News, views, and gossip relating to Tottenham over the past 24 hours…
Andre Villas-Boas has praised Jermain Defoe, who bagged a hattrick last night against Maribor and climb above Teddy Sheringham to eighth in Spurs’ all-time goalscoring charts. The manager summed him up as ‘brilliant’ and ‘prolific’, and the striker’s form sums up why he was right to stick it out at the club.
It was a direct response to Roy Hodgson who left Defoe out of England’s upcoming friendly with Sweden, and from a personal satisfaction point of view the hattrick could not have been better timed.
AVB has hit back at Didier Deschamps renewed complaints that Hugo Lloris is not getting enough games. When quizzed about the French manager’s remarks, the Spurs boss said ‘it goes in one ear and out the other.’ We also take a look at how despite the goalkeeper’s mistake against Maribor last night, fans are continuing to back the ‘keeper.
On HITC today, Nick Harris takes an all-round look at the success of Tottenham’s youth teams, both in the under-21 league where they top the table, and the NextGen Series where they hammered Barcelona 4-1 in midweek.
Meanwhile supporter Connor Jipps gives his view on the ‘Yid’ row, started by the Society of Black Lawyers, and argues why Spurs fans should be able to chant as they see fit. Tottenham fans sung ‘we sing what we want’ at the Lane last night as a direct response to criticism.
Jan Vertonghen maintains Spurs are confident they can beat Manchester City on Sunday, buoyed by their win at Old Trafford, they are going for a Manchester double when they play at the Etihad. The Belgian is hoping Spurs can take advantage of a potential Champions League hangover for City, adding that his club’s away form gives them extra reason to be confident.
AVB has stated he is undecided of whether to play Defoe, Adebayor, or both in the fixture, and has a big decision to make. The manager said his club’s quick turnaround and City’s two extra recovery from midweek fixtures is causing concern, and it could influence his team selection.
The big news is Brazilian midfielder Sandro’s potential return. The key man let his followers on Twitter know last night that he is pushing hard to regain fitness and doing extra recovery work, and is confident he will make the game. He had missed the loss to Wigan with a calf injury and again sat out last night.
20-year-old Massimo Luongo has had his loan move to Ipswich cut short by new manager Mick McCarthy, after the midfielder struggled to break into the team. The two clubs agreed the best solution was to let him continue his development with Spurs.
image: © simonw92
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