our rivals.

Robinson – rating: Top 4

Anyone who doesn’t think Robinson is good enough to turn out for a top team needs their head examined. Being a mere human, Robinson has made the odd mistake, descriptions of which the aforementioned raving lunatic, in depressed mode, has probably had tattooed on his body, with dates and all. I say “beware the loony”, they can seem convincing when putting forward their argument, but you just know that, when you least expect it, at the peak of their credibility, they’re going to try to lick their own balls. Robinson is a top keeper, full stop.

Cerny – rating: Dunno

Of course, having seen Cerny play a few times when England’s Number 1 was unavailable towards the end of last season and during some friendly matches in July 2005, I could make a case for him as an excellent back up goalie, but do I really know enough about him to sound credible? Not really. Harsh? Probably, yes, but fair.

Lee – rating: Top 6

Lee has done well, considering he’s got no left peg, he was new to the club and new to the country when he signed for Spurs last summer. He’s fine for a team with top 6 ambitions, but I feel that if Spurs wish to establish themselves as a top 4 club, then the little chap can be nothing more than a back up player. Whether he’d be willing to accept such a secondary role is another matter altogether.

A.N.Other left back – rating: YHAL

YAHL stands for “You’re Having A Laugh”, since we don’t actually have a back up left back. Lee should become that back up, unless we don’t bring in a class left back this summer or Jol decides to prefer (the oddly out of favour) Ziegler to the South Korean.

Stalteri – rating: Mid-table

Tries hard and, watching him closely, is obviously a natural athlete. The problem is that the best thing you can say about him is that he’s solid and that he has Champions League experience. To be blunt, Stalteri is not good enough if we’re to try to repeat this season’s exploits in the league. He’s not comfortable on the ball and I’m not comfortable with him as part of our back four. He won’t improve, either. We need to bring a quality right back to the club.

Kelly – rating: Mid-table

It’s lovely when a kid from the academy makes it into the first team squad and we all wanted Kelly to succeed, but the sad fact of the matter is that, in the cold light of day, the young(-ish) right back is simply not good enough. His contract is up in the summer and I won’t miss him if and when he moves on.

King – rating: Top 4

Needs to sort out his injury issues, since they quite clearly impeded him from producing his best form in the final furlongs of this year’s league steeple chase. An in form King is a player that any team would rightly envy us.

Dawson – rating: Top 6

Boo-hoo to all of those who expected me to rave about Dawson. Yes, he usually is awesome in the air, yes, he knows when to punt the ball into Row Z, yes, he gives every minute of every game his all and, yes, he still has bags of potential. However, I’m not writing this piece in order to win a popularity contest, so I’ll also point out that he’s not as quick as I’d like him to be and that despite his all-heart performances, I’m still not 100% comfortable with him. Hopefully, he’ll prove me wrong and develop into a top class centre back, but at this stage I think he’ll just fall short, albeit by not much.

Gardner – rating: Mid-table

Not a top player, despite having all the physical characteristics necessary. He can have very good games, but he can also be woeful, losing possession cheaply, being out jumped by strikers half his size (slight exaggeration, but you get my point), having dramatic lapses in concentration and being as clumsy as they come. Unfortunately, I don’t think he actually understands his own limits, which means he won’t ever accept that he shouldn’t be a first choice centre back at a club with Spurs’ ambitions. That’s why I think he’ll be waving goodbye to the club come the summer, with a couple of million quid heading towards the club’s bank account.

Davenport – rating: Dunno

Might be better than Gardner, might be worse, certainly very different. Slow, but dominant in the air. Has had mixed fortunes during his loan spells away from the club, but I’d give him a chance next season as 4th choice centre back (meaning that we need to sign someone to give Dawson some competition for the starting berth next to King).

Carrick – rating: Top 4

This lad is a traditional playmaker. There aren’t many around. He provides the team with its heartbeat, dictates the tempo of the game when we have the ball and has proved precious defensively, far more so than I had imagined when he joined the club from West Ham. There is, however, another side to his performances, a side which will always divide opinion regarding his worth: He looks lackadaisical, he isn’t gifted with pace, his scoring record is poor (especially when compared to the two central midfielders with which he should be vying for a place in the England team, Gerrard and Lampard) and he isn’t always as incisive as he should be. Overall, mind, we’re lucky to have him. Very lucky.

