Tottenham 1 Blackburn Rovers 2:Tottenham received an award before kick-off yesterday as life after Martin Jol got under way in front of Juande Ramos, his managerial successor. Michael Dawson accepted a cheque of £30,000 in recognition of Tottenham topping the fair play league last season.
Jol may raise a wry smile at that. Fair play is not something he feels he was afforded, with the club having courted Ramos behind his back in August before going through with the change last week.
Yet even a superficial glance at this performance reinforced yet again why Tottenham might have won that award but are unlikely to triumph in anything more meaningful until certain issues are addressed. Tottenham lack a mean streak, that killer instinct that separates the great from the good or, in the case of this team at present, the jittery wrecks.
Tottenham went ahead through Robbie Keane's penalty early in the second half, but only the most myopic of their supporters would have backed them to close out a much-needed victory and climb out of the bottom three. Panic gripped each time Blackburn surged forward and there was resignation when Benni McCarthy's shot clipped Dawson and spun beyond Radek Cerny's dive for the equaliser.
"When that goal went in I always felt there was a possibility we might go on and win the game," said Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager.
And so it proved.
Christopher Samba set the seal on an eye-catching display by bending an unstoppable shot into the corner, after Roque Santa Cruz had teed up Brett Emerton's free-kick.
Heartache has come as standard for Tottenham this season and this was the latest in a relentless stream of insults. The self-destruct button duly pressed, there then came that other White Hart Lane staple - the boos at full-time. It was as if Jol had never left.
Ramos visited the dressingroom after the whistle and, according to Clive Allen - who took charge of the team yesterday - the Spaniard said the recovery operation would start in the morning at his first training session.
The Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, has admitted to making mistakes in the pursuit of Ramos and the manner in which he installed him in place of Jol.
Ramos has signed a contract until 2011, believed to be worth £3.8 million (€5.4m) a year. He will be presented at a press conference tomorrow and takes charge of the team for the first time in the English League Cup against Blackpool at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night.
Sevilla are furious at Ramos and Tottenham and intend to report the club to Fifa for "incorrect behaviour" as they seek compensation. Sevilla believe the figure should not be lower than €1.6 million, Ramos' annual salary.
"Several events clearly did not happen as we all would have wished and I am the first to admit that things could have been handled differently and better," said Levy, before calling on supporters to get behind the new man. "We have made the changes, popular or unpopular, as we felt they were necessary and right. Please lend us your support as we move forward together."
Ramos has been given the title of head coach and Levy believes he will fit seamlessly into the club's two-tier continental coaching structure, in which the sporting director, Damien Comolli, has the final say on transfers.
Ramos said: "Sometimes, an opportunity comes that you can't turn down. It would be unforgivable not to accept a move which offers me the chance to grow beyond my wildest dreams. "
