Follow me on Twitter – @WindyCOYS.

You can also hear me on The Fighting Cock podcast.

Currently we have the following players out on loan:

Premier League
Steven Caulker – Swansea City (season)
Kyle Naughton – Norwich City (season)
Steven Pienaar – Everton (season)
Sebastian Bassong – Wolves (season)

Championship
David Button – Doncaster (March 1st)
Andros Townsend – Leeds (season)
Adam Smith – Leeds (season)
Yago Falque – Southampton (season)
Tom Carroll – Derby (season)
Ryan Mason – Millwall (season)
Harry Kane – Millwall (season)

League One
Nathan Byrne – Bournemouth (season)
Jon Obika – Yeovil Town (season)
Dean Parrett Yeovil Town (season)
John Bostock – Sheffield Wednesday (season)

Conference North
Jordan Archer – Bishop’s Stortford

Other
Vedran Corluka – Bayer Leverkusen (season)
Mirko Ranieri – FC Esperia Viareggio (season)
Kudus Oyenuga – St Johnstone (season)

Now returned
Oscar Jansson – Bradford City
Kudus Oyenuga – Bury
David Bentley – West Ham
Ryan Mason – Doncaster
Simon Dawkins – San Jose Earthquakes
Jermaine Jenas – Aston Villa
Ben Alnwick – Leyton Orient
David Button – Leyton Orient
Bongani Khumalo – Reading
Adam Smith – MK Dons

Keeping track of all of our loanees has turned into a full-time job, with nineteen players currently out on loan, not including Jenas who was ruled out for the season in December, and Bentley, who has also returned to Spurs to receive treatment (and who could, incidentally be fit within a matter of weeks).

Since his return from injury in December, Steven Caulker has been one of Swansea City’s most impressive and consistent performers, and has now started thirteen games for them – they’ve kept five clean sheets in that time.

Chris Carra from the ForzaSwansea blog (@ForzaSwansea on Twitter) has kindly offered his opinion on Caulker:

From his first game for the Swans, Steven Caulker has been solid. He slots in very nicely next to Ashley Williams and has been one of the first on the team sheet all season. He is strong and consistently solid the air. The only blemish was his brush with the police earlier in the season, but his on field performance makes up for it. He seems happy to stay with Swansea after the summer; something we all hope will happen as he would leave a very big hole to fill.

Like Caulker, Kyle Naughton has been putting in consistently good performances for Norwich City. He has played primarily at right back, but has also had a couple of matches at left back, and even played as an emergency centre back this weekend after both of their regular CBs had come off injured. He has now made twenty starts and one substitute appearance for City. Below are some comments on Naughton from two Norwich fans.

Firstly, my friend and City season ticket holder Luke Bell (@soulwaxer on Twitter):

Like so many of his team-mates, Kyle Naughton has been hugely impressive in the first half of this season. After a slightly shaky pre-season, he swiftly won over the Norwich fans with a run of strong defensive performances and a promising attacking partnership with Elliott Bennett in front of him. Most would agree that he has now established himself as Norwich’s first-choice right-back; an impressive achievement given he ousted Russell Martin from that position, who played every minute of the Championship promotion campaign. A series of injuries to other players has seen him switched to left-back, where he’s been equally efficient defensively, although perhaps not quite so threatening going forward. Against Bolton he was even employed as a makeshift centre-back for the majority of the game, where he coped superbly with the physical threat of Ngog and Davies.

Paul Lambert has made it clear that he’d like to keep Naughton on a permanent deal; most Norwich fans will be hoping that the club can come up with a deal to make it happen.

Secondly, from the author of the excellent Holtamania blog (@Holtamania on Twitter):

How much for him? Seriously. How much? Let’s start negotiating now because he’s surely our number one target this summer.

