COLUMNIST KEN BUCKLEY

From my seat: Spurs (A)

Patched up Blues draw with a tired Spurs from a game where the main talking point will be "Howard's howler".

Having received the club text showing the team selection, it seemed obvious we were short in midfield and a tight gritty performance looked on the cards... and so it proved. From the off, not a lot took place. Spurs were pretty in approach without ever looking like getting through our rearguard and the Blues broke when they could and again the approach to the final third was reasonable but chance creating opportunities never materialised. Modric did get a strong shot in early on but Howard had little trouble in dealing with it.

Near the 20-minute mark, the Blues attacked and the Yak took a tumble near the edge of the box to gain a free kick. Baines shaped up to take it and the thought went through my mind could he at least beat the wall as we have got used to Arteta hitting it. He stepped up and not only did he get it over the wall but past a stationary and beaten keeper and the ball hit the top corner. There seemed to be a split second of quiet before the travelling hoards erupted and the players engulfed Baines.

We now had something to hold onto and it was up to Spurs to make all the running. They huffed and puffed but were no more than playing in front of us and little threat seemed likely when, just three minutes after the Baines special, a looping cross was delivered from the right which looked meat and drink for Howard to deal with yet, inexplicably, after having plenty of time to get the flight of the ball and be in position, he seemed to miss the ball altogether allowing the gangly Crouch to bundle it back across goal for their Dutchman to tap in unattended. What a howler and what a downer for all of the Blue persuasion both on and off the field.

The Blues seemed affected by the howler and until half-time it was mostly Spurs doing the attacking but it was all messy and sloppy as our back four got at them and we had the usual cry from Crouch that he was being fouled as we blocked shots and tackled with purpose under the leadership of captain Pip.

At the half time interval, I wondered if the manager would make changes as, from my seat, Bilyaletdinov, Heitinga and Coleman had contributed very little. Looking at our bench it seemed unlikely we could replace all three but I did hope he would bring on Hibbert at right back and move Neville to replace Heitinga as he must be suffering the longest World Cup hangover on record. As it turned out, it was Spurs who made a change, taking off the booked Palacios and bringing on Sandro.

The second half saw us gain more possession but still unable to create a chance that really tested their keeper. Around the hour mark, the Yak appeared to be limping and the manager replaced him with yet another return to action by Saha. Shortly after this, a tiring Pienaar blasted spectacularly over the bar and then Cahill had a strong daisy cutter just wide.

Both teams were now running out of ideas and with ten minutes to go the manager at last took off the underperforming Heitinga and put Hibbert to right back and Neville in mid-field. Both sets of fans were quite quiet now as both teams had some possession in turns but a telling final ball was beyond both teams.

Near the end, Beckford came on for Coleman but didn?t do anything for me to report upon. Final whistle and most in attendance seemed to use the phrase ?I?ll take a point? yet I felt a bit crestfallen as I thought without the Howard howler we could have got all three points. Still, we got one more point there than we did last term.

Overall, I thought it was a decent point considering the players that were missing were all from the area of the field where most games are won and lost ?midfield. The makeshift crew we had today did their best but creativity was sadly missing. Tim Howard will take some flak for his howler and even more so as it is his second in a matter of games, it certainly gives him something to work on... especially concentration.

To be fair to Howard, his mistake did not affect him for the rest of the game as he came for crosses and punched away well. Although we were below par today I thought we still had enough to beat a jaded Spurs after we had got the goal but that bad error by Howard seemed to take its toll on the rest of the team. I thought Osman was a big miss today as he is a very good fill-in player when other midfielders are out.

In looking for a MotM, I would offer any of the back four plus Cahill to choose from. Stoke next and I hope for some good news on the injury front. As always against Stoke we will have to win the battle first and then hope our quality can see us gain maximum points.
UP THE BLUES

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