Monday night sees us entertain Spurs at St James’, thanks to those marvellous television schedules depriving us of a weekend match. We caught up with three Spurs’ fans, Mr Tea, Defoe8 and Lil Yiddo to look ahead to the game and find out what they make of Spurs so far this season.

1. Before the season started, I don’t think many people would have thought Spurs would bee having the problems they are at the minute - what’s gone wrong?

Mr Tea: To be honest, I think you’ve answered your own question. We’re an overly hyped team because we occasionally play good football and have a lot of Englishmen onboard. The problem with our team is we’re still missing Michael Carrick, and players of his type and calibre aren’t available because they could go to better teams in the champions league, so we buy promising kids on the hope that they reach that level. Obviously the transition isn’t instant though and the nearest match is Tom Huddlestone still has a long way to go.

Defoe8: We all know those embarassing stories of how the board went behind Martin Jol’s back, and actually flew out to Spain to try to get Sevilla coach Juan de Ramos to come to The Lane, whilst telling the media they were just seeing a “friend”. Fucking shameful, if they were going to sack Martin then it should have been in the summer, not 3 or 4 games into the season. It ended up destabalising the club and put a huge amount of pressure on Martin and the boys. Also I read an Evening Standard article and it told how (directors) Kemsley, Levy, Cullen and Camolli have all been working together to make life as difficult as possible for Jol. He comes up with a list of players and they say no here’s our list. Camolli undermines Jol instead of helping scouting players and Levy is just a nasty piece of work who has been responsible for Carrick leaving, and when in contract talks with players we are looking to bring in, is absoloutely clueless and ends up fvcking the deals up.

Lil Yiddo: The hype over our season is always a major talking point. Not only is it Spurs fans expecting big things, it’s also other teams’ supporters. This leaves our dissappointing start standing out more than we would like it to. The defence has been a problem this season with the injuries to our best defenders and Robbo, well, his performances speak for themselves! Berbatov isn’t on the form he was last season and I’m hoping as soon as he starts scoring a few the goals will come on a much more regular basis. I don’t feel we are always playing the right midfield either. I’m a massive fan of Huddlestone and believe he should be playing week in, week out as his this will benifit both the team and the player himself. He has so much potential and needs to be playing to let this all show through. A bit of confidence, less pressure from the media and what have you I think we’ll slowly move up the table.

2. Martin Jol’s position seems to have been undermined by your board. How do you feel about that, and are Spurs fans still backing him?

Mr Tea: Personally, I’m a big fan of Jol’s and I’d like to see him here for a long time, however I know plenty of spurs fans are either sitting on the fence or flat out want him gone. I think the spurs managerial position is quite similar to England’s in the way that it’s kind of impossible to remain there for a considerable amount of time. I guess we’ll see.

Defoe8: Now I know what’s been going on, i’m fully behind Martin now, although I don’t agree with some of the players he has kept at the club.

Lil Yiddo: I’ll back him all the way and if he were to be sacked I wouldnt be impressed, and a lot of reasons for the decision will have to be made public. He has done a fantastic job so far and I’m fed up of managers being sacked because they haven’t done enough in the eyes of the board in the 2 years or so that they’ve been at the club. We came from nothing and now we’re a team fighting it out in Europe. We’ve come a long way but if the board expect us to break into that top 4 so soon they need a reality check themselves.

3. What were your expectations for this year at the start of the season, and have they now changed?

Mr Tea: I think 5th, and I’m still hoping we can turn it around again. Though we’re going to have to get our arses in gear.

Defoe8: To at least be close to 4th spot and not all the way down in the relegation zone. Now I’m just hoping that we can make it to the final of the UEFA Cup and hopefully win it.

Lil Yiddo: I expect a top 6 finish and I still believe we can achieve that and still carry on in Europe. The season ends in May, not December. Yes there is quite a bit of ground to make up but its achieveable and I see no reason why we can’t finish there. We have the players to dig out results that are needed. I don’t think we’ll finish out of the top 8. I will be very dissappointed if we dont make europe this season.

4. Paul Robinson has taken a lot of criticism over his performances for both Spurs and England - do you feel the stick he is taking is deserved?

Mr Tea: Well, I’d like to say no but I think David James got it a lot worse, for similar or even less drastic errors. I think it’s one of the things you have to accept when you’re a national team player, even though I would say there are other players who are playing equally as badly for the national team at the minute.

Defoe8: Yes. He has cost us so many points and just can’t seem to save a long shot. The sooner he’s sold the better.

Lil Yiddo: Yes, although giving him such criticism throughout a match isn’t going to improve his confidence. He knows himself his perfomances aren’t at the level they need to be, but at the same time he knows the feelings of the fans, those fans who give him such support during a match.

