Indie's back!

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (starring Harrison Ford, Shia LaBoeuf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winston, Karen Allen, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent)

With the lack of anything decent coming out of America at the moment movie wise (in my opinion), it was a relief to see an old familiar face return in the form of Indiana Jones. With a gap of 18 years since The Last Crusade, you would only think that Harrison Ford has aged a snippet of that but he is in fact almost 65 - a pensioner! Most women would say that they'd still 'give him one' though, none more so than my friend Elena, who along with Suk and I, went and saw the movie this afternoon. Best place to be when the weather has been so shitty; it's been blustery and wet all day, more like March than the end of May.

It's hard to beat the original 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and I don't think they've managed it with the fourth one. They had hardly any big effects or computer generated graphics back in 1981 but for me, that's the beauty of it. A simple plot, good action and a bit of light-heartedness in between is all you need. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fulfilled the latter two but the storyline was over-complicated and some of the effects were too OTT. I liked all singing all dancing effects once upon a time, but now I prefer the down to earth, believable and deeper/emotional type films, with or without subtitles. Don't get me wrong, I still think the Crystal Skull was a good film, and there was plenty of the traditional Indie-style dark tunnels, cobwebs and old antiquities but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. There's far too much hype these days. However, there was one particularly funny moment in the film which involved Indie, quick sand and a snake - you'd have to see it to see what I mean. It was great to see Karen Allen back as well.

After the flick, we all went to The Golshan Indian restaurant to warm up and get outta the rain. It was very yummy (thanks Al - I suggested it because I know you love it there), and it was a big hit with Elena & Suk too.

The rest of the evening, I've just chilled out and watched Britain's Got Talent and caught up with Eastenders. It's not been a bad bank holiday weekend despite the weather. I visited my Nan on Saturday who's not been well again and frankly she just doesn't enjoy living anymore. Sunday saw a couple of hours of sunshine so I managed a bit a reading out in the garden. In the evening, we had a houseful for dinner: my Mum and Dad, Chris, Sandy and the two kids, Dave and Tina (despite being separated) and the three kids. There was a bit of flapping in the kitchen at the last minute but everything turned out okay. Anyway, it's back to work tomorrow and not another bank holiday until August, when it'll probably rain again.

Friends reunited

I had an email the other day via Friends Reunited which I haven't subscribed to for a couple of years so I wasn't sure how anyone could make contact with me. Having looked at the website, it says that it is now free to send and receive messages so I guess that's how! Anyhow, the message I received was from a Denise Richdale and I immediately dismissed it because I didn't recognise the name. A couple of days later I received a prompt stating that someone was trying to contact me urgently. I then decided to click on the link to the website and to my delight I saw that Denise's maiden name was Steel and I knew who it was immediately: one of my very best friends from Westborough High School. Apart from my old school mates who I still see regularly now (Suk, Ellie, Elena & Sunita), Denise was, as I recall, the only other person I was really close to and hung around with a lot of the time. I replied and gave her my email address so we could catch up. The same day I received a response telling me all about herself (well as much as you can in a nutshell). I sent a reply straight away doing the same and we both remarked how wonderful it was to be in touch again. To be honest I can't remember why we didn't stay in touch when she moved away. Denise was always in my mind whenever I walked past the Railway Hotel pub behind Southend Central station because that's where she lived during the time we were friends. I recall going into the flat above the pub one time and it was enormous! Anyway, she now lives in Sandwich in Kent which is a shame because I would've loved to get together, but it's not impossible - it's only in the next county and maybe one day we will see each other again.

The other mates who I referred to above came round for dinner last night, all with their other halves with the exception of Elena's Seb who doesn't 'do socialising' and so we always invite her sister Lianne instead. It's great to get together every so often as there's always so much to say, whether it's reminiscing about school, giving opinions about films, footie, or talking about work - the latter sounds boring but believe me when you have Elena in the room it's nothing but hilarious most of the time with the stories she has about her encounters in Lloyds Collections! Funnily enough, Sunita also ended up working for a bank (RBS), I work for HSBC, Suk works for RBS in the I.T. area and Ellie is the only one who went out on a limb and works as a receptionist in a opticians. It was a lovely evening and all the food John and I prepared was edible!

