continued.....

Q; How do you view those defensive positions especially?

A; Harry has a conundrum to solve. Ledley and Woodgate clearly have serious problems. Does he keep unsettling the others in playing them intermittently, or does he make a long term decision on behalf of the club, the injured, and those popping in and out of the side in the name of long-term stability? If he does go to the market again, and Ledley and Jonathan both make miraculous recoveries, he'll be overstocked with centre-halves with some difficult decisions to make. There again, how do you feel if you're constantly being dropped in favour of someone who's only playing now and again? That's the balancing act of being a top flight manager but the man has the personality and strength of presence to juggle with all of those issues.

Q; And up front?

A ; Harry has a great array of firepower up front now with a matrix of attacking options. Of course, the man is not afraid to make decisions, selling top-scorer, Darren Bent, as soon as he realized that the player didn't suit his style of play. It may seem churlish to say that the attack is now stronger, but some players – no matter how competent they are – never seem to settle at some clubs. I don't know if it's the big fish-big pond syndrome, but take Alan Brazil and Ralphy Coates; Neither seemed to settle to life at the Lane after superb spells with their former clubs. At the time that Alan signed for Spurs, we were all delighted to have the best striker around joining us. Ditto Ralphy. The man had us all drooling with envy at some of his games for Burnley. I don't know if it's the big city thing, either, or a matter of getting used to a different environment, with kids and family to settle. Both were super players, but I think they'd agree that they never quite achieved their full Tottenham potential.

Q; Looking at his team objectively, where would you make changes to Harry's side?

A; I'm not sure I'm qualified to tell Harry where to change his team. As a club, they seem to have spent a small fortune on the right-back position. If I'm honest, I'm still not sure if they've nailed that position yet - but that's a personal view. He [Corluka] seems a good ball player going forward, but like many of their recent full-backs, seems to get caught out in defensive positions. This was highlighted most in the recent Chelsea game. Of course, we all see ourselves as Managers', but outside of sorting out the centre half issue, Harry's the right man to attract stronger and better players once the window opens, and when the right opportunities occur.

Q; What do you make of the Portsmouth scenario?

A; I don't understand it, and quite frankly, I'm losing the will to understand it, too. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if I spend a thousand pounds, one, I make sure I've got it, and two, I make sure I spend only up to and including what I can afford. Maybe that's why I'm not a big business man. Despite having sold many millions of pounds worth of player, they seem to be hanging in a financial abyss and left in this totally baffling situation. It's the fans I feel for, and Paul Hart, who has done a sterling job in a most confusing period. I don't understand, or profess to know, the way around the issue of debt. What I do know, is that due to the previous dubious house-keeping at Exeter City, we cannot get loans, credit or overdrafts, and have enjoyed our current run of success due to the incredible understanding that we've created on and off the pitch. We're a club rebuilt on togetherness. They say that League positions don't lie, but they don't tell which clubs are working on full potential, and which ones have far much more to give. We may have suffered from empty coffers, but nobody can say that the effort has been anything less than one hundred per cent. That's not to say that the Pompey people haven't been putting in the effort but the situation needs resolving before the implications become far more serious. Those fans deserve the truth about their club and its future.

Q; Does it bother you that, with all of this foreign investment in our Leagues, that we may be losing some of our identity?

A ; Very much so! The entire fabric of the game has changed so much over recent years. When Spurs enjoyed that superb run of success in the early to mid-eighties, half of the side came up through the local ranks, or at least joined us from lower leagues and fought their paths to the first team. If you look at Spurs in recent years, we have only produced Ledley, while many of Tottenham's younger elements are now out on loan at other clubs since they made certain internal house-keeping decisions. I got my own first team chance with Spurs in times of adversity. The club, the team, were on a downward spiral. I was only 17, hungry, and determined to battle my way in. It was slightly different in the case of, say, Chris Hughton, who was given his opportunity due to the curse of injuries that had afflicted half a dozen players in front of him. On the form he was showing in the reserves, he had little chance at the time of winning the position naturally. Although, once in, he too sent a loud and determined message to the manager that he was here to stay. Nowadays, youngsters are being stymied in their quest for first team places, whilst it's easier, and probably cheaper, to replace from outside. Then, there's the matter of what we call ‘Central Heating Kids'; those without the hunger to battle their way up due to the raft of outside competition from screen-based distractions. It's truly tough to make it as a professional footballer, although minus the chores that my generation were set back in the day. I often wonder what happened to the English goalkeeper situation. England used to produce ten or more outstanding keepers at any one time, yet I'm not confident that we're going to the World Cup without a single keeper having made the position his own.

Steve, thanks for your insight in to football past and present. We look forward to reading your thoughts again after yet another crazy week of games. See you again on Monday.