Whatever you do Spurs fans, just don't mention the "D" word

It's here. That wave of enthusiasm is building again, just like it did last year, and I’d forgotten just how absolutely brilliant it feels. 

The moment Ander Herrera's deflected strike hit the back of the net against Chelsea on Sunday, the mood changed. 

As 70,000 Manchester United supporters celebrated a victory that reignited their top-four hopes, the expression on the faces of thousands and thousands of Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham followers said one thing: "F**k."

To Spurs fans, it represents just a small window of opportunity. But for our London neighbours, the realisation that this title race might not be done yet was enough to spoil their weekend. 

And it was quickly followed by a crushing sucker punch...  Spurs are still in the FA Cup. 

In the space of a few seconds, we had gone from Wembley semi-finalists to fighting for the Double. It seems a ridiculous notion at this stage - but you will be hard-pushed to find a rival fan who can take it in good humour.

"Don't mention the D word" I said jokingly in a post-match message to a fellow Spurs fan. His response was beautiful. 

"It's happening mate, believe."

A lot of folk may still be trying to keep their feet on the ground but, if you're lucky enough to have inherited Tottenham as your team I encourage you to forget your feet, forget the ground and start clutching at as many straws as you can. 

Even if you can't bear the thought of calling it wrong or you just don't want to tempt fate then, at the very least, try to enjoy the next three days. 

For that time, and possibly beyond, we are unlikely “Double contenders”. And our rivals absolutely hate it. It is their worst nightmare. 

The jokes, the banter and the backbiting have turned to straight faces and silence. This is the worst it could get. And it will last until at least Saturday evening. 

One West Ham fan in our office now won't talk football, an Arsenal fan is cancelling Sky. The Chelsea fans...? Well, there are no Chelsea fans but you can rest assured they are sh*tting themselves and trying to work out where best to hunker down if their doomsday scenario actually comes to pass. 

I'm just smiling. It really is a beautiful time to be a Tottenham fan. For the next few days, anything's possible. All those years we’ve watched Arsenal lift titles and trophies while our season was falling off the tracks, this is a taste of what it felt like from the other side. 

So make the most of it.

I don’t mean be a dick about it. It is, after all, a delicate situation. It always is with Spurs. So I’m just saying you have to take the opportunity to breathe it in and enjoy it. Apart from anything else, this group of players have earned the right not to be lumped in with generations of underachievers. 

All Spurs fans know in their heart of hearts that we are still a long, long way off turning around this four-point gap and coming out on top. It would take a miracle. But then what's the harm in believing in miracles?

To Dare is to Do? Do it, I dare you.

How Tony Pulis had Spurs pegged from the start

Tony Pulis knew how to get to Tottenham right from the off. And it wasn't by winding up Dele Alli, doubling up on Harry Kane or by putting 11 men behind the ball.

We all knew West Brom would come to frustrate us and we all knew how good they are at it.

But the first victim of their stifling strategy was not Mousa Dembele's driving runs from deep midfield, nor Danny Rose's link-up with Erik Lamela – and it was not Kyle Walker bombing on down the right.

It was the fans.

White Hart Lane kicked off the evening in good spirits but West Brom set their stall out early.

They took far too long over every throw-in, goal kick and free-kick, letting a few more seconds tick down whenever the occasion arose and pushing the ref to, but never beyond, the limit.

Credit to our players, they weren't fooled and our slick passing game opened up the Baggies time after time. 

Christian Eriksen was agonisingly close with two free-kicks - either side of Kane's effort that Boaz Myhill somehow pushed onto the post. 

But the home support was starting to play into Albion's hands. Huffing and puffing, booing and jeering every carefully crafted stoppage or set-piece delay that Pulis' side was getting away with. 

The Spurs faithful were not directly criticising their own but, once the agitation was flowing, you could see it start to affect the side. 