Kyle has been brilliant for Norwich so far this season, a season in which we have exceeded everyone’s expectations. Like the majority of the team, Kyle came to us with little Premier League experience but has looked at home. After missing the first match of the season, he stepped in at right back and has made the position his own; a tough ask when going up against crowd favourite and last year’s Player of the Season runner up, Russell Martin. Kyle’s performances have been solid, with only a couple of dips against Villa and Blackburn. Otherwise he has been excellent defensively; a tough job when we frequently play a diamond formation that leaves fullbacks exposed. He’s shown a certain maturity and composure that you might not have expected, and is comfortable wherever he’s asked to play. He’s stepped in at left back several times this season and was arguably man of the match in that position against Fulham, and most recently covered at centre back against Bolton and put in another assured, quality performance. He seems to pass Lambert’s character test and is trusted across the back line. Most of us wanted him secured in the January window but that was always unlikely with what appears to be a hefty asking price. Nevertheless, once we secure Premier League status for another year, the topic will come up again. With Kyle Walker deservedly securing his place in the Spurs defence, Naughton will want to play games rather than be his friends’ backup. At this point I hope both clubs can agree a deal that sees Spurs adequately paid and Norwich getting a fullback with years ahead of him.

Encouraging reports!

Steven Pienaar made his second debut for Everton this weekend, playing on the left of a 4-4-1-1 in their 1-1 draw with Wigan. Pienaar hinted after the match that he could look to stay at Everton beyond the loan.

“There were other options but, for me, coming back here was the simple thing to do. When [Harry Redknapp] asked me where I wanted to go I said I just want to go to Everton.

At the moment, let me focus on the first few months here and just get playing and see what happens in the summer.

It’s until the end of the season and I just have to make sure I make the most of this for a few months and in the summer we can talk about my future.

I’m an open minded person – I’ve always been open minded. It doesn’t matter what happens but the most important thing is that in these next few months I do my best for the squad.”

Sebastian Bassong made his debut at centre back for Wolves, and this Wolves blog summed up his debut as follows:

“Speaking of new signings, Sebastian Bassong was correctly given his debut and although Zamora outmuscled him to toe poke them into the lead, I thought the on-loan Spurs man acquitted himself well.

I’m a bigger fan of Berra than most but the pace off the ball and composure on it that Bassong brought to the back four were notable.”

Having made a couple of appearances for Leyton Orient earlier in the season (before succumbing to injury), 22-year old goalkeeper David Button was sent to Doncaster at the start of January. He has made five appearances, keeping three clean sheets – a remarkable record thus far – and he impressed manager Dean Saunders in their away draw at Hull:

“David made some great saves and I couldn’t ask for more from the lads.”

Paul Goodwin @paulgoodwinDFP, a Sports writer at Doncaster Free Press tweeted the following to me:

“Influential in keeping 3 clean sheets out of last 4. Good shot stopper, confident, calming influence. Only weakness: kicking.”

Since moving to Leeds at the beginning of January, Andros Townsend has made five starts, including one away at Arsenal in the FA Cup, but was only on the bench this weekend. He had a terrific start for Leeds in their match against Burnley, being fouled twice by full back Kieran Trippier, leading to his dismissal.

The editor of the Dirty Leeds blog (@DirtyLeedsBlog on Twitter) has kindly given me his opinion on Andros and Adam so far:

I had been asked by the editor to give my opinion on the two Tottenham youngsters currently on loan at Elland Road, I gladly offered the following;

ADAM SMITH
Unfortunately, my views on the young full back are limited as I haven’t actually seen him play yet. By all accounts his debut was impressive at Bristol on Saturday and apparently he would have been MOM had Aston Villa’s (on loan) Fabian Delph not excelled himself. It is worth noting though that Bristol played the final 30 mins with 9 men. Hopefully he can take that form into this Saturday and I can give a real opinion on him then.

ANDROS TOWNSEND
His debut was sensational. He ran Burnley ragged, resulting in the dismissal of the opposing full back after just half an hour (yes lots of opponents get sent off at the minute, 5 in the last 5 matches!)!

One thing that stands out for me is his ability to overcome the main criticism that is levelled at young wide men; delivery and final pass. Plenty of wingers are eye-gougingly frustrating with their killer pass, there is at least a couple in North London… Andros does seem to have grasped this skill.

