Penny for your thoughts? Tottenham fans would surely give substantially more to get inside the mind of Juande Ramos. With Ledley King fit again after his latest return from injury, this afternoon's visit to the Britannia Stadium was billed as a potential turning point in Spurs' season, and understandably so. Of the 16 defeats over which Ramos had previously presided since his arrival at White Hart Lane last October, 13 had been suffered in King's absence.
It is a remarkable statistic, but not half as remarkable as the Spaniard's decision to omit the talismanic defender from his starting line-up. Given the circumstances, it came as no surprise that the first step on the road to defeat number 14 was taken when a 19th-minute defensive howler saw Gareth Bale sent off for scything down Tom Soares. Danny Higginbotham slotted home the ensuing penalty, and although Spurs equalised almost immediately through Darren Bent, Rory Delap's 53rd-minute winner will further intensify the increasingly unforgiving spotlight on Ramos' tenure.
Without a win in eight games, Tottenham also face the prospect of trying to turn around their worst ever start to a season without the short-term services of Michael Dawson, who faces a suspension after being dismissed for a reckless injury-time challenge on Mamady Sidibe, and Vedran Corluka, who suffered a nasty-looking injury in a clash with his own goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes. Throw the dismissed Bale's suspension into the mix, and the resulting defensive crisis may yet see King get a game.
Things could, and perhaps should, have worked out differently for the beleaguered Ramos. Perversely, Bale's departure seemed to breathe new life into Tottenham, whose spirited response to falling behind merited an equaliser even though Bent's close-range effort, steered home from Alan Hutton's deflected cross, was scored from an offside position. Had Spurs capitalised on their second-quarter superiority, it might have kick-started their entire season.
Instead, their woes were compounded by Corluka's injury. The defender was hospitalised after being caught on the chin by Gomes' knee, a blow that rendered him unconscious. He was stretchered off wearing an oxygen mask, but subsequently came round in the ambulance.
Corluka's misfortune resulted in 11 minutes of stoppage time, during which a match of seemingly infinite drama took another incredible twist as Soares was bundled to the ground by Jonathan Woodgate. The resulting penalty, taken by Ricardo Fuller, cannoned off both posts, while Delap's follow-up shuddered the bar. Scarcely had the Britannia Stadium caught its breath than Dawson, Corluka's replacement, saw red for a reckless lunge on Sidibe. The dying seconds of a breathless encounter saw Fuller curl an effort against the bar.