I am very lucky to have such great mates. As we always say, we may not see each other for months on end but when we do it's as if we've never been apart. Everything just falls into place. I don't know whether I'm making that very clear but I know what I mean! :)

Waifs and strays revisited

John's brother Paul almost came to live with us a short while ago (see previous blog 'Waifs and Strays) and then suddenly landed himself a good job and somewhere to live in Surrey. The latter is no more and so, rather desperate, asked again if he could stay with us until he finds himself a place. John was in Vegas at the time but I didn't hesitate. I've always got on well with Paul and family is family after all.

Not that I'm complaining but he's too damn polite! I don't know how many times I've said 'just help yourself' or 'just do what you want with the room' etc. John and I are so laid back; we just like people to relax and feel like it's their own home. I know one thing, this house will not be without chocolate for a while! Gawd, he gets through it like there's no tomorrow - it must run in the family.
Hehe. Happy days!

Season finale

Spurs 0 Liverpool 2

What a beautiful day - easily the hottest day of the year so far at 26 degrees. Pre-match meet up as usual at the Coach 'n' Horses. Debs and Mick came in fancy dress as the little group where they sit at the front of the south stand always do, and they were talked into it this time. Debs was Marilyn Monroe and Mick was a very tall leprechaun. They obviously stuck out like sore thumbs and were actually very brave to do it (see pic).


So the season ended in disappointment with only two players really turning up: Keano and Steed. Most of the others walked around in the sunshine not looking remotely interested despite all the hype on the website that they wanted to put on a good show for the fans. Pah! JJ was shocking and was brought off at half time; O'Hara kept getting caught in possession and was also subbed; even solid Super Alan Hutton wasn't himself. I don't think Spurs even had a shot in the first half and Berba was the only player who got one on target in the second. The game was really looking set to be a 0-0 as Liverpool weren't creating much either but we then gave away two very cheap goals and that was that. In fact, it could've got embarrassing if they'd taken their subsequent chances.

The usual awards followed the game with Jamie O'Hara winning Young Player of the Year and Keano the Member's voted Player of the Year. I knew he'd get it and I take nothing away from him, but I feel Steed deserved it more for the 100% effort he put into every game. The players then made their 'lap of honour' after Ledley came out with the Carling Cup. It was a bit anti-climatic with today's result. Last season's finale was more poignant as we secured 5th place but given the choice of that or winning some silverware, I'll take the silverware. Here's hoping we can achieve a far greater position in the league next season and progress further in the UEFA Cup.

Sadly, I think it'll be the last time I ever see Berbatov playing in a Lillywhite shirt. He looked like he was already on holiday today which was disappointing because I wanted to see those silky skills and go home on a high.

The highlight of the season no doubt is crushing Arsenal 5-1 and then going on to defeat Chelsea 2-1 in the cup final. However, there have been a few other memorable games: 6-4 v Reading. 4-0 v Wet Spam, 4-4 v Villa and 4-4 v Chelsea.

Well I've already pre-ordered my shirt for next season - I've gone for the black 3rd kit which seems to be a bit of a favourite amongst fans. I'll have to wait until 5th August though :( It's gonna be another boring summer without footie - not even an England team in the Euro Champs to cheer on.

A win at last

Reading 0 Spurs 1

Well I actually predicted the score correctly for this one - I didn't want to tempt fate and go for another 1-1 draw. Spurs played a hell of a lot better than in previous games; passed the ball well and created plenty of chances. The problem this week was finishing them. I suppose you could say that Reading flattered us a bit, especially in the first half when we had most of the possession. Keane got the only goal in the 16th minute. Reading pressed much more in the second half but didn't manage to get past Cerny who had a fabulous game.

So Spurs may have sealed Reading's fate as they go into the bottom three. It will now go to the last day of the season next Sunday to decide who gets relegated. I'm pleased for Fulham who beat Birmingham 2-0 today and they have a good chance to beat Pompey away, as they may be thinking more about the FA Cup Final and avoiding injuries.