Whilst he is yet to replicate his debut heroics and didn’t get off the bench in the last game, I can’t help feeling that he’d be a far better player in a better team. Hopefully the effect of a new manager will give him and the squad a lift.

It is worth noting that Simon Grayson was very fond of wingers, whether Neil Redfearn or a subsequent new manager will be as keen is anybody’s guess.

Thanks for the opportunity. Let me also offer my sympathies over the impending departure on Harry Redknapp. Hopefully you can still gate crash the top 3.

Adam Smith joined Andros at Leeds recently and made his debut in last weekend’s game. He had an outstanding first half of the season at Milton Keynes Dons under the tutelage Karl Robinson, who is used to working with young players having previously worked at Liverpool’s Academy. Smith made 22 starts for MK Dons, playing as a very attacking full back. He scored two goals, both superb long-range efforts, and his good performances helped him to force his way into the England U21 squad.

Having signed Yago Falque permanently, we immediately sent him on loan to Southampton. He played 55 minutes of their draw with Leicester, was an unused substitute in their next game, but wasn’t involved in last weekend’s match against Birmingham, or their cup game against Millwall (for which he was cup-tied).

Tom Carroll made a scoring start to his Derby County career with a late goal. It was only a consolation though, as they were 3-1 down with seconds to go. You can watch the goal here, at 1:40.

A big thank you to Derby County Blog (@derbycountyblog on Twitter) for the following on Carroll:

Tom Carroll joined Derby in unusual circumstances. He was signed on a half-season loan to replace Paul Green, who had been made available for transfer after failing to agree a new contract. Green was duly left out of the squad on transfer deadline day, as the Rams travelled to Barnsley, but no move transpired. Carroll is therefore left to fight for his place against four other midfielders – two box-to-box types (Green and Craig Bryson), a technically-adept holding midfielder (James Bailey) and Ireland U’21 Jeff Hendrick, who is also more of a passer than a bruiser by nature.

With Green out for the Barnsley game, Hendrick replaced him on the right side of midfield, with Carroll slotting into the centre alongside Bryson, in place of Bailey. Unfortunately, Barnsley’s midfield three totally swamped Derby’s 4-4-2 and the Rams were 2-0 down in the blink of an eye. Nigel Clough then changed the formation to match the Tykes up in the middle of the park, but by that time, the horse had bolted and Barnsley, with their tails up, scored a splendid third goal before settling down and enjoying the rest of the half.

At the interval, a cricket score looked wholly plausible, but pretty much from the start of the second half, Derby managed to claw their way back into the game. Carroll, who cut a forlorn figure in the first half, saw far more of the ball and started to show what he can do; he is a clever, technically smart schemer with the ability to pick a pass.

Derby got a goal back through Ward and with Barnsley on the back foot, Carroll got into the box and pirouetted away from a defender, who blatantly cleaned him out, only for the referee to signal for a corner. Had that decision gone Derby’s way, with about 15 minutes to go, you can’t help but feel that the Rams would have gone on to grab an equaliser. As it was, Carroll’s injury-time goal, poached from closish range after a poor clearance from the goalkeeper was pounced on by Hendrick, was too little too late.

A lot of Derby fans are prejudiced against a midfield three system – 4-5-1, as it is pejoratively known – perceiving any such formation as automatically ‘negative’.
Carroll could be the clever linking midfielder who makes sense of a 4-3-3 at Pride Park, especially as we have two players – Ward and Tyson – who could operate effectively as wide forwards. Such a system would certainly suit Carroll better than 4-4-2, as it usually leads to more midfield possession, with the team building from the back more often than quickly hitting the frontmen.

There is plenty of competition for places, so Carroll will have to play well to justify his place in the team – if he does so, it’ll benefit Derby in the short-term and Spurs in the long-term.

Harry Kane moved to Millwall at the start of January for the remainder of the season, and scored his first goals against Dagenham and Redbridge in the FA Cup. He has now made eight starts and one substitute appearance, and was a part of the side that won 3-2 away at Southampton in Tuesday’s FA Cup win.

Some decent comments on Kane from the Millwall forum after last weekend’s match:

“Kane is far better than anything we have bar Henderson and now Keogh.”

