"It was Twenty Years ago today!"
article published March, 2018, but first written in 1998 by the late Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Bolton Wanderers

Prem           Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home            1   0   1   0     2-2    1
Away            2   1   0   1     3-3    3
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Total (Prem)    3   1   1   1     5-5    4
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)   29  17   5   7    57-31  39
Away (Div 1)   29   9   3  17    38-52  21
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Total (Div 1)  58  26   8  24    95-83  60
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2)    2   2   0   0     3-1    4
Away (Div 2)    2   1   0   1     1-1    2
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Total (Div 2)   4   3   0   1     4-2    6
==========================================
Total (Prem)    3   1   1   1     5-5    4
Total (Div 1)  58  26   8  24    95-83  60
Total (Div 2)   4   3   0   1     4-2    6
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Grand Total    65  30   9  26   104-90  70
==========================================

This Sunday's match is another match that we *MUST* win. To be truthful, of course, we *HAVE* to win most of our remaining home games to stand a chance of survival but this Sunday's match is a game we dare not lose. It is, of course, far too early to say who will definitely go down but this match will probably go a long way to answering many unspoken questions.

For starters, the defence have to be at their best. We all have our own preferred combinations and players. Whoever plays, we need to have Baardsen and Campbell at the top of their form.

Sol has not been playing well in recent games and has been the first to admit this has been the case. A dip in his form has to be expected because he has been our most consistent player for much of the last three seasons.

There are those who think his form has been affected by the responsibility of being captain in a very poor side. I do not agree with this. I think he has just hit a period that comes to all players sooner or later. Sol will come through his bad period eventually : we have to hope a return to form is not too long delayed.

Baardsen is still very much a novice goalkeeper and has a lot to learn about his trade. He will be the first to agree to that. Baardsen, to my mind, shows signs of being a much more intelligent goalkeeper than Walker. Neither Thorstvedt nor Walker, his immediate predecessors, were very vocal in the goal area. Baardsen reminds me of Ray Clemence, who was a very vocal goalkeeper and who was not slow to show his displeasure when a defender left him exposed to a 1:1 situation. I have also noticed him directing his defence in deadball situations, particularly at corner kicks, which is something Walker seldom made clear.

We will probably have our first sight of Saib, our latest signing. I have to admit I had never heard of him prior to the speculation surrounding him soon after Herr Gross took over as chief coach. It will be interesting to see where he plays and whether he fits in.

I must admit to some disappointment that Justin Edinburgh is being allowed to leave Tottenham. I concede that he is not the most aware of defenders and could easily be played out of position by wily opponents. But I would always prefer Justin to Wilson, who has lost most of any pace he ever had. I can remember Wilson playing for both Chelsea and Manchester City in his early days and I do not recall him being pacy then. I had been hoping that Edinburgh would be at least retained until someone had been signed as his replacement.

Spurs had better not go into the game feeling complacent. The 'Trotters', as Bolton are known, have Peter Beardsley on loan. We all know that we write Beardsley off at our peril so I hope that Spurs' defence will be marking him very tightly. (Ed:- Beardsley was a Bolton player, but had been loaned out to Manchester City by the time we played this game. He also had games on loan with Fulham later in the season, and was in the twilight of his career)

Bolton's squad has changed quite a lot this year but they still haven't come to terms with the Premier. Last year they raced away with the Division 1 title with an 18 point margin (6 wins) over Barnsley, who were second. Yet the signs are that Barnsley look more likely to survive than Bolton or Crystal Palace if Spurs are not careful.

There will be two very familiar faces in the Bolton squad. One is Gudni Bergsson, who played for us in the late '80s and early '90s, and Chris Fairclough, who was signed by David Pleat before the start of the 1987-88 season.

I can think of only one match we have played against Bolton that had significance attached to it. That was the game we played against them in April 1978 as the season drew to a close. We had been having some wobbly moments having drawn two and lost one of the three preceding matches and needed to win to get going again. We won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by Don McAllister. It was fortunate we won this match because we then lost our next two games against Brighton and Sunderland, to almost leave our promotion hopes in tatters.

And the score on Sunday? I think we will chew our nails right down until there is nothing left to chew before a goal is scored. I fancy it will only need one goal to settle the issue and I just hope we score the vital goal. Whether we do depends on who plays up front. The fact that Neale Fenn has been recalled from Leyton Orient suggests that Armstrong and Fenn will play up front. I hope they do as, Klinsmann apart, they are currently our two most intelligent strikers.

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Cheers, Brian

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