Spurs News

England and Tottenham defender Michael Dawson faces an anxious wait to find out the extent of the knee injury he sustained against Bulgaria on Friday.

Jermain Defoe became the first Spurs player to ever score a competitive hat-trick for England as the Three Lions kicked off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with an impressive 4-0 victory over Bulgaria at Wembley.

It was the first treble for a Spurs man in an England shirt since Gary Lineker hit all four in a 4-0 friendly win over Malaysia in June, 1991.

JD was in fine form, opening the scoring after just three minutes, hammering high into the roof of the net from inside the box after good work from Ashley Cole.

He doubled England’s lead with a superb finish through the legs of goalkeeper Nikolay Mihailov on the hour mark after being put through by strike partner Wayne Rooney.

And the Manchester United man was the provider again five minutes from time for the pick of the bunch – a superb first-time finish into the top corner after Manchester City’s Adam Johnson had made it 3-0 shortly before.

It took JD’s international goals tally to 15 in 44 caps – but the occasion was soured by what looks to be a bad injury to his Spurs team-mate Michael Dawson.

The defender, winning his second Three Lions cap, fell awkwardly on his right leg while making a challenge five minutes after half-time and was stretchered off in some pain.

We wish ‘Daws’ well and will keep you updated on the nature of his injury.

JD himself also limped off having taken a blow to the ankle while scoring his hat-trick goal but will hope to be fit for the trip to Switzerland on Tuesday.

Post-match, he said: “It’s always nice to score but getting a hat-trick for your country is special. I was delighted with the performance tonight, not just the goals, but I think the team worked well.”

There were mixed results as Euro 2012 qualification kicked off for a number of our players on Friday night. 

Gareth Bale and Wales did not get off to the best of starts with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Montenegro, coached by Niko’s dad Zlatko Kranjcar, in England’s Group G.

Niko himself, along with Vedran Corluka, played 90 minutes as Croatia comfortably won 3-0 away in Latvia in Group F. On loan goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa was an unused substitute in that game.

Robbie Keane was also victorious as he captained the Republic of Ireland to a hard-fought 1-0 win in Armenia in Group B, which also features Russia, who beat minnows Andorra 2-0 away from home with Roman Pavlyuchenko a late substitute.

Rafael Van der Vaart also came off the bench as Holland put San Marino to the sword with a comfortable 5-0 win over the Group E minnows.

But there were no goals on Alan Hutton’s return to action after injury as Scotland were held to a 0-0 draw in Lithuania in Group I.

Meanwhile, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker both played 90 minutes as England U21 gained a vital three points in their Euro qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win in Portugal.

Live television coverage of our Champions League group stage matches has been confirmed as follows.

- Werder Bremen away (Sept 14) – Sky Sports
- FC Twente home (Sept 29) – Sky Sports
- Inter Milan away (Oct 20) – ITV
- Inter Milan home (Nov 2) – Sky Sports
- Werder Bremen home (Nov 24) – TBC
- FC Twente away (Dec 7) – Sky Sports

White Hart Lane fans have a special rapport with goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes – and our Brazilian international mirrors that affection.

Indeed, Spurs fans have been brought up on a diet of brilliant shot stoppers including the likes of Pat Jennings, Bill Brown, Ted Ditchburn, Ray Clemence and Paul Robinson. All were deservedly revered – just as Gomes is now.

“I love the atmosphere here,” says Gomes. “I try to build a good relationship with the supporters because I like to feel together as one with them. They make the club what it is.”

And Gomes is convinced that training and working with such a positive vibe about the place inspires the players.

“We operate in a very good atmosphere and that can only help,” he adds. “It ensures team unity and with it a feeling that anything and everything is possible. The team spirit here is great.

“It has to be that way because the Premier League is so tough. You must band together to succeed.”

Read the full story in the September issue of our monthly magazine, Hotspur, where fans also have the chance to win a pair of signed Gomes gloves in our free-to-enter competition. Don’t miss it!

