Fanos Kyriacou's Recent Posts

Is it time that Spurs fans learnt to move on?

Fanos Kyriacou — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Following on from Scott O'Donoghue article, Football FanCast columnist Fanos Kyriacou also feels it time that Spurs fans learnt to forgive and forget.

have written before about booing players at football games and have always been a firm believer that it doesn't serve any positive purpose, and after what happened to Hossam Ghaly at Spurs on Friday night my view on this has definitely been reaffirmed.

I was at the FA Cup third round tie against Wigan and as soon as I saw Hossam Ghaly take his tracksuit top off I could hear the rumblings of discontent from a fair few fans around me. Even before the game there were those who were dismayed and angry that he was even on the bench. Some Spurs fans really are like Elephants, they never forget - well that is unless it is convenient for them to forget.

It has been 19 months since the Egyptian midfielder threw his shirt to the ground and stormed down the tunnel against Blackburn (himself coming on as a sub) and he hasn't kicked a ball for the Spurs first team since. Is it just me who thinks he has more than served his punishment for what in truth is not the worst crime in the world? Surely it's time to forgive and forget and give the lad a chance to show he deserves his wages.

Sometimes I wonder if those Spurs fans who booed Ghaly have ever played football or even understand the game because if they did they would surely know that being subbed after coming on as a sub is really bloody embarrassing. Surely these fans have, at one time or another, been so upset about something that they have acted without thinking clearly. As Harry Redknapp said "Show me someone who doesn't make mistakes and I'll show you a liar."

As fans we really should move on. I don't believe for one second that he threw his shirt on the floor to intentionally disrespect the club, he was annoyed and rightly or wrongly he reacted in a manner which the fans didn't like, but to carry this grudge on after 19 months is a little bit pathetic. He even apologised immediately after the game and yet fans still want to boo him. I seem to remember Robbie Keane doing something similar and yet he was forgiven so quickly it was like nothing ever happened, it seems to me that at Spurs memories are selective and are an excuse by certain sections to abuse specific players they just don't like.

There is another point to this which clearly those who were booing hadn't thought of, that this was the ideal time to give Ghaly some playing time and put him in the shop window which could generate some much needed extra funds to help Redknapp improve the squad. Clearly if the manager now thinks he can't play the midfielder because it will create a bad atmosphere then that plan is well and truly dead.

And what of Harry Redknapp's handling of the situation? I certainly think that he has made this more of an issue than it should've been by not bringing him on. If Ghaly had come on he would have been booed that's for certain but we would have won the game and those fans who wanted to boo would have got it out of their system and the next time he played that booing would have become less and less prominent. By having him get stripped and ready for action and then changing his mind because of the booing I feel that Redknapp has exasperated the situation.

Like I always say let's just get behind the team wholeheartedly because booing the team or individual players within the team does not help anybody. If Redknapp decides to give Ghaly another go then we should support that decision and stop being so childish and petty.

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To boo or not to boo, how should Tottenham fans receive Berbatov?

Fanos Kyriacou — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:57:01 +0000

Berbatov and Manchester United come to WHL this weekend, Fanos Kyriacou asks "What reception will Berbatov get at White Hart Lane" to boo or not to boo?

As long as I've been going to football matches booing from the stands has always been around and I have never thought it to be very constructive whether it is booing opposing players or one of your own.

Saturday sees Manchester United visiting White Hart Lane and the return of Dimitar Berbatov to the place where he was once hero worshipped and I fully anticipate a very loud chorus of boos from the Spurs faithful.

I can fully understand the wish to express disapproval against the man who has openly said that he often didn't try his very best at Spurs but seriously what good would it do to boo this man? Surely it will just spur him on to try even harder against us. Do we really want a player of his outstanding ability to be given even more incentive to do well against us?

I can honestly say that I have never been one to boo at football matches as like I said I fail to see what good it does. Booing your own team or members of your own team can only have an adverse effect. Do those Arsenal fans really believe that by booing Eboue it will stop him making mistakes? On the contrary it will probably cause him to be even more edgy and make increasing errors. On the flip side do we really think that booing a returning ex player such as Berbatov will make him think "oh no they don't love me anymore I don't want to do well now" of course not it will make him want to show us even more what we are missing, and boy do we miss him!