Spurs players already had every reason to be a bit nervy - Leicester's 4-0 win over Swansea on Sunday meant this was basically win or bust.

With that in mind, a bit of calm from the terraces would not have gone unappreciated. Especially seeing as this side have risen to the task and proven themselves again and again.

Timewasting tactics are schoolyard stuff but Pochettino's blue n white army of followers fell for it - hook, line and absolute stinker. 

We all ask players like Alli to keep their heads in the face of such situations then we all lose ours at the first sign of bother - effing and jeffing with an irrational fear that, somehow, the Baggies might be able to waste the whole game away before we got our noses in front.

When Craig Dawson diverted Eriksen’s free-kick into his own net just after the half hour the damage may already have been done. 

The reaction was that of relief rather than elation and the lads went in at half-time to muted applause rather than all-out encouragement.

Prior to this we had conceded one goal in four games. A 1-0 win would have done just fine. There was no real reason to believe that West Brom should be able to seriously trouble us at the back.

Still we worried, fretted and bit our nails and the lads came out for the second half a shell of the team we have known in recent weeks. 

Apart from a few shining lights in Toby Alderweireld and Dembele, the nerves were taking hold and the tension was rising in the stands - until eventually Dawson got the equaliser we had all been fearing since his own goal at the other end.

It was job done for Pulis and probably job done for Leicester. 

But devastating? Gut-wrenching? Miserable? Not at all. And we certainly did not bottle it.

At the end of January, 12 games ago, we were fourth – five points behind Arsenal who were top of the pile. 

Anyone who thinks we bottled it has an admirable sense of ambition - but no sense of perspective.

Going forward we will no doubt all look for progression from this young team that has showed so much promise. We will all hope they can use this season as a platform and learn from the experience.

Next season we will look for them to demonstrate the composure of title challengers, rather than title hopefuls.

And really, as fans, we should be looking to do the same.

Spurs face long road to follow Dortmund model

IF Dortmund are the blueprint then Tottenham now have a brutal indication of just how far there is to go. 

People can point fingers at the manager, the line-up and the fitness levels all they want but there was nothing that a few changes would have helped in last night's 3-0 drubbing at the Westfalenstadion - this was men versus boys. 

Our lads were outpassed, outpressed and outworked by a slick, efficient and endlessly fit Dortmund side that could have been out of sight by half-time.

It might feel like scant encouragement but this is the side that Spurs aspire to emulate - with possessive-yet-potent attacking football, homegrown talent and even a huge behind-the-goal kop. 

Who knows, maybe even reasonable ticket prices!

A bigger concern has to be the poor reflection it casts on the current status of the English game.

Yes, we are all enjoying a fantastic and unpredictable season in which any one of four, maybe five, teams could still lift the title.

Yes, we've had some incredible stories, upsets and seen some brilliant goals. 

But should a team second in the Premier League really be so comprehensively outclassed by their Bundesliga equivalent?

You certainly wouldn't back Leicester to give German leaders Bayern Munich a run for their money either.

Seeing our big sides flounder makes entertaining viewing but this was the biggest indication yet that those who have replaced them at the top this season are not raising the bar, just making the most of an opportunity.

On the night it was a painful defeat but at least those on the pitch, the bench, sat in the stands and watching on the box now have a yardstick.

This is what can be created if we stick on the path we have started. 

Mauricio Pochettino's squad are 18 months into a philosophy that Dortmund have had drilled into them since 2009. 

Their boss Thomas Tuchel joined last summer and is continuing the hi-octane, high-pressing work introduced by Jurgen Klopp seven years ago.

Interestingly enough, Tuchel also managed Mainz shortly after Klopp, quickly surpassing the now-Liverpool manager's success.

Where Klopp got Mainz promoted, Tuchel took them into the Europa League.

Where Klopp took Dortmund to back-to-back league titles and the 2012-13 Champions League final, Tuchel has them again chasing down Bayern at the top and they must now be favourites for the Europa League.

