Festive cheer!

On Boxing Day Agatha and Norman got to the pub midway through the first half of the Aston Villa v Spurs game. The performance and the stats (15 corners?) were clearly demonstrating dominance but no goals. Agatha was a trifle unnerved at half time, fearing a frustrating second half. Couldn't have been more wrong! An hour later the festive cheer was mightily enhanced by the 0-4 scoreline.

The first goal came from Jermain Defoe, thanks to a perfect through ball from Kyle Naughton. Adebayor and Defoe are not linking well together at the moment. In Agatha's humble opinion, Ade is just not doing it this season. Defoe would be better up front on his own, with Sigurdsson or Dempsey behind him.

The second goal was not far behind: Bale strolled past Guzan and popped the ball away comfortably. With an assist from Aaron Lennon, Bale's next goal went flying straight into the corner. Another lovely build up involving Kyle Walker and Gylfi Sigurdsson (who had come on to replace Adebayor), and Bale got his first Premier League hat trick. Loved his photo on Twitter later that evening! He is such a talent, Bale. Happy to be reminded so emphatically of that fact.

All in all, a very satisfying victory. Great to see Scott Parker playing for some of the game after having been out most of the season with injury. He is a galvanising presence and seems to get the team passing well. Agatha was also impressed by Kyle Walker getting forward so effectively. The defence was solid - Gallas and Naughton starting instead of Dawson and Caulker. And Super Jan played a blinder, as we have come to expect.

Boring Stoke

Saturday's game against Stoke

The play against Aston Villa was a pleasure to watch. Which is (a whole lot) more than can be said of Saturday's game against Stoke City. A goalless, guileless, graceless draw. Stoke are such a boring team. Reminds Agatha of Wimbledon FC in the 80s. Frustrating, is the word that summed the game up, as Ben Pearce described in the Ham and High.

January transfers

There's much interest, as usual, around the January transfer window. Agatha and Mildred are generally happy with our squad at present (especially when we get Kaboul and the lovely Benoit back). It would be handy to get another striker, (let Adebayor go). Agatha is sticking with her staunch support of JD. Do we need a midfield playmaker? Maybe, maybe not. Lots of hype around January transfers; might we not be better working with, and perfecting, the talented team we have?

Season's greetings from
Agatha and Mildred

Normal Service Resumed

White Hart Lane on a crisp sunny Sunday afternoon - you can't beat it! Especially when you come home with 3 points and a clean sheet: a 1-0 win against Swansea City.

Man Of The Match must be (Super) Jan Vertonghen, and not just for his goal from Kyle Walker's free kick in the 75th minute. He is a real presence on the field, especially when playing in his preferred central defending position. We had lots of other chances on goals - Kyle Walker's belter of a shot was particularly memorable. Swansea had a worrying couple of chances as well, but didn't manage to convert. Michu did look good for Swansea, but Agatha was so relieved at Lloris's punched save in the dying minutes of the game that she didn't even notice how Michu got caught up in it. With Michu flat out on the ground, and play continuing, it all ended in a bit of a confused shambles. Will need to wait to see it all again on Match of the Day 2 tonight.

Today's view at The Lane

Naughton had a good game in defence, alongside Walker, Gallas and Vertonghen. Lennon, Dembele, Sandro and Dempsey worked well in midfield.  In the past, Agatha and Mildred have expressed support for playing both Defoe and Adebayor up front, but not sure that worked so well today. What was pleasing to see was Andros Townsend's performance, when he came on to replace Adebayor with 20 minutes to go. He acquitted himself very well, and must surely be in contention for a start soon. Another highlight of today was the return of Scott Parker, who came on in injury time to a standing ovation. We have sorely missed his organisation. Great to see him back after injury. Wonder how Benoit and Kaboul are doing?

Agatha was sat next to a German fan today at The Lane, a Bayern Munich fan over in London for a weekend to take in a few football games. He reckoned football in England was very expensive, about twice the price he pays in Germany. Reminded her of this interesting article by @David_Conn about affordable tickets, standing areas, and member-owned clubs in the Bundesliga.

Technical problems at Agatha's have scuppered blogs over the past few weeks, which is a shame given our winning run of late. Mildred particularly enjoyed her first away match, winning 0-3 against Fulham at Craven Cottage on 1 December. And our shelfside view of the 2-1 midweek win against Liverpool before that. And our UEFA Europa League 3-1 win against Panathinaikos (love young Tom Carroll!). We won't mention the Everton result. Normal blogging service is now resumed.

Agatha and Mildred