Missing Maddie - one year on

Hardly believable that it is a year ago since little Madeleine McCann went missing from a resort in Portugal, days before her 4th birthday. Much has been speculated, particularly the innocence of Maddie's parents Gerry and Kate and their possible involvement in their daughter's disappearance. Although you can't rule it out, you'd hope that it isn't true - I mean, how could anyone do anything sinister to their own children? Ask that of the monster Josef Fritzl , surely the most sick of all fathers (if he can call himself that). When his daughter Elisabeth turned 18, he bundled her into the cellar where he kept her prisoner for 24 years. That's bad enough but continually raping her and producing 7 children from him makes your stomach turn and brings tears to your eyes. Just when you think you've heard the most horrific incident possible, you hear of an every worse one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7371959.stm

Anyway, I digress. I would imagine the chances of finding Maddie alive after such a long time are very slim, but I get that feeling that just maybe she is. You can't imagine what her parents are going through and they won't be able to rest until they know what has happened to their little princess.


The photo on the left (above) turned out to be a red herring but you can see the resemblence to Maddie. How hopes must have been severely dashed.

Naturally there will be plenty of press on the 1st anniversary of her abduction but there can hardly be any complaints from Gerry and Kate (even despite the allegations) because there are plenty of other children and adults who go missing every single day, and no-one hears about them.

http://www.findmadeleine.com/

We are the 1-all kings!

Spurs 1 Bolton 1

For the first time in 2008, we could wear our footie shirts without four layers on top! It must have been 20 degrees warmer than last week at Wigan - what a difference. It was so nice to sit out in the Coach & Horses' beer garden and catch some rays in the company of friends.

Team: Cerny, Hutton (Huddlestone), Woodgate, Dawson (Bent), Gilberto, Zokora, Malbranque (O'Hara), Lennon, Jenas, Keane, Berbatov

Spurs had pretty much all the possession in the first half, had a reasonable amount of shots but were unable to capitalise once again. Bolton came out with bombs up their arses just after the break and caught Spurs off guard and managed a scrappy toe-poke over the line from a yard out after it looked like Cerny had managed to save it. Still, maybe it was better we went one down than one up because we can't hold on to a lead to save our lives. Spurs continued to press and Bolton really didn't manage to create anything more. We came close a few times - either side of the post, a couple over the bar, a couple of headers but it was Malbranque who got the equaliser running on to a cross (possibly miskicked) on the left side of the goal from a few yards out. STEEEEEEEEEED! My man of the season but why was he subbed yet again? Berba could've won the game in the dying minute when his head met a good free kick from O'Hara. You would have bet money on him scoring. And so it was another one of those days when it didn't quite pan out right, and the fourth consecutive 1-1 draw. Are we going for a record? Jeez, it seems so long ago since Spurs won a match....only two more to go.

On a non-Yido note, the race for the Premiership title took a turn for the worse today when Chelski beat Manure 2-1 to level on points. It's likely to go to the last day - exciting for the neutral but let's just hope the blue scum don't win it. At the bottom, it's equally on tenterhooks as to who will go down with Derby.

Any dream will do

John and I went to see Joseph at the Cliffs Pavilion last night. The artists and shows appearing in our local theatre has improved over the years and no more so that this production, which is touring all over the country at the moment.

Three of the contestants from the TV programme 'Any Dream Will Do' appeared in this show. Craig Chalmers played the lead, Keith Jack had the part of the narrator and Chris Barton was another one of Jacob's sons (pictured left together with Elvis). All the kids you can see sat on the steps either side of the stage all throughout the show and provided background singing - very good they were too.

The whole thing was extremely entertaining. I'd never seen the show before but knew most of the songs which are so catchy, you come out still humming them. Although Craig was a good singer, he didn't have that edge to his voice, neither was it strong enough to overshadow the rest of the cast. I guess this is why he didn't win the leading role in the West End. The numbers performed by the Elvis character were really fun and got everyone clapping and there were quite a few humerous moments including blow up sheep! It built to a great finale to a standing ovation before the encore, which left everyone in a great mood. Definitely one I'd recommend but I'd still like to see the West End show starring Southend's Lee Mead.

