Who are you? We’re Tottenham Hotspur

What’s all this? A civil view of Arsenal, no sniping at Darren Bent and his tweets (though to be fair, we didn’t ask). But Jamie Currie* is Spurs daft all the same, and runs the White Hart Pain fans’ site to prove it. We found the site in the top 50 or 60 of the Soccerlinks chart, among a cluster that included Salut! Sunderland but also sales of football wallpaper and blogs promising Cristiano Ronaldo pictures, a “history of soccer shoes” and “soccer drills and soccer practices” (none of which we’ve yet got round to checking out). Let Jamie deal with the questions we did think of …

Is this the big year – at last – for Spurs? What had the wait been like?

Spurs fans think it’s the big year every year but yes in theory we should have a very good chance of a top 6 finish with a very slim chance of a top 4 finish!

It’s never boring being a Spurs supporter but most seasons’ are an anti climax. I still miss Martin Jol to be honest but Harry was a great appointment by Levy and you can’t argue with his record over the past year and the quality players he’s brought in.

Is ‘arry there for the long haul, do you rate him and what can he achieve for you?

You’d imagine so wouldn’t you? I’d like to believe Harry will be around for long enough to build a team that can challenge for trophies and hopefully champions league football. I think he’d only leave for the England job and I doubt that will be available anytime in the near future.

Harry certainly knows his way around the transfer market and has addressed the areas in which we have been weak for a long time.

Someone said the other day that Chris Waddle was the most gifted English player they’d ever seen. What say you (we got him right at the end of his career)?

He was always a favourite player of mine. Not sure he was the most gifted but certainly thereabouts with Hoddle, Rooney, Gazza and my Granddad George Mills!

Name this season’s top four in order

Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City.

And who is going down?

I think Hull are most likely but there are no certainties this season. I like Zola a lot but I fear for West Ham. Pompey will win games at home and Burnley look a solid home team. Even Birmingham are performing a lot better than I expected. It will probably come down to who can get wins on the road at the end of the season.

Were you surprised at how bad we were last season and yet still managed to take four points from you? Where will we finish this season?

I actually had a bet on Sunderland each way without the top 4 so I’m hoping you do no worse than 7th! It was a bit speculative but Steve Bruce was always going to get you solid defensively and with Bent and Jones up front, you’re always likely to get goals. It’s a shame Cattermole got injured because he was looking a very good player. I’d say you’ll finish between 7th and 9th.

Tell me what you really think about Arsenal. How do you reckon it compares with the Sunderland/Newcastle rivalry?

All Spurs fans hate Arsenal with a passion obviously! I won’t deny I like to watch Arsenal, they play some fantastic football at times but I equally enjoy it when they get beat. I think it’s been just as frustrating being an Arsenal fan over the last few years as it has been supporting Tottenham. I’d imagine the Tottenham/Arsenal rivalry is very similar to that of Sunderland/Newcastle. Intense but enjoyable unless you’re on the losing end like we normally are!

What is the one thing you’d change in football, whether affecting the rules, the clubs or the handling of fans?

Good question. I’m always thinking of different things but I’d like to see something done about young British players being brought through and also protected at smaller clubs. We need more young home grown talent in the Premiership. Obviously the foreign players enhance the Premiership no end but each club should have a minimum number of British players in their squad.

I also don’t like seeing the big clubs poach the best players from smaller clubs for next to nothing. Even more frustrating is the fact they poach them then never play them!

Club versus country. Who wins for you and why?

Easily club. International football bores me to tears most of the time. I got really disillusioned with the England side and it’s taken an Italian to sort it out. The players didn’t give a shit most of the time, it was a disgrace. Rio was more bothered about merking people on his TV show and if it wasn’t Liverpool, Gerrard wasn’t interested. I’m sure I’ll get caught up in the excitement of a world cup but give me the Premier League any day.

The Eduardo question (not to be renamed the beach ball question): last game of season, dying seconds, Spurs are champions of they win. Defoe dives in the box – everyone except the ref knows he does – but wins the penalty and scores, bringing the three points. You take it gladly, you take it guiltily or you’re so ashamed you almost wish you’d only drawn?

It wouldn’t be nice to win that way but if it meant Spurs winning a Championship at the expense of Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal and it didn’t send your opponents down, I’d gladly take it!

Lazy interviewer’s question. What should I have asked but didn’t and what is your reply?

Ummm, What is your favourite sauce? Daddies.

Will you be there for our game? What will be the score?

I’ll be there. I’d really fancy a Spurs victory I’m sorry to say! On our day at home I don’t think anyone can live with us. I doubt it will be a big score line because you are too solid to go down by 3 or 4 but I’d fancy Spurs 2-0 or 2-1 with Bent getting a consolation. Although if we play like we did against Arsenal, you could win 3 or 4 nil!

Jamie Currie on Jamie Currie:
I’ve been a Spurs supporter since a very young age, maybe 6 or 7, I’m 29 now. I’ve been involved with a horse racing website for a number of years and dabbled with a few others. A mate of mine was starting an Arsenal blog (Wrighty7, you might have heard of him) so I starting White Hart Pain at the same time. He’s been a bit more successful than me, makes sense for Arsenal to be more successful than Tottenham though eh, but mine gets a fair bit of traffic too!

Colin Randall