Finally!! A dozen transfers, five seasons of heart break after heartbreak, replays, controversies, and three different managers later, Spurs, mercifully, make the cut for the Champions League. Peter Crouch's 50 million pound goal will be remembered by White Hart Lane faithful for ages to come. It propels Spurs to the Champions League Playoffs for the first time since 1962 and probably even the main draw if they win and Fulham beat Arsenal on the last day of the season. While the third place finish seems like a pie in the sky, nothing about this season or Arsenal and Fulham's form has suggested that an upset is not on cards. What the hell, it wouldn't even be an upset considereing Fulham's European fairy tale run and Your's Truly competing with Lukasz Fabianski and David Seaman for the coveted spot between the sticks. But irrespective of what happens on Sunday, Spurs can look back at an incredible 20 months. Looking at where they were in the table October before last, if someone had told me that Spurs will be fighting for something this day, I would'v been justified in thinking they would be fighting with Newcastle United and West Brom Albion for a direct ticket up from the Fizz Pop league. That they had an outside chance of qualifying for Europa League last season and that they've displaced Liverpool from the 'Big Four' this season is testament to the work that Harry Redknapp has put in. Spurs had two points from eight games and were rock bottom in the table when he took over from Juande Ramos (Remember him? He's at Real Madrid now. No wait, that was 10 months ago. It's CSKA Moscow now. Shit, no! That was eight months and 2 weeks ago. Hmmmm, where is he ow by the way?) To propel them from those lows to a fourth place finish within in a season and a half... it's been a phenomenal jorney for the tactician. Just how badly Spurs wanted to break into the top four and qualify for the Champions league is highlighted by the sum spent on transfers. Since July 2008, the list of players who have joined Spurs is long and reads something like this: Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric, David Bentley, Sebastian Bassong, Gareth Bale, Heurelho Gomes, Niko Krajcar, Robbie Keane (out, in, out again), Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Geovani Dos Santos, Eidur Gudjonsson, Alan Hutton... phew! It's an incredible accumulation of pace, flair, solodity and creativity. And it's an expensive accumulation at that; not more than a couple of them were acquired for less than eight figures.
The transfers apart, just the motive behind some of the transfers have shown how desperate Spurs were for European football. Manchester United's entire defensive line save Patrice Evra was wiped out for a month and their response was to play Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick as centre backs apart from relying on youngsters Ritchie De Laet and Oliver Gill. Compare this to Spurs; Luka Modric got himself injured at the beginning of the season for a couple of months and presto! In comes Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth to cover for him. That elusive fourth spot has beome nothing short of an obsession for Spurs, Villa, Everton and from this season, Man City (sigh!). All of them have chosen different paths to try and reach the summit.
Aston Villa with Martin O'Neill's policy of predominantly buying cheap British talent almost broke the top four bastion last season. If it hadn't been for a spectacular dip in form towads the latter half of the season and THAT remember-my-face-for-a-couple-of-dacades goal by Kiko (Oh that boy!!) Macheda in the dying moments of their Old Trafford visit, Villa could well have edged Arsenal out of Champions League spots. That they fell short in spite of the heroics of Milner, Young and Agbonlahor shows just how hard it is to find your way past Arsenal and Liverpool (Don't even think of United and Chelsea here).
Everton with it's excellent bunch of academy kids and David Moyes' preference for versatility in his transfer targets have been there and thereabouts since they actually broke through to finish fourth in 2005-06.
Man City have kept it simple. The Real Madrid-Chelsea way. "How much for a Champions League spot?" Sparky Hughes thought he had the asnwer to it until Michael Owen popped up and in Alan Smith's frenzied words, "With his first Old Trafford goal for Machester United, makes the place erupt!". Owen also erupted a few fragile tempers in the desert and at the blink of an eye, Roberrtthhhho Manchheeeni had taken over. By the look on Sheikh Mansour's face when Peter Crouch headed past Martin Fulop, Mr. Hot Scarves doesn't seem to have the answer either. Harry Redknapp, however, has the answer, "Nothing". You simply can't buy your way to the Champions League. Atleast, not it one season. Mancini to his credit, has done a decent job on the field and in the transfer market. Adam Johnson might yet turn out to be the best piece of business City did amidst the arrivals of Tevez, Adebayor, Santa Cruz and Robinho (ha ha ha ha ha! Imagine what City, Real or Chelsea would pay to have the old Robinho back and playing in their colors!). I usually hate it when I hear people talking ill of the Middle East but after looking at the circus that the Sheikhs have converted Eastlands into, I can't help but roll my eyes and tail of with a "Well er..." when I hear stuff like, "That's why God gave them camels and not clubs to run".
Spurs, on the other hand, have gone about the job in their own way. They've bought players when they had to and at other times, have simply changed their system to raise their game. Harry Redknapp hasn't just brought success, he's brought a new way of playing to Spurs. Gone are the days when their defending used to sway from ridiculous clowns in blue and white to get-the-f***-outta-here. Michael Dawson, Sebastian Bassong, Ledley King, Assou-Ekotto and more recently, Gareth Bale have evolved into a formidable unit (just ask Chelsea and Arsenal). The midfield has a more settled feel to it with the arrival of Wilson Palacios and emergence of Tom Huddlestone. Creativity has never been their weak point and the arrival of the Croats Modric and Kranjcar has enhanced it further. Aaron lennon has truly developed into a World Class winger, what with his blistering pace and motly bag of tricks. Even patrice Evra has found it difficult to live with him. Their backup players do seem to be able to step up and deliver when needed (Did anyone know who the hell Danny Rose was till the derby??)
The work has shown in the results and they've emerged as one of the most consistent units in the EPL this season. More than Everton and Villa and certainly more than Man City and Liverpool (Ah Scousers! What has become of the team I knew, respected and despised in equal measure??), Spurs deserve their spot amongst Europe's elite. How far they can make it in the Champion's League remains to be seen. But considering the quality they have, it won't be surprising at all if they pull their weight and dump some regular European biggie in the latter stages. That's the difference between a new English team in the Champions League and a new team from some other country. The competition for the at 4th spot is so intense and the gap between the big four the next 4 has reduced significantly. Spurs won't feel out of place at all in the Champions league. They could go some distance even with their current lot. And if Harry gets to make a big splash in the transfer window, it's gonna be one hell of a Spurs outfit lining up against Real Madrid and Inter Milan in five months time.
