Tottenham v Shamrock Rovers Europa League Preview

A first meeting between Spurs and Shamrock Rovers at White Hart Lane on Thursday evening in the second Group stage match of the Europa League.  Tottenham will be looking for their first win in the competition following a draw in Greece two weeks ago.

Tottenham Look to Shatter the Rovers' Dream

On qualifying for the Group stages of the Europa League, the Shamrock Rovers' manager, Michael O'Neill, had only one team in mind for his ideal draw - Tottenham Hotspur.  This game at White Hart Lane and the return in Dublin in December will be 'living the dream' for everyone involved with Shamrock Rovers.  It is their opportunity to play on the big stage, in front of the television cameras and they will give it everything to make it a memorable evening for the 4,000 Rovers fans who are crossing the Irish Sea.  There will be considerable support in the ground for Rovers with many Irish people who now live in England being drawn to the game.

Michael O'Neill has done a remarkable job at Shamrock Rovers since taking over in 2008.  Both he and his assistant, Jim Magilton have considerable experience as players at the highest level and O'Neill has managed in Scotland while Magilton managed both Ipswich Town and Queen's Park Rangers.  The team will be well prepared and O'Neill has called for great concentration from his players to help then deal with the occasion.  He has also signed four players to strengthen his squad since reaching the group stages, including Jim Patterson who has experience in Scotland with Dundee United and has played for Plymouth Argyle.  Rohan Ricketts has also joined and since leaving Tottenham in 2005 for Wolverhampton Wanderers he has played for numerous clubs in a number of different countries.

European Competitions
On two previous occasions Spurs have faced opponents from the League of Ireland in European competition.  In 1981-82 in the Cup Winners' Cup, Tottenham overcame Dundalk 2 - 1 on aggregate.  They were relieved to leave Ireland with a 1 - 1 draw and won the home leg by a single goal from Garth Crooks who scored both Spurs goals in the tie.

Two years later it was so much easier as Spurs won the away game against Drogheda United by six goals, Gary Mabbutt (2), Mark Falco (2), Tony Galvin and Garth Crooks scoring.  The return game was a formality but a full strength team was fielded at White Hart Lane and scored eight without reply for a 14 - 0 aggregate win.  Chris Hughton, Graham Roberts (2), Steve Archibald, Mark Falco (2) and Alan Brazil (2) getting on the scoresheet.

Friendly Matches
Other meetings with teams from Ireland have usually been games played as part of preparations for a new season.  For a number of years Tottenham were regular visitors where they have a large following and in the late 1980s/early 1990s Terry Venables liked to take his team to Ireland to play their first couple of pre-season games.

Ardiles and Villa

Aug. 1978 v Bohemians Won 4 - 0  Hoddle, Armstrong, Moores, Taylor
This match was one of the early games in which Spurs two new signings played - Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa.  Their presence in the match added to the anticipation of the local supporters.

Aug. 1981 v Limerick Won 6 - 2  Archibald, Hoddle (4), Falco

FA Cup holders, Tottenham paraded the trophy around the ground prior to kick-off.
July, 1989 v Bohemians Won 2 - 0  Stewart, Walsh
                 v Cork City Won 3 - 0 Mabbutt, Gascoigne, Lineker
Aug. 1990 v Shelbourne Won 3 - 0 Gascoigne (2), Lineker

July, 1993 v Shelbourne XI Won 4 - 2 Barmby, Sheringham, Turner, Opp. o.g.

                 v Drogheda United Won 3 - 1 Anderton, Sheringham (2)

Oct. 1988 v Home Farm Won 4 - 0 Fenwick(p), Howells, Stewart, Opp.o.g.

Aug. 1994 v Shelbourne Won 1 - 0 Klinsmann
Having signed for Spurs, Jurgen Klinsmann made his debut a few days earlier at Watford and scored his first goal of a memorable season in Ireland.
Mar. 2002 v Bohemians Lost 1 - 3 Doherty

Rohan Ricketts

Rohan Ricketts

Rohan Ricketts is a former Tottenham player and probably the only 'known' name in the squad made up mainly of players who have played most of their football in Ireland.  O'Neill has brought in some experienced players from Scotland, using his knowledge of the Scottish game to good effect.  Ricketts started in the Arsenal youth system but moved to Tottenham in 2002 having made one appearance in the League Cup.

In season 2003-04, he became a regular member of the team under Glenn Hoddle.  He made 28 League and Cup appearances, scoring twice.  The following season he made only 6 appearances after the sacking of Hoddle and after a time out on loan he joined Wolves in 2005.  After two years there he went to Barnsley and moved on the following year to Toronto FC.  After a good first season he fell out of favour with the arrival of home-grown players so he left to play in Hungary, Moldova and Germany.  In his travels he has expereinced many difficulties but is hoping that his spell with Rovers will be an opportunity to show that he is still capable of playing in English football.