“Kane looked good when he came on.”

“Kane has a first touch and wins headers.”

Ryan Mason has joined Kane at Millwall having not been given too many opportunities under Dean Saunders at Doncaster, mostly owing to constant injury problems. He made his debut against Watford in the league, and came off the bench in their weekend defeat against West Ham as they chased an equaliser. He was widely criticised on Millwall forums after his debut, but it is worth remembering that this was his first game at this level for nearly three months having had more niggling injuries. He had a much improved match against Southampton in the FA Cup, but should have put them 2-0 up when through one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Nathan Byrne is due back soon for Bournemouth after overcoming a very nasty injury.

Jonathan Obika has been a regular for Yeovil Town since returning from injury at the end of November. He has now started thirteen times and made two substitute appearances, scoring twice, including a fantastic bicycle kick against Charlton on Boxing Day. Whilst his scoring record doesn’t look good on paper, Yeovil do not score many goals as a team, and Obika’s overall performances have been good.

Dean Parrett joined Jonathan at Yeovil Town in mid February, signing initially on a one month loan. He has already started four times for them claiming an assist on his debut vs Tranmere. His loan has now been extended for the rest of the season.

Many thanks to Vyse (@vyseofhr) from Green And White Blog for the following piece on Parrett and Obika’s progress, especially as it came at such short notice:

Obika
Jon has had a season that has been severely interrupted by injury, although he is just beginning to show signs of the form he displayed during his earlier loan spells. His two goals this season have both arrived since Christmas, and his bicycle kick against Charlton was a display of technique often missing in strikers at our level.
That said, he remains frustrating. His work rate is often the source of terrace jeering, and whilst he remains our best natural finisher, his off the ball work is at best reactive, and sometimes plain not good enough; he often doesn’t make the ‘right’ runs and never seems to be very good at anticipating how play will develop. This is something that can be taught though, and perhaps another good half season at Yeovil will begin to see Jon realise his potential.

Parrett
Dean on the other hand, appears to have arrived at Huish Park almost as the finished article; so much so that I find it amazing that Spurs have today announced that he’ll spend the rest of the season here. He has gelled fantastically with one of our brightest talents, Ed Upson, and fans have been waxing lyrical about the similarities with a club legend, Darren Way, in his tigrish approach and eye for a pass and goal.
Yeovil’s recent upturn in results and performances have occurred since Dean joined the club, and it’s no coincidence. Like Ryan Mason and Steven Caulker before him, he’s been fantastic.

John Bostock joined Sheffield Wednesday for the remainder of the season at the end of the transfer window, and came off the bench to make his debut on the 31st. He started this weekend’s game against Yeovil, and below are some comments from a Sheffield Wednesday forum:

“Lightweight, but very early days, and not a day to judge a player. Seems to want to come inside all the time, as opposed to playing wide. When teams park the bus, we need width. “

“I think he looked decent and can pass the ball well. A couple of times he played some lovely balls in the second half. I think he’ll turn out to be a decent signing. “

“He was quiet and a bit disappointing today, after seeing him at MK, but as said above, it’s still very early days.

He’s clearly not a winger but a central player, so he’s got some adapting to do if Meggo insists on playing him wide.”

“Yeah , looks more comfortable inside.

A bit lethargic and off the pace first half but played some intelligent passes second.”

“His crossing needs to improve considerably if he is going to take every set piece”

“Thought he played OK today. Has a languid style, but has good ball control. Didn’t hide, always tried to be involved. Think if Megson can get him to be more confident generally and encourage him to be more authoritative and start dictating the play, I think we could have a really good player for the rest of the season. I think though he’ll be more effective in the centre alongside Semedo than out wide, because he doesn’t seem pacey enough to play on the flank. “

Wednesday manager Gary Megson seems to know what he’s getting, commenting on him after his debut:

“He showed his talent when he ran with the ball from his own half. He’s really languid on the ball and has great touch and control. He’s got to find a way of applying himself so he can have a lot more impact on the game than ordinarily he might do.

