Top 4 on Friday - embarrassing blunders

Tottenham's implosion at Newcastle may have cost second place in the Premier League but it did confirm that we are still champions when it comes to embarrassing gaffes.

In this week's irrelevant rundown of ridiculous Spurs trivia, here's some of our most glorious cock-ups and blunders of recent years.

4. Manchester City collapse, February 2004

This could really be any of a number of nightmare capitulations. Everyone talks about the Manchester United 5-3, but that was at least against the champions of England - this one was pre-money Man City and seems to get forgotten.

That does not make it any less horrific.

After a 1-1 draw in Manchester, we were 3-0 up at the break - compounded by the fact City had Joey Barton sent off as the half-time whistle went.

Yet somehow we let Kevin Keegan's side back into it and Shaun Wright-Phillips pulled them level with ten minutes left. Then, just as we were hanging our heads and settling for extra-time, Jon Macken nicked the goal to leave us red-faced.

3. Glenn Hoddle's Rivaldo letter, August 2002

Brazilian Rivaldo had a barnstorming World Cup in 2002 but his Barcelona deal was up and Spurs launched an audacious bid for the playmaker.

Needless to say he was not wooed by our mid-table mediocrity of the time. But rather than just let it go as a busted flush, then-boss Glenn Hoddle had to make it clear that at least we were trying to sign this type of player. 

The former England boss said: "We came so close to getting Rivaldo and I thought it was a touch of class for him to send us a terrific letter explaining his decision."

Needless to say, nobody cared. In fact, everybody laughed. We didn't have Rivaldo, AC Milan did. That's all that mattered.

2. Christian Gross' dream ticket, November 1997

The Swiss boss arrived with a big reputation having won titles with Grasshopper Zurich. He lasted nine months. Although it was all undone within days.  

Firstly, he arrived into Heathrow late and at his opening press conference held up a Tube travel card proclaiming it as his  "ticket to the dreams."

It was more like a free pass to Nightmare Alley as his No 2 Fritz Schmid was denied a work permit and we went on to narrowly escape relegation by four points.

1. Lasagne-gate, May 2006

Martin Jol's side were fighting for a first Champions League appearance and needed a win at West Ham to finish fourth ahead of Arsenal.

Come the morning of the game, we all woke up to the news that 10 Spurs players had been struck down by a mystery illness. 

The lasagne at the team hotel was blamed and fingers pointed in all directions, West Ham fans, Arsenal fans, back room staff, rival club sabotage etc.

Of course everyone has their own "inside information" on the whole ridiculous affair but the only thing that you can be sure of is it would not have happened at any of the other clubs fighting for the top four!

Top 4 on Friday - Twitter trolls

Top 4 on Friday is back. It's a light-hearted rundown of anything Tottenham, England or football related and may involve going off at severe tangents if a subject matter is hard to come by. 

This week looks at the Top 4 Twitter trollings involving Spurs players, staff or otherwise, who have either come out with an absolute gem to leave a rival looking silly - or just ended up with egg on their faces. 

4. Dier and Dele Alli

The morning after the night before for Spurs ace Dele Alli. We had just honked Stoke 4-0 at the Britannia in mid-April to close the gap on Leicester at the top. Harry Kane and Alli scored two apiece but the 20-year-old midfielder was guilty of one of the misses of the season. 

Played into the clear, Alli rounded keeper Shay Given, straightened up, adjusted his body towards an open goal and planted his shot against the foot of the post - before collapsed in a crumpled and red-faced heap on the turf. 

He made up for it by scoring a worldie volley later on but good mate Eric Dier was not going to let him forget it that easily and greeted him in the morning with a video of the miss on his Twitter account - because that's what friends are for!

3. @SpursOfficial get sunk by Bayern Munich

Tottenham hold a little-advertised record that has stood since the double-winning year of 1960-61 - 11 victories in a row to start a domestic season is the most ever across Europe's top five leagues (I can only presume that means England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany).

Well, Pep Guardiola's Bayern racked up ten at the start of this season but drew with Eintract Frankfurt at the end of October to end their hopes - and our official Twitter account could not resist a bit of a dig.

Nice, touch, but it was nothing compared to the Bavarians' response, putting us firmly in our place and reopening the wounds of 2012, when Chelsea's Champions League final win over Bayern cost us a Champions League spot. When did the Germans develop a decent s
sense of humour?

2. Vardy hits back at Kane

Another one from this season's run-in after Harry and was a sitting duck Kane had posted an Instagram pic of four lions on the prowl as a cheeky nod to say "we're coming for you!"

But needless to say, as our title challenge faded Kane was a sitting duck. And hours before our 2-2 draw with Chelsea handed Leicester the title, Vardy tweeted a frame from the Lion King as bad-guy Scar is clinging on for dear life before falling to his demise.

1. #AskJackWilshere

Simply the best trolling episode we have seen - ever.  And it happened this week. Arsenal's Jack Wilshere had agreed to do a fans Q&A session on Twitter for ESPN. But when the time came, the questions were not what he expected as Spurs fans and others weighed in to absolutely crucify the injury-prone midfielder.

You can see the carnage for yourself on Twitter with the hashtag #AskJackWilshere

But the pick of the comedy insults included "Are you getting enough vitamin D in Dele Alli's shadow?", "where will you be watching the Euros?", "Has your career as an NHS patient been hampered by having to play the odd football match?".

But best of all was "Have you ever been involved in an accident that was not your fault?" 

Maybe time to concentrate on the football, Jack?

Check back next week for more Top 4 on Friday. 

Waiting for Wolves - Day 10

In the last seven days Man City's Kolo Toure has been banned for failing a drugs test, Chelsea's training ground became a shooting range, Man United's manager was charged with misconduct and Arsenal missed out on yet another trophy to add to their six-year dry spell.

Who would have thought I've just described the Top Four? Yes, the current cream of the crop in the English Premier League are all plunging themselves into turmoil at a vital point in the season. But, having had 10 days without a game, us Spurs fans have speculated over everything possible, so in an effort not to tempt fate before Sunday's game, I'm just going to attempt to make Friday a bit of fun.

Here is my very own Top Four... Spurs-related Youtube vids, that is.

In fourth, a Spurs ball boy becomes an instant hero with the Shelf Side, picking out Loumpoutis' weak spot in our 6-1 victory over Anorthosis Famagusta in September 2007.



At three, 'Arry reacts in style as he's asked a stupid question at a press conference.. It was a close run between this and the Wheeler Dealer reaction.



In second place, there are a host of these Hitler skits, but this is a translation of his reaction to our Champions League Last-16 draw against Milan.



Worthy first place goes to this brilliant account of two Spurs fans' trip to Milan last month. A few further clicks will take you to a series of "Away Day" videos, all of which are brilliant.