It all comes together for one nasty bump back down to earth for Spurs but an impressive lesson to go with it. 

The improved fitness levels, the demanding pressing game and the flowing attacks can all go up a notch. Our players now have first hand experience of it. For some, it will be an encouragement, for others a kick up the ass.

If this Dortmund side is a glimpse of where hard work and a well-drilled philosophy can lead you, then we should be very excited about our chosen path.

Tough week could help Spurs hang in there

ONE point from two huge games was not what everyone wanted but bear with me while I argue that it might do us a favour.

Wins over West Ham and Arsenal would have left us top by two points - but can a team that has not won a title in 55 years really be expected to lead from the front with nine games to go?

The pressure, focus and searing hot spotlight that comes from being frontrunners is surely too much for a club stalked by its own shadow of late-season stutters.

We have a history of easing off the gas from good positions, so let Leicester take the weight of responsibility for the time being.

With 27 points left to fight for, a five-point gap at this stage is hardly unassailable and 
there is no sense in making ourselves the team to beat at the start of March. 

We are safer riding Leicester's coat-tails as they attract the limelight and deflect attention. 

Apart from anything else, my blood pressure could do with a rest from the nerve-shredding tension of our last two games. How the players must have felt is anybody's guess.

If the Foxes do win the title from here then they damn well deserve it and we should all stand up and applaud rather than picking apart our own supposed shortcomings.

But to put that feat into perspective, they have never won nine top-flight games in a row in their history.

It's a nervy time of year and everyone is dropping points. City lost to Liverpool, United at West Brom, and Arsenal haven't won in four.

Leicester's final two fixtures are Everton at home and Chelsea away. That's a tough enough finish in itself but in the meantime, if panic does finally strike Claudio Ranieri's squad, then any match becomes a banana skin and five points can disappear very quickly indeed.

Our final two games are home to Southampton and away at struggling Newcastle. Although by then they could well be "relegated Newcastle".

With that in mind, the main aim should be to stay within striking distance of the top, keep your fingers crossed we can hang in there and give ourselves a chance come May.

But many Spurs fans are starting to bite their fingernails not just over whether we will be fighting for the title come May, but whether we will still be in contention for the top four.

In 2011-12 we surrendered a 10-point lead over Arsenal in barely a month, the season before we won just one league game in ten from late February, including a home defeat to Blackpool. 

Both seasons we had put ourselves in the driving seat with regards to a Champions League finish. 

Yet in 2009-10 we got it right and beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in a run-in that saw us nick fourth. 

The difference being that season we were underdogs right until the penultimate game, where a shock 1-0 win at City sealed it a game early.

And that is why we shouldn't be too disheartened heading into another crucial week on the back of two disappointing results.

On Sunday it's Aston Villa away, followed by Bournemouth at home a week later. 

Both matches present sides fighting for their lives and, given our recent history at this stage of the season, I'm happier to be going into it with a little less expectation on our shoulders.

A welcome return to form - and hopefully not just for Tottenham

Strange things are happening in the Premier League - and the best thing about that is some of them are happening at White Hart Lane.

It’s March. Former title favourites Chelsea are still in the bottom half, former relegation candidates Leicester are top of the tree and English football’s former rulers Manchester United are still lurching weekly between progress and catastrophe.

Manchester City’s mind is already on next season, Arsenal are suffering severe deja vu and Tottenham, well, let’s just say things are looking up.

The maths started to stack up a few weeks ago. Then we beat City and the media - plus the teams around us - took notice. Now, having come from behind to beat Swansea on Sunday, even the fans are starting to believe. Some fans anyway.

That’s where I come in. My last blog post was just over two years ago before a new job sapped my spare time and, regretfully, this website fell onto the dreaded backburner. Now a proud dad of a newborn, I’m even busier than ever.