We have central midfield players who are very good at tackling, or closing down, or running forward with the ball, or picking a pass; John is a bit different – he can play wide or in the middle.”

Jordan Archer has had a decent spell at Bishop’s Stortford since joining them in October (when Ian Walker was still their manager!).

I contacted the Sports Editor from the ‘Herts and Essex Observer‘, Alan Scott, and he kindly gave me his opinion on Jordan:

I’ve only seen him twice but I’ve been really impressed with him.

He’s got great reflexes and is a good shot stopper.

He make some mistakes but then he is very young, that will come with experience.

He’s also quite brave which is very useful for a keeper – especially playing in this league against some big old Northern lumps.

David Rimmer, another reporter from the same paper was also generous enough to give me his take on Jordan’s appearances so far:

I would say on the games I have seen is that Jordan Archer is a very good shot stopper.

He is very good at keeping out shots which are bound for the top of the goal and has made quite a few acrobatic tip overs.

However he needs to improve on collecting crosses but this will come with experience. He has height and in time will become a very good keeper but whether he will make it right to the top I am not sure. For his age he is not bad at commanding his box.

I would say he was not as good as a previous outstanding young keeper that Stortford had in Rob Elliott. He played in the first part of the 2004/05 season and I believe he is now at Newcastle.

Vedran Corluka made his Bayer Leverkusen debut in a 2-2 with VfB Stuttgart, and one of his crosses led to a goal.

Mirko Ranieri was an unused sub as FC Esperia Viareggio drew 0-0 with Taranto – he had been starting regularly for them until recently, but seems to have lost his place in the team.

Kudus Oyenuga was an unused sub for St Johnstone in their 1-1 draw with Hearts, and will be hoping to make his debut soon after scoring for their reserves last week. The St Johnstone website featured a nice interview with him last week:

KUDUS GEARED UP TO AID SCOTTISH CUP CAMPAIGN IF NEEDED New loan signing Kudus Oyenuga is looking forward to spending the rest of his season with Saints and is ready to contribute to our Scottish Cup cause against Hearts on Sunday if required.

Striker Kudus joined Saints on loan from Spurs at the end of last month and made an immediate impression with a goal in a closed door game against Motherwell on Tuesday.

Before heading off to train with the rest of the squad in Alloa this morning, the eighteen year old told the Saints Official Website: “It’s been a good week for me. I had a training session with the younger boys on Monday followed by the game against Motherwell on Tuesday and I managed to get myself a goal which was pleasing. I’ve not had many minutes of football recently so it was very worthwhile.”

The Londoner met up with the first team players on Wednesday at a go-karting session in Cambuslang arranged by Steve Lomas to gather the squad together post-transfer window and although he didn’t shine on the track he thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

“Don’t ask me about the karting! Let’s just say I wasn’t troubling the top of the leaderboard! But it was really good to meet the boys, they are lovely people and I can tell there is a good team spirit.”

With international clearance obtained, Kudus can feature in Sunday’s televised cup encounter at Tynecastle if required and it may well be that he and fellow new loan recruit James Keatings from Celtic are the men selected to fill the requirement of having two Under 21 players in the stripped outfield squad.

Kudus says: “The Gaffer has been cool with me and told me to work hard and see what it brings myself and the club. I’m used to working hard and I’m ready to be involved if asked on Sunday.”

Clearly struggling with the minus five temperature Perth endured this morning Kudus concluded: “The only thing that has surprised me is the cold but give me a week and I’ll be used to it and wearing a t-shirt!”

A big thank you to all of the contributors to this article:

Luke Bell (@soulwaxer on Twitter)
The editor of the Dirty Leeds blog (@DirtyLeedsBlog on Twitter)
Chris Carra from the ForzaSwansea blog (@ForzaSwansea on Twitter)
Holtamania blog (@Holtamania on Twitter):
David Rimmer and Alan Scott from Herts and Essex Observer
Vyse (@vyseofhr on Twitter) from Green And White Blog
Paul Goodwin (@paulgoodwinDFP on Twitter), a Sports writer at Doncaster Free Press

Follow me on Twitter – @WindyCOYS.

