It seemed all to easy to slip a few minds that we did in fact have a football match to play on Tuesday evening. For 70 minutes we played some wonderful stuff that has proved all to familiar this season. Forgotten was Friday in which 'lucky' was the biggest understatement of the season as Watford played with far more fight and quality than ourselves and deserved to be thrown into the 4th round away to Stevenage. But that's football.
Yes, it was only Wigan. But we've seen far more often than our own liking in the past how we can underestimate these games and, before long, find ourselves with 90 minutes on the clock and only managing to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. Thankfully, the ghosts of last year haven't daunted the side and, minus a rather complacent and poor finish, we brushed aside Wigan with Bale and Modric at the heart of it all. The only downer arriving come full time was the injuries to Walker and Rafa. With a trip to Anfield on Monday seemingly arriving quicker than we'd prefer, the thought of travelling without Lennon, Defoe, Walker and Vdv was rather daunting.
Since then Walker has shed some light tweeting: "Afternoon tweeps just to let u know the injury is nothing to keep me out just felt it getting tight so didn't want to risk anything." After sending 4 right backs out on loan, it would prove more than irritating should Walker have to sit out any length of time. Young Spurs forward Cameron Lancaster also made his first PL appearance and did well in his 15 minute stint.
So, before long, attention turned to Jim White and the Sky Sports News team. While we braced ourselves for immense disappointment and entering February more or less as we were when we entered January, Levy was working on a few deals that required more than a second glance. Whilst we predicted that Pav was nearing the exit door at spurs (again), few would have predicted that Saha was in fact the forward that 'Arry wanted to bring in. I initially read this story with immediate scepticism.
Saha? Eh? He's the old fella that can barely string consecutive games isn't he? The Ledley King of forwards.
My initial reaction has softened. I do believe that Pav is a better forward than Saha. Although, with Pav finding himself warming the same bench every week and the desire and fight just not with the Russian anymore it was the right decision to let him leave; especially if reports were to be believed and we'd received a bid of between £8m-£11m. In Saha we have a forward that knows his time is limited. He's been given the chance at a top club and this may just ignite the spark that was so evident at Fulham. 'Arry is renowned for getting the best out of players and maybe this move will prove to be more astute than at first glance. Maybe this is being said out of more hope than expectation but I suppose time will tell. A deal for Krasic was also agreed with Juventus, although the player himself was adamant he wanted a permanent deal whereas we were only willing to loan the player so this move fell through.
Ryan Nelson is another reportedly close to joining us. After barely playing for Blackburn at all this season, Nelson was released before soon being contacted by Spurs. I can only see this one as cover but also another leader in the dressing room. It's getting towards the business end of the season and keeping a level head and a motivated team of players is essential.
The January window is never the best time to go for a World Class player. The price is far to extortionate and there's a lot of hope hindering on whether they hit the ground running and slot into the team's system after barely a training session. Our first team is no weaker but arguably our squad maybe a little in terms of ability. Harry has done wonders for the side and I do believe that by not disrupting the first team but bringing in experience heads to keep the lads going maybe prove to be invaluable come the end of the season.
Regards.
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