The Fighting Cock by Martin Cloake
There are some great independent Spurs blogs and podcasts being produced at the moment and I always try to make my small contribution to raising their profile when I can. Lately I’ve been picking up on The Fighting Cock and the 1882 movement. I’ve followed a couple of the lads involved on Twitter and recognise some names from back in the day on the old TopSpurs message board, and there’s a real energy to what they are doing.
I’m going to sound as old as I feel when I’m listening to the podcast now but it’s really encouraging to hear what sounds like a new generation creating something and questioning the blandification of modern football. The Fighting Cock is above all passionate about Spurs, but there’s a recognition of the bigger picture that chimes with a growing feeling that’s coalescing around the Stand Against Modern Football initiative. Having come from a generation at Spurs that, despite our fanzine experience and efforts with various independent supporter initiatives, has not really made the impression we once thought we could, what’s most encouraging is the can-do spirit that pervades The Fighting Cock crew. They are a reminder of what football supporters are capable of, and of a spirit that is, in one of the great Steve Perryman’s favourite words, “proper”.
Grading Tottenham’s Deadline Day Dealings
Young-Pyo Lee, Vedran Corluka, Kevin Prince Boateng, Niko Kranjcar, and Rafael van der Vaart are examples of big name signings on transfer deadline day for Spurs in recent years. While on the other hand, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermaine Defoe, and most notably Dimitar Berbatov have all left with only hours to go in the window, and in the latter case, about two hours after it ‘slammed shut’. Of course this has it’s pros and cons, and with the Berbatov deal, not only did Spurs received a hefty £30.75m, they were also loaned the utterly useless Frazier Campbell, but just how good […]
Rafa Don’t Depaart
I’ve never written an article before, and don’t plan to write another one; especially about Tottenham Hotspur. However, my love for a certain football player has driven me to put some words together about the man himself – Rafael van der Vaart. Talk of a possible exit for the Dutchman has fluttered about the chambers of Twitter several times this summer, and the thought of his gorgeous face leaving the lilywhite colours behind upsets me like the departure of no other current spurs player can. And the reasons? Mr. Van der Vaart, to me anyway, is what football, supporting a […]
A ‘quee Signing
Marquee signings are what we we’re renowned for. Tottenham signed Jimmy Greaves for £99,999 when Bill Nicholson bought him from AC Milan in 1961. We were making double swoops for Argentine heroes when Tevez and Mascherano were nothing more than a glint in their fathers’ eyes. Klinsmann was making the leap from AS Monaco in July 1994 without even a glance at another top flight club. Mido was… never mind. We have a tradition of making bold signings who shine and glimmer in the off-season sun. So why not now? What are we waiting for? There are some big name […]
What a Lovely Pair
Morecambe and Wise, Del Boy and Rodney, Sooty and Sweep and to a lesser extent Ant and Dec, these are names of some great British double acts over the years, but none of the above will live in lilywhite memory like Ledley King and Michael Dawson. Although Dawson may never be remembered with quite the iconic status of legendary centre backs Perryman, Blanchflower or the King himself, you can’t deny that the boy had his moments. In the 2009/10 season Didier Drogba scored 29 league goals and was basically unplayable. He was so good in the air that he barely […]
What we wanted -vs- What we got
Back in May, when Harry was still manager and the season was coming to a close, I made some polls on The Fighting Cock forum, based on a 4-4-2 formation as to who we wanted to keep and who we wanted to sell. After the votes were counted, our desired first XI looked a little something like this… Subs: Friedel, Rose, Caulker*, Townsend*, Huddlestone, Parker, New Forward Squad: Button, Naughton, Dawson, Gallas, King, New Winger, Livermore, New Central Midfielder, Falque *U-21 so do not count towards 25-man squad We had essentially decided that the following should go: Gomes, Cudicini, Alnwick, […]