Tottenham 2-0 West Ham United - Spurs up to 4th

Tottenham have leapfrogged Aston Villa up into forth in the Premier League table after a 2-0 win against London rivals West Ham.

Luka Modric opened the scoring just 11 minutes in at White Hart Lane after some excellent work from Aaron Lennon down the right side. It then took Spurs until the 81st minute to double the lead and secure the 3 points, as Jermain Defoe netted his 14th League goal of the season, and in the process reclaiming the status as the League’s leading goalscorer.

Spurs were impressive right from the outset, dominating possession and having numerous chances to put the Hammers out of the game. Gianfranco Zola experienced a disastrous first 20 minutes, as in the aftermath of Modric’s goal Scott Parker had to be replaced with a sore hamstring – Parker had earlier passed a late fitness test. Then Herita Illunga was forced to come off with exactly the same problem, and the Hammers were left with a big uphill struggle to get back in the game.

They fought well throughout the match but never looked like threatening Gomes’ goal. A number of late challenges saw Diamanti, Franco and Kovac receive yellow cards from Chris Foy, the latter probably lucky to stay on the pitch after stamping on Tom Huddlestone’s ankle.

Spurs pressed forward in the second half looking to kill off the visitors, who won at home for the first time since April at the weekend. The breakthrough eventually came from a Spurs counter attack, whereby Jermain Defoe gathered the ball in the inside left position, rounded a the West Ham defence, before unleashing a fierce drive that Robert Green failed to hold. The rebound fell back to Defoe who repeated the motion and claimed the points for the home side.

Problems mounting for Zola then, as both Parker and Illunga are doubts for the next match, and with Franco picking up his 5th booking of the season just a day before the 5th booking rule is abolished, the absentee list is even longer. It seems like the Hammers are in for a long and hard new year.

Campbell the answer to Fergie's defensive woes?

Tottenham, to Arsenal, to Portsmouth, to Notts County, to.. MANCHESTER UNITED? That’s how the career of Sol Campbell could look should the former England International make an astonishing move to Old Trafford. United’s injury list reads more like a yellow pages directory at the moment, with Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, and more all out injured.

The situation is so bad that for United’s final Champions League group stage match, both Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher had to play at the back alongside Patrice Evra. Amongst the substitutes was Oliver Gill, son of Chief Executive David Gill, who provided cover should anyone else have gone down injured.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has remarked that Campbell could have a similar impact in Manchester as Henrik Larsson did a couple of seasons ago.

"Sol can do at the back what Henrik Larsson did up front for Manchester United two years ago. Campbell can prove, as Swedish star Larsson did, that he still has the quality to play at the very highest level and I’m not surprised by reports tipping him for a Premier League return."

The question is, would the United fans welcome the signing, or would his history as an Arsenal player hinder him?

The end for Ashton. West Ham striker to sue Chelsea?

Some sad news for Football, and West Ham United striker Dean Ashton, as the 26-year old has been forced to call time on his professional career after failing to recover from a nasty ankle injury picked up in a training session whilst on England duty.

It was Ashton's first call up to the National side, one of many highs during a career that possessed so much potential.

The moment that effectively ended Ashton's career was a tackle by then Chelsea midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips. The tackle broke Ashton's ankle, and forced him to miss the entirety of the 2006-07 season. He bounced back the following year to net 11 goals in 35 appearances for the Hammers, but after scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against Wigan, the opening game of the 2008-09 season, Ashton twisted his ankle in Gianfranco Zola's first training session at the club in September 2008, and he would never play again.

Now, 3 years on from the initial injury, Ashton is contemplating suing Wright-Phillips, and Chelsea for the tackle that put an end to his dream. West Ham boss Zola doesn't see the logic in that decision though:

"He was playing for England but it could have happened at any time. There is no time for regrets or blaming anyone. It seems strange. I don't think he might want to do something like that."

Of course, Chelsea's argument is that they were not responsible for their player's actions at the time, as he was under the watch of the English FA, and the England staff. They cannot control what their player does if they are not present and in control of what he's doing. An appeal is inevitable should Ashton go ahead with the proposed move.

A very sad end to a very good player's career then. He started his career at Crewe Alexandra, under the guidance of stalwart manager Dario Gradi. In 5 years at Gresty Road, Ashton bagged 61 goals in 159 appearances, as well as scoring 4 goals in 9 games for the England Under-21 side in that time. He then moved to Norwich City where he played 44 games, notching 17 goals, before he made the £7m move to East London and West Ham United. Alan Pardew was the man responsible for bringing Ashton to the Premier League. He felt Ashton had a lot more to offer.

"I always felt, if Dean had stayed fit, I would have stayed at West Ham. I'm sorry it's come to this, because I had a lot of time for him. He had a lot of quality about him."

Ashton scored 15 times in 46 games for the Hammers, but how many more goals would he have netted should he not suffered that fatal ankle injury? Unfortunately, we will never know.