Window reflections

A necessary trimming down of the squad or a missed opportunity? Tim Row reflects on a month of activity and endless speculation.

Within the space of a month the mood amongst Spurs fans has changed dramatically from one of genuine belief and ambition to that of familiar pessimism and despondancy.

On the face of it there seems no reason to press the panic button- we are still in fourth place and well clear of our London rivals. But we have experienced the familiar feeling of depressing away defeats and failed to score in three games. On top of this we have failed to reinforce areas of the squad that were in need of strengthening such as up front and on the left. Against Fulham we had Johnnie Jackson on the bench and the level of injuries and unavailable players means that we may be scraping the barrels of the reserve squad once again for the Charlton home game.

This frustration is compounded by the quality of some of the players we allowed to leave the Lane in January. The loss of Mendes, Davis and Pamarot was inevitable- Portsmouth offered us a good price for fringe players and Levy as a business man could not turn it down. However it is the failure to use the money to strengthen other areas that has annoyed fans along with the loaning out of Routledge, Ziegler and El Hamodoui – players that surely would have been challenging for first team places if they were available for the Charlton game.

On top of this the two signings that we have made will not be available for the Charlton match at a time when we are facing our worst midfield injury crisis of the season. The quality of the two signings however is not in doubt. Danny Murphy is a versatile midfielder who looked international class when we met at Selhurst Park earlier this season. Added to his excellent passing ability he also poses a goalscoring threat and is an expert at set pieces. Hossan Ghaly is more of a mystery and appears to be a player Damien Comolli has been watching closely over the last six or seven years. By all accounts he will provide the individual brilliance and creative flair that has been missing at times this season.

The issue here i not the quality of the signings made but the lack of cover we have in certain positions. At left back we must continue with the unhappy Stephen Kelly- rumoured to be on the brink of a move to West Ham in January – having failoed to land Wayne Bridge and apparently failed with a last minute bid for Portsmouth's Matt Taylor. Cover at centre back consists of the notoriously unreliable Anthony Gardner whilst up front we wait patiently for the return of Mido having failed to create a single chance against Fulham with a Polish striker who some Spurs fans are describing as the worst player that they have ever seen in a Spurs shirt. To top it off poor Aaron Lennon was forced to play out on the left against Fulham after the injury to Andy Reid (another six weeks out having just recovered from a similar length of period out).

One positive from the Fulham game was the performance of 19 year old Tom Huddlestone who looked a natural as holding midfielder and will surely retain his place against Charlton. Having lost the likes of Routledge and El Hamodoui could we also see a debut on Sunday for young goal machine Lee Barnard? Having signed a two year contracy surely his time has now come to be tested at the highest level?