The 38 Round 27: Blog Edition II- How do you spell omnishambles? I spell it W.E.S.T B.R.O.M....

Hello there! Come on in! Welcome to The 38! Remember how I said that the blog edition was probably a one off? Well I kind of lied....... Look I'm bored of being beaten at PES ok? I had my taste of glory once, it was enough. But look I can still do the witty banter and stuff. Honest. Now who are our Keep Calm and Carry On's? Who has been given the dreaded Wooden Spoons? Well read on dear reader.....

Keep Calm and Carry On: Tottenham Hotspur

So this was tricky. I ummed and erred over this for a while, and Swansea were this close to being back to back Keep Calm and Carry On's, which so far only a certain team playing in blue managed by Pep Guardiola has done so far. However I have given the nod to Spurs, and really, I had to give them the edge. If you look at their last three games Spurs have beaten United and Arsenal, while picking up a point from Liverpool. That's seven points out of a possible nine against the top six in the last three games, two of which produced clean sheets. Spurs have only really started to replicate the last two seasons form in the last couple of months. Stuttering at the start of the season with Wembley not quite feeling like home, but being phenomenal on the road, this saw a bizarre switch around after a few months with the Lilywhites producing some sensational form at Wembley, turning it into a comfortable place for them to host sides, while on the road they started to falter. However now they are firing on all cylinders, and really showing why they are such a highly thought of team by the neutrals and aligned football fans alike. Really it's a down to two things.

Firstly the ability of Maurico Pochettino to install belief in any squad is insane. If you look at what he did at Southampton he took a team that had been in a relegation scrap that was operating on limited funds and crafted a machine that was greater than the some of its part. He turned them into a squad pushing for the European places. Then when he moved to Spurs he worked with what had, honing this team into something truly special. I honestly believe if they weren't at Wembley this season they would genuinely be shouts to be running City to the wire in the league. Although Silverware is arguably the measure of success for any team Poch is overseeing something truly special with this squad. The way they move the ball. Their ability to play without fear against the big clubs. The nurturing of a promising young squad. Here Pochettino is showing what happens when he works with a club for longer than  a few seasons, not only does he make a team greater than the sum of its parts, he brings the individuals up to the level of the project.

Secondly it comes down to the  players in the squad, their ability to rise to the occasion. They buy into the philosophy that Pochettino is installing in the squad. It's very easy to do what Pep Guardiola did and write Spurs off as the Harry Kane team, but they're not. Not even close. Whether it's the magic of the criminally underrated Eriksen pulling the strings from midfield, the goal scoring machine that is Harry Kane, Alli's creativity, the defensive rock that is Alderweireld, the forgotten gem of Son, and that's before even getting onto Lloris, Dembele, Wanyama and co. Make no mistake if Daniel Levy can stop Poch's head being turn, as well as Pochettino being able to keep this squad together we could be looking at a truly great side in the making. 

Wooden Spoons: West Bromwich Albion

Oh man, well I am not sure where to start here. For all the praise I have lavished on Spurs (and I'm a Chelsea fan before anyone claims bias!) West Brom have been equally as woeful. After recording back to back wins at the start of the season a run of 12 league games without a win saw Tony Pulis get the chop and Alan Pardew brought into bring some creativity to a goal shy Baggies side which was finding itself going from the highs of a top half finish to an all to familiar sensation of being in a relegation dog fight. The Albion have picked up just one win in Pardew's 13 league games and Monday's game against Chelsea seems to have been the perfect example of West Brom's performance so far this season, by Pardew's own admission  they were going up against a 'wounded' top six side and there was a certain level of expectation that they might just take something from this game. Instead after posing a brief threat they conceded and capitulated. A brief spell of promise ultimately followed by an underwhelming performance.                    

    

The appointment of Pardew as well has proved to be a baffling one. While the argument is that results under Pulis had been on the slide, showing a need for a more attacking minded manager they seem to have somewhat taken a step backwards, conceding as much as they are threatening. Why was someone with more of a proven track record in relegation battles not called in? The sacking of Chairman John Williams and Chief Executive Martin Goodman today by owner Guochuan Lai as a response to the bad run of form raises even more questions than it actually answers. Surely creating more instability at the club during such a dire run is not the best way to get the response you want from the players and the manager? With West Brom being seven points adrift of 17th place Huddersfield at the foot of the table, why it is by no means a certainty they must surely be regarded as favourites now to face the drop.


And that has been The 38! What do you think of our choices for our KCACO? How about our Wooden Spoons? Are Spurs on the verge of breaking their Silverware drought? Are West Brom just killing time before relegation? Let us know in the comments below! Please subscribe to the blog if you like what you've read. If you want to check out more why not have a looksee at our YouTube channel here and our Facebook page here. I have been a Jayson-less Jake, that has been The 38, and I will be back Thursday (maybe Friday, it really depends on how tired I am after work. What? Wouldn't you rather I was honest with you!) With a Europa League edition of The Cup Run. In the mean time keep it cool ladies and gents. Or don't. It's really up to you. TTFN!