You can also hear me on The Fighting Cock podcast.

James McArthur’s goal –Wigan make progress down our right hand side, working a two vs one which drags Sandro wide. McArthur takes advantage and makes an intelligent run and, although Parker gets back to him, his lunging challenge only loops the ball over Friedel.

Ben Watson carries the ball forward in a little space. Note Bale and Lancaster standing in the forward positions, and Kranjcar ahead of Sandro, Parker and Modric.

Substitute McArthur, the eventual scorer, picks takes possession and spreads play wide to Moses. Sandro is covering McArthur at this point, with Parker in the middle of the pitch and Modric to his left.

As Beausejour makes the overlapping run, Sandro is forced to make up the numbers, with Bale caught up-field. McArthur sees this and intelligently makes a break in behind him. Although Parker reads the danger, he is always going to struggle to get across in time.

Moses weights his ball perfectly for McArthur…

…who is able to take the shot first time, despite the desperate lunge from Parker.

The ball deflects off Parker and loops awkwardly over Friedel, who has an impossible task.

Follow me on Twitter – @WindyCOYS.

You can also hear me on The Fighting Cock podcast.

First things first, I need to let you know about #TottenhamUltras – The Fighting Cock Project. The Fighting Cock podcast is aiming to get 100+ people to The Valley for Charlton U18s vs Tottenham Hotspur U18s in the FA Youth Cup. The match is on February 16th, 7pm kick off – we’re meeting between 4:30pm and 6:00pm at The Bridge Bar in London Bridge Station, before heading to the game and giving our young players the kind of support they have yet to experience. It would be great to see you there!

Now on to the game… Spurs were playing a physically big and strong Reading side who, before kick off, were second in Group B of the FA Premier Academy League, having beaten league leaders Coventry last week. Spurs were in third place, four points behind Reading having played two games more.

Subs:

Kenneth McEvoy (17) for Daniel Akindayini.
Dominic Ball (16) for Connor Ogilvie.

Unused subs:

Roman Michael-Percil (16)
Liam Priestley (15?)
James Yeboah (17)

Reading’s team:

We arrived late due to having a few issues locating Reading’s Hogwood Park training ground in Finchampstead, and we missed the opening minutes. Just as we approached the pitch, Grant Ward scored for Spurs – I assumed this was the opening goal, but later found out that it was an equaliser.

Spurs seemed to be dominating possession, and had another good chance on around 14 minutes when Zapta-Caceido picked up on a loose ball, and cleverly headed it over the centre back into the path of Ward, but he was unable to prod the ball home, with defenders converging on him.

Zapata-Caceido himself then had a goal ruled out for offside, as he got on the end of an excellent cross from the left, before Reading made an early change – Murphy coming on for Webb. A Munns through ball nearly made it into the path of Zapta-Caceido, before McQueen pounced on a loose ball and drove down the right before over-hitting his cross badly to the frustration of his team mates.

Spurs scored their second on 21 minutes as Bush broke clear in the left channel, and his firm, low finish was saved by the goalkeeper, but rebounded back and trickled in off the defender’s legs.

McQueen again was quick to pick up on an error and raided on the right, but his low cross was cleared at the near post. A long ball from Reading was then helped on, and Granger anticipated it well, coming and claiming right at the edge of his box with Samuel bearing down on him.

Reading’s Dominic Samuel, who signed a professional contract in December, had a good chance on 25 minutes, when he met a low cross with a scissor-kick, but it skidded wide. Spurs then put a neat passing move together, keeping it well in midfield, and nearly breaking Reading down again, but Bush’s pass inside the full back was a little heavy for McQueen, who had made yet another break forward from right back.

Oliver Modeste found McQueen wide on the right with an excellent floated pass. He controlled and marauded forward again and,although hacked at by Reading’s Daniel Carr, he kept his feet and fired a cross in, but it was cleared again. The action was straight back down the other end as Reading countered but Modeste made a perfectly timed sliding challenge to stop the threat.

On the half hour mark, Carr made an excellent run down the left, beating Zapata-Caceido and then McQueen before forcing a corner, which was over-hit and cleared easily. Mason Bush picked the pocket of James Murphy, and nearly found Ward, but his cross just evaded him.

