Tottenham 5 Newcastle Utd 0: IT IS at times like these when Harry Redknapp looks to have the Midas touch. Louis Saha had arrived at Tottenham Hotspur from Everton on the final day of the January transfer window with two goals in 20 appearances this season. His state of mind was summed up by his reaction to the call. "I was just like, 'Where's my car?'" Saha said.
On Saturday, given his full Tottenham debut ahead of Jermain Defoe, the Frenchman listened to Redknapp’s belief-bolstering routine before scoring twice to bring his one-time employers Newcastle United to their knees.
A player synonymous with injury, although not this season, Saha appeared indestructible alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, who set up the first four goals and ended his own eight-game scoring drought with the fifth.
“As a kid, you always dream of playing fantasy, attacking football and you’ve seen that here,” Saha said. “In the first 15 minutes, it was the quickest football that I’ve ever played.”
Tottenham’s players took their lead from the White Hart Lane crowd, who had serenaded Redknapp throughout with chants of “We want you to stay”, as the FA prepared to make him the next England manager.
The terrace charm offensive was reminiscent of that directed at Luka Modric at the beginning of the season, as Chelsea prepared to make him their next midfield playmaker. The fans might reason that Modric ended up staying.
“It is just the same as having good players in the team, people will always be interested in them,” the Spurs captain Ledley King said. “Harry has done a terrific job here but we would love to keep him. It is not really for us to be asking Harry what he is going to do and we don’t know what will happen next. As a group of players, we love him and, hopefully, he will stay. We need to keep our focus and what will happen in the summer will happen. You can’t tell anyone what to do. They have to do what feels right for them and football moves on.”
Tottenham’s supporters could be forgiven for wondering whether things could get any better. Newcastle had arrived in search of the victory that would have lifted them into the Champions League places; they were dispatched with a shuddering bump.
Tottenham’s own Champions League qualification appears assured, they are comfortably the best team in London and they are not yet out of title contention in the Premier League.
The longer term for them does appear fraught with problems and the nightmare scenario would involve Redknapp joining England at the end of the season, Adebayor’s wage demands prohibiting a permanent deal, and Modric and others pushing to leave, fearing that the club had indeed peaked.
The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, stands to have it all to do as he balances ambition with financial realities.
Guardian Service