But with this amazing season taking twist after turn, week after week. And the faintest hope that maybe, just maybe, it might turn into something very, very special indeed, I just had to have my say.

There is a long way to go and a lot of tough games - each one of them our own Cup final. We have to go to Liverpool and Chelsea, not to mention West Ham tomorrow. Then there is what must be one of the biggest North London Derbies in a generation at lunchtime on Saturday.

However unlikely or difficult you see the possibility of us lifting the League Championship come May, Spurs fans would be foolish not to be getting just a little bit excited. 

Many in my generation (born 1983) would have felt that the club’s existence nowadays was purely geared at the top four and that resting on the summit after 38 games was for the real rich kids and oligarchs. To find ourselves in this position at this stage of the season was unthinkable, a pipe dream. But what is the point in football if you can’t dream once in a while? 

This run of form, this focus on the Academy, this brand of football has all come together to shake even the most miserly of fans from their slumbers and, as for me, well I wasn’t going to let it pass me by without getting my thoughts down. 

I will endeavour to keep the blog up do date from here on in and see where that takes me. Whether you savour it, snub it, comment on it, condemn it, rave about it, rant or even recommend it, I’m not concerned. I suppose feedback is always nice but as long as I've got something on record to show another little Spurs fan sometime down the line, then that will do for me. 

Although a Premier League title would be nice as well.

Spurs' Norwich win down to hard work, not just creativity

YOU'LL do well to find a Tottenham article that didn't focus on Christian Eriksen over the weekend.

And well they might. The Dane came in to provide some creation in midfield and two goals from open play swiftly followed.

However, anyone who saw the 2-0 win over Norwich will have noted that individual hard work played just as big a role as creativity - particularly in the latter stages.

Protecting a lead, the final 20 minutes are often somewhat of a concern at Spurs. 

Apprehension sweeps the crowd like wildfire and panic spreads from player to player like an airborne epidemic.

Simple passes become stray balls and defensive positioning begins to look like a freeforall.

But on Saturday Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen remained firm and focused and Danny Rose put in as robust a last quarter as you are ever likely to see from a left-back.

Sandro sat on the bench for the best part of 80 minutes but, bang, he was straight to the top of his game when he came on - chasing, harrying and switched on to all runners and potential hazards

Even light-footed sub Erik Lamela chased back and mucked in, winning the ball in the final minutes.

It wasn't a case of being first to every ball but more a case of, "If second to the ball, win it back anyway."

Of course, Spurs fans will still hail Eriksen's performance - he had a blinder.  

Roberto Soldado had been looking increasingly isolated before we found somebody capable of linking the play between the frontman and our solid midfield.

But while the invention and style may be the cake's icing, or the cockerel's doodle-doo, it all has to be underpinned by concentration and unwavering work rate from every player in the side.

Countless times in the past we've done the difficult bit and got our noses in front only for a keeper to make a howler, the midfield to fall asleep or the attack to stop pressing.

Then we're left ruing dropped points that, like May just gone, would prove vital come the end of the season.

Creativity might win you games but it's the groundwork that wins titles and, without that focus from the first minute to the last, regular trophies and top-four finishes are a pipe dream.

Until our tenacious display on Saturday, Norwich had scored nine goals in their first four games of the season. But we reduced them to just a single shot on goal for our fifth clean sheet in six games.

It might only be a start, but it's a bloody good one.

Arsenal's Ozil move doesn't put Spurs in a Mes

SMILES. Smug smiles. That's about all you'll get from Arsenal fans this week. 

But it's not just because they've signed Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid and finally spent some money, it's also because they think they've got Spurs fans rattled.

What's worse is that some of us are proving them right.

Until Ozil's deadline-day Goons switch, our chairman Daniel Levy owned the transfer window but it seems sharing the limelight with our old foes is just too much to bear.

And the irony that it would never have happened without Gareth Bale's Real move makes it all the more cruel.

Well, sorry, that doesn't wash with us. 