Today’s fluff didn’t start the fire

Slowly, they come creeping back. The low flames flickering in the reflections of their bright eyes. Above the susurrating winds and the hushed chitter from the shadows, snatched phrases and tentative negotiating ploys are faintly audible: “Player-plus-cash deal” … “£120,000 a week” … “Six-month loan with a view to a permanent transfer pertaining to a pre-agreed contractual release clause.” The banked fires will be stoked again, fuel brought by willing arms. Out of the darkness they will flit, once more to dance in the circle of light …

[Fade to black]

Yep, the Mill is feeling in fine fettle this morning, as only three days after the transfer window SLAMMED SHUT the gears of spin, cant and innuendo are rapidly grinding back into life. The main target today is the England manager and national pin cushion, Fabio Capello, who is sensationally going to use players we have heard of in a formation that is practically hardwired into the English mentality for tonight’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria. Capello’s decision to retain the majority of the squad that fared so badly in South Africa and send his team out in staid, missionary 4-4-2 met with the usual LOLZ, Roflcopters!!, ZOMG!, lollerblading in my LMAOplane!!!!! response from the tabs. Oh, and the Mirror have decided to Photoshop the Italian up like Frankenstein’s monster too.

From one soon-to-be ex-manager (well, he will be one day) to an ex soon-to-be-new manager, the Daily Mail have announced that Gérrard Houllier has got the Aston Villa job. This, of course, would be the same Gérrard Houllier who was part of the Fifa technical study group that yesterday doled out praise for England’s 4-4-2 loving World Cup flops. It’s only if you read down far enough that the Mail admit they don’t actually know what job it is Houllier has been given (if given one he has been). “It is as yet unknown in what capacity the Frenchman will return,” the report murmurs. Head of catering, perhaps?

Sticking with the Mail, where Spartak Moscow manager Valeri Karpin is totally into Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov. “I was interested, I am now and I will be in the winter,” Karpin cooed in a Facebook message to the Russian left-back. We’ll see how steadfast his affection is come January.

The Mirror delight in the scatological headline possibilities allowed for by Celtic’s decision to sniff, ahem, around Danny Shittu. The former Bolton defender is a free agent, so can sign for who he likes yah-boo-sucks to you, transfer deadline. Leicester also fancy a [big Nigerian centre-half].

After welcoming old new-signing Sandro to England five months after he agreed to join, Spurs have turned their attention to Supersport United’s Bongani Khumalo. Harry Redknapp has typed a number into his calculator (possibly 5318008 and turned it upside down) but the South African side are holding out for an unspecified higher amount. Michael Kightly, meanwhile, overlooked for Wolves’ 25-man Premier League squad, could be sent on loan to Reading and Chris Riggott is to go on trial at Cardiff.

In transfers-that-didn’t-happen news, West Ham’s Valon Behrami is still pining for Roma. “I am disappointed the deal failed to go through – that is for certain,” he told the Sun. “Avram Grant gave me his permission to speak with Roma. But he also said he needs me, with West Ham bottom of the table. I’m sure I’ll still get to play for them.” And they say the Swiss don’t get passionate about things.

Jamie Carragher is going to sign on at Liverpool. No, not for his £64.30 Jobseekers Allowance, but for two more years being given the runaround by the Anfield oppo. Thankfully on this one, Fabio Capello has seen the light. Across La Manche, France’s players have signed up to a good behaviour charter, so says Bacary Sagna. If they’re naughty again like they were at the World Cup, there’ll be no frites for tea, or something.

Benjani has said Manchester City lack “class”. Meh. And Zlatan Ibrahimovic reckons “City are still a side for the future. I chose Milan because they are a team that can win prizes now. City can wait for the future but I can’t.” But can they, Zlatan? Can they?

Finally, exclusive to all newspapers is the news that Cheryl and Ashley Cole are to divorce today. Although the Mill might keep its Cheryl Cole RSS feed – purely in the event that she hooks up with another brother from the fraternity – if that’s all right by you.

Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 campaign gives Robbie Keane a sense of release after being pushed into shadows at Tottenham

The temperature is a stifling 36 degrees and the four-hour time difference remains disorientating. The pressure on the Republic of Ireland is just as intense. Giovanni Trapattoni’s team cannot countenance anything other than victory here tomorrow evening when their Euro 2012 campaign gets underway against the Group B minnows Armenia.

Yet for the captain, Robbie Keane, there is only liberation. To say that the 30-year-old has endured a difficult start to the season is a little like suggesting there was mild disappointment when Ireland’s World Cup qualifying hopes were pushed off course by Thierry Henry in Paris last November.

Keane has absorbed a series of body blows at club level with Tottenham Hotspur since that notorious play-off defeat to France, from losing his place in Harry Redknapp’s starting line-up to feeling that, in his own words, he had lost his “hunger” for the game by the turn of the year.

