Firstly, obviously our best wishes extend to Harry Redknapp. We wish him well in his recovery and look forward to his return in a fortnight - but just how do the side get on without Chief Motivator in the dugout?
No sooner did I get into work this morning, somebody made a smart-ass comment about last night's result. "Spurs aren't the same force without Harry on the sidelines are they!" To which I spent the next five minutes explaining in no uncertain terms how he had totally - - and gloriously missed the point.
A few people have labelled our Europa League campaign as pointless; fielding a reserve team in far-flung destinations such as Russia and Greece. I would argue, however, that this is exactly the reason that the competition is so important.
A youthful second-string side put up another good fight last night but the fresh new faces do seem to be struggling in front of goal. That's now the third European outing in which we've failed to find the net.
Our four goals in the Europa League proper have so far come from Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gio Dos Santos - all seasoned internationals, and it does make you wonder at just how high a level our squad players can compete.
Tony Gale was on Sky Sports News this morning discussing the merits of our midfield unit and just how well Scott Parker and Modric work together.
But what happens if a few of that midfield suffer injuries? Can the youngsters cope with being thrown into the fray? Our draw at Newcastle last month is starting to look like a very good result but, whilst you can't win them all, we were in front twice and a midfield shake-up clearly weakened our attacking options.
Jake Livermore has been solid in his ascent to the first team but far from a revelation and it leaves me unconvinced that our strength in depth is currently sufficient to account for injuries and to challenge at the top level all season.
Only time will tell if Livermore, Tom Carroll, Ryan Fredericks et al have what it takes but the chance to play regular football can only be a good thing. They will be far more capable of dealing with an away substitute appearance at, say, the Stadium of Light, having experienced a tough away encounter at Rubin Kazan (conquerors of Barcelona, lest we forget.)
But what of Redknapp's two-week leave? While his effect cannot be underestimated, his deputies Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan are more than capable of keeping the ship on course. When Harry arrived at the club, he insisted on complete control of his own backroom staff and, in situations like this, that will play a key role.
Bond and Jordan have worked with Harry for years and form part of a working unit that knows how to apply the gaffer's methods to ensure that the team aren't adversely affected by his absence.
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