On Sunday morning, we were like a boy racer revving his new car at the lights. We were nailed on for fourth place and it was sure to be at Arsenal's expense. 

By Monday evening (yes, that's a long time to be at the lights but just go with it) they rolled up with a Lamborghini and our balls wilted.

What did everyone expect? Arsene Wenger would just sit by and let us speed off into the distance? Hardly.

We've heard it all from Spurs fans this week. "We still need a left-back, why didn't we get Ozil?" and most deluded of all "that was a poor deadline day for us."

All of it is ridiculous.

There's no denying that Ozil is one of the best players in Europe. In the past five seasons, he has created more chances and made more assists than any other elite player in the continent.

But it helps when the man you are passing the ball to is Cristiano Ronaldo.

The simple matter is the German playmaker would never have come to Spurs. He has to perform against the best and we cannot offer Champions League football.

Arsenal's need in the transfer window was much different to ours, they know they already have a squad capable of regularly finishing in the top four, so it only needed a respray. 

But one signing won't win them the title and it does not take away from what we did in the market.

In Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen we have two of Europe's most renowned young talents. Add to that a reinforced midfield of Paulinho and Etienne Capoue. 

It's a lot of players to gel in very little time but the previous squad had proven three years in a row that it could not keep pace for the whole season and enough was enough.

True, none of the new guys are proven in English football but it shows major ambition and if even four of our seven signings live up to their massive potential then it gives us a fighting chance of withstanding another late-season collapse.

If it's Premier League experience you're after then look no further than Danny Rose, one of last season's key left-backs on loan at Sunderland.

What's more he's English, he's prepared to fight for his place and refusing to sell him on could yet prove to be one of our best moves of the summer. 

The other option was Fabio Coentrao, and even Manchester United failed to prise him from Real.

The view that we are typically shrewd on transfer deadline day is a myth as well.

In the last seven of them, the only real coups have been Hugo Lloris and Rafa Van Der Vaart. And Rafa only because we were in the Champions League.

Other than Clint Dempsey - who replaced Rafa with limited success last summer - our ONLY other deadline-day signing since 2010 has been Louis Saha.

The real crux of the matter, which has jilted folks' perspective, is that we lost the North London derby at the Emirates. 

We didn't create much but it's a game that we've lost 5-2 for the past two seasons, so it's an improvement.

We have never been this consistently close to Arsenal since the Premier League began.

Yes they are still in front but it's not Spurs who have 17 straight top-four finishes to protect.

It's not us who are crying over not winning a trophy for eight years.

And it's not us who had to sing "spend some f**king money" on the opening day just to get some transfer activity.

Frankly, it's not us who should be rattled, it's them.

North London derby nostalgia - our top four moments

IT'S that time of year again. The North London derby brings nerves and excitement bubbling to the surface as if it were your A-level results, graduation or wedding day - except, of course, it's far more important than that!

Taxi For Maicon looks back at our favourite moments from recent clashes. It's been said a number of times that top five isn't good enough, so here's our top four...

4. Aaron Lennon - March 2013

Andre Villas-Boas' debut season had yielded some good results - not least our first win at Manchester United since before dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The organisation of a side getting used to AVB's tactical nous was clear to see but would it hold up in the pressure-cooker atmosphere? 

The answer was a resounding yes as the very same pass in-between the Gunners' centre-backs caught them out twice in three minutes at the end of the first half.

First Gareth Bale and then Aaron Lennon beat the offside trap to ensure we got our own back for the November thumping at the Emirates.

3. Rafa Van Der Vaart - April 2011

The Dutchman relished derby day and he embodied everything Spurs stands for - style, raw passion and undoubted entertainment. Oh, and he was a bit injury prone, eccentric and unpredictable - we're suckers for all that.

VdV secured his place in derby nostalgia when he "shushed" the Arsenal fans after his first goal in a 3-3 draw at the Lane. 