Weekend up north

Thank heaven for Friday off work - I really needed it. Our plans were to drive up to Oldham to stay with friends Debs and Mick, who we normally meet pre-match when Spurs are playing at White Hart Lane. We left home at around 11am and it was plain sailing until a section of the A1 brought us to a stand still due to roadworks. After getting through that it was okay until the m62 when the sheer volume of traffic slowed us down to a maximum 10mph for about an hour. We finally reached our destination at 5:30; a ridiculous 5 and a half hours on the road. After a revitalising cuppa, we took the tour of Debs and Mick's new bungalow, had a chat and then called a taxi to take us to the pub next to the Indian restaurant. I was starving by this point and really shouldn't have had alcohol before eating because I felt a bit light-headed. Anyway, the meal was yummy and man I was ready for it! John provided most of the banter and told stories and jokes I'd heard 25 million time before (and I'm not exaggerating!), however, it was a good laugh.



Saturday was match day. We'd already pre-booked tickets for the Wigan v Spurs game. Makes a change to pay only £20 for a ticket as opposed to £39, £48 or £61! I hadn't been to an away fixture since Charlton shared Selhurst Park with Palace - I think it was 1989/1990. Craig drove over from Leeds to join us for breakfast, and then we all walked to the station and instantly froze. This part of Shaw in Oldham is surrounded by hills and the wind chill factor must've made it zero degrees. It might as well have been December or January. We got the train which took us to Manchester then had to change for the one to Wigan. Oldham sounds and looks fairly close to Wigan on the map but I was surprised how long it took to get there. It was another fairly lengthy walk to the JJB stadium once we reached Wigan station, and I can't emphasise enough how bloomin' cold it was. We took a couple of pics outside the JJB for the 'scrapbook' (see above).

They'd closed the Marquee bar due to a private function so fans were herded to a footie bar in the shopping centre nearby. It was like sardines but at least it was warm. At 2:30 we headed back to the stadium, ready for the 3 o'clock kick off. I must say I was impressed with the toilet facilities - loads of cubicles and no queuing, compared with White Hart Lane where there are only 2 cubicles in the ladies and always a long queue! Something Tottenham can definitely improve on when they rebuild.

Unfortunately, none of us were seating near each other because it isn't possible for one person to book 5 tickets; each season ticket holder or member has to buy their own. John and I were fairly close to the pitch to the left side of the goal. Spurs were attacked the goal at the other end in the first half and with only five minutes gone, Berbatov scored. It looked as though it was going to be a breeze but as always they couldn't hold onto a lead and the Wigan equaliser soon followed. After that Spurs went downhill, pretty much the same way as they have done in every match since the cup final. It stayed 1-1 in the first half and no goals were added in the second. It's just so disappointing watching your team not able to create anything, especially down the Spurs fans' end of the pitch in the second half. Wigan perhaps should've won but we also should have had a penalty when Melchiot had both hands on Berbatov's shoulders, dragging him down in the box. This wasn't too obvious at the time because it happened up the other end, but was very clear watching the highlights on Match of the Day. So it wasn't really worth getting frostbite for but at least we didn't travel all the way up there just for the game.

On the way back, we stopped at a pub and I refuelled and warmed myself up with a cup of tea! Then onwards to the train station again. We stopped in Manchester for an evening meal at Yum Yum's - a Chinese buffet style restaurant which Debs and Mick had frequented before. All you can eat for a tenner. On the way out, I took the stairs whilst the others took the lift (lazy buggers) but I had a idea to take a photo - Soccer AM style. Actually John took it. Anyone for some lift fun? You may see it on the telly once I've submitted it - who knows? lol

Once we'd got back to Debs and Mick's place, Craig drove home and the rest of us just crashed on the sofa, completely knackered.

After a late-ish breakfast on the Sunday morning, John and I set off for home at around 11:30. The return journey only took three and a half hours this time, two hours less than on the way! Anyway, it a lovely weekend spent with good mates and great to get away for a couple of days.

Run out of words...or have I?

Spurs 1 Boro 1

Thank heaven for meeting friends pre-match to make it more of a day because once again the game was a major disappointment, and a waste of money.

The first half (I suppose) wasn't too bad - average at best though. Spurs looked far superior to Boro, however, without fear of becoming a cracked record, I have to say that the lack of chances created was a big worry. It's like they don't know what to do with the ball once they get it near the opponent's box! I lost count of the amount of times I heard myself shout 'have a shot'!!! Even Berbatov is guilty of this and surely he must know his own ability? He is too busy trying to find that perfect pass and being unselfish despite being in shooting range himself. Of course I will always be harsher on the players I admire the most. Well, I have to make the most of Berba; it's hugely doubtful that he's be wearing the Lillywhite strip next season (unless a miracle happens). The same applies to Robbie Keane (except for the last bit). He's lost a bit of form the last 4 or 5 games with the goals drying up. However, on a positive, this was his 250th appearance for the club and he remains a workhorse for the team. AND, he wasn't subbed!

