Let's not dwell on this
You don't need me to remind you just how bad Sunday's result and performance was for Spurs. There are just two or three points I would like to make though:-
1. We have never lost 4 out of our first 6 home games since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.
2. The last time we had such a bad start in terms of home form was in the last season of the old Division One, when Peter Shreeves was in sole charge of Spurs team affairs. We were beaten by Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Sheffield United, and managed to beat QPR and Luton. We finished 15th that season, in a 22 team league.
3. Even in our relegation season of 76-77, we only lost two of our first six home games.
4. It is a sad fact that at the start of our season in 1974, we also lost four of our first six home games. Bill Nicholson resigned after our third such defeat (4-0 to Middlesbrough), before the disaster that was Terry Neill took over.
5. Kyle Naughton's red card is his second of the season, and Spurs' appeal has been dismissed, which means he must now serve a two game suspension.
6. A worrying factor is that already Spurs have had five red cards in all competitons, which already exceeds the number we have seen in the last three seasons. It is just another indicator of the vulnerability of our defence, but you didn't need me to tell you that, did you?
Whilst Sunday was our worst team and managerial performance of the season so far, neither was quite as bad as last season's home and away defeats against Liverpool.
Emmanuel Adebayor has said this week that the players need the home fans to be more positive. As I said on BBC 5 Live yesterday (Wednesday), the players need to get their posteriors in gear!
Hugo Lloris was your "least bad" Spurs player in this game. Of the other 13 players who took part, only Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and goal-scorer Nacer Chadli scored over 5 out of 10. You don't need me to remind you - that's a shambles.
· See the spursometer in full.
Results 08-09.11.14
Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-0 Hull
Man Utd 1-0 C. Palace
S'hampton 2-0 Leicester
West Ham 0-0 A. Villa
QPR 2-2 Man City
S'derland 1-1 Everton
Spurs 1-2 Stoke
West Brom 0-2 Newcastle
Swansea 2-1 Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Chelsea 11 9 2 0 28-11 17 29
2. S'hampton 11 8 1 2 23-5 18 25
3. Man City 11 6 3 2 22-12 9 21
4. West Ham 11 5 3 3 19-14 5 18
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5. Swansea 11 5 3 3 15-11 4 18
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6. Arsenal 11 4 5 2 19-13 6 17
7. Man Utd 11 4 4 3 17-14 3 16
8. Newcastle 11 4 4 3 13-15 -2 16
9. Stoke 11 4 3 4 12-13 -1 15
10. Everton 11 3 5 3 20-18 2 14
11. Liverpool 11 4 2 5 14-15 -1 14
12. Spurs 11 4 2 5 14-16 -2 14
13. West Brom 11 3 4 4 13-15 -2 13
14. S'derland 11 2 6 3 12-19 -7 12
15. Hull 11 2 5 4 13-15 -2 11
16. A. Villa 11 3 2 6 5-16 -11 11
17. C. Palace 11 2 3 6 14-20 -6 9
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18. Leicester 11 2 3 6 11-18 -7 9
19. QPR 11 2 2 7 11-22 -11 8
20. Burnley 11 1 4 6 6-19 -13 7
