To Dare is to Do - A Spurs Story

Hello all,

This is my first attempt at writing a story on here, so please be patient with me. I'm starting it out as Spurs (as the title says) and my manager name will be Stephen Graham. I play under that name because he was my best regen off of FM12 and I like to keep the name going after every year.

As I said, this is my first attempt writing a story like this, and I'll be writing from the point of view of a Tottenham Hotspur newspaper journalist, the Spurs Kicker, so be patient and hopefully you enjoy it!

I'm going to try and make an index, I anticipate this getting fairly long. (Hopefully). If I'm doing anything wrong or could be doing it better, I would very much appreciate advice. Thanks.

The Beginning
Staff Changes
Pre-Season round up - September
Mid September
October's coming
October Round Up
November

To Dare is to Do - A Spurs Story

The Announcement

Daniel Levy has announced that AVB has left the club as they have decided it “best to explore alternate routes”. It comes as a huge shock to most, as AVB has only been in charge for a few weeks. In his announcement, Levy disclosed that the Portuguese manager had a different plan and style for the club to play with, rather than Levy's own attacking and youth focused football. We will be back at Whit e Hart Lane to hear Mr. Levy make another announcement in regards to a replacement later on in the week.

The Beginning of Something Special

Just a day after parting ways with AVB, Tottenham Hotspur officials have announced his replacement. Stephen Graham is going to be the new man in charge at White Hart Lane. This will be Grahams first jump into professional management, so most fans are highly skeptical as to him being the right guy for the job.

The 49 year old has had experience in coaching at a youth level in the U.S, and Mr. Levy is said to be impressed with his work ethic and determination. We asked him the following questions;

What changes do you plan on making in the backroom?
“The set up here looks fantastic, so I'm not going to be getting rid of too many of the coaches. I do plan on bringing in a few more coaches and scouts to ensure this club can rise up as smoothly as possible.”

Speaking of rising up, are you expecting immediate success or are you going to be building for a title run in 3-5 years?
“I see this year as a 'dip in the water', meaning that, Mr. Levy and myself have talked about expectations and both agree that this year we will aim to finish in the top four, but would be accepting of a top six finish and getting into Europe again. We do plan on competing for the Barclays Premier League title over the next few years, and then put our sights on the Champions League. I see us lifting both of these competitions within 5 years.”

Who in the first team are you leaning on for a great season?
As everybody can see, Gareth Bale is immense. He is a superstar and I firmly believe he will only get better. He is one of the two guys I'm looking at to lead us up the table. The second guy that needs to put in great performances is Jan Vertonghen. If those two can be consistent we'll dominate most teams.

Last question today Stephen, what type of players are you looking to sign, if any?
I have a few specific players in mind that I will be looking to sign, but the areas I'm looking to strengthen are our wing back options, central midfielders, and a striker. As I said though, I have the players in mind that I would like to buy. As always though, pre season training and warm up games will count for and against youngsters and proven starters alike.

Here at the Spurs Kicker we will be following Graham and his team very closely throughout the season. So stay tuned as we give you updates right from White Hart Lane.

Good luck for your story. Very nice start

Go on Spurs

Good luck, will be following!

New Start New Staff

As we enter into August and a step closer to the beginning of the season, coach Graham has been fairly busy. We've been lucky enough to ride along for the start of the Pre-Season madness with him.

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As you can see from the picture provided, Graham was fairly active in the staff transfer department. True to his word from the opening interview he had with us, he has brought in a few new faces behind the scenes. With a few old scouts coming in to find new talent, Graham is showing signs of looking toward the future. Most notably of those scouts is Luciano D'Onofrio, a proven scout across the continent and known around the world. Looking at the new coaches appointed, it seems that fitness is going to be a focus, with the two previous fitness coaches being terminated, and Andy Renshaw and Gian Bisciotti coming in. Both of these guys are sure to whip the Spurs boys into shape for a vigorous campaign. And finally by far the most notable signing he has put in place is Damien Comoli. Comoli is coming in to be the Director of Football, and with that will take on responsibilities of finding and negotiating the next wave of stars to come to White Hart Lane. Here is what Stephen had to say,

“I had a chat with Daniel (Levy) and Damien, we discussed what we are wanting to do for now and for the future. I'm very confident Damien Comoli can bring in some youth to achieve goals we have set. Before the interview was over he was writing down potential targets that he wanted! He'll work directly with the U18's manager, Head of Development and the scouts to get in the quality we desire. I think we have got the backroom set up now that we can succeed.”

All in all, the atmosphere around White Hart Lane is growing and the fans are getting excited. Season ticket sales are picking up and buzz of a new season is upon us. Get our special on Stephen Grahams transfers next time!

So good so far, I'll be following this story.

Pre-season and Transfers

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A solid pre-season for our mighty Spurs, 6 out of 6 wins overall. Star men Gareth Bale and Jan Vertonghen did well and put in consistent performances throughout. As good as their performances were though, the main focal point of all fans during every clubs pre-season, is what new players are on show, and did we get a show! Graham was fairly busy bringing in 7 players to excite the fans. Included in this edition are the ins and outs of the deals made, as seen above. We sat down for a chat with Stephen Graham on his thoughts about the early games, transfers and players.