Dimitar Berbatov as well as Robbie Keane, who was booed on his return with Liverpool, gave us Spurs fans enormous pleasure during their time at the Lane. I for one will remember with great fondness some of the goals they both scored, Berbatov in particular who produced real moments of magic. I'm not for one second advocating that we applaud him on his return as I still feel as bitter as any Tottenham fan at the way he left, but why not just stay silent when his name is called, surely that would send a much more powerful message.

To my mind the best way to make Berbatov's return to White Hart Lane an unhappy one for him is to really get behind our own team and players and spur them on in the hope we can get a much unfancied victory. If people want to boo Berbatov then boo him after the game has ended.

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Tottenham's childish modern day players are cheating us the fans

Fanos Kyriacou — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:37:15 +0000

Football FanCast columnist Fanos Kyriacou askes some tough questions of Tottenham Hotspur players.

There is no doubt that plenty of joy and no little relief was felt on Sunday after our 2-0 victory over Bolton which finally ended what has been an excruciating winless streak in the Premier League. However I'm pretty sure it can't just be me who felt just a little deflated and indeed let down by the end of the game.

Now I won't go into what I think about the appointment of Harry Redknapp as its early days yet and I want to give him the chance to prove me wrong. My beef, however, is with the players. Sunday's game confirmed to me what a bunch of children modern day footballers are.

The team I saw play on Sunday showed heart, desire, confidence and a real will to win and all because a new manager took charge for the first time. The question has to be asked why the same players failed to show the same qualities in their previous eight games.

If reports are correct Juande Ramos had ‘lost' the dressing room (whatever that means). What is clear is that the players were not performing for him. We are given the reasons that he couldn't communicate with the players properly or that the players didn't know what their instructions were. Now please can someone explain to me how a player like David Bentley for example needs someone to talk English to him for him to be able to do what he was bought for i.e. cross a ball that finds one of his own team mates?

I'm not just picking on Bentley as I think almost every player that has played this season are just as much to blame but as a Spurs fan I feel cheated by these players. Cheated that they need someone to massage their ego and tell them how good they are before they start putting in some effort on the football pitch and doing the things they are paid very well to do; Cheated that they put the club's Premier League status at risk because they had lost faith in the coach.

As far as I'm concerned these players signed for Tottenham Hotspur not for whoever is in charge at the time and they should be playing for the club not the manager. No doubt we will see a very spirited performance tonight against Arsenal and win lose or draw I think the players will show that they are up for it but in my opinion they should have been showing that spirit from the beginning of the season regardless of whoever was in charge.

Why Spurs protest must not go ahead!

Fanos Kyriacou — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:35:56 +0000

Football FanCast columnist Fanos Kyriacou cannot understand the logic behind this planned protest on Sunday and the purpose it intends to serve.

So a section of Spurs fans have, in their infinite wisdom, arranged a protest which will take place before the match against Bolton attempting to force out Daniel Levy and Damien Comolli. It can't be just me who thinks that this will not help our current plight one bit. What is it that the fans are protesting about exactly?

Now I'm not Daniel Levy's biggest fan but some of the criticism levelled against him is quite unfair. He has made sure that the club is in a very strong financial position and has made funds available for the purchase of players, funds to rival the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool. He has also always fought our corner and has tried to always act for the best interests of the club. Like most people I agree that he got it badly wrong in the summer with the handling of the Dimitar Berbatov affair but shouldn't we as a club give him the opportunity to rectify this?

People point to his appointment of Damien Comolli as Director of Football and complain about the players he has signed. I didn't hear too many complaints when the club signed the likes of Berbatov, Gareth Bale, Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Hutton and Luka Modric but of course according to many pundits and Spurs fans it is only the bad signings that he is responsible for. And even though we had a problem about the way Martin Jol was sacked we weren't exactly too upset at the appointment of one of the most highly rated and sought after coaches in European football were we?