Murphy – rating: Top 4

As Private Eye would say: Shurley shome mishtake. No, I mean it. I think Murphy, as back up playmaker (albeit in totally different style to Carrick) is an excellent weapon to have in the armoury. The issue here is whether the former Liverpool and England midfielder sees himself as as reserve. I very much doubt it, but beggars can’t be choosers and he certainly didn’t leave Charlton in a position of strength. Murphy’s experience and his ingrained will to win might just prove priceless when Spurs finally embark on the long awaited European tour, next term. Considering he cost the club somewhere in the region of £1.2m, I think he’ll prove a shrewd buy.

Jenas – rating: Top 4

Let’s get one thing straight: This rating is for Jenas as a central midfielder, not the right side role that he’s been relegated to for the most part of the season through necessity. On the right, the young England squaddie is a fish out of water. JJ is a natural athlete and complements Carrick perfectly when they are paired together in the middle of the park. The only aspect that he may lack is the aggression which has made winners of men with less ability than him, men such as Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. This, however, is being coached into him, from what I’ve seen in certain matches this year.

Davids – rating: Top 4

Those who expected a Rivaldo-like player were disappointed almost immediately. These people are loonies, though, so what thy think is neither here nor there. The opening matches were not a taste of things to come, he was ordinary to say the least, ordinary and perennially in trouble with the match officials. Then came the Chelsea game and with Spurs reduced to 10 men after Mido’s sending off on 25 minutes, he kept Essien (lucky to stay on the pitch by the end of the encounter) in his pocket and even Lampard dared not venture forward. Davids didn’t look back and his experience and drive became fundamental in establishing Spurs in the top 4. Soon, even the disciplinary side to his game got sorted out and he went almost fifteen matches without picking up a yellow card (until the two which saw him depart the AFC away fixture a few minutes early). All this despite him often being played on the left side of midfield, hardly his preferred position. An injury stopped him in full flight halfway through the campaign and since returning to fitness, it is undeniable that he has not hit the heights that had distinguished his play earlier in the season. Until the AFC game, a game in which he contributed to dominating the opponent’s midfield. By the time injury struck, however, his work had been done: Rarely has a single player been so responsible for effecting a sea-change in the mentality of an entire club. Davids is a winner, both on and off the pitch and the self belief that now pervades the corridors of White Hart Lane and Spurs Lodge since his arrival last summer is no coincidence (unless you’re a loony). This is why, whether he stays on for another year or not, Davids will go down as a Spurs legend in my very personal opinion.

Tainio – rating: Top 4

You can’t help but like the Glenn Hoddle look-alike (facially speaking), he runs all day long, always provides a goal scoring threat (though his bark is far worse than his bite), dispenses the odd assist and competes for every ball. A lively, versatile player who has spent almost the entire campaign crowded out of his natural central position in the middle of the park. Tainio’s major flaw is the undeniable fact that he is injury prone. As such, it becomes haphazard to even think of building a team with him as a first choice component. As a back up player, though, he is top 4 standard.

Lennon – rating: Top 6

I find talk of Lennon being an outside bet for a late world cup call up quite frankly astounding. There is little doubting his potential: He has electric pace and the ball control and downright cheek to beat a man or three down his wing (the right wing, just in case anyone thinks he can be just as effectively use out on the left: He can’t, not for prolonged periods, at any rate). However, his final ball is still far from what it should be for a Premiership winger, let alone an England squad player, he uses his left peg exclusively to stand on and run with (watch him lose confidence every time he is forced to cut inside from the right with the ball at his feet) and he is yet to develop the strength of character to demand more of the ball. There is also a question mark over his fitness, as he rarely seems to last the full 90 minutes without running out of steam. Lennon could become a top, top player, but he and the coaches at the club have a lot of work to do on his game before that becomes the case.

A.N.Other right winger – rating: Hmmm

In an ideal world, this would be Routledge next term. Routledge, though, might not take too kindly to seeing himself relegated to a role as Lennon’s reserve. Tough. If he’s not good enough, then he’ll either have to learn his place or move on and spend the rest of his career at a club which will never be anything more than mediocre.

Left wing – rating: You wot? You wot, you wot, you wot?

Spurs don’t have one. The Einstein’s amongst us that point out that the team is unbalanced might as well buy a loaf of bread, cut it into slices and claim to have invented sliced bread. The team lacks balance? You don’t say?! It is as plain as the nose on your face that this is an area where the club needs to invest next season. Spurs need a leftie and we need a damned good one if we’re to cement our place as a top 6 club.

