2007–08 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

Pre-season and friendlies

During the 2007 summer transfer period Tottenham added centre-back Younès Kaboul from Auxerre for £8 million, followed by striker Darren Bent for a club record fee of £16.5 million. This was also the season that Spurs acquired Gareth Bale from Southampton for £5 million. Additional signings included Danny Rose from Leeds United and Kevin-Prince Boateng from Hertha BSC.

Departing the club was Egyptian footballer Mido. He initially arrived on an 18-month loan deal from Roma in January 2005 and in 2006 signed a permanent deal; on 16 August 2007, he was sold to Middlesbrough for £6 million. Also departing was Reto Ziegler, who was loaned out to Sampdoria in Italy for the second half of the 2006–07 season. Sampdoria subsequently signed him permanently from Spurs for an undisclosed fee.

Friendlies

2007–08 season

Tottenham started off their Premier League campaign away at promoted Sunderland with a 1–0 loss. Three days later they travelled to Everton, losing 3–1, then back at White Hart Lane recorded their first win, 4–0 against Derby County. After that Tottenham recorded four draws and three defeats in the Premier League, which included a 3–3 draw away to Fulham and a 4–4 draw against Aston Villa. In the UEFA Cup first round Spurs won 6–1 against Cypriot club Anorthosis, then followed up with a 1–1 draw away in Cyprus. Manager Martin Jol's final Premier League game was on 22 October, a 3–1 away loss at Newcastle United. On 25 October, in the UEFA Cup, Spurs hosted Getafe, losing 2–1. Following the match, it was announced that Jol had been sacked.

After one match with Clive Allen and Alex Inglethorpe in charge, Juande Ramos was hired as Jol's replacement, having previously managed Sevilla. Alongside Ramos, Gus Poyet was handed the assistant head coaching role. Marcos Álvarez, who worked alongside Ramos at Sevilla, also joined the backroom staff, as fitness coach. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was widely criticised for his treatment of Jol following revelations that Ramos was approached to replace Jol during the summer, which many thought undermined his leadership and ruined his credibility as an authoritative figure.

Ramos' reign began with a 2–0 win over Blackpool in the League Cup. Immediately following Ramos' appointment, it was made clear in the public forum that he was very unhappy with the fitness of the team and instigated a new diet and fitness regime. Tottenham's league form began to improve and their progress in the League Cup began with a 2–0 win over Manchester City, which ended City's unbeaten home record.

On 27 January 2008, Spurs went out of the FA Cup in the fourth round to a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Tottenham took the lead through Robbie Keane but eventually lost to United to a goal from Carlos Tevez and two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, one of which was a penalty where Michael Dawson was sent off for a deliberate handball.

Tottenham's run in the League Cup continued with a semi-final first leg 1–1 draw against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium; a 5–1 win over Arsenal at White Hart Lane followed, resulting in a 6–2 Spurs aggregate victory. This booked a place in the final against Chelsea. Tottenham went on to win the match 2–1 thanks to a Jonathan Woodgate header in extra time, securing Tottenham's first trophy since 1999. It also guaranteed them UEFA Cup qualification for the third season running.

On 13 March 2008, Tottenham were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the last 16 round by PSV. The first leg played at White Hart Lane was a 1–0 defeat for Spurs following a mistake from Gilberto. Dimitar Berbatov scored in the second leg away at the Philips Stadion to take the game to extra time and subsequently penalties. Here, Tottenham lost 6–5 when Pascal Chimbonda missed his kick.

On 22 March 2008, Spurs played Portsmouth, winning 2–0. Darren Bent struck the 100th goal of the 2007–08 Premier League campaign. Jamie O'Hara followed two minutes later with the club's 101st. BBC sport writer Ian Hughes noted that Tottenham have "an average of 3.63 goals in every Spurs game this season".

After earning a point on 19 April in a 1–1 draw against Wigan Athletic, Tottenham secured their safety in the Premier League after reaching 42 points. Berbatov's sixth-minute strike was Tottenham's 100th in all competitions that season, 64 in the Premier League and 36 in cup competitions. The season ended on 11 May 2008 with a 2–0 home defeat to Liverpool.

Premier League table

Main article: 2007–08 Premier League

Season honours

League Cup: 2007–08

Team kit

The team kit for the 2007–08 season was produced by Puma. The main shirt sponsor was Mansion, an Internet gambling establishment. A special 125th anniversary commemorative kit was produced for a match against Aston Villa.

Transfers

In

Out

Loaned out

Squad list

Injury list

Match results

Premier League

H/A = Home/Away Final updated: 11 May 2008

FA Cup

Eliminated

H/A = Home/Away

Final update: 27 February 2008

League Cup

Champions

H/A = Home/Away

Final update: 27 February 2008

UEFA Cup

First round and group stage

Group G final standings

Main article: 2007–08 UEFA Cup group stage#Group G

Knockout rounds

Eliminated

H/A = Home/Away

Final update: 13 March 2008

Statistics

Appearances

Goal scorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.

