Pre-match waffle: Spurs v Southampton

The big question surrounding Spurs around Southampton's arrival at White Hart Lane on Sunday is how we cope without Harry Kane.

The signs are good, with Heung-Min Son scoring that hat-trick against Millwall last week and Vincent Janssen finally netting from open play.

But Premier League opposition will be an entirely different prospect as two of our most inconsistent players compete to be the lead the line in Harry's absence. 

Add to that the fact that we have not reacted well all season to losing big names. 

The team seems to really take it to heart when a key member of our first 11 is missing. 

Injuries to Toby Alderweireld, Kane, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose have knocked our confidence at different stages of the season and, in truth, we have never looked wholly convincing without Kane. Except last Sunday. 

Behind the front line we now need our big names to step up. That's Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen in the main becuase we know that both have the capacity to trouble any team regardless of who is playing in front of them.

Depending on other results, if Spurs can grab a win then I would be confident of getting over the line and sealing a top-four spot come May. 

If we drop points against Saints tomorrow, though, then it could lead to a real tooth and nail fight for fourth. And I'm not sure I'm ready for another fraught finish to the season.

White Hart Lane to Memory Lane - my Sunday trip back in time

Sometimes you get a reminder of what football is all about. 

A moment that brings flooding back all those reasons we are still so wrapped up in a game that has changed irrevocably from the one that first swept us off our feet.

Sunday’s Spurs v Millwall FA Cup quarter-final will likely turn out to be my last trip to White Hart Lane as we know it, before it is completely bulldozed to make way for The (insert sponsor name here) Stadium. 

As a kid I started with three seasons in the now-demolished north-east corner, sitting through some of the worst times and teams in our recent history. It didn’t matter, it was my time and I loved it: learning the songs, wearing the shirt and piling all my hopes into whichever ultimately average signing we had hyped into a possible saviour that week.

My dad, who I went with on Sunday, had a rather better run. He is a veteran of the terraces from the 1960-61 Double-winning year, with the ticket stubs, press cuttings and programmes to prove it.

It was always going to be a day for nostalgia - but I got far more than I bargained for.

On telling my dad we had secured tickets for one last game at the old stadium, the tone in his voice changed noticeably from cautious indifference (“just do what you can and if we end up with tickets then great") to something approaching genuine excitement.

I expected the roles to have shifted since our last trip there together. Having been countless times without him in the meantime, this time maybe it would be me “taking" my old man to the game. But, just like when we started out 20 years ago, he ended up taking me. 

Doing it his way this one last time was clearly important to him as he started reeling off names of pubs around the streets he grew up on. Suddenly, however much I thought I knew about Tottenham paled into the background. To Dad, this wasn’t just one last game at the Lane - this was a trip home.

We took the Tube to Wood Green and walked to the ground from there, down Lordship Lane. Dad was in his element, he had been transported back 60 years and I was along for the ride.

Every shop front was a memory, a snapshot of a bygone era. “This used to be a pet shop, that was a greengrocers, your grandad once lived here, your uncle lived there."

Mentions of old schoolfriends led to more stories and anecdotes as my tour guide delved into the rabbit warren of his youth. One guy smoking a cigarette outside a shop got the shock of his life when we stopped just feet away from him and Dad pointed up and said: “I was born in that room there." 

I’d almost forgotten about the football until we passed the row of police vans parked outside the Elmhurst pub, which was packed full of Millwall fans.

The game itself was sandwiched between drinks at the Antwerp Arms, a community boozer round the corner from White Hart Lane that has been recently saved from development thanks to investment from the football club and its fans.

And it was in there, after a convincing 6-0 win - marred but not ruined by certain flashpoints inside and outside the ground - that we saw the very best of this sport that keeps generation after generation coming back for more.

At the old upright piano in the corner, a young man with long hair and a leather jacket sat down and began hesitantly playing songs from years gone by.

It was basically background music, until everyone realised what he was playing.

Within minutes he was surrounded as the enthusiasm spread and Tottenham fans all sang along: “Glory, glory hallelujah…"

The chorus swept through the pub as eyes lit up, arms were held aloft and the next number brought the house down. "Spurs are on their way to Wembley, Tottenham's gonna do it again..."

The songs kept coming and the voices got louder and louder as Tottenham anthems namechecking Ossie Ardiles, Keith Burkinshaw and Cyril Knowles bridged the gap between the those who saw it all and those ready tpick up the mantle.

“Wember-lee, Wember-lee…", it continued. Dad and I held our glasses aloft.

Nobody was thinking about the top four, the Champions League, new stadiums or transfer fees. People hugged and danced around, no malice, no bravado. Just pure enjoyment. 

The beautiful game means different things to different folk, but sometimes we lose sight of the glue that holds it all together.

Football is about fans. Football is about family. Football is about people. Everything else might change but, for me, that is where it starts and finishes.


Follow me @Taxi_For_Maicon

Pre-match waffle: Spurs v Millwall

Nobody can deny Tottenham have had a straightforward FA Cup run so far - but supporter reputations have made this quarter-final tastier than it needs to be. 

On paper, Haringey police look likely to have a busier afternoon than Mauricio Pochettino's lads - but Wycombe caused us all sorts of troubles as we beat them 4-3 in the fourth round, so I'll not write Millwall off. Especially when they will be massively up for this. 

I'm not a big fan of the FA Cup these days. I always used to be but I think the powers that be have wrecked its reputation and refuse to reinvigorate it.

The last time we won it in 1991, it was traditionally regarded as Europe's premier cup competition. 

I would go so far as to say that we haven't won a major trophy since - because nobody can convince me that the League Cup really matters. It's nice to win and can be a good supplement to a decent season but it's a song and dance over very little.

And since Des Walker's own goal won us what should have been "Gazza's Final", it just feels like the FA Cup has gone the same way.

The decision to make it a guinea pig for next season's video technology trials will likely devalue it even further. That said, I do think it holds special significance for Tottenham this year. 

The FA Cup has gone from being our best chance of a trophy to our only chance and there is a lot of talk about whether this Spurs side can get over the line and win silverware.

Given our much-publicised struggles with big games, it could be exactly what we need to push on and really match our potential.

Doing that would also mean two wins at Wembley, which might just banish this nonsensical "jinx" that has developed around playing at the national stadium. 

Chairman Daniel Levy would love to get that hoodoo out the way before moving into Wembley full-time next season. Although I bet he wishes he could wait until after the FA Cup final before making a decision.