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Wenger angry FA Cup spurs Tottenham into life
LONDON (Reuters) -- An injury-time FA Cup winner against third division Leyton Orient is no excuse to crack open the champagne, but the omens are good for Tottenham Hotspur supporters as they dream of a ninth FA Cup win. Gary Doherty's stooping header in the second minute of time added on at Brisbane Road secured Spurs a 1-0 win on Saturday and a place in the fourth round. It also gave them their first away win of the season -- a wretched run spanning 12 games. And with a figure one in the year and Ricky Villa, scorer of one of Wembley's greatest ever goals in the 1981 Spurs FA Cup final win, paying a visit to the club this week, the fantasists have reason to believe again at White Hart Lane. Tottenham's habit of winning trophies at the start of a decade has seen the team collect the FA Cup in 1901, 1921, 1961, 1981 and 1991. It also won the league title in 1951 and 1961 and the League Cup in 1971. Doherty's header wasn't worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Villa's, but the Argentine certainly has a hunch Spurs could make it to Cardiff for this year's final. "This is the start of the FA Cup and I believe that Spurs have a chance to go into the final. If they do, I back them and I want to see that game," Villa told the Tottenham Web site on Friday. Not surprisingly, manager George Graham, a no-nonsense Scot, has little time for such theories. "I don't pay any attention to all that stuff about the year with a one in it," he said after Saturday's win. "It's just fairy stories. But if the fairy story comes true then obviously I'd be delighted." Graham, whose position has been questioned after an indifferent season and the recent change in ownership of the club, was, typically, most pleased that his side did not concede a goal to Orient. "It's good to see a Tottenham side keep a clean sheet," he said. "I'm very pleased with the defense. They dug in well and [goalkeeper] Neil Sullivan only had one shot on target to deal with in 90 minutes." Winning ugly is alien to some Tottenham fans weaned on the extravagant skills of players like Villa. And Graham's past as manager of Spurs' bitter rival Arsenal does not help his cause either but he knows results can change everything. "I think that we're in a profession that when we're winning you're going to have a job and when you're losing and not producing results you're going to be under pressure and when you come into the managerial profession that's the way it goes. "If we can pick up some results there's no reason why after today it could give us a bit of confidence away from home. If we can pick up some away wins we can push up the league now." Wenger angry over 'unfair' tacklesLONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger called for stronger action to be taken against dangerous tackling after an abrasive 1-0 FA Cup win at third division Carlisle United on Saturday. Wenger felt his players were forced to endure some career-threatening tackles in the game, which Arsenal won with a first-half goal by Sylvain Wiltord. Patrick Vieira survived one nasty first-half lunge from Carlisle's Richard Prokas, who was lucky to escape with only a yellow card. Wenger said the same thing happened in the 1-0 defeat at Charlton on New Year's Day when Vieira also suffered what the Frenchman believed was rough treatment. "It happened last week as well," Wenger said. "It's not fair, going all the time with two feet over the ball. "When you love football you [know they] could end a career with that kind of tackle." Asked if he thought Vieira, who has a poor disciplinary record, was victim of a vendetta, Wenger replied: "It's too difficult to say that. I just think these kinds of tackles should be punished and it hasn't been last week and it hasn't been today."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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