A four-month loan move to Celtic on the final day of the winter transfer window rekindled that. “Going to Celtic was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Keane said last month. “It got me back into the swing of things again, it got my hunger back for football.”

But back at Tottenham, despite an encouraging pre-season, his stock has never seemed lower. Keane was offered to other clubs including West Ham United, Everton, Newcastle United and Aston Villa during the transfer window, often as the proposed makeweight in deals, and if he was not earning as much as £68,000 a week, he might have been off.

The past week or so has brought bitter frustration. Redknapp preferred Jermain Defoe to him last Wednesday, in the vital Champions League play-off second-leg against Young Boys, even though the manager had said that Defoe needed a groin operation, was not fully fit and could last no longer than an hour. On Saturday, Keane remained on the bench in the shock home defeat by Wigan Athletic. Redknapp introduced Giovani dos Santos ahead of him. Keane has made two substitutes’ appearances so far for Tottenham, totalling 46 minutes.

The contrast to his international status is stark. Keane won his 100th cap last month against Argentina, becoming only the fourth Irishman to the landmark, while his 43 goals are a record by some distance. Niall Quinn is second on the all-time Ireland scoring chart with 21. Keane thrives on being the main man in Trapattoni’s squad, the leader and creative inspiration. When he pulls on his country’s jersey at the Republican Stadium, he will feel pride but also a sense of release.

“I think all the clubs are probably glad that the transfer window has closed and now everyone will concentrate on playing football,” Keane says. “At least there won’t be any more speculation for a few months. Obviously every player wants to play in every game and I am certainly looking forward to the Armenia match and next Tuesday’s tie against Andorra in Dublin.”

It is a curiosity that Keane lost his place in Redknapp’s team immediately after the play-off against France. Having started in all 12 of Tottenham’s Premier League fixtures, he was dropped for the home game against Wigan Athletic on 22 November. Tottenham won 9-1. Thereafter, he made only three Premier League starts before his loan move to Celtic – against Wolves at home and Fulham away in December, and against Hull City at home in January. Tottenham did not score in any of them.

It has been reported that Keane’s role in organising the secret Christmas party for 16 members of the first-team squad, in defiance of Redknapp’s orders, damaged the striker’s prospects at the club. Keane led the players on a night out in Dublin on 8 December and, when the story emerged 10 days later, there was a backlash in the newspapers and a ticking off from Redknapp.

The bottom line, though, for Keane was that when Tottenham geared up after the halfway point of last season to push for a Champions League finish, which had for so long been their Holy Grail, and there was the implicit call for all hands to be turned on deck, Redknapp was quite content to sanction his loan switch to Glasgow.

Keane had only re-signed to Tottenham on the final day of the winter transfer window last year after a disastrous six months at Liverpool and Redknapp said that the force of his personality was needed to galvanise a quiet dressing room. Tottenham languished in 15th place when Keane arrived, two points off the bottom of the table. With him starting in all 14 of the club’s remaining Premier League games, they took 30 points to finish in eighth.

Redknapp has often praised Keane for his “first-class” attitude. “If everyone had an attitude like him, the game would be a better game and your job would be much easier,” Redknapp said. “When he’s not playing, he’s still in the dressing room, geeing everybody up and wishing everybody all the best. Robbie is important to me, an important player around the place.”

Those comments came on 25 January of this year. One week later, Keane was at Celtic.

Keane has refrained from going public on his frustrations at Tottenham, which has scored him points, although his remark about “getting the hunger back” at Celtic was insightful. Pressed on it, he promptly brought the shutters down. Keane has maintained, meanwhile, that he was “not going anywhere” during this summer’s transfer window.

The blows that he has taken would have floored a lesser character but Keane is determined to fight back at Tottenham and regain his starting place. He has never doubted his ability. More immediately, though, it is Ireland that offers him opportunity and possibility.

When the Armenia manager, Vardan Minasyan, was asked to assess the threats that Ireland would pose, he misinterpreted the question. “What, Keane is not playing?” he exclaimed.

“No, Robbie is playing but could you … “

“Well, if Keane does not play, Ireland have other strong players,” Minasyan continued.

“Please listen. Robbie Keane is playing.”

“Oh, OK,” Minasyan said. “Very good for you.”

Keane’s worth on the international stage is not in doubt.

Following the closure of the summer transfer window, our four new arrivals – Sandro, William Gallas, Stipe Pletikosa and Rafael Van der Vaart – have been given squad numbers for the season.

