Luka Modric has urged Gareth Bale to follow him to Real Madrid. The winger has been superb for Wales in their qualifying matches against Scotland and Croatia, and could be targeted by several clubs in the summer should Spurs fail to make the Champions League. Modric believes Bale is good enough for the Spanish champions, a view shared by Harry Redknapp who compared Bale to the likes of Ronaldo and Messi earlier this week.
Spurs have rejected an approach from Blackburn Rovers for their coach Tim Sherwood. The Lancashire club are interested in appointing the 43 year old as Steve Kean’s successor, but Sherwood is held in high regard by the management team at Spurs, and Daniel Levy has reportedly demanded a very high amount of compensation for his services.
Danny Rose, currently on loan at Sunderland, has spoken out after he was red carded after reacting to racist abuse when playing for the England U21s in Serbia last night. Rose reported that he was hit by stones thrown from the stands, and was subject to monkey chants and other abuse for the full 90 minutes. Clarke Carlisle, chairman of the PFA, has suggested Serbia should be banned as this is a repeat offence and the FA want the red card rescinded. UEFA have charged both sides for the end of match confrontation, and also charged the Serbian FA with alleged racist chanting.
In more positive international news, Hugo Lloris was in outstanding form for France last night. The Spurs keeper saved a penalty and was generally excellent as France drew 1-1 in Spain, strengthening his case for starting the league match against Chelsea on Saturday. Clint Dempsey was also in fine fettle for his national side, scoring two and setting up another as the USA booked their place in the final round of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil by beating Guatemala 3-1. Jermain Defoe started for England in their postponed 1-1 draw in Poland.
Spurs look like they may be going head to head with rivals Arsenal for Sevilla pair Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo in January. Sevilla are reportedly in financial difficulty and may have to sell their stars to raise money in the transfer window.
It was manager Andre Villas-Boas’ birthday today, with the Portuguese manager turning 35. Spurs will be looking to give him the perfect present on Saturday against Chelsea, with the match giving the manager the ideal chance to close the book on his troubled spell at the Blues.
image: © Jan S0L0
Nick Harris
@nicksharrisGoogle+more stories from Nick Harris
I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.
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