Talking Tottenham - The Best of - Volume three

Talking Tottenham is a different way of looking at everything in the World of Hotspur that use to regularly appear every Friday. It’s time to pull back the curtains and shed some light on some of the bits that enlightened our weekends as we waited for game time, brought together here for posterity.

One series that we ran was a look at when the lads where in fact lads if you following my drift. Also in this latest gathering of ‘the best’ we remember the ‘Wisdom of Jermain.’  Not to worry we will slip in a enough trivia, stats and stuff from the olde curiosity box  to boggle you through your coffee break but not always in the a totally serious manner.

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Digging in to the TT archives we came across this gem. Don’t get me wrong he is a hero but Jermain Defoe showed us the importance of thinking before speaking when he arrived in Canada and said how pleased he was to be in the USA. It should be noted he is far from being the first player to get country wrong or even what club he has signed for.
This led us to remember an interview he had done when he said he wanted to win more trophies as a player and then answered the next question but one by saying he was sorry he ever left West Ham. They of course last won a trophy in 1980 which was two years before he was born. There is a kiddie pic of Jermain in Every Picture Tells a Story - Set One. 

No prizes for guessing this a young Luka Modric.  Apart from the fun TT slipped in lots of little nuggets for your pleasure. One person informed me they mined these for quizzes of their own so at least someone was reading the twaddle. Here are a few more the old curiosity box. Back in 1984 manager Keith Burkenshaw, was so concerned about the standard of the Football Combination (reserve league) with many of the games being cancelled that he applied to have our reserves play in the Isthmian League (that’s the seventh rung on the FA League's ladder) but his application was rejected….

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Or that Jimmy Blair was the first Spur sent off in a Football League game on 29 Jan.1927.…. Sorry no prizes either for spotting the young Mr. Bale.

….  Then that the opening game of the 1965/66 season away to Blackburn was postponed due to an outbreak of polio in that town. The game was finally played as the last of the season. Spurs won and Blackburn finished bottom…. And that in January 2011 Steven Pienaar made his debut at Newcastle and became the 600th player to represent Tottenham, in the Football and Premier Leagues….

We also featured some of those great moments this time its where Jan wants to swap shorts before the end of the game.

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Two records that the club hold were when we played in our first FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace in 1901 we set a then world record for a game, and still one of only three games with a 100,000 plus crowds in the UK. Then turning the coin over what you might not have realised was that the replay in Bolton saw the lowest attendance for a FA Cup Final since the beginning of the 20th century. Finally this time around that Tottenham have won a major trophy in each of the last full decades dating back to the 1950s (only Man U can equal this).

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OK you can a point if you identify this young left looted lad.
Its Jimmy Greaves.


As Talking Tottenham tried to engage with both of its readers, a few of us enjoyed discussing various points along with the last / next game we chatted about exactly what made you chose Tottenham to follow or in fact did Tottenham chose you?  What had been the best moment in that experience. Should there be a B League, the great Europa League debate. We also asked about what should be put into a time capsule when the new stadium was built. Any thoughts still welcome.
 

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We never let ourselves get dragged down to the silly transfer gossip that all the other sites survive on, but we did occasionally break some transfer news they had missed !  Well lad looks like he might be hard to knock off the ball.

Whether it be Talking or other articles I go to great lengths to check facts but we are all human and I wouldn’t criticize anyone for spreading the word in their love of Spurs however I’ve noticed several points recently across other several social media sites that has led to a little confusion in the ranks. We have mentioned it before but, the first was just how many Tottenham players had actually featured for England with several sources quoting different figures.

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This has spawned the next Tottenham Mystery and this will (goblins permitting) be with you shortly. The other points that need a bucket of clarity poured over them were the records that relate to the “top five European leagues only.” The first is that despite what you may have read Jimmy Greaves is still the top goal scorer with 366. A number of people seem to forget his contribution from the Italian league. He finished one ahead of Gerd Muller. At  the time of writing Ronaldo has moved into level third with Steve Bloomer on 317 so it will be a while before he catches Jimmy.

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The other record, again relates to just those five leagues, Tottenham with eleven straight wins at the start of the season still hold the record for the best run of wins at the start of the season.

Thank to the mums of Scott Parker and Rafael van da Varrt for making these snaps available.

Then we have another lad the daily gossip garbage missed for some reason

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Talking Tottenham has had several mood to try and reflect current events and the tone of the piece.

This compilation was due to appear at the same time as the recent monstrous outrage in Paris. It did not seem fitting to publish a light hearted item at that point.

Instead when France met England at Wembley a few days later I did mention on the Facebook page.

‘The first time England played France was May 1923. Prior to the match, FA vice-president John Lewis laid a wreath on the tomb of the French Unknown Warrior under the Arc de Triomphe.’

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The next little wonder up is our former midfielder, Michael Carrick.

Mega thanks to those who gave the recent Harry Winks interview a boost by their comments, likes, re-tweets, shares and just plain old telling people thus helping to spread the word and raise the India Spurs profile. By doing that YOU are playing a major role in helping to attract more fabulous specials for everyone, getting more people along to the screenings and other events. Remember it wont happen without YOU.   

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The last sweetheart is going back a while, the background and the clothes could be a clue, but unless you saw it first time around you were unlikely to get Maurice Norman from teh Double side.

I hope you enjoyed this collection of bits saved for you and generations to come, (now there is a thought), before they disappear down the waste pipe of the internet. Don’t forget to comment or chip in any lingering thoughts or if you have any other kiddie-wink pics of our heroes. ‘Best Of’ will be back in the none to distance future when we will be looking at another series we ran. In the meantime there’s always lots of goodies to help you pass the time until work finishes and you head home. Keep an eye on the links below to ensure you don’t miss anything, Until then dont forget to check out the links below and

COYS
Keith Harrison.
t- Keith 16024542
f- peter shearman (old non de plume)

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