Andy Cole received his first glimpse of the brave new world he has chosen at struggling Blackburn and, though his new employers lost, he will have been somewhat reassured he made the right decision to swap the Theatre of Dreams for a club where sleepless nights are more the norm.
A Dean Richards header just before the interval pushed Rovers deeper into the relegation mire and made it six defeats in their last seven games. But Graeme Souness will take some comfort from the fact his side dominated the second half and deserved to come away with at least a draw.
Cole, bought for £7.5 million sterling from Manchester United to add an end product to Rovers' often impressive attacking play this season, had only one clear chance, a pounding header blocked by a fine save from Kasey Keller. In 90 minutes he managed two attempts on target and two off. This did not include a complete air shot when he was found in a promising position in front of goal by a cross from Keith Gillespie.
As Souness said afterwards, though: "Andy has not been playing regularly and I'd imagine he would need four or five games to be as sharp as he wanted to be."
"Robbie Fowler wasn't match fit when he moved to Leeds from Liverpool because he hadn't been in the first team," said Souness. "Andy Cole is in a similar situation. He hadn't worked with the other players or his strike partner Matt Jansen because the weather in the north has been so bad.
"It will take a little time but he has proved over the last 10 years he is as good as anyone. Andy wants to play football and score goals and that's what he'll do for us. We were unlucky today but that is the story of our festive season."
For Spurs this was a vital win. Their holiday period has been as miserable as a Euro-sceptic's, converting three games into only one point before yesterday. Victory keeps them in touch with the top six, though at times the gruelling schedule of four games in 11 days threatened to tell on some of their ageing limbs as Rovers threw caution to the wind when pressing for a second-half equaliser.
"The first thing that stops a passing team like us is fatigue," said Glenn Hoddle. "Our team were very tired today and we had to dig deep."
With two League Cup semi-final legs coming up, the fixture list is not set to ease. And Teddy Sheringham hopes to hear this week whether his sending-off against Ipswich will be overturned or turned into a ban.
Hoddle was therefore understandably eager to agree it would not make sense to sell his back-up striker Sergei Rebrov at this time.
Speculation over a move to Italy increased after Rebrov was quoted in a Ukrainian paper as saying: "It appears the Tottenham management is ready to talk about my transfer. The prospect of continuing my career at Lazio looks good to me."
Hoddle was playing a straight bat. "He hasn't said he wants to leave to me," said the manager, "so until we have that conversation there's nothing to say."
On the pitch Spurs dominated most of the first half with some typically eye-catching passing moves but were kept at bay by Keller's American compatriot at the other end, Brad Friedel. He saved well from Sheringham, Christian Ziege and Les Ferdinand. Sheringham also saw a far-post effort blocked by a defender and nothing arose from the ensuing goalmouth scramble.
Blackburn were, as Hoddle put it, "slow to come out the traps and we should have been 2-0 up at half-time".
Only one goal came, though: Darren Anderton swung over a corner and Richards outjumped the defence at the far post to glance a header past Friedel.
He really should have been picked up but Rovers did not dwell on their error. After the interval the industry of, among others, Garry Flitcroft and Tugay Kerimoglu wrested the initiative from Spurs and threatened to turn the tide of the game.
Unfortunately for Rovers, and perhaps ominously for Cole, the shortage of any decent final delivery let Spurs off the hook. Keller rarely had a save to make. Newly promoted Blackburn need to rectify the problem fast.
Their next game is at home to Charlton but then they take Cole back to Old Trafford before entertaining Arsenal.
Souness, however, is staying cool. "You go through phases where things don't go for you," he said. "I'm not panicking. If we keep playing like we did for the last 25 minutes we'll be fine. Our priority is to stay in this league." A new concept for Cole.
Hoddle, ultimately, was partially happy with his day. "We weren't at our best but still picked up three points. "
TOTTENHAM: Keller, Perry, King, Richards, Taricco, Freund, Anderton, Poyet (Sherwood 85), Ziege, Ferdinand, Sheringham. Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Davies, Gardner, Rebrov. Goals: Richards 45.
BLACKBURN: Friedel, Berg, Short, Bjornebye (Dunn 61), Neill, Gillespie (Hignett 71), Tugay, Flitcroft, Duff, Cole, Jansen (Ostenstad 79). Subs Not Used: Kelly, Taylor. Booked: Neill, Tugay.
Referee: J Winter