Then, after his second goal to complete the comback from 3-1 down, he quite literally wrestled the ball off Wojciech Szczesny after an evening-long battle with the pole.

2. Danny Rose - April 2010

One of the best debut strikes in Spurs history. We had just lost at Sunderland and had a nightmare run coming up against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United as our fight for fourth looked doomed.

At home to the Gooners, youngster Rose was drafted in at left-back as injuries took hold. And, as Manuel Almunia punched out a 10th-minute corner, he lashed a 25-yard volley through a crowded box and almost took the keeper's head off as it flew into the net.

Spurs went on to win 2-1 and beat Chelsea the following weekend before ultimately qualifying for the Champions League with a 1-0 win away at Manchester City in our penultimate game.

1. Younes Kaboul - November 2010

Two-nil down at the Emirates. Same old story as it had been for the last 17 years as we'd consistently failed to win at Arsenal.

But goals from Gareth Bale and a Rafa penalty had hauled us level with 20 minutes remaining and we were all starting to think, "Hang on, we could do this."

With five minutes left, we were ready to settle for a draw until Younes Kaboul met a free-kick from deep and glanced his header into the bottom corner. 

Another record broken and a huge hoodoo off our back, so hopefully we won't have to wait so long for another victory at the Emirates...

Roll on 4pm tomorrow! Come on you Spurs.

Spurs must heed flood warning as they splash the cash

Changes are no longer afoot - they are here. It's easy to get overexcited when your team is making big signings but Spurs are getting into dangerous territory.

Too much more cash-splashing could flood the dressing room and past experience tells us it'll ruin more than just the tilework if the floor falls through.

With Erik Lamela's arrival from Roma imminent, our summer spending is set to outstrip even Manchester City's. And all sources - including manager Andre Villas-Boas - indicate that we ain't done yet.

But it is not the cost of this rapid recruitment that is the concern - we all know where the money is coming from after all - so much as the sheer turnover of players in a squad that cannot have expected this level of upheaval.

Gareth Bale was always going to cause some summer waves following such an impressive season but, having finished fifth by just one point, surely it was a case of signing a replacement then strengthening one or two positions - mainly up front.

Instead, there have been wholesale renovations with William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore, Scott Parker, Steven Caulker and surely Bale all heading out and four so far coming in.

Argentine forward Lamela, 21, would make five but then we can supposedly expect deals for centre-back Vlad Chiriches and Ajax playmaker Christian Eriksen to be announced "within days". 

Add to that the links with Manchester United's Javier Hernandez and Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao and it's all getting a bit silly.

In the last few years, a goalscoring box fox of Hernandez' quality is exactly what we have needed but that would make 10 new additions - and nearly all of them will expect a starting place.

AVB then has the unenviable task of juggling the egos and settling them into a first-team that - like so many others in the football world - is only allowed 11 players.

The last time the revolving door span so quickly was summer 2008, under Juande Ramos. 

Luka Modric, Gio Dos Santos, David Bentley and Heurelho Gomes - among others - arrived before the season started.

They were followed before the transfer deadline by Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko as the spending topped £104m.

More than 10 first team players including Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Younes Kaboul, Paul Robinson and Steed Malbranque were shipped out.

What followed is the single biggest horror show I have witnessed as a Spurs fan and "two points from eight games" became Harry Redknapp's mantra for the next three years as he came in to steady the ship and steer us away from the bottom of the table.

We were stung the previous season as well, when a turnover of 12 players, including the club-record £16.5m signing of Darren Bent, led to a run of one Premier League win in our first 12 games.

So, you see, we have previous for these mass overhauls and they don't always go to plan. It's no coincidence that in four seasons of relative calm we've now finished 4th, 5th, 4th and 5th.

But it's hardly panic stations yet. We've only completed four signings. And, unlike some in the past, they are quality players.

Paulinho would strengthen any midfield and we've been waiting on a goalscorer like Roberto Soldado for years.

