Football Focus

[Jah Lush]

JohnL Wrote:

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> So Bony scores twice against us after not scoring

> for months and Joe Allen has a fine game.

>

> The Swans fans fuming.

I'd be as well if I was a Swans fan too. The board have become too trigger happy in getting rid of their managers over the past couple of seasons. Good players leaving the club as well. I can't see a top quality player such as Gylfi Sigurdsson staying there much longer with the way things are at the club.

[Jah Lush]

Glenn Hoddle voted Spurs greatest player of all time. It's hard to argue with that. Certainly the most naturally gifted player of his generation and the man England should have built their team around.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/glenn-hoddle-named-tottenham-s-greatest-player-of-all-time-a3383636.html

[Mick Mac]

One argument against that is that he wasn't part of a Tottenham team that won the league, or more so the double.

That's a team argument. On an individual level, he failed to convince several England managers of his worth.

Additionally, not many current Spurs fans witnessed the great Spurs team, and there hasn't been a lot of quality recently, so is the vote representative?.

Is he really better than Greaves, Blanchflower, Mackay, Bale, Linekar? In that order !

Edited to add Gascoigne.

[Jah Lush]

It was a fans and players vote. I agree you could argue about Mackay in that double winning side or Jimmy Greaves who still remains these islands greatest goalscoring machine but the blinkered England management failed miserably to see what we saw week in and week out for Tottenham Hotspur. Hoddle was a genius. If he had been born French, German, Brazilian or Argentinian they'd have built the team around him, made him captain and he'd have 125+ caps to his name. Just watching him in the warm up was a joy to behold.

Phil Neville has six more England caps than Glenn. Think about that.

[Jah Lush]

And while we're at it. Feast your eyes on this.

 

[Jah Lush]

Deleted because the first one says it all as a player.

[Mick Mac]

I have watched some of the first video. And I remember Hoddle anyway - although not seeing him every week like you.

Its to some extent personal choice. My question was really whether it would have been the same answer if the vote was say 1980 when Hoddle was still playing, but the double winning team was still alive in the memory.

The Tottenham team of 1960 is one of folklore.

This list puts Hoddle at No 8

http://www.ranker.com/list/best-tottenham-hotspur-players-of-all-time/ranker-soccer

[red devil]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> Phil Neville has six more England caps than Glenn.

> Think about that.

I get your point Jah, but Phil Neville played in a different position in a different era, so it's an unfair comparison.

Which player(s) do you think were picked instead of him? I can remember Robson and Wilkins being in the England midfield during Hoddle's time, and neither of them was ever going to be dropped to accommodate Hoddle.

I think Hoddle's problem was, like Le Tissier, he was considered a flair player, a luxury. He was just born in the wrong time, the English game wasn't ready for him. Not even the big English clubs at the time wanted to sign him.

I'm not a fan of these 'who was the best ever' polls because the game has evolved so much over the years. I think you can pick the best Spurs player of an era, and Hoddle was certainly that...

[JohnL]

On Wiki the quote

"Hoddle announced in 1987 that he would be leaving Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season to pursue a career overseas where his style of play would be appreciated by continental managers and supporters,"

says it all really.

[JohnL]

red devil Wrote:

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I can remember Robson and Wilkins being in

> the England midfield during Hoddle's time, and

> neither of them was ever going to be dropped to

> accommodate Hoddle.

reminds me of 'the mugs of monterrey' - when Beardsley and Peter Reid

came in for Butch Wilkins and Captain Marvel .. with a certain match

of the day presenter also brought in :)

[Otta]

Danny Ings out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Such a shame, I think he has real quality, bit it looks like he'll be one of these players that never gets a real run of fitness.

[titch juicy]

I agree wholeheartedly with the Hoddle vote. Best player i've ever seen wear the Lillywhite. A different level again to the Gascoignes, Linekers, Klinsmanns, Ginolas, Waddles and Bales of the world. He could do anything with a ball with either foot.

I also have no idea how he managed to hit a ball so effortlessly hard, considering how heavy those balls used to be in the 70s/80s.

I'm not old enough to remember the 61 side, so it's with that caveat.

[????]

Hoddle ahead of Greaves Jah? Still, Hurst was ahead of him when it really mattered :)

[Jah Lush]

Hurst didn't have 14 stitches in his shin.

[Otta]

Hoddle over Gazza and Bale? Really?

[red devil]

I think they're talking about what Hoddle/Gazza/Bale etc did solely as Spurs players. Hoddle definitely had a better career at Spurs than Gazza and Bale. Wheras Bale will probably go on to have the best football career in general...

[titch juicy]

Otta Wrote:

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> Hoddle over Gazza and Bale? Really?

Yes, definitely.

Bale may well go on to have a better career and be considered a better player- but as it stands, Hoddle stands above both.

Watch the first showreel that Jah posted. The things he could do with a football! There's one pass that he clearly puts backspin on - it's phenomenal.

[Mick Mac]

Joey's back

Rangers released a short statement via their official website confirming that he will re-join training.

"Joey Barton has been told he will return to full-time training following the conclusion of a disciplinary procedure," it read.

"The Auchenhowie management team will inform the player of appropriate training arrangements to which he must adhere for as long as he remains a Rangers player. Neither the club nor the player will comment further."

Barton was initially exiled by Rangers after an exchange of words with Andy Halliday following the hammering at Celtic Park, with manager Mark Warburton also reportedly involved.

The 34-year-old was also charged by the Scottish Football Association last month for allegedly breaching betting rules.

Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/rangers-lift-barton-suspension#OvjXpOyC6JAHECS1.99

[Jah Lush]

Otta Wrote:

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> Hoddle over Gazza and Bale? Really?

All day long.

[Jah Lush]

Well that was absolute shithouse tonight. The worst Spurs performance I've seen in a very long time. Far worse than when we lost at Upton Park last season. Play like that at the Effeminates on Sunday and we'll be thrashed. The Wembley curse continues. Awful. And I still can't understand why we paid ?30m for Sissoko. What does he do? He's not a winger that for sure. He's rubbish. Total waste of money. Total lack of flair. How we could have done with a Glenn Hoddle or Gazza in their pomp and a Jimmy Greaves to score something out of nothing. Grrrr... Not a happy bunny.

[Otta]

Meanwhile "Leicester are the first team in Champions League history to keep clean sheets in their first four games."

That's pretty impressive. I wish I'd ad my bet on them going down but winning the CL. Stranger things have happened.

[Alan Medic]

Come on Otta. Name one stranger thing than that!

[Mick Mac]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> Not a happy bunny.

Yes, we can tell.... :)

[Otta]

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> Come on Otta. Name one stranger thing than that!

Them winning the PL a season after nearly being relegated?

Donald Trump being on the verge of becoming president of the USA?

[Alan Medic]

Dont think either of those are stranger than them winning the CL and being relegated.