Soon after, Ogilvie won a tackle and passed up the line to Akindayini, who immediately found Ward with a clever pass, but as he advanced he scuffed his shot slightly and it went wide at the near post. Dutch U19 international William Ekong then strode forward confidently having won the ball back, but over-hit his pass to Bush.

Reading had another dangerous moment as the ball was flashed across the box, but put wide by substitute Murphy, who seemed surprised that it had reached him at the far post. Craig Tanner’s deep free kick from the Reading left looked like it may dip over Granger, but he adjusted his body at the last minute to leap back and palm it out.

Akindayini was substituted shortly before half time, presumably injured – he was replaced by Irish U19 winger, Kenneth McEvoy.

Jake Cooper headed wide from a corner, before the referee gave Reading a route back into the game. Oliver Modeste was tussling with Tanner in the box, both tugging slightly at each other, and when Tanner threw himself to the ground, the referee blew up and awarded a very generous penalty, which was converted by Samuel.

The second half began with Reading stopping Spurs playing out from the back. As a result, Spurs were forced to play more long passes, which Reading’s big centre halves had no problem defending. Reading were also using the ball better themselves, and Murphy, very involved after coming on as a first half sub, beat Granger to the ball, but was only able to direct the ball wide.

Dominic Samuel fed Tanner, who drew a good save from Granger. Minutes later, Samuel picked up the ball around 25 yards out, took a touch and smashed the ball beyond Granger into the top corner. Unstoppable.

Reading had another penalty shout a minute later, when Ogilvie appeared to go shoulder to shoulder with his man when running into the box. With Ogilvie slightly behind the advancing winger, it could easily have been given, but when the Reading fans to our right asked the linesman (who had a good view) why he hadn’t given it, he said “no chance”.

On 60 minutes, Lameiras was booked after being caught in possession and pulling the advancing player back.

McEvoy made progress down the left, and found Ward – his cross was well cleared out for a throw. Ward then had a snapshot saved at the near post after Lameiras had found McEvoy. Soon after, Bush, who played much deeper in the second half, failed to slide in Zapata-Caceido as we broke forward.

On 68 minutes, it was 4-2. Reading advanced down the left – Granger made a move to his near post, but didn’t do anything to close the angle, and when the cross came in, it ran past him and Samuel scored his hat-trick goal at the far post, this time a tap in.

As Spurs looked for a way back into the game, Dominic Ball came on for left-back Ogilvie, and seemed to play just ahead of the defence, with Modeste playing slightly further left, and McQueen slightly less advanced, presumably in an effort to help us play out from the back. Whilst this did happen, we failed to keep the ball in midfield, with Munns not having much luck with his typically swashbuckling runs, and Lameiras tiring and struggling to find the rhythm to his passing that he had in the first half.

Keown was booked for going to ground on Zapata-Caceido and then preventing him taking the resultant throw-in, before Jack Munns charged forward with purpose, danced down the left blank, fed Bush, and his chipped cross was met at the far post by little Ken McEvoy. It looked like a definite goal, but the keeper managed to keep it out, before the ball rebounded off the defender and was cleared off the line, and the loose ball was eventually cleared.

There was yet another booking for a shirt pull by Tshibola in midfield, before Ball, the substitute, was also booked for a tackle, just seconds after the referee had missed a clear foul on Munns (which riled our players!).

Spurs had a late penalty appeal when Zapata-Caceido appeared to be pulled back, but the game petered out.

