Ok this isn't quite as drastic as it sounds in that we have only played them four times since March 2005, but a victory this weekend would be sweet.

The last time Saints beat Tottenham Hotspur was back in March 2005 when a goal from Nigel Quashie gave us a 1-0 win at St Mary's at a time when it looked like then Saints manager actually gave a damn and might just pull off a great escape, history shows that never happened and since that time Saints have rarely played the North London Soccer Chickens.

Our only meetings have been in the last two seasons when Spurs despatched us on all four occasions both home and away.

Back in 2004/05 the away leg was a disaster for the aforementioned Redknapp whose team went down 5-1, but the season before saw Saints register their last away win at White Hart Lane against another ex Saints boss and now on Redknapp's coaching staff Glenn Hoddle.

Back in September 2003 Hoddle was taking advantage of his status as club legend at Spurs with a longer spell as manager than most, indeed he had been there a little over two full seasons, but the knives were out and Hoddle was being roundly abused from the stands as Saints romped to a 3-1 with goals from James Beattie and Kevin Phillips with Hoddle being sacked shortly afterwards.

Now we go back to White Hart Lane in similar circumstances to face an ex Saints manager who like Hoddle was seen to be deserting the cause at Southampton, but on reflection we ended up with better than we had, back then it was Strachan who took us on to bigger and better things now hopefully Ronald Koeman will repeat the feats of his illustrious predecessor.

Already Pochettino has completed his period of grace with Spurs fans, he had had the contracted six Premier League games bedding in and now he has to start to prove his worth, so far the jury is out, a 4-0 win over QPR papering over the cracks and the feeling is that the manager is a little out of his comfort zone and is not used to having to manage a big squad not only in the league, but over three cup competitions as well, and this could be his downfall, Pochettino clearly does not like distractions from his annual relegation battle, last season saw him publicly denounce the Cup competitions, yet now he has had to back track to appease the Spurs faithful who can just about accept their place in the pecking order if that is balanced by a tilt at a cup or two.

But this is not Pochettino's way and there lies the problem for Spurs, this weekend Saints travel there and this is in many respects the acid test for both club's, for Saints putting one over their ex boss would not only be pleasing from the "traitor" point of view, but would cement their good start to the season.

For Spurs its about being able to beat the better clubs in the Premier League, a draw at Arsenal last weekend kept their pride intact, but tit won't be lost on the Spurs supporters that the one other decent club they have faced Liverpool slaughtered them 3-0 at the Lane and Liverpool haven't exactly made a rip roaring start to the season.

Now Pochetttino has to show he can mix it with the big boys, something he failed to do last season with Saints, winning only two of the 14 games played against the seven clubs that finished above us, if he can do that then he may see out the average life span of around 15 months for a Spurs manager, if he doesnt he could be gone very quickly.

Perhaps the key for his survival will be if he tries to do things his way rather than pander to the demand for big stars, this means the likes of Ryan Mason rather than Aaron Lennon Andros Townsend etc, but can the Spurs fans live with that.

On Sunday Saints will be looking to make it seven wins in a row in all competitions and five in the Premier, the key will be the first goal, if Spurs get it they have a platform to build on, but if Saints draw first blood then Pochettino is faced with having to win his first ever Premier league game coming from behind and that would be a real irony if he managed that.

A loss at White Hart Lane would be a big disappointment for Saints fans that is for sure, but even if they did the start to the season would still be exceeding expectations and would only hopefully be a minor blip, one thing is for sure though on Sunday Ronald Koeman will pick a team to beat Spurs, he will also not be afraid to change it at various times, Mauriccio Pochettino will just pick a team to play his system, if the system works then Spurs could win, but if it doesn't then there could be a few boos ringing around White Hart Lane and a few vultures starting to hover.

Photo: Action Images

abingdonsaint added 13:54 - Oct 1 Haha.......you really do need to let the Poch thing lie now Nick! I'm loving the job Koeman is doing now, and long may it continue, but we did play some great football last season, and it is simply rewriting history to suggest otherwise. Obviously, I would love us to win on Sunday, and I think we have a very good chance of doing just that, but Poch played his part in our continuing rise and is certainly not the fool you suggest he is. Onwards and upwards!

0

richardmdcooper added 17:51 - Oct 1 Great article. I never wanted Poch, didn't like him much when he was here and can't stand him now..Koeman is already showing he is a far superior manager - as Nick mentions - his in-game ability to change things and use a balanced squad (e.g. his use of the midfielders) is terrific - he's ingratiated himself far more with saints fans than mopo ever did.. Agree Abingdon to a certain extent - we certainly played some great football last year but the Sunderland fa cup debacle, his refusal to speak english to the fans and stringing the club along at the end means we can, and should, give him a lot of stick on Sunday

0

SaintNick added 21:48 - Oct 1 We did play some great football last year, mainly against the bottom six teams but we played a lot of games were we played the ball around a lot but didn't get a lot to show for it
0

abingdonsaint added 21:53 - Oct 1 No arguments from me on that one Richard. Stick for Poch is certainly appropriate, and Koeman seems a top bloke. Hope he stays for longer than our usual time span!
0

abingdonsaint added 21:56 - Oct 1 Perhaps we have just got more clinical players this season Nick......
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls