The Crow - Surely, Spurs should stay put and shut up
Published: 13 October, 2011
ARSENAL
WE haven’t agreed on much over the years but I think me and the Spurs fans might be thinking the same thing on this one.
Surely in their heart of hearts, Tottenham fans think as much as the rest of us that their club have been rotters over this new stadium business?
It doesn’t take an expert town planner to work out the local area around White Hart Lane, the local economy, rely on Spurs staying put.
You know it. I know it.
David Lammy is always screaming about it.
Surely the important people at Tottenham know it as well?
And yet they still bang on about this judicial review over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, causing a loud tantrum that helped West Ham’s own bid collapse this week.
Even if you are a devoted Spurs fan, come on, admit it, we won’t think any less of you, Tottenham are playing a grotesque game of poker here.
The club was enjoying warm community coverage on the telly over the weekend for supporting Haringey council's “'I Love Tottenham” campaign – aimed at promoting local businesses following the riots.
They were happy to pose: Michael Dawson stood next to a billboard, Gary Mabbutt did keepy-uppies in the street.
Yet, what kind of love is retaining an interest in who moves in at Stratford?
Cynics (most people) think it risks looking like brinkmanship to get the best possible planning deal for a development near the Lane.
But Tottenham as a community doesn’t need to be messed about right now.
It needs reassurance and help from Spurs.
They should stay put and shut up.
RICHARD OSLEY
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Football has become a multi-billion pound industry and if anyone thinks the “fix” isn’t in somewhere, think again!
There is much potential for wrongdoings in a 90-minute match, it’s a wonder nothing more has been exposed.
We have to go as far back as 1994 when keepers Bruce Grobbelaar, Hans Segers and striker John Fashanu were accused of fixing matches.
Eventually nothing was proven but with the kind of money being paid to agents, professionals and their advisers can anyone really say with authority that there is nothing unprincipled going on in the game?
When I think about recent decisions made in World Cup qualifiers, Premier League games, relegation and promotion battles that have changed the destinies of teams, managers and players it does make me sit up and wonder whether we’re being hoodwinked: are the teams we think great just that or are they getting by with a little help from their friends?
Food for thought isn’t it?
• Wayne Rooney’s sending off against Montenegro on Friday was silly to say the least.
His calm reaction to the straight red card was almost as comical as Fabio Capello’s remarks about the incident after the game.
Although England have qualified, if I were the manager, Rooney would have been fined so much he’d be paying it off well into old age!
TONY DALLAS