FALSE DAWN NUMBER 1,974?

Tottenham Hotspur have spent big during the close season and have invested over £30 million on two new players, Darren Bent and Gareth Bale, to help bolster their young squad. Manager, Martin Jol, insists that Spurs have a fantastic chance to break into the 'top four' and qualify for the lucrative Champions League next season. "If one club falls out of the top four, Liverpool or Arsenal, why shouldn't we take up that position, why not?

Jol's optimism is well founded considering Tottenham have finished 'best of the rest' - in fifth place - in each of the previous two seasons in the Premiership. A successful run in last season's UEFA Cup was also encouraging as well runs in the Carling Cup (semi finalists) and FA Cups (quarter finalists).

The addition of Bale, in particular, is crucial, as Spurs have been crying out for a natural left-footer on the wing, which will add much needed balance to their midfield. Bale is unproven at Premiership level, but has impressed in recent Welsh internationals with both his crossing and dead ball skills.

The arrival of Darren Bent has sparked much debate about the somewhat excessive price-tag of £16.5 million which accompanied the former Charlton striker. Bent is a proven goal-scorer in the Premiership with 37 goals in 68 Premier League games. Jol is unlikely to have bought Bent to warm the subs bench for the season but the England striker will have to continue his form of the last two years to have any hope of deposing either Dimitar Berbatov or Robbie Keane in the Spurs first team. The move is seen as somewhat of a gamble for Jol considering Bent’s price tag has smashed the previous Spurs transfer record. Tottenham's previous biggest transfer was the £11m paid for Sergei Rebrov from Dynamo Kiev in the summer of 2000, but Spurs fans would probably prefer not to dwell on that…

The signs are positive though as Jol invested heavily in Berbatov a year ago this summer and what a superb signing he turned out to be. The Dutchman was willing to spend big for the Bulgarian when other English clubs seemed disinterested and Jol obviously saw enough quality in Berbatov to know he would score goals in the Premiership.

Jol is quoted at saying: "Darren's strength is his stamina. Normally players will make runs three or four times in 45 minutes, he will do it all the time and if you manage to play balls behind the defence, he will be there. That's what I like about him. He has pace, he links play well and can see a pass - he can exploit the space and play as well. He knows Spurs is the place to be and that's something to be proud of."

The perennial worry for Spurs supporters is the lack of investment in the recurring problem area, the defence. Without Ledley King for much of last season Spurs defence looked porous and were it not for the heroics of Michael Dawson, they may well have missed out on fifth place finish. Paul Robinson had an average year by his own high standards while Chimbonda, Lee and Rocha struggled for much of the campaign. Rumours of the possible purchases of both Curtis Davies (West Brom) and Younes Kabul (Auxerre) have been muted and the arrival of either would be welcome.


Irrespective of who Tottenham manage to bring in before the start of the season the team will have to gel quickly and hit the ground running for the big kick off on the 11th of August away to Sunderland. So poor was Spurs away form last season that they failed to win away from home until after Christmas. A repeat of that poor run of form will certainly prevent the White Hart Lane club from breaking into the top four next season.

Long suffering Spurs fans have been through enough false dawns before, but as with every pre-season, hope springs eternal.

If Bale can provide the ammunition, Berbatov Bent, and Keane score the goals and a couple of new quality defenders are introduced then who knows, maybe Champions League football will arrive at White Hart Lane for the 2008 / 2009 season?