Tottenham 1 PAOK Salonika 2

Spurs' future in the Europa League is no longer in their hands.  Defeat at home to PAOK sees the Greek side qualified for the knock-out stages while Spurs must have a convincing win over Shamrock Rovers and rely on PAOK defeating Rubin Kazin.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 PAOK Salonika 2

Scorers: Modric (p)            Salpingidis, Athanasiadis

Team: Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Bassong, Rose (Bale); Lennon, Livermore, Modric, Pienaar (Walker); Kane (Falque), Defoe.  Subs (unused): Cudicini, Fredericks, Townsend, Carroll.

Luka Modric - penalty

Tottenham fielded their strongest team yet for a Europa League group game with Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe starting.  Danny Rose and Harry Kane were the only younger players selected with experienced squad players and those recovering from injury making the starting line-up - William Gallas, Sebastien Bassong, Vedran Corluka, Stephen Pienaar and Heurelho Gomes.

From the outset Spurs had the majority of possession but PAOK denied them time and were quick to step in and pick up a loose or misdirected pass.  Spurs were casual in their approach and paid for it after five minutes.  Gallas meandered into the visitors half and was caught in possession which gave PAOK the opportunity to break quickly on the left, from where a nice cross into the penalty area found Salpingidis unmarked and he carefully headed the ball past Gomes.

Tottenham didn't learn from their mistake and found it difficult to make progress into the visitors penalty area as they defended with patience and considerable ability.  On thirteen minutes they broke up a ponderous Spurs attack and with a lovely pass to the left found Corluka lacking in pace and a low cross was hit home by Athanasiadis.  The Tottenham defence was again caught flat footed with Gallas and Bassong looking as if they'd never played together.

PAOK contuinued with their patient defensive work and swift counter attacks which nearly brought further reward while Spurs had a lot of possession without ever threatening on goal.  Much of their passing was slow and frequently fell down through inaccuracy.  On the half hour Spurs gained some momentum, urged on by the crowd.  Harry Kane shot wide and Defoe had a shot saved by the goalkeeper.  Then from the corner Corluka's shot was blocked and fell to Kane whose shot was blocked on the line.  The referee awarded a penalty for handball and sent off the defender.  Modric sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score and brought Spurs back into the match.

PAOK survived to the interval without much bother and then in the second half set out to defend and deny Spurs which they did heroically.  The whole of the second period saw Spurs attack and the visitors defend with nine men back.  Gareth Bale and Kyle Walker were introduced to add pace but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't break down the stubborn PAOK defence.  The nearest they came to a goal was when Defoe scored but amid confusion, it was disallowed for a foul on the defender who had been lying on the goal line for almost a minute.  In the lead up, Iago Falque had a shot blocked but Defoe had fouled the defender in trying to reach the loose ball.  However, play continued and when the ball came to Defoe he put it in the net.  No-one was sure what decision the referee had given but he had actually made the correct decision even if he'd come to it by an uncertain route.

For all their possession against ten men, Spurs couldn't create any real scoring chances and PAOK worked tirelessly to deny them.  During five minutes of added time the best Spurs could offer was a Bale free-kick which was saved easily by the goalkeeper and then PAOK celebrated as if they'd qualified for the knock-out stages, which, of course, they had.  For Spurs, they must rely on a PAOK home win against Rubin Kazan who are three points ahead of them.  Spurs will then need to win by five goals against Shamrock Rovers to have a better goal difference that the Russians.

The greatest disappointment about this defeat was that the most experienced team that Harry Redknapp has fielded in the group stage has given the poorest performance.  In the other matches, the younger players battled in difficult circumstances and showed a great determination throughout.  The experienced squad players were very ponderous and showed a lack of match sharpness - the passing was poor, there was little urgency to the game and they paid dearly for their early mistakes.  It looks as if Spurs will now be able to concentrate on the Premier League as their continued presence in the Europa League is looking distinctly unlikely.

Only a good result over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday will take away the disappointment of this match.