Talking of substitutions, surely the worst one in history took place when Steed was replaced by Huddlestone. The thing is Steed was having a pretty good game (as usual) so I'm not sure what the tactics were but Tommy's performance was abysmal. Every time he had the ball, he lost it or the pass went wildly astray. Anyone who was there will give testament to this - I just don't know what was wrong with him. He was shocking! Never been a fan of him - I won't be sorry to see him go if he's one of the casualties in the summer transfers.

Anyway the game boiled down to an own goal in our favour and a goal out of nothing for Boro.
The second half turned flat and Spurs fell apart again (similar to the Newcastle performance - or should I say lack of it?). We gave them chance after chance and really they should have scored three more; Alfonso Alves was guilty of a glaring miss more or less one on one with Cerny - a top class Brazilian would certainly have scored with his eyes closed! :)

So more disappointment with the performance as well as the scoreline. I'm off to an away game next week in Wigan - YES I DID SAY AN AWAY GAME! John and I will be staying with our mates Debs and Mick who we usually meet pre-match - they live in Oldham so it's just 'down road' (said in a northern accent). We'll be travelling up on Friday so I'm looking forward to it.

Even Steven at Ewood

Blackburn 1 Spurs 1

All I can say is that was 100% better than last week's dismal effort!

Spurs dominated the first half hour and played some neat football. Berbatov scored after 7 minutes with a tap in and the team should've made the most of the possession with a second or third but squandered chances. Blackburn's equaliser came as a result of bad defending, in fact no-one was anywhere near Pedersen on the edge of the box when he took his shot. Soft goal to give away yet again. However, I'm happy with the point; at least Spurs didn't embarrass themselves this week.

Tottenham - a disgrace

Spurs 1 Newcastle 4

It started out such a lovely day, having a laugh with friends Debs and Mick in the beer garden of the Coach & Horses but that was all washed away in one of the worst 90 minutes of football at the Lane for some time.

I don't know why I'm even wasting time blogging about it; maybe I need to get it off my chest! The stadium was like a morgue today. For the second game in a row, the singing was very limited and the Toon Army put us to shame.

I was trying to think of a different way to sum up the performance so here's an A-Z list:

A is for appalling
B is for boring
C is for crap
D is for disgrace
E is for egg on ya face
F is for f***ing waste of money
G is for grim
H is for hopeless
I is for incapable
J is for joke
K is for katabatikos (Greek word for 'going downhill')
L is for lazy
M is for muppets
N is for not trying
O is for ordinary
P is for pityful
Q is for quality heap of shite
R is for rubbish
S is for shocking
T is for terrible
U is for useless
V is for very very very very disappointing
W is for woeful
X is for xtremely poor
Y is for you suck!
Z is for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


An utter disgrace is probably the most accurate adjective to use in this case. I honestly don't think the players deserve to get paid this week because apart from the opening ten minutes and the goal, they didn't even try. I'd like a refund too.

Mum & Dad's Ruby Anniversary

In this day and age it's quite an achievement to stay married to the same person for 40 years and I'm very proud of my parents for getting there and still being as happy today as they always were.

There wasn't a big bash arranged to mark the occasion as that's not what they like, but just a simple table for eight at our favourite restaurant: Alvaros. Unfortunately my Uncle Brian was ill so my cousin Debbie took his place which was lovely because we haven't seen her for years - she lives and works in South Carolina and is over here for three weeks because of visa regulations.

Anyway the meal was fabulous as per usual. It's pricey but well worth it and the staff there (Portuguese) are so friendly. My dad has known the owner for donkey's years because he used to supply the restaurant with meat when he worked for a wholesalers. They decorated the table with ruby red roses which were given to my mum when we left. A nice gesture.

It's funny but my parents just don't seem old enough to have been married for 40 years; I suppose that's because they are still young at heart. Congratulations Mum and Dad!

