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We're worse than Leeds
Sun, Oct 26, 2008
The New Paper

REMEMBER Leeds United?

Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate certainly does. He was a key member of that star-studded Leeds squad that struggled for two seasons before being relegated from the Premier League in 2004.

Now, Woodgate is fearing a case of deja vu with Spurs.

He claims Juande Ramos' side is even worse than that unfortunate Leeds team which sold all their players after a financial melt-down.

Tottenham had collected just two League points from eight games, and were beaten by Udinese in the Uefa Cup on Thursday.

And Woodgate feared Spurs will be relegated - just like Leeds.

'We have got to start learning quickly. A goal goes in, you think, 'Oh here we go again'. We have got to stand up,' he said.

'People say you are too good to go down - you are never too good to go down.

'I have seen it before at Leeds. We had a better team at Leeds than we have now and they went down eventually.'

The 2003/04 Leeds team boasted established stars like England internationals Paul Robinson, David Batty, Nick Barmby and Alan Smith, Irish internationals Gary Kelly and Ian Harte, South African icon Lucas Radebe, as well as Aussie striker Mark Viduka.

'We have got to really roll our sleeves up now and start grafting because it is going to be hard.'

When asked if Spurs were now in a relegation battle, Woodgate added: 'One million per cent. We have two points out of eight games.

'Are we good enough to get out of it? If we start playing and start concentrating, without a shadow of a doubt.

'But if we don't, we will go down.'

Woodgate does not believe it is fair that manager Ramos, sporting director Damien Comolli and chairman Daniel Levy should take all the blame for the club's plight.

Responsibility

He has called on all players to take responsibility for the situation.

'I have got to stand up like everyone has got to stand up,' said the former Real Madrid man. 'The senior players have got to stand up, we go on the pitch at the end of the day.

'If we are not producing the goods, pressure is going to be getting on the manager, the chairman and Damien but the players should share the blame because we are not pulling our weight on the pitch.

'We are bottom of the League and it doesn't get much worse than that. We have got to give ourselves a good kick.

'Some people need an arm round them and some people need a telling off, a grilling and telling to get in shape.' - PA Sport.


LEEDS 2003/04

GOALKEEPERS

Paul Robinson

Scott Carson

DEFENDERS

Gary Kelly

Ian Harte

Dominic Matteo

Lucas Radebe

Roque Junior

Michael Duberry

Didier Domi

MIDFIELDERS

Erik Bakke

Nick Barmby

David Batty

Seth Johnson

Aaron Lennon

James Milner

Jody Morris

Jermaine Pennant

Jason Wilcox

FORWARDS

Mark Viduka

Michael Bridges

Alan Smith


SPURS 2008/09

GOALKEEPERS

Heurelho Gomes

Cesar Sanchez

DEFENDERS

Ledley King

Jonathan Woodgate

Alan Hutton

Gareth Bale

Michael Dawson

Didier Zokora

Chris Gunter

Vedran Corluka

Beno?t Assou-Ekotto

MIDFIELDERS

David Bentley

Tom Huddlestone

Aaron Lennon

Jermaine Jenas

Gilberto

Luka Modric

Giovani Dos Santos

Jamie O'Hara

FORWARDS

Roman Pavlyuchenko

Darren Bent

Fraizer Campbell

 

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