Head coach statistics

Stats correct as of the end of the season

References

References

1. (25 October 2007). "Jol sacked as Tottenham manager". [[BBC Sport]].
2. (27 October 2007). "Tottenham make Ramos head coach". British Broadcasting Corporation.
3. John Sinnott. (12 March 2008). "PSV 0-1 Tottenham (1-1)". BBC.
4. Paresh Soni. (27 January 2008). "Man Utd 3 - 1 Tottenham". BBC.
5. Jonathan Stevenson. (24 February 2008). "Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea". BBC.
6. (5 July 2007). "Kaboul makes White Hart Lane move". The Guardian.
7. (29 June 2007). "Bent make 16.5 Tottenham move". BBC.
8. (25 May 2007). "Tottenham complete Bale transfer". BBC.
9. (25 July 2007). "Tottenham snap up Leeds youngster". BBC.
10. (31 July 2007). "Tottenham sign midfielder Boateng". BBC.
11. (16 August 2007). "Middlesbrough finalise Mido move". BBC.
12. (3 July 2007). "Ziegler makes switch to Sampdoria". BBC.
13. Andrew McKenzie. (11 August 2007). "Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham". BBC.
14. John Sinnott. (20 September 2007). "Tottenham 6-1 A Famagusta". BBC.
15. (28 October 2007). "Levy admits Jol mistakes". BBC Sport.
16. (31 October 2007). "Tottenham 2-0 Blackpool". BBC.
17. Adam Michie. (9 January 2008). "The Butcher of Seville: Juande Ramos Wields the Axe on Tottenham Squad". Bleacher Report.
18. (18 December 2007). "Man City 0-2 Tottenham". BBC.
19. Paul Fletcher. (9 January 2008). "Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham". BBC.
20. Mandeep Sanghera. (22 January 2008). "Tottenham 5-1 Arsenal". BBC.
21. Sam Lyon. (6 March 2008). "Tottenham 0-1 PSV". BBC.
22. Ian Hughes. (22 March 2008). "Tottenham 2 - 0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport.
23. Aimee Lewis. (19 April 2008). "Wigan 1-1 Tottenham". BBC.
24. (21 April 2008). "Ton Up, Again!". Tottenham Hotspur F.C..
25. Nabil Hassan. (11 May 2008). "Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool". BBC.
26. (24 December 2007). "Tottenham confirm Gunter transfer". BBC.
27. (28 January 2008). "Spurs win chase to sign Woodgate". BBC.
28. (30 January 2008). "Spurs complete signing of Hutton". BBC Sport.
29. (31 January 2008). "Tottenham sign defender Gilberto". BBC.
30. (3 July 2007). "Colchester sign Platt and Yeates". BBC.
31. (11 July 2007). "Striker Hallfredsson leaves Spurs". BBC.
32. (11 January 2008). "Colchester sign Tottenham fullback Ifil". Tribal Football.
33. (25 January 2008). "Barnard leaves Spurs for Southend". BBC.
34. (30 January 2008). "Routledge completes Villa switch". BBC.
35. (1 February 2008). "Redknapp delight at Defoe capture". BBC.
36. (31 August 2007). "Fulham sign Murphy & Kuqi on loan". BBC.
37. Steve Claridge. (15 January 2008). "Scouting report: Andy Barcham, Leyton Orient". The Guardian.
38. (11 January 2008). "Derby seal Ghaly loan switch". BBC.
39. (31 January 2008). "Fulham bring in three new players". BBC.
40. (31 January 2008). "Everton seal Gardner loan switch". BBC.
41. (29 February 2008). "MK Dons land Spurs starlet". Sky Sports.
42. Malbranque was born in [[Mouscron]], [[Belgium]], but has represented [[France]] at [[France national under-21 football team. U-21]] level and has been called up for the senior squad, although he has not been capped.
43. Boateng was born in [[Wedding (Berlin). Wedding]], [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] (then [[West Germany]]), and has represented [[Germany]] at youth and [[Germany national under-21 football team. U-21]] level, but also qualified to represent [[Ghana]] internationally and would make his full international debut for [[Ghana national football team. Ghana]] in June 2010.
44. Taarabt was born in [[Fez, Morocco. Fez]], [[Morocco]], but grew up in [[France]] and has represented [[France national football team. France]] at youth level. He would later opt to represent the country of his birth and go on to make his full international debut for [[Morocco national football team. Morocco]] in February 2009.
45. Assou-Ekotto was born in [[Arras]], [[France]], but also qualified to represent [[Cameroon]] at international level and would make his full international debut for [[Cameroon national football team. Cameroon]] in February 2009.
46. (4 December 2007). "King makes return for Tottenham". BBC.
47. (14 June 2007). "Spurs star King to have operation". BBC.
48. Sean Gillen. (5 October 2007). "Three-month injury lay-off for Rocha". PortuGOAL.net.
49. (10 December 2008). "Injured Bale out for three months". BBC.
50. (3 April 2008). "Tottenham's King out for season". BBC.
51. Sam Lyon. (3 May 2008). "Reading 0-1 Tottenham". BBC.