Brazilian international midfielder Sandro arrived at the Club this week having won the Copa Libertadores with previous club Internacional a fortnight ago and will wear the number 30 shirt.

Experienced French defender Gallas joins us on a one-year contract and will wear the number 13 shirt.

Croatian goalkeeper Pletikosa arrives on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow and will wear the number 37 jersey.

And the final arrival of the latest transfer window, Dutch international midfielder Van der Vaart, has been given the number 11 shirt.

In line with new regulations, the Club this week submitted a list of 25 players submitted to the Premier League, forming the squad of players that will be eligible to play in the competition from now until January 1 (alongside players under the age of 21).

The squad list, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

1. Benoit Assou-Ekotto
2. Sebastien Bassong
3. David Bentley
4. Vedran Corluka
5. Peter Crouch
6. Carlo Cudicini
7. Heurelho Gomes
8. Michael Dawson
9. Jermain Defoe
10. William Gallas
11. Tom Huddlestone
12. Alan Hutton
13. Jermaine Jenas
14. Younes Kaboul
15. Robbie Keane
16. Ledley King
17. Niko Kranjcar
18. Aaron Lennon
19. Luka Modric
20. Kyle Naughton
21. Jamie O’Hara
22. Wilson Palacios
23. Roman Pavlyuchenko
24. Stipe Pletikosa
25. Rafael Van der Vaart

Please note, all players under the age of 21 as of January 1, 2010, are also eligible to play in Premier League matches in 2010-2011.

Land ahoy everyone! James Richardson is back for another stint at the helm of the good ship Football Weekly Extra, where he’s joined by Sean Ingle, Paul Doyle and Paul MacInnes.

Topics up for discussion include the big last-minute transfers across Europe – including just how Milan were able to sign Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic a week after relying on Genoa to help them bring in Kevin-Prince Boateng. Meanwhile Sid Lowe joins us from a metro station in Madrid to tell us how Rafael van der Vaart moving to Spurs has gone down in the Spanish capital.

We assess England’s chances ahead of tomorrow’s game against Bulgaria, look at Laurent Blanc’s new-look France and give a nod to Non-League day.

Have a listen and post your feedback below. We’re also on iTunes, Facebook and Twitter, and if you enjoy this type of thing, get your daily dose of football with our tea-time email, The Fiver.

One more thing: Football Weekly is coming to Liverpool for a live show in October. If you’d like to be part of the audience click here.

International football gets back into competitive mode over the coming days with a host of our players involved.

Qualification matches for 2012 European Championships, the 2012 African Cup of Nations, and the 2011 UEFA Under-21 Championships are on the agenda, and here is a run-down of who is where in the world this week…

Euro 2012 qualifiers will be taking place on Friday and next Tuesday with Michael Dawson and Jermain Defoe set to represent England.

The Three Lions take on Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday night before travelling to Switzerland on Tuesday.

Peter Crouch was included in Fabio Capello’s original squad for the games but pulled out with a back injury on Wednesday.

In the same group, Gareth Bale and Wales travel to Eastern Europe on Friday to face a Montenegro coached by a certain Zlatko Kranjcar – the father of Niko.

Niko himself is in action for Croatia, teaming up with Vedran Corluka, Luka Modric and new loan signing Stipe Pletikosa for games away to Latvia and at home to Greece.

Another new signing, Rafael Van der Vaart, is on duty with Holland in San Marino on Friday before returning to Rotterdam to face Finland on Tuesday.

Strikers Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko are also representing their countries in Euro qualification action, with Republic of Ireland and Russia in the same group.

Robbie will captain the Irish in Armenia on Friday and at home to Andorra on Tuesday, while ‘Pav’ and Russia travel to Andorra on Friday while returning home to face Slovakia.

And Alan Hutton is with Scotland in Lithuania on Friday and against Liechtenstein in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Out of Europe, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Sebastien Bassong are set to begin Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign in Mauritius on Saturday.

Meanwhile, it’s friendly action for Giovani Dos Santos and Mexico, who face Ecuador and Columbia on Saturday and Tuesday.

Of our younger players, it’s a big weekend for Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, who are in the England Under-21 squad for key Euro qualifying games in Portugal on Friday and at home to Lithuania in Colchester on Tuesday.

The Young Lions sit five points behind leaders Greece in the Group 9 table having played a game less, but with Friday’s opponents Portugal just a point behind having also played six games.

As always, we will keep you up to date with how the lads fare here on tottenhamhotspur.com.