Rubin Framed: A Leisurley Look Toward Europe
Holy highwires, Batman. It’s Thursday night! Well, thanks for the update, Captain Calendar. Stating the bleedin’ obvious aside, it also means that the resplendent men of Hotspur are back in Technicolor again this evening. In a matter of two hundred-odd minutes, to be wholly imprecise. Yes, for those without a soiled mitt on a ticket, it’s another Europa League dogfight pumped straight to your eyeballs through the medium of Channel 5. And god bless all that sail in her.
If Sam Cooke didn’t know much about history or, indeed, biology, then I put it to you that I don’t know much about Rubin Kazan. Other than the fact they’re Russian (I should probably check that), they beat a rather strong Barcelona side at the Nou Camp at the end of 2009 and they’re the current employers of one Obafemi Martins. Who, according to my Rothman’s Football Yearbook scored in each of his first four games against Spurs whilst at Newcastle. My hope is that he’s put on a couple of pounds and needs more than a little encouragement to get himself mobile these days. With, at least, anything you might call urgency.
As has become customary in such encounters, the team-sheet will likely be a smorgasbord of those bobbing on the outer rings of the first XI and those partially-fledged younglings who’ve got us this far. Your Andros Townsends, your Tom Carrolls and the like. Super Pav probably ought to clock in with a shift tonight. Otherwise he might find that this was just a preliminary introduction to his new team-mates. Which’ll be a shame. Righto, any brave souls care to offer a prediction? I’ll throw a t-shirt of some description at anyone who gets it bang on. But if you get the scorers right, too, you’ll receive the scorn of the blog for being a bloody great show-off. Thems the rules.
14 Responses to Rubin Framed: A Leisurley Look Toward Europe