Frimpong gets Frimponged... AGAIN!

Emmanuel Frimpong lived up to his clown tag once again yesterday. He reacted to a Spurs fan by calling him a "scum yid". The Spurs fan in question had stated that he would welcome Frimpong breaking his arms and legs. While this was out of order and not something that most normal people would wish upon anyone, it is only meaningless words from someone who will never meet the Arsenal midfielder. The now infamous figure, Frimpong rose to the bait and in doing so used a word that has antisemitic connotations.

Many people will wonder though, how Spurs fans can use the term yid to describe themselves and complain about others using it against them. It is the tone that is important in these scenarios. When Spurs sing about being yids, there is no anger, there is no hatred, it is simply ownership of a phrase that was used to try and belittle the large Jewish following that Spurs have. When Frimpong calls someone a "scum yid" he is using this as an offensive term, designed to alienate a group of people.  In this respect, and i realise this will be controversial, it is similar to the use of the "N" word, a word that is non-offensive when used as ownership of the phrase, but when used to belittle is incredibly racist. 

I don't believe Frimpong has the mental capacity to understand what he has said, he thinks it is only against Spurs fans and does not realise when said in the manner in which it was as it is an antisemitic term. For that reason I don't think he should face too much punishment, he should be reprimanded, but not severely, there was no intent to cause pain to the whole Jewish race, and at the end of the day, he has once again shown himself to be a fool. Spurs fans will give him so much stick for the rest of career also, which is no treat, just ask Sol Campbell.

Football has fallen into the trap of "political correctness gone mad" with the recent Terry, Suarez and Ferdinand issues. Twitter isn't helping, it can't be that hard for players to realise that what they write will be seen by everyone, and that sometimes it is better just to keep a lid on it. Ferdinand has been the worst culprit, once again using Twitter to tarnish his successful career. Both Frimpong and Ferdinand are very quickly turning into the clowns of football, and I for one am enjoying watching their hilarious demise.    

AVB is Having a Party!

It is a great time to be a spurs fan and there have been many exciting developments down at the lane over the last week. We have brought in a new manager and two new players, and on top of that it now seems certain that Adebayor will be signing a permanent deal in the next few days. Gylfi and Vertongen have been much talked about and will make fantastic signings. Vertongen is one of the best defenders in European football, and joins Spurs, giving up his role as Ajax captain. He has made no secret of his desire to join Spurs and this has made him an instant hit with the fans, even before he has been to his first training session. Gylfi is a goal scoring midfielder, who also likes to play the right kind of football; he will fit in effortlessly, whether as a replacement to Van der Vaart or alongside the Dutchman. The main purpose of this article though is to think about AVB as the man to take the reigns at the Lane. There is a very good reason for holding back and writing this a few days latter than everyone else. I wanted to dust to settle, I wanted to see how the press would react, after their initial slandering of the ex-Porto man before throwing my opinions out.

When AVB was first appointed the press instantly jumped to the defence of their golden boy, defending Harry to the hilt in the only way they know how, by belittling his successor as much as is humanly possible. The insults flew in from all corners of the media, but there was a specific radio station and a particular national newspaper that were the worst culprits, I wont mention any names as everyone will have their own opinion but I will not ever take the two parties seriously again, as they continuously showed the kind of lazy journalism that is becoming all too familiar in the UK. Anyway, enough of a rant, the dust has settled, the players have made the right noises, signings have been brought in and the press have left AVB alone a bit. So only now is it the right time to evaluate his credentials as the next Spurs boss.

While he didn't have the most successful spell at Chelsea, he was incredibly successful at Porto, where he won the league, the cup and the Europa league in the same season, that kind of class does not disappear over night. Due to his time at Chelsea he is not always looked upon too favourably in England, but what has become clear is that he is very well respected across Europe. His former player from Porto Moutinho has made positive noises about his appointment and has even suggested that he "would work with him [AVB] again tomorrow". We can only hope that this is something that does come off, but should AVB work his magic and persuade the Portuguese to join, he will have a ready made replacement for Luka Modric, or if Luka stays a quality partner in midfield. Gylfi has also made positive noises about his talks with AVB, showing that Spurs have picked up a boss who can persuade top players to join him in his evolution of the club and say no to other clubs, in Gylfi's case Liverpool. It is not just new signings and potential new signings who are singing AVB's praises, Danny Rose and David Bentley have publicly praised the decision to appoint him, and Garath Bale signing a new contract shows he has belief in the new man.

AVB is renowned for playing attractive, attacking football, often with three up front. His style of football will easily fit into the Spurs ethos of playing good football. We always like to see great football at the Lane, and this peaked last year; Harry did have us playing some world class football at times. AVB takes on the same squad of players who can play that well, and if he can add his own personal touch, there is no reason we cant continue to set the world alight with our performances.

It looks as though the line will be lead by Adebayor. This will be one of the biggest challenges that AVB faces. Ade is famous for being a trouble maker, he was not a trouble maker last season, and I hope he will not be again in the seasons to come. However, the handling of Ade with show whether AVB has learnt from his time at Chelsea. Whether he has learnt to cope with big egos. The time at Chelsea will have been a steep learning curve and hopefully he will now be able to cope with situations when things aren't one hundred percent going his way. Other than Ade however, there are not many major egos in the Spurs squad, no where near as many as there are in the Chelsea squad, so he should be able to concentrate on leading the team and not squashing mutinies.

AVB will prove to be an inspired choice, he has the ability to bring in some top players from around Europe and build on an already first class team. It may be a blessing in disguise that the press is not taking too kindly to him; it removes a lot of pressure on him, as the press are expecting him to fail anyway, but do not confuse this as should he fail they will jump on him straight away, it is only his initial expectations that are not high in the press.  It has also united many Spurs fans, who needed to be brought back together after being torn apart because of opinions about Redknapp and his sacking. Spurs now have a common enemy, the press. The fans have closed ranks, defended AVB at all costs and stuck up for Levy, who has had a fantastic summer so far. It is the first day of pre season training on Monday and AVB will be required to work his magic straight away. The players will know that the fans are fully behind them and the boss, and it can only mean good things for Spurs. The future is bright, no matter what the tabloids would have us think

.