So you won all 6 of the games and conceded only twice this pre-season, how confident does that make you going into the regular campaign?
“Oh well you know, pre-season is about a lot more than results. We saw some massive positives in terms of fitness, team blending, and tactical knowledge. Overall it was fantastic, there is a little more team camaraderie and that should bode well for the season.”

As we enter the season do you now know your formation and starting 11?
“I know exactly what formation I want us to play with, in fact I have 3 of them we shall rotate between, but in terms of personnel, that depends on a lot of things. Everything from form and injuries, to who we are playing, shall determine that. I do have a loose 4-5 players that I will have in the line-up week in week out if I can though.”

Let's talk transfers, are you satisfied with your incoming dealings?
“Most definitely! I'm really excited about the potential of all the lads we brought in. With Jores (Okore), Cana (Lorik) and Davide Santon I feel we've shored up our defence very respectably. I think it will be tough for most teams to score against us with them and the rest of the lads playing there. Mason Bennet from Derby County is definitely a lad for the future at only 16 years old. He was brought in after Comoli and the scouts brought me rave reviews about him. He knows he still has a lot of work to do and is already pushing himself hard on the training ground. Another youngster Comoli signed for us is Alejandro Rubio, a young lad who can score out of anything. We'll be sending him on loan and monitoring his progression. And then we've got our two new Brazilians, Wellington Nem and Adryan. Both play wonderful attacking football and although they are young, will see some time this year. I am hoping to bring in Kara as well, but there seems to be a work permit issue with him. To sum up, we spent what we wanted to spend and got in exactly who we wanted.”

How about outgoing?
“William Gallas leaving to Newcastle for a million is not something I wanted, but he knew his time here was coming to a close. With so many defensive options, he wasn’t going to get the time he wanted, so we agreed to let him go up to Newcastle for a decent fee. Gomes was an easy transfer for me to accept, I considered him deadwood here, just filling up a spot, so to get another million for him delighted me. Andros Townsend was a tricky one. I know he has a ton of potential, but this club was not where he was going to shine. I wish him all the best at Nottingham Forest. Other than that, our Development team has been very busy getting our youth out on loan for experience and we will be monitoring their successes all season long.”

Alright thanks a lot Stephen and we'll sit down again soon to preview the season a little more.

So a very confident interview from the Spurs top man, and with just a few days until the 2012-2013 season begins, things are heating up. We'll be putting out our preview of the season ahead shortly, so stay tuned!

The Start of the Season

So here we are at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, and spirits could not be higher at the Spurs Kicker. Today we will be giving a small preview of the month ahead and what we expect from Stephen Grahams first games in charge.

FORMATION AND LINE UP
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First up, lets talk about formation and line up. As you can see from the graphic provided, Grahams main formation is going to be that of a 'False 9'. With attacking midfielders such as Gareth Bale, Clint Dempsey, Aaron Lennon, Wellington Nem and more to back them up, you can definitely see why he'd go with that option. With a focus on controlling the play, the central midfielders and defensive midfielders will have to play very well on the ball, spreading the field and dictating the match. This should not be too much to ask for the likes of Dembele, Sandro, Huddlestone, Scott Parker and old head Lorik Cana. In defense, Graham sounded very confident of his players. And who could blame him when he has Assou Ekotto, Walker, and Davide Santon patrolling the lines and Kyle Naughton backing them up. In the middle of defense Vertonghen and Kaboul should be solid rocks, with Dawson as an excellent replacement. Jores Okore and Steven Caulker will be both be looking for time on the field as well if the youngsters get a chance. In the goal will be French international Hugo Lloris, although reports out of White Hart Lane suggest that may be temporary as Graham has he sights on a younger goalkeeper by the name of Thibaut Courtois. Lloris will certainitly be starting most games this season as Courtois is in Spain all season.

As far as secondary formations go, Graham has been training his team on a basic attacking 4-3-3 and a park the bus 5-4-1 option.

Upcoming Preview August

18th Home - Norwich City
25th Away – Everton

Just two games in August, first up a home game against Norwich, and a week later Everton away. Fans are getting anxious for the start of the season and they see a home game against what should be considered weaker opposition is the perfect start. Thank you for reading this edition, and pick up the Spurs Kicker next time for analysis!