5. Sticking with the England theme for a minute. It all went pear-shaped against Russia in midweek. Firstly, do you think England will still qualify, and secondly, is it fair to lay the blame with McClaren rather than the players?

Mr Tea: I think to be honest its a combination of the FA Being gutless, hiring an average manager and the Media for over-hyping players to the point of complacency. It seems whenever England play the only players that show the real drive and power in the team are the new youngsters with something to prove.

Defoe8: I’m going to stick my neck out and say yes we will qualify. McClaren is partly to blame as we dropped crucial points early on against teams like Croatia and Macedonia and played such negative football.

Lil Yiddo: I’d like to say yes, but the performances from the England boys have been far from impressive and hardly reassuring! If we do qualify luck has been on our side. As for McClaren, I’ve never been happy with his appoinment. He worked alongside Sven and where did they get? If someone is telling me McClaren did nothing to support Sven then I’m sorry, I’m not having it. They needed a complete change in the management but they only changed half of it.

6. Who’s your tip for the title this year, and who do you see going down?

Mr Tea: The Title is all at sea at the moment, and while ‘le arse’ seem to be doing well at the moment, I can’t see it continuing. Or at least it’s just far to irritating a future to contemplate! I think it’s going to be Man U, because they’re winning games whereas Chelsea seem to be procrastinating.

Defoe8: Man Utd for the title. Relegated: Bolton, Derby and Wigan.

Lil Yiddo: I’d like to say Man United, but I have this horrible feeling that Arsenal are going to run them close for most of the season. They are Man U’s best challengers this season. Going down? Unfortunately I think Derby County will finish rock bottom although I’d like to see them stay up. The other two I’m going with is Boro and Fulham. Neither clubs are strong enough in my opinion.

7. And where do you see our respective teams finishing the season?

Mr Tea: I’d see our teams being involved in the whole mad dash for the places between 5th and 9th, with Aston Villa and the like. As to specifics, I think it’s going to be close but I wouldn’t want to call it.

Defoe8: Spurs in 6th, Newcastle 7th.

Lil Yiddo: I think Newcastle will do well, but just miss out on a UEFA cup spot, 9th or 10th. Owen is a player that you miss every time he gets an injury and lets face it, he’s a bit injury prone of late! As for Spurs, 6th or 7th although I want 5th again.

8. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Spurs team?

Mr Tea: Our Strengths are the strike force, without a shadow of a doubt. Given the right opportunities I think they’ll score against most teams, however the lack of goals is evident because of our crippling weakness in central midfield in terms of quality. That seems to be why we score a lot of goals playing route one.

Defoe8: We lack a decent goalkeeper. We’ve missed Ledley King badly, but he’s coming back soon which is fantastic. We’re also lacking a midfield general who’s mobile, unlike Big Tom (Huddlestone), and we lack a decent attacking midfielder - Jenas and Malbranque are shite.

Lil Yiddo: Strengths: When they’re all fit our defence is definitely a strength. Dawson has progressed so much over the past few seasons and with the partnership he has with Ledley is one of the best. Unfortunately we haven’t had that pairing available to us this season. Our strike force is something to be proud of…well, once they all start hitting the back of the net! We have 4 top class strikers.
Weaknesses: At present, the man between the sticks, Robbo.

9. Which Spurs players do you think will cause us problems?

Mr Tea: I think Bale is coming up nicely and hopefully he can do something, along with again, our strikers.

Defoe8: Bale and Keane.

Lil Yiddo: Gareth Bale. He’s caused problems every game he’s played this season, including Man United and Arsenal.

10. Who do you think are Newcastle’s dangermen?

Mr Tea: I’m frightfully annoyed we didn’t at least try and purchase N’Zogbia over the summer as he’s a player I’ve rated highly since he burst onto the scene, You’ve also got a great strike force and with big Sam I’m expecting our diabolical set piece defending to be a big issue.

Defoe8: Milner definitely. He’s in hot form at the minute and is a really underrated player who should be in the England 1st eleven. Also, Martins with his pace and power.

Lil Yiddo: Owen and N’Zogbia. The names speak for themselves.

11. And finally, how do you see the game going on Monday night?

Mr Tea: Controversially, I’m going to be in the home end.

Defoe8: I see a 2-1 win for you guys. You’ll probably score the winner with about three minutes left.

Lil Yiddo: I’d love to take something from the game but our away form isn’t something that gives me great confidence. We’ve taken the lead in so many games and could have come away with all the points in the bag (Liverpool and Fulham for example). A win however should kick start a good run and hopefully the start to us moving up the table.

Thanks very much to the three of you for taking time out to answer the questions.