'Tottenham still won't trouble top four despite recent form' - The Spurs Show reflects on the season so far

Spurs Show's Mike Leigh tells Standard Sport why Tottenham won't make the top four despite a good start
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Mike Leigh7 October 2015

We're eight games into the Premier League season and summer signings have had their chance to settle in to new surroundings after another whirlwind end to the transfer window.

So - with the domestic calendar again making way for another dose of international football - what better time to take stock?

Standard Sport spoke to The Spurs Show's Mike Leigh to get the Tottenham supporters' perspective after a solid start to the new season.

What is your revised target for this season?

To be honest my pre-season prediction of 5th/6th hasn’t changed despite the recent run of seven matches unbeaten and only Premier League defeat which was the first game of the season. I think with this current squad we are still short in key areas bearing in mind the European campaign too. The manager is doing a good job with the players at his disposal but I don’t think its a strong enough squad this season to trouble the top 4. In saying that with every three points us fans will look up the table and hope but as all Spurs fans know it’s the hope that kills us.

Predicted finish: 6th

What one player do you need to sign in January?

A centre forward. I still think the decision or indecision in not buying a like for like centre forward was a big mistake as Sunday’s game versus Swansea has proven. With Kane struggling for form there is no one else to bring on to replace him. Although the club have blamed the Saido Berahino saga on West Brom the last minute deals during the transfer window have to stop. We should have identified targets early and done the deals early. Everyone connected with the club including the fans knew we needed this addition so it’s shocking that yet again a transfer window passes and this has still not been addressed. Kane works incredibly hard for the team but his second season was always going to be more challenging. In saying that last season he didn’t start for us in the League until November so technically he is already ahead of last seasons goal scoring feats!

Best moment so far...

(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The thumping win versus Man City shows the potential this side actually has and will do wonders to their confidence and The Lane was rocking that day. The tempo was right that day and we played with the cavalier style that Spurs fans demand. It’s always lovely to see us thrash a club that has bought its way to success and has thrashed us in recent years

... worst moment

Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

The League Cup defeat to the Woolwich Wanderers. The manager's decision to tinker with a defence that had been playing so well as a unit backfired. Despite the usual modern game argument of resting players for a forthcoming League game, this fixture means too much to the fans to take it lightly and the fact that the errors came from the two replacement players made it even more frustrating

Standout performer?

Despite improving displays from Lamela, Dier and Davies and the emergence of Dele Alli, it’s our highly prized keeper that has won us points again as recent stunning saves at key moments in the game versus Crystal Palace and Swansea have proven. I believe he is the best goalkeeper we have seen at the club since Pat Jennings. We have to do everything to keep him at the club because he is irreplaceable, but will he stay for another season if we don’t secure Champions League football next season?

Ranking Tottenham's summer signings so far

1/6

Which player doesn't have a future at White Hart Lane?

This is a tough question because the manager has tried to keep a settled team so far this season, League Cup defeat aside, so we haven’t seen much of the fringe players yet and none of them have forced their way into the first team regularly yet. I don’t like criticising players but I’m afraid we all can see that Fedrico Fazio is not good enough at this level. His display against them down the road was error laden, cumbersome and at times actually funny. It’s as if he is given a pair of boots filled with concrete before he runs onto the pitch

Which song title best describes your season so far?

David Bowie’s ‘Where Are We Now’ from The Next Day Album.

Are we seeing an emerging young team that can win trophies together or another team that flatters to deceive?

Mike Leigh is a regular presenter on the weekly Spurs Show podcast joined each week by ex players, Spurs supporting journalists and celebrities at www.spursshow.net

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