SimplySpurfect

To be fair though, dude, I think the expectation comes from the amount of money Spurs have spent each summer for the last four or five years. Couple that with the fact that Spurs generally tend to finish a season on a high and we always perform very well in pre-season, it gives off a false sense of potential, which is usually wiped away quite quickly because, along with finishing a season in style, Spurs are also notorious for being incredibly slow starters.

I'm sorry but this is pure crap. In fact, almost every single post you've made about Spurs is pure crap. I've never met a Spurs fan that has tried to claim that Spurs are "on a par" with Arsenal. We're well aware of the gap between the two teams and just want to see our team strive to close that gap. But of course you'd have no idea what that's like as every one of your rivals is a small club that just can't compete. So even with Villa's lack of significant achievements in recent memory, they're still the most successful team in the Midlands by a clear distance. Hardly comparable to Spurs' situation, is it? And jealous of Arsenal? No shit, Sherlock. One of the most successful clubs in my lifetime, of course I'd wish my club could emulate that kind of success. Don't you? Or are you completely satisfied with your club's performances over the last decade or so? And yes, we take the piss out of Arsene Wenger. How is that any different to any other set of fans taking the piss out of any other manager? It's not. But your sad, deluded little hatred of Spurs can't let you see that, can it? And just because Villa faded badly during the latter part of last season, doesn't mean it's going to happen to Spurs. There's absolutely no reason to think that we're suddenly going to decline. Our best player is soon to return from injury so, if anything, the team is only going to get stronger. And we've already played five of the six biggest teams in the country so far this season, the majority of which without our best player, and we're still sitting in third place at the moment. As I've said before, I have nothing against Villa or the majority of Villa's fans and don't begrudge them any success that they achieve. But you, sir, are an imbecile.

Good post. About the top 4 comment though, I slightly disagree, from Spurs' point of view anyway. I'll let the Villa fans comment on their team's consistency. But if you take away the matches against the top 3 teams (which will have no bearing on who takes fourth place anyway, in my opinion) then Spurs have only dropped five points this season. A draw away to Bolton and home defeat to Stoke, which whilst a very disappointing result for us, most fans believe we were unlikely to not win. We certainly played better than we did when we picked up three points against Sunderland, that's for sure. So I wouldn't really bemoan Spurs' consistency, this season anyway. And looking at Villa's results so far, the Blackburn and West Ham losses, and possibly the Wolves draw, seem like the only results you'll look back on at the end of the season and wish you'd picked up a few extra points. Now look at City and Liverpool and you have inconsistency. Although City's five draws in a row is pretty damn consistent. And if they don't start racking up the wins before Christmas then I expect Spurs and Villa to start to open up a decent gap between them both.

I agree with most of this. The centre back pairing, in my opinion will be a tough one. On one hand, you need Bassong's pace to deal with Agbonlahor. On the other hand, Villa are quite deadly at set pieces so you need Dawson's aerial ability to defend against set pieces. Agree with the last part completely. Defoe/Keane or Defoe/Crouch is great as long as one of them is on the bench. Kranjcar has to start, without a doubt. He was awesome against Wigan and he's far more effective on the left than anyone else we have currently available. Depending on the score, I hope Gio is given a runout at the end. If we're chasing a goal, he's capable of providing one out of nowhere. Really, really looking forward to this game though. Have a lot of respect for Villa and seriously hope that they take 4th place if Spurs aren't able to. So, as a Spurs fan, I'd love a win but a draw would be a good result. But as a fan that doesn't want to see Liverpool or Man City finish 4th, a draw would be a bad result in that respect.