well, spurs' 07-08 european tour is about to kick off. UEFA Cup qualifiers have finished up today, and the draw for the first round proper will take place tomorrow in Monaco at 13:00CET. the first round will be home and away with the first leg taking place on 20 Sept, and the second leg on 4 Oct. the group stage draw will be five days thereafter, 9 Oct in Nyon at 12:00CET. the stage will feature eight groups of five playing each of their four group opponents once over five matchdates (with one date off, obviously, for each club): 25 Oct 8 Nov 29 Nov 5-6 Dec 19-20 Dec the top three clubs from each group will advance (along with the eight champions' league group stage 3rd place finishers) to the elimination rounds, which will commence in the new year, beginning with the round of 32: 13-14 Feb (1st leg) 21 Feb (2nd leg) round of 16: 6 Mar (1st leg) 12/13 Mar (2nd leg) quarterfinals: 3 Apr (1st leg) 10 Apr (2nd leg) semifinals: 24 Apr (1st leg) 1 May (2nd leg) the final will take place in Manchester on 14 May. --may spurs and myself both be there-- i'd like to think we'll better our quarterfinal appearence from last year, and anything less than getting to manchester will probably be a disappointment for me. that said, we didn't really have any huge clubs dropping in from the champions' league last year, and reality is that we might have an earlier matchup that could prove really difficult - it'll be tough to complain if we get knocked out by one of europe's elite. still, i'm looking for mr jol to have us back on form, and to be among the favorites come the spring. COYS!
Well Bayern Munich will be in the UEFA Cup this year I believe... so that is one team I'd like us to avoid. After their crap finish last season they will be hungry for silverware and have brought in some key players to an already strong lineup.
I agree with both pookspur (anything less than the finals will be a disappointment) and SpursGlory (I'd like to avoid Bayern too). It's also a good point about the CL clubs dropping into the UEFA Cup this year. But, all said, I really like our chances. The only reason we lost to Sevilla--the two time champions of that competition--was because of multiple poor reff'ing decisions. We definitely didn't play our best, nor was it clear we were the better team, but playing two games a week and having injury problems I think we proved we were as good as any team in the competition. This year we're much deeper, having added a starting-caliber center back in Kaboul, and with Rocha being eligible it's like having 2 new players. We added Bent up front so even if we do have 1 striker injured, we should have 3 quality strikers to rotate in all competitions. Taarabt is now a permanent signee and a year older, and he can fill in as a striker if needed as well. We added Bale which finally gives us a true left wing crossing threat. We really didn't lose any significant players except Mido, and the Bent acquisition was a huge upgrade in that area. Our players have had a full season to build chemistry, and our very young team has gotten a year more of experience without any of our players being "old." Honestly, I think we're better equipped to compete in the UEFA Cup this season than we were last season, and I'm expecting big things. -Digital
I will throw this question out there to the masses: If Spurs win the UEFA Cup, but finish 5th again, does Jol stay or go? Just something I have been pondering over the last few days.
well, for better or worse, i think much of the backpeddling that we saw from levy and the board last week was not so much a response to their cock-up of things, as to the fans' reaction to their scheme. and if martin jol brings us silverware, and they give him the sack, the fans will go mental. if we're well off of fourth come the spring, maybe they let him go beforehand, but if he's still there, and we win either the FA or UEFA Cup, it'll be tough for them to move BMJ along, unless we just totally collapse in the league.
Agreed. If we are are in the finals/have won the Carling Cup, have a shot at the FA and UEFA Cup, but are 20 points out of 4th, I would not be suprised to see BMJ get the sack. That being said, I think Spurs have a shot at the UEFA Cup, but should not sacrafice it for 4th. I also think Spurs have a shot at with the Carling or FA, but should not go for both. I would not be suprised to see Spurs play 55 to 60 matches this season (again).
For those who don't know how the draw works: All 32 winners from the second qualifying round go into the pots along with the sides who received a bye to the first round and the 15 teams who have been defeated so far in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, with one tie still to be completed. For the draw, the clubs have been split into eight groups of ten, with five seeds in each pool to be drawn against any of the five unseeded sides. The teams that emerge victorious from the two-legged ties, scheduled for 20 September and 4 October, will be divided into eight sections of five, with the first of five group-stage Matchdays on 25 October. Spurs are seeded in Group 8 alongside Lens of France, Dinamo Bucharest of Romania, Getafe of Spain, and Red Star of Serbia. To qualify for the Group Stage proper, Spurs will have to defeat one of: * FC Copenhagen of Denmark * FC Twente of Holland * Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski of Poland * Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus * Elfsborg of Sweden
do people not realise that progress and success isn't always linear? in fact, it very rarely is. yes we've finished 5th in the past 2 seasons, and yes we did well in Europe last year, but it is premature IMO to suggest that we have established ourselves as a force either at home or in Europe. therefore, all this "failure to break into the Champions League will be a disappointment", or "anything less than the final is a letdown" doesn't really make sense to me. yes, we should aim for 4th, but we should also bear in mind that the top 4 teams are there for a reason: they're a lot better than the other teams below them, and aren't just going to hand their spot over. similarly, one reasonably successful European campaign doesn't give us the right to start demanding finals and victories. not when you consider the calibre of some of the other teams, and the fact that we are relatively inexperienced in Europe
For our current ambitions to be a Big Club, we've got an almost stunningly thin honors list. In 125 years, we've won the League exactly twice, the UEFA cup twice, and the Cup Winner's Cup once. I don't think we'll win the UEFA cup this year. But if we did, it would be one of the six best seasons in our history. And it might not be enough to keep Jol's job. These are strange and heady days for the Club, and its hard to know exactly what to think about our new ambitions, and their consequences.
