October 2006


Reports are suggesting that Tottenham are looking at Wigan Athletic defender Leighton Baines.

It is believed that manager Martin Jol would have to table a bid near £5 million to snare the promising fullback.

Martin Jol is thinking about moving for former England skipper David Beckham.

He said: “I’ll sit down and have a think about it tonight,”

“We are well covered on the flanks already. It’s a difficult one.

“We’ve got Wayne Routledge, although he is on loan, plus Hossam Ghaly and Aaron Lennon.”

I think were fine on the flanks. Need another creative midfielder.

Spurs left Watford with a point following a match we could have and should have won.

At least we continue to pick up points and are now unbeaten in seven outings.

Manager Martin Jol admitted we had the chances to win the game and mentioned the ability of winger Aaron Lennon to get into the box.

He said: “Aaron had four chances today. Hopefully he will improve in front of goal because he is a bright lad.

“Today was a new experience for him. He played on the left because I felt he could do something and it almost paid off.

“If you can create three chances in one half as a wing player, you’re pretty talented.

“But we knew that because he’s an international.

“And he listens because he wants to be a top player.

“He’s got not only me, Chris Hughton and Clive Allen, but he’s got Edgar Davids and Ledley King. They talk to him all the time.”

Tottenham line up: Robinson, Chimbonda, King, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Huddlestone, Ghaly, Keane, Berbatov.

Subs: Murphy (for Ghaly), Defoe (for Keane).

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Davids, Gardner. Booked: Jenas.

zokora.jpgMartin Jol has confirmed that Didier Zokora ‘is fine’ and will return to action in the next couple of weeks.

He said: “Zokora is fine. It seemed really bad but he’s out of hospital,”

“It’s not as bad as we thought - you can have malaria and then it comes back.”

Damien Comolli has admitted his suprise with how quickly Pascal Chimbonda has settled in at the club.

“At Spurs, the first thing we appreciated was the high level he achieved at Wigan last season,” said Comolli.

“We pushed like mad to try and sign him this summer, because he showed extraordinary motivation to join us too.

“Since he joined us, Pascal has continued to surprise me.

“He is much more thorough than his casual image shows, both on tactical and defensive levels he shows that.

“He has a very good header and he is a strong athlete - he can still attack in the 92nd or 93rd minute.

“There is no doubt about his ability.”

beckenbauer.jpgMartin Jol says Tommy Huddlestone reminds him of World Cup legend Franz Beckenbauer.

He said: “Tom has played in defence but he’s a typical midfield player,”

“At the back he would be a sort of Franz Beckenbauer.

“As a sweeper he would be the best player in the world - but who plays with a sweeper nowadays?

“Tom is 19, he’s big. It can be an advantage, it can be a disadvantage but the boy is great.

“I would almost say that I have never seen a player like him, when he’s got the ball. Now we have to work on his game when he hasn’t got the ball”

Steed Malbranque is back in full training.

First team coach Chris Hughton said: “Steed completed his first part-training with the group today,”

“He’ll continue with his rehabilitation programme and he’s very much on the way.

“He hasn’t had a full training session with the team yet but was with us for about 30 minutes, full contact, and in terms of a competitive return, we’re looking at two to three weeks. That’s a real bonus for us.”

We are firing in the goals at the moment but a another creative player would not go astray.

deofe-mache.jpg

Jermain Defoe is looking to put the much talked about Javier Masherano biting incident behind him and promised to never do anything like that again.

He said: “I didn’t do much and it was heat of the moment. I need to move forward, it definitely won’t happen again and it was out of character,”

“I don’t know how many bookings I got last season or the season before but I don’t usually get involved like that.

“I just want to play football and score goals, everybody knows that. I am a professional person.”

zokora.jpgSpurs midfielder Didier Zokora could be out for weeks after being diagnosed with a malaria infection.

No date has been set on when the talented playmaker will make a return.

Tottenham boss Martin Jol expressed his satisfaction with the form of his team following the 1-0 victory over West Ham.

Jol said: “The last three or four weeks have been good,”

“We had a difficult start, to say the least, but we are now getting the points.

“It is still not convincing but overall, if you look at the chances we had, we should have won two or 3-0.

“It was not easy because for us it was our third game, while they have had a week’s rest, but the crowd was terrific and they lifted us.

“It is not easy to play three games in a week after Europe, but I am very satisfied. It was a very good win for us.

“The final ball is not always 100 percent but that is something we are going to work on.”

Jol went on to praise the performance of goal scorer Mido. He said: “Berbatov was really tired so Mido had to show something,” Jol admitted.

“Before the goal it was difficult for him but then he showed what he was all about. If he gets the ball in the box he is always dangerous.”

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