America's No.1

Well done to Leona Lewis who has shot to No.1 in the U.S. charts with Bleeding Love. What a massive achievement - the first solo Brit artist to reach the top spot since 1987. The last person to do this was Kim Wilde with a cover version of 'You keep me hanging on'. Goes to show how tough it is over there to gain popularity; you really have to put the time and effort in and make your face known. Considering Leona only won the X-Factor 15 months ago, she must feel like she's in dreamland. It couldn't happen to a nicer girl.

Heartbreaking

A few weeks ago, we brought our external hard drive down from the loft where the PC is located, into the living to plug straight into the laptop. It was working fine, then all of a sudden it started making a funny noise and no files or anything could be accessed from it. The drive contains holiday photos from the last four years (approx), all the family photos including ones of my nieces and nephews since they were born, my thousand or so Spurs pics saved, itunes music library which contained over 12,000 songs, and all other documents saved in Word, Excel etc.

John's brother Paul was over for the weekend a fortnight ago and has just found himself a new job. He said he would take it with him and have it examined in the lab there which he very kindly did and reported back that it was hopefully they would be able to retrieve the data from it. However, devastating news received today revealed there were complications and would cost £300 to fix the problem. John wasn't keen on spending that amount of money (blokes aren't as sentimental about photos as females) but I was tempted because I couldn't bear the thought of losing precious memories. I will just have to get over it.

Obviously a lot of stuff can be rebuilt and recompiled, in fact John has been working for two days now on the itunes library. I couldn't care less about the music, I want my photos back! Luckily, I always have a selection of photos printed and they are safe in albums, so all is not lost. A new external hard drive arrived by post this afternoon and is firmly rooted to the floor tucked away between the two armchairs. Apparently John read somewhere that if they are moved or bumped they are prone to breakage. Great knowing that now!

Anyway, a lesson learned from this mishap is that everything but everything will be saved to disc in future as I am not going to run the risk of losing more photos.

Bugger!

Dates for the new Queen gigs have just been announced and can you believe they've put them right smack bang in the middle of October when I'll be in Australia? Argh! They are in Europe during September as well but it's kind of a busy time for me what with my 40th birthday and going on holiday, plus the extra cost and taking more days off work, it just can't be done. I'm so disappointed because even without the late and great Freddie Mercury, I'm betting it would be a fantastic experience.

I watched the Queen live in Montreal dvd today and I'm always totally in awe of them, especially Freddie. What an amazingly talented entertainer he was - would be hard to beat in my eyes (except maybe Elvis)! I wasn't so much of a fan when he was alive sadly, so I very much regret not seeing Queen on stage back then. Funny how artists come 'alive' and strike such a chord with you after they have passed.

Hopefully there'll be another chance some other time.

100 up!

Congratulations to David Beckham for finally achieving his 10oth cap for England. Well deserved. He has been our most consistent and inspirational player of the last 10 years.

Unfortunately tonight in the friendly against France in Paris, despite his enthusiasm, England didn't turn up. It was such a dreary game that I gave up watching.

Did Capello know what he was letting himself in for? The phrase 'flogging a dead horse' springs to mind.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! <----- me yawning

Oh and the score was 1-0 France, a penalty in the first half. Blah.

Winter

After yesterday's short blizzards in London, proper snow came to our neck of the woods today. It could have only lasted about three hours so that was real winter all over in a blink of an eye. Nothing settled as the ground was already damp which was a tad disappointing. Now there is no evidence whatsoever that we even had any.

Just like buses

Spurs 2 Pompey 0

Team: Robbo, Chimbo, Woody, Daws (Bent), Hutton, Steed, Zok, Lennon (O'Hara), Huddz, Berba, Keano



Surely the coldest day of the winter so far, it was bitter at the Lane today with intermittent snow blizzards. Brrrrrr! Despite my usual four layers of clothing, I was feeling the nip. I could have been sitting in my warm home watching the game on Sky Sports but where's the fun in that?!

Spurs had pretty much all of the possession in the first half and a few decent chances but nothing came of it. 0-0 is a surprising score even at half time for Spurs and surely that's not how it would finish. The second half faded a bit from our point of view; Pompey were dreadful the whole game, playing nowhere near as well as they have been of late.

