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EYEWITNESS report by DAN CARRIER

at WHITE HART LANE

 

WHEN Glenn Hoddle was managing Spurs, he approached his Chelsea counterpart, Carlo Ranieri, with a sheaf of notes amounting to £8m. He slapped the offer on the table, and asked if he could take Eidur Gudjohnsen across London.

 

This was pre-Abramovich, and in the Ken bates era. The cash could have been helpful. But neither Ranieri or Gud wanted the move to go ahead, and the Icelandic international stayed put. It took a fat wage offer from Barcelona to prise him from west London, but at the Catalans his career hardly sparkled. He had after all, Ronaldino, Henry, Eto and Messi all vying for attacking spots in the side and found his chances sorely limited.

 

A move to France also did not work, and when he came to Spurs in January, it looked likely he would again find himself doing little more than training each week and watching the game on a Saturday. Instead, the late season injury crisis that has seen Defoe and Pav struggle, the Icelander now finds himself a crucial cog in the Redknapp machine as we go for fourth. On Wednesday, he comfortably stepped into the midfield, showing his comfort on the ball.

 

And while, at 31, he has not the bursting pace over the first five yards that he once had, his intelligent touches mean he brings his team mates into the game. He may have arrived six or seven years too late to make himself a real Lane legend, but as his performance today shows, he could prove to be a vital January deal.

 

His speciality is the play linking, first time ball, and it’s a trick he pulled off time and again. It showed a player who has that ability to read the game a few crucial yards ahead of his marker. He also has strength to hold off challenges - he called it his special ‘Viking Power’ after banging away the opener against Stoke last weekend, and how much are we benefiting from his on-pitch pillaging as the sick list grows. 

 

Poor Pompey have not won at the Lane since 1988, and we took three points off them at Fratton Park in the autumn. And for this FA semi-final dress rehearsal, they were robbed, through the Premier rules on loans, of their best player, our very own Jamie O’Hara.

 

But Spurs were also facing selection issues: the creaking squad lacked the usual long termers in the shape of Lennon, King, Woodgate, Jenas and Defoe. On-fire Pavlyuchenko and midfielder enforcer Palacios could only make the bench, while Corluka’s ankle meant he was given the day off completely.

 

But the stand ins made sure the sick listers were not missed. Peter Crouch opened the scoring on 26: a wonderful, galloping run by Gareth Bale got the Welshman deep in enemy territory, and his neat cross left Crouch with a relatively simple header into the bottom left hand corner.

 

On 40, it was two: Niko Kranjcar flicked a Luka Modric shot goal wards with his back heel and David James was caught wrong footed. 

 

The second half saw Spurs contain Pompey, and when the mood took them they tested David James. Bale’s pace constantly troubled his opposite numbers, and half chances fell for Bassong, Crouch, Modric, Pavlyuchenko and Bentley. Yet somehow the score remained 2-0, and another vital three points are on the board as the games tick down and the tension cranks up.

 

Finally, a word on a former Spur who put in a shift for our opponents. French smoothie Serge Gainsbourg once said that ‘ugliness is in a way superior to beauty, because it lasts‘, and the way Michael Brown scampered about all afternoon after Luka Modric supports this statement. He snapped, snapped and snapped again, just like he did when he played at the Lane. On 55 minutes, his holding back of Modric made the Croatian trickster uncharacteristically lose his temper and lash out. It was classic Brown. At 33, he is heading towards the end of a career that has seen him appear for Manchester City, Sheffield United, Tottenham, Wigan and then Pompey. But his determination, so key to his style, have not dimmed since he packed his bags in 2006 after 64 appearances in white. 

 

Hero: Was Gareth Bale extra motivated to send Pompey off with a caning because of his Southampton links? What ever it was, he gave the Pompey defence a torrid time all afternoon. At times, he simply unplayable.

 

Villain: Fabio Capello, for still failing to recognise the fact he should definitely be booking a flight for Michael Dawson to South Africa in June. Daws will never let you down.

 

Move of the match: On 34, Huddlestone crashes a beautiful long range effort against the bar, then Crouch’s follow up smacks the post. From the resulting corner Crouch tee’s himself up for a spectacular over head kick. It was a pummelling David James’s goal was charmed to survive.