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Fulham 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Tottenham's supporters came to the banks of the Thames convinced Harry Redknapp could walk on water. They left wondering how quickly they could chuck their goalkeeper overboard. For the umpteenth time this season, Heurelho Gomes dropped his team in it and, on this occasion, the feelgood factor introduced by Redknapp could not salvage them.Fulham deflated the air of confidence that had brought such buoyancy to White Hart Lane, and were more comfortable than a tight scoreline suggests. This was the Tottenham of old. The players looked fallible again. As Roy Hodgson pointed out in the week, such is the football climate that with each result a team can be catapulted to the verge of European qualification or denounced as relegation fodder. Things can indeed change quickly. Spurs ended the day back in the bottom three. Although they were significant architects of their own downfall, Fulham deserved great credit for the way they dismantled Tottenham's game plan, and set their own tone so enthusiastically. Defensively sound, energetic in midfield, and with a pair of relentless chasers up front in Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, they were everything their opponents weren't. 'We deserve a big pat on the back for the amount of pressure we put on them,' said Hodgson. But he could not ignore the gigantic helping hand they received from Gomes. On the half-hour mark, when Simon Davies lofted in a speculative cross from the left, Jonathan Woodgate's attempt at a clearing header should have provided Gomes with a routine catch. But Tottenham's keeper doesn't do routine. Or catching, for that matter. He duly dropped the ball over his own goalline. 'Farcical,' lamented Redknapp, who cannot address the situation until the January transfer window opens. 'It's difficult,' Redknapp admitted. 'He's my goalkeeper. He's got to do the job, in all honesty. I've got another keeper, a Spanish lad of 37, and then I've got kids. I've got to stay with him.' David James? Shay Given? Let the rumours begin, for he is not expected to stay with Gomes any longer than necessary. Redknapp must have had some choice words during the interval. The first half had given him a clanging reminder of why Tottenham needed him in the first place. As well as being wretched defensively, they were notably flat on the creative front, with the midfield who had been the platform for Tottenham's recent feats easily stifled by Jimmy Bullard and Danny Murphy. The Hammersmith End gave Gomes a hero's welcome as he trudged to the goal in front of them for the second half, and he was soon exposed again as Tottenham's half-time reshuffle, with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Aaron Lennon introduced to help Darren Bent, failed to inspire any improvement. Andy Johnson had a close view as to how Gomes's shattered confidence is unsettling his defence. First Ledley King kicked the ball against his own hand - provoking Johnson to yelp for a penalty - and then, from a corner, Woodgate was obviously too nervous to leave the cross for his keeper, and when his poor clearance fell to Davies, the Welshman nodded across for Johnson to steer in Fulham's second. Their comfort zone did not last long, though, as substitute Frazier Campbell applied a beautiful finish to a neat break with 10 minutes to go. Tottenham have specialised in grandstand finishes since Redknapp's arrival. This time, though, he left stony- faced, with a stark reminder that his revival job is very much a work in progress. Gomes's last action of note, incidentally, was a superb save to claw away another classy Bullard free-kick. It is doubtful that is enough to convince Redknapp not to go shopping as soon as possible. |
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