Billy Granger – He didn’t have a particularly good day, making a few fundamental errors with his handling, and his positioning for the third goal was not great. He will learn from today, though, and hopefully come back stronger.
Alex McQueen – I like him playing at full back – he has so much energy when going forward, and has the Walker-esque recovery pace to not be caught out too often.
William Ekong – Despite Spurs conceding four, he actually had a good game. Decent in possession and largely dominant.
Oliver Modeste – He had some good moments, and some less so. Very unfortunate for the penalty, but he lost possession a couple of times in dangerous areas.
Connor Ogilvie – Was generally solid defensively, with a couple of lapses. In fairness, he was up against a very handy winger. Going forward he showed enthusiasm and determination, but didn’t always make progress.
Jack Munns – As ever, he worked hard and tried to drive us forward, but he tends to be a little let down by his forward passing.
Ruben Lameiras – Had an excellent first half, controlling our possession play with clever movement and passing. In the second half he seemed to tire, and was quite wasteful.
Victor Zapata-Caceido – Was in and out of the game, and may have benefited from playing in a more central area.
Grant Ward – Was influential in the first half, picking up the ball in pockets of space and creating openings. Much quieter in the second.
Daniel Akindayini – My first look at him, and he looks to have a good touch and impressive balance, although he struggled to get into the game. Unfortunately his day ended early, presumably due to injury.
Mason Bush – Looks a lot bigger and taller than when I last saw him, and he seemed to mainly play as the front man in the first half. In the second half he kept coming deeper, and we seemed less of a threat as a result. Looks to have a very neat touch and good awareness.

Kenneth McEvoy – Although he came on early, he didn’t really get on the ball much, although he was very unlucky not to score with a back-post header.
Dominic Ball – I thought we could have done with him coming on a little earlier in the second half as Reading were imposing themselves physically.

Follow me on Twitter – @WindyCOYS.

You can also hear me on The Fighting Cock podcast.

PLEASE DON’T READ THIS! It will only make you feel worse. I wanted to avoid doing it, but my OCD wouldn’t allow me to. Ah well, here goes…

Samir Nasri’s goal – Silva picks up the ball on the right, cuts in to where he is most dangerous, and releases Nasri with a superb through-ball, which is finished well.

Silva picks up the ball wide on City’s right.

He comes inside looking to create and exchanges passes to receive the ball back in a more central area.

This is the part of the pitch where he damages teams. As Modric closes him, he looks up and sees the run that Nasri is making.

Nasri has made a driving run in front of Walker and is darting in behind Kaboul.

Silva executes a straight pass absolutely perfectly, totally splitting our defence. Because Walker has not read the situation, Nasri is unchallenged when he receives the ball.

It’s a fine finish from Nasri – smashed beyond Friedel first time.

Joleon Lescott’s goal – A City corner is bundled home by Lescott, who pulls away from Walker and wins a challenge with Parker.

As City take their set piece, Spurs are set out relatively unusually, with no man on either post (we usually have at least one man on a post!). Bale is beaten by Dzeko at the near post. Note Lescott making his run toward the back post with his marker, Walker, totally unaware.

Walker is nowhere near touch-tight to Lescott.

When Dzeko wins the flick on, Lescott has far too much space and is able to meet the ball. Parker attempts to challenge him.

Lescott is stronger in the challenge, with momentum on his side.

Does the ball eventually go in off Parker? When watching the video, it does look that way.

Mario Balotelli’s goal – Clichy hits a hopeful pass forward, and the bounce of the ball puts Spurs on the back foot. Balotelli gets the better of King, who makes a desperate lunge, missing the ball. Balotelli scores the resultant penalty.

Assou-Ekotto doesn’t allow the ball to roll out for a Spurs throw-in, instead choosing to smash the ball up-field. Defoe doesn’t make a challenge, as it is headed clear.

Clichy smashes the ball forward with the outside of his left foot.

The ball bounces beyond our midfield, as City look to find a way through.

It seems like Kaboul has covered round, but….

…Balotelli seems to get away from both King and Kaboul. He seems to be in such a wide position that he won’t trouble us, but when he delays his shot, King thinks he can nab the ball.

He gets so close to making contact, but Balotelli holds him off, and he brings him down.

The penalty is well-placed and cruelly makes it 3-2.

Spurs’s game-plan pretty much worked in the first half – van der Vaart and Modric played ahead of Parker in a 4-1-4-1 formation, and the game was tight and cagey. In the second, we were generally the better side, putting together some nice passing moves and creating chances. If it wasn’t for some poor defending and missed chances, we’d have come away with three richly deserved points.