Nacer Chadli fills the gaping hole on the left-wing and Etienne Capoue adds a more defensive option to what looks like a regular five-man midfield.

Lamela's £25m arrival sees us veer towards luxury but seems necessary to add excitement to a frontline now lacking one of the world's most explosive players.

And, but for Romania captain Chiriches,  we're hoping that is where it stops.

Otherwise it won't be long before that dressing room needs re-tiling.

Hugo Lloris fits like a glove and is key to Spurs' good start

THREE wins in a row for Spurs and our new centre forward is already centre stage but it's also three clean sheets and Hugo Lloris is very much our unsung hero.

The keeper has been in inspired form so far, coming to the rescue on numerous occasions against Swansea and Crystal Palace.

France captain Lloris made a terrific fingertip save to deny Pablo Hernandes a late equaliser on Sunday and twice stopped the Eagles in the final few minutes last week, thwarting Damien Delaney and then Kagisho Dikgacoi.

But it is not just his shot-stopping that is proving so important to Spurs. 

The Frenchman commands his area and organises his defence. He is fast becoming one of our biggest assets and one of the Premier League's top goalkeepers.

He is quick off his line - for crosses and one-on-ones - can mix it in a busy penalty area and is not afraid to throw himself in harm's way.

At this stage last season we had one point, having let leak a late goal two matches in a row to lose 2-1 at Newcastle and draw 1-1 with West Brom at the Lane.

We may have needed two penalties to secure six points this term but we have defended the lead on both occasions and Lloris has been key to closing games out.

But the gloves didn't always fit so snug. When the £11million man arrived from Lyon last August, his position was immediately shrouded in speculation.

Brad Friedel had been a fine servant for just over a season and new boss Andre Villas-Boas was not about to unceremoniously ditch the veteran stopper for no reason.

The tabloids roared that Lloris felt insulted at being on the bench and wanted to go home to France.

In reality, a 40-year-old Friedel was never going to win the battle as the long-term option and it was only a matter of time until Lloris, 26, made the No 1 shirt his own.

We have had some good keepers in recent years but all have had their flaws.

Paul Robinson managed several years of solid service but had a knack of being beaten all ends up from 25 yards. 

Friedel was consistent but only arrived in the twilight of his career.

And Heurelho Gomes was rightly known as "the octopus" for his long arms but was only ever one bonkers decision away from KO'ing his own player or throwing the ball in his own net.

Add Neil Sullivan, Kasey Keller and Ian Walker and it's a very long time since Spurs have had such a consistent and all-round performer between the sticks.

Unlike many of his predecessors, Lloris remains calm at set-pieces and switched on for the full 90 minutes - that breeds confidence in the back four.

It is testament to the Frenchman's influence that we hurtle into the last week of the transfer window looking to strengthen almost every position but his.

That's because, after three wins built on three clean sheets, there are very few keepers out there who can do the job better than Lloris.

Tbilisi was Boom Town for Dinamo man Andros

OUR away support may have witnessed a goal rush in Tbilisi on Thursday but one Spurs fan who really struck gold was Andros Townsend.

Anyone who plays down our wings in the coming weeks will be saddled with the pressure of filling you-know-who's boots.

Yet it is not overplaying it to say that Townsend's performance in the Europa League qualifying first leg has altered the landscape of his whole career.

Prior to the game the winger, 22, was considering his options having been turfed out on loan a whopping NINE times.

The most recent of those was a successful stint at QPR in the second half of last season.

His performances reportedly impressed  a host of Premier League clubs and, with Tottenham's recent exodus of British players, Townsend looked next on our homegrown scrapheap.

The player himself admitted this week that if first-team football was not an option at White Hart Lane then he would have to move on, which put Swansea, Everton and West Brom on red alert.

But then came the Dinamo game - a goal, two assists and a man of the match display that will have thrust him to the forefront of Andre Villas-Boas' thinking.