Group 1 Midtjylland v Lokomotiv Moscow Groningen v Fiorentina Rabotnicki v Bolton Wanderers Sevilla/AEK v Red Bull Salzburg Nurnberg v Rapid Bucharest Group 2 Everton v Metalist Zenit St Petersburg v Standard Liege Bayer Leverkusen v Leiria Villarreal v BATE FC Sion v Galatasaray Group 3 Athletico Madrid v Erciyesspor Bordeaux v Tampere Panathinaikos v Artmedia Bratislava Sparta Prague v Odense Zurich v Empoli Group 4 Sochaux v Panionios Rapid Vienna v Anderlecht Pacos de Ferreira v AZ Alkmaar Sampdoria v AaB Spartak Moscow v Hacken Group 5 Hammarby v Braga Larissa v Blackburn Rovers Mlada Boleslav v Palermo Dinamo Zagreb v Ajax Rennes v Lokomotiv Sofia Group 6 Brann Bergen v Club Brugges Bayern Munich v Belenenses Aberdeen v Dnipro Donetsk Heerenveen v Helsingborgs Toulouse v CSKA Sofia Group 7 Hamburg v Litex Loveks Sarajevo v FC Basel Austria Vienna v Valerenga AIK v Hapoel Tel Aviv Aris v Zaragoza Group 8 Dinamo Bucharest v Elfsborg Tottenham Hotspur v Anorthosis Farmagusta Lens v FC Copenhagen Getafe v FC Twente Groclin v Red Star
Well...obviously you can't take much for granted, but I'm just assuming that the level of play in Cyprus is pretty weak. And if we're 20 points off of 4th, I don't see the good of making a mid-season switch. In fact, I rarely see benefits of such a move unless you're trying to stave off relegation. I mean, maybe if a manager is only availible in midseason, but probably you'll have more options if you wait until the offseason. My expectations dropped after all the trouble made by the front office. I expect us to qualify for Europe again...either through the league or through a cup. We can talk top 4 when the boardroom stops undermining Martin Jol. If we don't have a united front, we have little chance of overtaking Arsenal.
Thanks Skizz. I'd have to say that I've nerver heard of our opponents, which is usually a good sign. But, don't we have someone who spent a great deal of time down in Cyprus? I can't recall which poster it was, but I'm almost certain that one of our posters was living there not too long ago. Perhaps that poster could give us the skinny on the team that sounds like the scientific name for a northern farmer, "Anorthosis Farmagusta." -Digital
I'll take this much for granted...we don't beat an amateur side from a tourist destination, we might as well bring the cockrel down from high and put him in charge. That being said, none of the English sides got a hard draw. Everton are playing a 80's hair band. Bolton are playing an evil robot...perhaps of the henchman variety. Blackburn are playing the next big thing on the Disney Channel. And we get a team that sounds like it would cause a rash on your wang. And poor Benelese.....their reward for hitting above their weight in SuperLiga? Getting to face the best team in the World.
There aren't that many trophies to go around. Just in terms of number of European trophies, we are second only to Liverpool among the English clubs. ManU, Arsenal, Chelsea - all less than 3 Euro trophies. Also just have to say the format of this competition blows. Takes far too many games to get to the serious business.
Those Disney teams aren't too bad.....weren't they responsible for Air Bud 2 (or was it 3?) that he played soccer. If they roll out a dog to play against Hudds, he'll never keep up,
that would be jaymes - PoshSpur. not only did he live there, but he played football there for a club called Orpheas FC, or something like that, alongside the living legend, John Savides. surely jaymes can lend us some insight into the qualities of Anorthosis Famagusta.
oh, how i'd love to be in the north end at the Estadio Restalo when Os Belenenses give Bayern Munich a sound thrashing.
just looking at that schedule and knowing about all the other matches. league and cup stuff...they play a lot of football...you'd think they'd be better at it... coys!
This is obviously a BIG if, but I don't see how they could sack him if he wins the UEFA cup, even if we finish 6th or 7th. As someone else said, this would be one of the best seasons in club history. That being said, I don't see how we will do better than we did last year when we can't even close out crappy Fulham up 3-1.
i don't mean to sound picky, but this really is a gross exaggeration. we've won the league twice, the FA cup eight(?) times, the UEFA cup twice, and the cup-winnners cup. and many of those years were spent fighting it out near the top of the table. throw in a handfull of league cups, and our trophy case holds more than all but a select few clubs in england. i know alot of the posters here don't remember any of this, but it's hardly as if it never happened. best season in the last 15 years? ok. among our best ever? not close, really.
i dunno, if you take things into context, winning a european trophy is becoming harder and harder, and the team needs something badly -- I think that a victory now would be towards the top, but I understand your point.