Review and Preview

August 18th Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 0 Norwich City

A very unimpressive performance from Tottenham saw them draw at home to Norwich. Clint Dempsey was particularly poor, wasting many of his opportunities. On a better note, Spurs defense was never troubled because of the center backs ability to constantly shut down attacks from Norwich. Coach Graham had this to say, “We played poor. When we play without a forward we need our attacking midfielders to step up, and today Dempsey did not do that. Nevertheless, it is only one game, the alarms are not ringing, and I'm confident our players will bounce back against Everton better and brighter.” One concern the Tottenham faithful will have is losing Moussa Dembele for 3-4 weeks and Kaboul for 2 weeks. Wellington Nem and Michael Dawson are set to stand in during the absence.
Man of the Match – Kaboul
Disappointment – Dempsey

August 25th Premier League
Everton 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur

Before the match, bad news came in that Vertonghen had pulled a muscle in training, ruling him out for 2 weeks. Tottenham, already depleted from injuries, were still confident of a good performance at Goodison Park. The game started off on a bad note for Spurs, with Dempsey picking up an injury in the 5th minute. Bringing on Gylfi Sigurdsson to replace him proved to be massive in the game though, as he sprayed the ball to Bale and Lennon all game. Combined with a tremendous showing from Sandro, Tottenham walked away from Goodison Park with a win. Tottenham's goals came from a pin point cross from Bale to Nem to head it in over the 'keeper and Huddlestone off of a whipped corner. Lloris had some explaining to do as he flapped at a cross and missed for Everton to score there goal. All in all it was a close game, statistically dominated by Everton, but our Spurs played just well enough and got lucky at the right times to pull out ahead.
Man of the Match – Dawson
Disappointment – Lloris

What's Ahead

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Injuries
With 6 players on the injury list its looking like a tough month ahead for Spurs. Kaboul and Vertonghen look to be out for the games against Sunderland and QPR, and hopefully will be ready for a very tough home game versus Man City. Dempsey, Adebayor, Dembele and Scott Parker do not look likely to return until October.
What We Expect
After speaking to the manager, here at the Spurs Kicker we have high hopes for this coming month. On TV at home we fully expect a large win against Sunderland, and then another 3 points will hopefully be picked up against QPR. Realistically at home to City a draw should be expected and away to Villa is another possible 3. If Spurs were to get 8 points this month, the manger should be delighted.

That’s it for today’s edition, we shall be sending out the next of Spurs Kicker mid September. In that we will include a League Table, Player Stats so far and a short recap.

Again, thank you for reading, and come on Spurs!

A really good start to your story and it is great to see a Spurs one. Good luck with the rest of the season!

Mid September
End of the Transfer Window

Deadline day is an important day in English football. A day of wheeling, dealing and huge switches. This deadline was a fairly dull one for Tottenham fans. Zakaria Bakkali came in on a free transfer, with the 16 year old going straight into the youth squad. Going out was wonderkid Jake Livermore, who left to Nottm Forest for 10 million. Jermaine Jenas also left for 3.9 million to Sunderland. Around the Premier League the biggest transfers were Jovetic to Chelsea (23m), Hamsik to Man Utd (22.5m) and Fellani to Man City (18.5m). This year is already lining up to be a cracker with the talent on display, hopefully our own Tottenham Hotspur can find themselves towards the top come May.

Europa League
The draw for Spurs has been rather kind, as they will play Rubin, Academica, and Steaua. Rubin Kazan are the only team likely to give Tottenham a game, although it will be tough going away to Eastern Europe, Russia and Portugal. We often see teams from Britain struggle at smaller teams in Europe, but if they stay alert, the next round shouldn't be too far away.

Fixture Changes

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September 3rd Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Sunderland

A bore draw at home to Sunderland to start off September. Sandro put in a good perfomrance in the DM position, and thwarted the opposition from doing anything. Fortunately for Sunderland, John O'Shea put in a performance to match at the heart of Sunderlands defense, cancelling out the two teams and creating a no score draw.
Man of the Match – Sandro
Disappointment – Jermaine Defoe. He was brought on for the last 15 minutes but failed to capitalize on a few good opportunities.

September 15th Premier League
Queens Park Rangers 2 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur

The first loss of the season for Tottenham comes at the hands of the R's. Esteban Granero played outstanding in the middle of the park, pushing up and taxing baack to dominate all factors of play. Spurs looked to be in control and indeed went ahead off of a headed effort by captain Michael Dawson. But just before half time a missed interception from youngster Steven Caulker allowed Bobby Zamora an easy tap in. After half time it was all doom and gloom for Tottenham, as Granero came out with a passion. Stephane Mbia scored the winner with a header, but there could have been many more goals if Zamora and Cisse had been playing well. A bad day out for Tottenham, who will most definitely appreciate the return of Vertonghen, Kaboul and Sandro ahead of the game against Steaua. In-form Sandro missed the game after returning from international duty with a few nicks.
Man of the Match – Esteban Granero (Dawson for Spurs)
Disappointment – Gareth Bale

League Table

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Squad Form

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To the lads that commented, thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it. Not doing so hot at the moment but I hope everybody who's reading keeps with me. As I said, first time doing one of these but a long time FM player, and I'm really enjoying writing it so far Thanks again fellas

A very good start to your story, I'm also using a False No.9 Tactic Good luck with this story and I hope you do very well!

Thanks FM Rookie! I've been following you an your stories on here for awhile and that's what made me wanna try it out. Any advice on how to get the shots coming in a bit more (and goals) with the false 9?

How are Adebayor and Defoe going to be getting game time? I had two saves with Spurs, in one Adebayor was awesome, in another, Defoe. Don't worry about the results mate, they'll pick up.