It was exactly the sort of reaction that boss AVB would have been looking for. Townsend grabbed his chance by the scruff of the neck and shook it till its pockets were empty.

Certain recently departed Spurs players - without pointing fingers - have rarely taken opportunities in such devastating fashion.

And if, as seems to be the case, AVB is replacing some of his restrictive, two-dimensional players with more agile and adaptable alternatives, then Townsend could hardly have better proven the flexibility of his own game. 

His goal in Tbilisi was basically a foot race - explosive pace with a great finish from distance. 

It was skill, rather than speed, to beat the defender before crossing for Paulinho then a cutback with his wrong foot to feed Roberto Soldado for 3-0.

Townsend's performance ticked every box and, if he can make a habit of it against better opposition, then he'll soon find himself on every team sheet.

Never mind Willian or Bale, Levy is Spurs' best player of the summer

CAN Daniel Levy fight off Chelsea's bid to land our target Willian?  Don't put it past him, as this transfer window is turning into his finest yet.

At Taxi For Maicon, we have often maligned the chairman as saga after saga ruined the start of seasons and came back to bite us on the Arsenal  - but this time it looks like he is coming up trumps.

It was always going to be a difficult window but Levy has put the fans at ease over the sale of our prize asset. We're all now more focused on new - and future - signings. 

It hardly takes a genius to figure out that, with the extra cash we're threatening to splurge, Gareth Bale is on his way to Real Madrid - selling Steven Caulker, Tom Huddlestone and Scott Parker just doesn't generate the sums being talked about.

True, we're a wealthy club AND there was a big Premier League broadcasting deal but the board has a new stadium to finance and you don't see Stoke or Norwich  throwing extra money around like us.

We had already spent £60m this summer but if Brazilian midfielder Willian arrives this week and Roma's Eric Lamela follows then our spending will smash the £100m mark.

Bale's departure had the potential to tear the heart out of the squad while branding the words "selling club" on to  the sign above the front gate.

But the chairman has played it right every step of the way, proving that he has learned valuable lessons from the late-window departures of Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modric.

In each case the pre-season was disrupted and we were left struggling to sign replacements at 11.55pm on deadline day.

This time round Paulinho was secured early in the summer and followed up with Soldado in good time. It has settled the supporters' nerves and showed prospective targets that we still mean business.

Any squad disruption was nipped in the bud and "injured" Bale was hooked out of the first-team as Real speculation began to swirl around our Enfield training complex. 

Now if he does leave, any hole in the dressing room has already had time to heal.

Levy has a reputation for quibbling over the odd million quid and missed out on Joao Moutinho from Porto when last year's window slammed shut on his fingers. No such problem now.

Paulinho for £16m, then Soldado for £26m. Yet he still gets to practice hardball over Bale's move to Real. And therein lies the chairman's trump card.

In delaying the Bale deal, Levy has been able to spend the winger's transfer fee before other clubs hold us to ransom.

Willian has supposedly passed a medical and Roma forward Eric Lamela is also a big-money target. If Spurs had sold Bale for a world-record fee, then rest assured all of these signings would have cost far more.

Newcastle stung Liverpool to the tune of £35m when the Reds wanted Andy Carroll to replace £50m man Fernando Torres.

Levy brought in Franco Baldini came in as our technical director in June. Those who remember Jacques Santini and Juande ramos will know that this continental structure has failed for Spurs TWICE before.

But in the modern-day game - of transfer fees that sound more like the budget deficit and of contract battles that could be turned into epic Hollywood movies - maybe we're beginning to think Levy is right.

Big teams need big arrivals. And big arrivals are a big job, not a sideshow for the guy who already has to design the tactics, coach the players and manage a happy dressing room of inflated egos.

Levy's approach to this difficult window has to be applauded as it has given us the best chance possible of progressing to the next level - with or without Gareth Bale.