Spurs salute legend with glory show

Adrian Curtis13 April 2012
Spurs 3 Fiorentina 0

Locked arm-in-arm with Martin Chivers, one of his former players, Bill Nicholson walked on to the White Hart Lane turf to receive the rightful acclaim from more than 35,000 fans who will forever be in his debt.

Many of those who turned up to pay homage to Nicholson's past feats had never seen him play in the 1950s "Push and Run" team or witnessed the effortless symmetry of the 1961 doublewinning side he built, but it didn't matter one jot.

Generations of Spurs fans were united in their celebration of one man's achievements in an era when fat-cat salaries were unheard of and, oddly enough, the fans came first.

Nicholson was a picture of pride alongside Chivers as he acknowledged the applause and cheers from every part of the ground. Nicholson's legacy is now in the hands of Glenn Hoddle, who like the great man himself, has been handed the managerial reigns after a successful playing career at the club.

The fans have new owners ENIC to thank for that and their desire to give Nicholson a testimonial should also be applauded. While it is more than debatable whether Hoddle will ever scale the heights to which Nicholson ascended to, there are signs that things are beginning to fall into place at last.

The signing of Gustavo Poyet from Chelsea may well, if he can remain injury-free, turn out to be one of the most inspired of the summer. The Uruguayan was the star of the show as Spurs turned on the style against Italian side Fiorentina and gave both the fans and Nicholson a mouthwatering appetiser of what is to come.

They did it without the services of the injured Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton, Steve Carr and Tim Sherwood but with the elegance of Goran Bunjevcevic at the heart of the defence and the guile and creativity of the former Stamford Bridge chatterbox.

The 3-0 victory meant Hoddle's new-look Spurs remain unbeaten in their pre-season campaign as goals from Les Ferdinand, Poyet and Steffen Iversen left the Italians dead and buried within the hour.

But it was the slick passing style that may have caused many of the older generation to remember the kind of football once engineered by the fiercely loyal, white-haired old man who sat in the main stand.

He too must have been impressed with Hoddle's version of neat, incisive football played with pace and accuracy and held together with the kind of organisation often lacking in Spurs teams of the recent past.

Poyet's influence has been immense since he moved across London and his enthusiasm is refreshing to witness. His clever reverse pass to set-up Iversen for Tottenham's third was worth the admission fee alone. His intuitive eye for the killer pass is something that has been absent from Tottenham's play for years and on last night's showing, Hoddle looks as though he has finally found the missing link.

Fiorentina were never much of a threat chiefly because Spurs never allowed them to become one and it augurs well for the Premiership campaign.

But in Hoddle said: "It was lovely that Bill was sitting up in the stands next to me. I am delighted for him and his family that the club wanted to give him this tribute. So many people have come out and showed their appreciation for what he has done for this club and for the love of him is a credit to the fans."

Apart from half-a-dozen chants of hatred towards former skipper Sol Campbell who left to join rivals Arsenal on a free transfer in the summer and the consistent booing of Fiorentina's exgunner goalkeeper Alex Manninger, the fans duly cheered every time the Jumbotrons picked out Nicholson and his wife in the stands.

Hoddle however is still far from satisfied and has not ruled out further arrivals.

Hoddle said: "I am still looking for a centre-half and the goalkeeping situation needs to be addressed so I am looking to add to the squad. I have also got injuries at the moment which we could have done without."

The issue of who will be the new club captain following the departure of Campbell has still to be resolved. Ferdinand had the honour of starting the match as skipper but Hoddle admits he has still to make up his mind.

It was, however, all academic on a night which belonged to the living legend that is Bill Nicholson. It was indeed an all too brief return to the "glory glory nights" of yesteryear.

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