Wed 09 May 2018, 12:45
Tottenham Hotspur‘Sir Les’ Ferdinand, former Spur and Toon legend and George Caulkin of The Times provide the knowledge ahead of tonight’s match against Newcastle United at Wembley.
The Legend - Les Ferdinand
One of the most feared strikers of his day, Les made his name at QPR after signing from non-league Hayes before helping fire Newcastle to back-to-back title challenges, scoring 50 goals in 84 games for the ‘Toon’ in 1995-96 and 1996-97. A Spurs fan, injury blighted his spell at the Club, restricting him to 149 appearances (39 goals) between 1997-2003. Capped 17 times by England (five goals), Les returned to Spurs as coach between 2008-14 and is now Director of Football at QPR.
“First of all, I must say I’m delighted for Newcastle. Rafa Benitez has done an unbelievable job and under his guidance, the players have stood up and been counted this season. They have secured survival in the Premier League and everyone’s relieved. Having said that, I expect Spurs to win because they are still playing to secure Champions League football whereas Newcastle are safe and essentially not playing for anything.
“I can only go by what I’ve watched recently...I’ve watched Newcastle’s last two games and put it this way, I’m not surprised they lost against West Brom and Watford. Of course, they have freedom in their play now and there are a couple of players in the squad who will have their eye on the World Cup, players like Jonjo Shelvey will see this as an opportunity to perform on a big stage and perhaps get into the England squad. I don’t see Newcastle turning up at Wembley and just lying down. They will have a go.
"Newcastle are on the back of a couple of defeats and when you are on that slippery slope it’s tough to get off it, especially at this stage of the season. That’s the ideal scenario for Spurs, an early goal and dictate the game from there.”
If Spurs score an early goal that could make it a difficult night for Newcastle. That’s the key for me.
The Pundit - George Caulkin
A doyen of football in the North East and Patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, George is Northern Sports Correspondent for The Times.
“The first thing I should say is the thought of Newcastle playing at Wembley in May is a very nice one - I just wish the circumstances were different! Overall, they’ve had a really fantastic season but like a lot of teams in their position, they’ve got to that magic points total (currently safe on 41) and it feels like they’ve lost a lot of adrenaline. I don’t blame them for that at all.
“Strangely enough, I’ve seen quite a lot of Spurs in the second half of the season and they’ve been a privilege to watch. I love what the manager has done. I just think they are a fabulous team to watch, full of talent, young, exciting, hungry - everything I’d want the Newcastle team to be.
“The way Newcastle have played away at big clubs has been based on damage limitation. I think Rafa was looking to protect the goal difference and did that very well (-10). That would have been worth an extra point. You would hope the shackles might be off but having played one way all season it’s probably expecting too much to expect a change of style now - it’s been a rigorous 4-2-3-1 even when personnel has changed so I would expect see that again, and not a festival of attacking football.
George Caulkin on Spurs v Newcastle
“I’m a natural pessimist - which I believe is the right way to be if you follow North East football - and I wouldn’t be expecting Newcastle to get anything, particularly after what I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, but perhaps the circumstances and playing at Wembley could lift them.”