He has made an impressive start with Rovers, creating the two goals on his debut at the beginning of September and scoring his first goal last weekend against Bray Wanderers.

Tottenham will turn to their squad and young players for this game with the North London derby looming on Sunday.  The young players have shown excellent ability and application in the games they've played so far, the  one thing lacking has been goals - three scoreless draws against Hearts, PAOK Salonika and Stoke.  If Roman Pavlyuchenko doesn't recover from the injury which caused him to miss the game at Wigan, Jermain Defoe may be called upon to play alongside Harry Kane.  Otherwise the team will be made up of the players who didn't play at the weekend.

Harry Redknapp has put a lot of faith in the youngsters for the Europa League so that the senior players can sit out the mid-week games and be fully prepared for the Premier League challenges.  He needs them to find a goal scoring touch as he is relying on winning at home to ensure qualification for the knock-out stages in 2012.  Shamrock Rovers are the weakest team in the group so Tottenham will be looking for a commanding performance and goals to ease their passage to the next stage.

Shamrock Rovers Coming to White Hart Lane

Tottenham's second Europa League game in the Group stages pits them against League of Ireland Champions, Shamrock Rovers.  This will be the third time that Spurs have met opposition from the Republic of Ireland in a European competition but the first time that they have played against the Dublin side.

Europa League: Tottenham v  Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers are the first team from the Irish Republic to reach the Group stage in any European competition.  They reached this stage of the Europa League through qualification for the Champions League and defeated Flora of Estonia in the 2nd Qualifying Round.  a 1 - 0 win at their Tallaght Stadium in Dublin was followed by a scoreless draw in the away leg.  In the next round they faced Kobenhavn (Denmark) but lost both matches to be eliminated 0 - 3 on aggregate.  They lost by a single goal in the first leg in Copenhagen and were defeated by two goals at home.

They dropped into the Europa League and a tough draw against experienced side, Partizan Belgrade.  the first match ended 1 - 1 in Dublin but a magnificent performance in the second leg saw Rovers come from behind to qualify, after extra time, for the Group stages with a 3 - 2 aggregate win.  They were a goal down at half-time in Belgrade but full-back Pat Sullivan equalised early in the second half.  The game went to extra time and with seven minutes remaining Stephen O'Donnell scored the historic winner.

Their first Group A match was at home to Rubin Kazan.  A goal from Obafemi Martins after three minutes gave Rubin the initiative which they held throughout.  Ryan Thompson saved a first half penalty but Rubin scored twice inside the first fifteen minutes of the second half.  Immediately after the third goal, Rovers missed a penalty, the hero of the previous round, O'Donnell, being the culprit when his penalty was saved.  Rohan Ricketts, formerly of Spurs, who signed for Rovers at the end of the transfer window played in the match, having made his debut at the beginning of September in the away win at Dundalk.

The League of Ireland started in February and runs through to the end of October with Shamrock Rovers currently in second place, level with leaders, Sligo Rovers, but with one game in hand.  They won on Sunday, a convincing 5 - 2 home win over Bray Wanderers.  Coming from a goal down, Ricketts scored his first goal for the club with Gary McCabe scoring two and the others coming from Ronan Finn and Gary Twigg.

Shamrock Rovers are managed by Michael O'Neill who played for Newcastle United at the same time as Paul Gascoigne.  He also played for Dundee United, Hibernian and Wigan Athletic.  He was a Northern Ireland international winning 33 caps.  When he retired he turned to management at Brechin City and went to Shamrock Rovers in 2008.

The assistant manager is Jim Magilton who made 52 appearances for Northern Ireland and played for Oxford United, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.  He has management experience at Ipswich and Q.P.R.

Most of the Shamrock Rovers squad are from the Airtricity League although some have had experience in both Scotland or England and some were juniors with English clubs.  Ricketts is one of four new signings made after qualifying for the Europa League group stages.

Goal keeper, Ryan Thompson is a Jamaican international who has played in America.
Jim Patterson is an experienced defender who has played for Dundee United and Plymouth Argyle.  Defender, Craig Sives has played for a number of Scottish clubs.
Striker, Gary Twigg joined O'Neill at Shamrock Rovers from his former club Brechin City.
Conor McCormick was an apprentice at Old  Trafford before going to Italy.
Stephen O'Donnell was at Arsenal before going to clubs in Scotland.