Spurs v Huddersfield Town 1952 - Controversial Goal

The Huddersfield 'Goal' Controversy

The old football adage goes that ‘things even themselves out over the course of the season.’ In many cases this will be true – close calls for off-side, a goal given or disallowed or a penalty awarded for or against. However, Spurs still await retribution for the Mendes 'goal' at Old Trafford a few season's ago.

Perhaps, in the case of Mendes disallowed goal, the wrong will not be righted in a season – it might be more like a lifetime. Having supported Spurs for forty years I can not recall any occasion when something similar occurred either for or against Spurs. However, just three months before I was born Spurs benefited greatly from a referee making a serious mistake.

On Wednesday afternoon, 2nd April, 1952 Spurs were at home to Huddersfield Town who were bottom of the table fighting against relegation while Spurs as defending Champions were in fourth position. The game attracted the lowest attendance of the season, 22,396 and was playing out to an uneventful and dull scoreless draw when Spurs were awarded a corner in the final minute. The referee took up a position nearer the corner flag than the goal and when Eddie Baily took the kick the ball hit the referee and rebounded to him. Baily immediately played the ball a second time, putting in a cross which Len Duquemin headed into the Huddersfield goal. The referee awarded a goal which brought uproar from the Huddersfield players and officials but even after consulting the linesman, the referee stood by his decision.

The referee had made a serious mistake as Baily should not have played the ball twice without another player touching it. Huddersfield should have been awarded a free-kick from the position where Baily played the ball for the second time.

At first, the Huddersfield players refused to re-start the game but there was no mass harassment of the referee and although everyone knew there had been a mistake the result had to stand. In the next programme, Spurs commented on the incident, ‘The referee’s decision is final, and even if we have been the gainers in this instance there have been previous cases in which we have been the sufferers.’

At the end of the season Huddersfield were relegated by three points and while the point they lost that day did not relegate them mathematically, an extra point from that game may have inspired the players to greater efforts in the final six matches of the season. Spurs went on to finish second behind Manchester United and ahead of Arsenal on goal difference so for once Spurs managed to put one over their North London rivals as a result of that game.

Talking of Mendes' 'Goal'

A Final Thought on that Mendes ‘Goal’
[Things do even themselves out - eventually!]

Article for CaDD – April, 2005

Eddie Baily Goal Wrongly Awarded Against Huddersfield in 1952

The old football adage goes that ‘things even themselves out over the course of the season.’ In many cases this will be true – close calls for off-side, a goal given or disallowed or a penalty awarded for or against. However, this season Spurs have suffered on a number of occasions with decisions that have obviously gone against them but as yet with eight games remaining there has been no sign of similar harsh decisions going in their favour.

The Mendes ‘goal’ at Old Trafford is the obvious one, harsh penalties were conceded at home to both Chelsea and United and at Bolton, but two obvious penalties were missed in the Cup defeat at Newcastle. All of these awards affected the outcome of the games, depriving Spurs of points in the League as well as possible Cup progress. If we accept the common view that such occurrences balance out during the season then Spurs are in for a very productive climax to the season.

A goal at Highbury awarded before the ball goes into the penalty area because the referee was certain it would beat the goalkeeper or a penalty when Kanoute is tripped near the corner flag because he fell so gracefully or a referee will take pity on Defoe and give a penalty because the defender looked as if he was going to trip him, these would help to balance out the injustices that have befallen Spurs this year. Sadly, such occurrences are unlikely.

Perhaps, in the case of Mendes disallowed goal, the wrong will not be righted in a season – it might be more like a lifetime. Having supported Spurs for forty years I can not recall any occasion when something similar occurred either for or against Spurs. However, just three months before I was born Spurs benefited greatly from a referee making a serious mistake.

On Wednesday afternoon, 2nd April, 1952 Spurs were at home to Huddersfield Town who were bottom of the table fighting against relegation while Spurs as defending Champions were in fourth position. The game attracted the lowest attendance of the season, 22,396 and was playing out to an uneventful and dull scoreless draw when Spurs were awarded a corner in the final minute. The referee took up a position nearer the corner flag than the goal and when Eddie Baily took the kick the ball hit the referee and rebounded to him. Baily immediately played the ball a second time, putting in a cross which Len Duquemin headed into the Huddersfield goal. The referee awarded a goal which brought uproar from the Huddersfield players and officials but even after consulting the linesman, the referee stood by his decision.