Reid – rating: Mid-table

Sorry, couldn’t bring myself to regard Reid as our first choice left winger. He isn’t. In fact, had he been willing to leave the club in January, I very much doubt if he’d still be at The Lane now. Reid will, I fear, never become the sort of player that Jol sees as an effective winger. I’m certain that Reid would do a good job at some club with more modest ambitions (without wanting to sound arrogant), along the lines of Pennant at Birmingham.

Mido – rating: Top 6

Mido is a good player. Unfortunately, he started (footballing) life as a player destined for greatness, which is a tag that he hasn’t lived up to and which I think he still believes in. He’s not good enough to be a first choice striker at a top 4 club, which is where Spurs want to be. He is a good target man, but is not dominant enough in the air, is not precise enough with his headers, is not blessed with pace and doesn’t score enough goals. As a 3rd or 4th choice striker he’d be excellent, but that isn’t a role that he’d be likely to accept and his weight would more than probably balloon to Jol-like proportions.

Defoe – rating: Top 6

Where on earth has the exciting player that was on everyone’s lips gone? Defoe is a frustrating young man. He has enormous potential and possesses all the attributes to become a deadly striker, yet he sometimes looks like he’s going through the motions. It can’t be easy for him knowing that whilst Keane is in outstanding form, his place is with his posterior firmly glued to the bench, but he could try to do a little more when he finally does get the nod. Defoe appears to have lost his way and although I hate to say it, a (big money) move to another club may represent the only solution to get his career back on track.

Keane – rating: Top 4

The little Irishman frustrates the hell out of me much of the time. I seriously questioned his attitude earlier on in the season, but he has proved me wrong. Keane buckled down, took his chance brilliantly when Jol finally dropped Defoe and has gone from strength to strength. I though he’d be sold at the next opportunity, but a new 5 year contract has rightly rewarded his renewed zest. Not blessed with pace of any note, Keane started to look like a one trick pony a year or so ago, especially when compared to the glittering, dangerous antics of his main club rival, Defoe. Well, Keane has dug deep and the player we’d always hoped was in there somewhere has emerged: He has always had moments of brilliance, but all too often they were flashes in the pan marred by inconsistencies and what can be euphemistically described as ‘show-boating’. Nowadays, Keane is more focussed, his efforts aren’t aimed at making him look good, but at improving the chances that his team has of getting something from each game. Keane is particularly effective when he’s wearing the captain’s armband, in King’s absence. The lad has set himself a high standard to live up to next season, let’s hope he manages to do so.

Although they’ve featured in the first team already, out of necessity, I’m not going to express specific opinions on Huddlestone, Barnard, Ifil and other youngsters (Yeates, El Hamdaoui, Marney, etc). They have plenty of potential and the triumphs of the reserves in their (Southern) league speaks volumes about the strength of the youngsters coming through the ranks. Time will tell.

Back to this current season: A massive thumbs up. To finish 4th or 5th despite seven new (or as good as) outfield players in the first choice starting line up (Mido and Dawson had only managed a handful of games between them last season, whilst Tainio, Jenas, Lennon, Stalteri and Lee all arrived in the summer) is a fantastic achievement. Some like to criticise Jol, but the league table and statistics in general (in terms of goals scored and goals conceded) put him in a cast-iron position within the club and rightly so.

Carry on the good work, Martin.

Carrying on the good work, of course, represents our biggest challenge for at least a decade. Everton looked to be on the verge of something special last term, only for it all to go horribly wrong this time around. I believe that Spurs have the bones of a side which will not emulate the blue side of Liverpool, but it isn’t going to be easy, far from it. The club needs to invest in the transfer market and needs to do so with greater ability than David Moyes managed 10 months ago.

The way ahead is clear, Spurs clearly need four quality first choice players: A target striker, a left winger/midfielder, a right and a left full back. The rest of the squad needs some padding, too, but that is of lesser concern.

Audere est facere – If Spurs want to establish themselves in English football’s elite, we mustn’t just be content to consolidate the progress made this season, we must build on it. The foundations are solid and expectations, for once, actually match the potential that this generation of players has.

Applying the final touches (in the transfer market) has never been so vital, nor have the stakes and chances of glory ever been as high.