Now please don't get me wrong I have nothing against protesting when done properly but it seems to me that these fans are only protesting because we are not getting results at the moment and not because they disagree with the club's policy. We keep hearing things like Levy is only in it for the money and the whole system of having a Director of Football should be scrapped but would these same people be saying that if we were top of the league? If they are so against the regime why were there no protests in the summer? Whatever you think about the chairman it is foolish to think he would act to the detriment of the club's best interests because then the club's value would drop.

So what happens if the planned protest is successful and Levy and Comolli both leave the club, how will that help our cause exactly? Will it make the team perform better? Will we suddenly start playing every team we face off the park and win all our remaining fixtures with ease? The answer is clearly ‘no'. What it will do is push the club in to complete meltdown and cause the maximum amount of unrest which will affect the players even more. I'd like someone to tell me a time when a protest actually turned a club's fortunes around for the better because I certainly can't think of one.

As far as I'm concerned now is not the time to protest against anyone at the club. We badly need a win and now more than ever the club needs our support. By that I mean singing our hearts out for the team, not booing at half time if it is not going according to plan and trying to help lift the players and the coaches out of this gloom. The only people a protest will benefit on Sunday are Bolton who will no doubt feel they can take full advantage of a fragmented club and heap more misery on us. You can just imagine Gary Megson's team talk now telling his players that Spurs are so vulnerable at the moment and the fans will turn on them if we keep things tight for the first 15-20 minutes and then nick a goal.

Did a protest help Newcastle? Look what happened when they protested, Mike Ashley agreed to sell up and they ended up with Joe Kinnear as manager. Is that really what we want, to find ourselves in the same situation? The last thing we need right now is to be a club in limbo and turning this rotten run of form into a full blown crisis.

So I implore all genuine Spurs fans out there to stand up and get behind our team in a positive way against Bolton and try to pull them out of this situation and give the current board a chance to fix the mistakes they have undoubtedly made because a negative protest by the fans on Sunday will only bring about more misery and unrest.

Is it time for Spurs to cut their losses with striker?

Fanos Kyriacou — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:06:00 +0000

Football FanCast columnist Fanos Kyriacou is clearly not a fan of Darren Bent and feels that January can't come soon enough.

We are all well aware of the current striker situation at White Hart Lane and how from having one of the most feared strike forces in the league we now have one which can barely call itself one.

I'm sure it's not just me that really really wants Darren Bent to be good. I really hope he can raise his game to a level where he will score 20+ goals a season and also be able to hold the ball up and bring others into the game. Unfortunately I think we are going to be very very disappointed.

When we bought Bent from Charlton I wasn't that disappointed by it. Like most people I thought the fee was a bit steep but I also thought that we were getting a striker who would score us a hatful of goals - boy was I well and truly wrong.

I find it astonishing, after watching the player, that he managed to score as many as he did for Charlton, because seeing him play rivals Jermaine Jenas as one of the most frustrating of match day experiences at The Lane. His first touch is shocking at best, his passing is not very good and his positional sense leaves a lot to be desired.

I felt sorry for the player last season as his opportunities were limited but this season he promised so much especially after a pre season in which he was scoring for fun. He has had the opportunities this season and although he has bagged three goals he hasn't convinced me at all. Bent simply doesn't even look like a footballer at the moment and I really cannot see how he is going to improve.

Bent has come out recently and backed Damien Comolli stating he is one of the many reasons that he joined Tottenham. Now I have never really been one of those who blame the Frenchman for all our ills but reading that my mind is changing to support the opinions of the majority that Comolli hasn't got a clue! One thing that did really concern me was Bent stating that he (Comolli) is always around the place talking to the players, perhaps I'm reading too much into this but Ramos may see that as interference by our Sporting Director.

This was the season that Bent should have proved himself and he has not taken his chance. Like I said I really hope he can do it as he seems like a decent guy who does try but I really do not see any real ability there to sustain that hope. For me January can't come soon enough when we can hopefully bring in a striker who can at least do the basics!