The referee had made a serious mistake as Baily should not have played the ball twice without another player touching it. Huddersfield should have been awarded a free-kick from the position where Baily played the ball for the second time.

At first, the Huddersfield players refused to re-start the game but there was no mass harassment of the referee and although everyone knew there had been a mistake the result had to stand. In the next programme, Spurs commented on the incident, ‘The referee’s decision is final, and even if we have been the gainers in this instance there have been previous cases in which we have been the sufferers.’

At the end of the season Huddersfield were relegated by three points and while the point they lost that day did not relegate them mathematically, an extra point from that game may have inspired the players to greater efforts in the final six matches of the season. Spurs went on to finish second behind Manchester United and ahead of Arsenal on goal difference so Spurs managed to put one over their North London rivals as a result of that game.

Many people accused Roy Carroll, the United goalkeeper, of not admitting that the ball had crossed the line but on that day in 1952 the Spurs team included such well respected players as Bill Nicholson, Ron Burgess, Eddie Baily, Len Duquemin and Sonny Walters but none of them suggested to the referee that he had made a mistake. In football you have to take what you get and take the rough with the smooth.

The consequences of the Mendes ‘goal’ are still unknown – will Spurs miss out on the financial bonanza of Europe by two points, will they be unable to attract top quality players because they can not offer European football, will Mendes who would have become an overnight hero at the club quietly return to Portugal at the end of the season or will technology be introduced to assist officials in these decisions? Only time will tell but it would be good to see Spurs getting some of the close decisions going their way in the important games in the coming seasons.

Seven years on those questions can be answered - and all responses are in the negative. The non-goal didn't have any bearing on Spurs position and Europe in 2005.  Technology was talked about in the immediate short-lived aftermath of this game and in spite of further errors by referees including England's defeat by Germany in the EWorld Cup Finals, they are no nearer using technology to assist the officials.

Spurs have suffered quite frequently this season, 2011 - 12, as they make a title and Champions League challenge.  Emmanuel Adebayor had had three goals disallowed for offside when clearly onside and the decisions affected the result of the match, referee Foy had a nightmare at Stoke costing Spurs their unbeaten record and the crucial game against Manchester City was decided by a last minute penalty, won and scored, by a player who should have been sent off for dangerous play and has since been suspended for four matches which is of no benefit to Tottenham who now find themselves eight points adrift of City at the top of the Premier League table.

Spurs in History - 4th January

4th January, 1987

Spurs 1 Arsenal 2 (1st Division)

The 100th League match between the two clubs, saw Arsenal take an early lead and increase it before half-time. In a season where manager, David Pleat, was building a team which played exciting football with five in midfield and Clive Allen as the lone striker doing all the damage, it was full back Mitchell Thomas who scored Spurs consolation goal at the end of the first half.

Spurs who had climbed to fifth position after some poor results earlier in the season, were unable to score against the League leader’s tight defence who were on an undefeated run of eighteen games.

However, by the end of the season Spurs had climbed to third and their North London rivals slipped to fourth. At least that would provide some consolation.

4th January, 2005
Manchester United 0 Spurs 0

And then there was Pedro Mendes' goal that wasn't.



On 4th January, 2005 Spurs took an understrength team to Old Trafford.  Martin Jol's tactics had worked splendidly and with only moments remaining Pendro Mendes scored with a shot from almost the half-way line.  United's goalkkeper fumbled the ball which fell over his shoulder and into the net but he managed to scramble back and hook the ball out of the net with his hand.  The ball had been at least a metre over the line and Sky television had immediately changed the scoreline on their screens but the assistant referee was out of position and slow to run back and he signalled play on, and the 'Goal of the Season' didn't count.

Almost everyone in the ground knew it was a goal and Spurs had been deprived of the three points they deserved. Martin Jol reacted with dignity and restraint but little good it did for Spurs.