Reports of Newcastle's demise and Tottenham's recovery may have been exaggerated

Filed in archive Premiership 2007-08 on March 31, 2008

One result stood out against all others for me this weekend. Tottenham 1 Newcastle 4. The reason I found this result so amazing was that I had joined both of the bandwagons that said Newcastle were a disaster and would probably go down under Keegan, and that Tottenham were developing into a major force and would challenge the top four under Ramos. It seems that both of these bandwagons may have to come to an abrupt halt.

Kevin Keegan took Newcastle to nine games without a win and to the brink of relegation. He has stuck by his principles, kept playing three strikers and has now won two games in a row which will almost certainly be enough to stay up. In those games all three strikers, Owen, Martins and Viduka have found the back of the net.

Tottenham had a fine start under Ramos after the disastrous start to the season they had prior to Martin Jol's departure. Of course, they won the Carling Cup and the future looked good. Since that win Tottenham have won only three games in eight and have conceded fifteen goals in the process.

The outcome of this game is that Newcastle fans may well be feeling more positive than Tottenham fans. That is a situation that couldn't have been imagined just a few weeks ago. After yesterdays game the reaction of both camps said it all. Tottenham assisstant manager Gus Poyet could barely contain his anger. "There were far too many mistakes out there. It is hard for me to talk right now, because I am trying to stay calm. I think we should apologise to the fans. The season is not finished yet, but I'm not sure if our players know."

Keegan meanwhile couldn't have been happier. "We had 11 players out there playing to their maximum, we did not have a weak link in our team. We could have scored more, we hit the bar and the keeper made two world class saves. But we also defended well."

This one result has sealed a remarkable turn around at both clubs. Newcastle are still not a great side but Keegan can now look to next season and the possibility of turning things around. Tottenham have some awful deficiencies at the back despite having three English international centre-halves and having signed the Scottish international right back. With the personnel involved it is difficult to see why they concede so many goals.

This result takes Newcastle to within four points of Tottenham in the table with six matches to go. There is a real possibility that Newcastle will now finish above Tottenham in the league. Who would have predicted that three or four weeks ago? Certainly not me.