Just as I turned to John and said I would bring Jamie O'Hara on now, he came to the touchline together with Bent. See, I'm after that job! Lennon was quite rightly subbed as his final ball (as always) was shockingly bad. Tactically, a defender off for a striker is always a positive sign from a manager showing determination to win the game.

It really did look as if it was heading for a goalless draw but then the substitutions proved how good they were. It was like waiting for a bus for 80 minutes and then two turned up at once! Firstly Berba volleyed into the ground and Bent planted the header into the corner from eight yards out. One minute and 21 seconds later, Bent became the provider on the left for O'Hara to side foot the ball into the corner. You can see the joy on his face from the pic. A great young talent - just hope he sticks around at Spurs.

So three points in the bag. Hopefully Wet Spam will slip up tomorrow and the gap becomes smaller. We will get into the top half of the table if it kills us!

Another boring night at the Lane...NOT!

Spurs 4 Chel$ki 4

Team: Robbo, Chimbo, Woody, Ledders (Bent), Hutton, Steed, Jenas (Huddlestone), Lennon, Zokora, Berba, Keano

Well again we got our money's worth at the Lane with an eight goal thriller. So far this season, I've been lucky enough to have seen two 4-0s, a 5-1 and two 4-4s. Not bad eh?

It was the usual hate hate relationship between the two sets of fans but obviously there was more of us so we drowned them out most of the time! That same emotion was shown on the pitch as well with tackles flying in, descent from players on each side for what were some useless refereeing decisions. So what's new there?!

I came into this game pretty sure Spurs would lose, basically because of the performance in the last couple of games and also the fact that Chelsea would be looking for revenge after the cup final. We bearly had a chance to settle in our seats before they took the lead but it only took until the 11th minutes before Woodgate climbed high to convert a strong header. I think maybe he likes scoring against Chelsea! However, Spurs being Spurs, they let in another eight minutes later. The crowd were riled up just before half time when Ashley Cole tacked with studs up against Hutton's shin - having watched it back on TV, it could have been a red card; they certainly have been given for other similar tackles this season. Why Cole argued and showed descent to referee Riley I have no idea as it was a clear cut bad tackle (actually the word knobhead comes to mind), and he was lucky to get away with a yellow. Still, a good excuse to give him more abuse - a bit of 'Where's ya missus gone' to the the tune of 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' rang around the ground!

Spurs started the second half brightly but then somehow conceded a third goal. A soft one it was too, bobbling off the legs of the advancing Robinson. We looked dead and buried but needn't have despaired as we should know by now that Spurs are more dangerous when they're behind.
It was game on again on the hour when Berba headed home a Huddlestone corner - one of the few that actually went beyond the first defender! A great chance followed when a brilliant ball from Berba found Keane, he swivelled his body but it was superbly saved. The Lane erupted again after 75 minutes when Huddlestone drove the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. 3-3!
But just when we thought we could go on and snatch the winner, Chelsea scored again through Joe Cole who again got the better of Chimbonda. Talk about up and down emotions all night; I couldn't keep up!

I just have to interrupt this bulletin by mentioning Didier Drogba... it amazes me time and time again how the man gets away with what he does. Even right in front of the ref, he falls to the ground with the faintest of touches and gets awarded free kicks. Why are they fooled by this awful acting? You could blow him over, it's that bad. However, I'm not a total hypocrite as Huddlestone's pathetic effort of a dive on the edge of the box is not something I want to see from one of my players. Cheating does not impress me. He received a yellow card for his acting - the difference between the two is that Drogba does it in every game and rarely gets carded.

So, only ten minutes left of the game which was just enough for Keano to bring the house down once again with an absolutely stunning strike into the top corner. Maybe slightly fortuitous with the ball ricocheting off Carvalio's back but who cares?!!! The icing on the cake would have been Berbatov converting the clear cut chance he had in the last minute of added time, finding himself free in the penalty area with only Cuducini to beat. However, his shot was too close to the goalkeeper and it was saved. You've no idea how agonising that was - of all players, Berba would usually have stuck that away every time. Oh so close to another memorable victory over Chelsea. I think the Spurs fans were more than happy to go away with a point at the end of the night, considering being 3-1 down.

So there you have it. Another dull night at the Lane. Yawn. :)