At the end, Harry Kane and Ryan Mason embraced in victory. Kane pinched it for Spurs at the death, insisting on taking a late free-kick that clipped the wall and the deflection won the game. Mason played at pace throughout, playing it quickly, playing it forward. He also got right in the faces of the Villa team, clipping heels and giving not an inch.

These two want to play for the shirt. After this shabby effort, I’m not sure how many of the others want to. Always enjoy a win but make no mistake, this performance was rotten to the core. If this carries on, look down not up. The three points are only respite from hard times to come unless the entire squad change their attitude, never mind finding some form, and follow the example of these young homegrown players.

I enjoy debate about tactics and talk a bit about it here without going into minuscule detail. Tottenham On My Mind is a heat-map free zone. I’m no expert, I just watch other teams. Last week I watched Southampton and West Ham. Both hurl themselves into the fray and run with determination into space, to make chances when they have the ball and to cut out the opposition’s space when they lose it. Most of this Spurs midfield wouldn’t move themselves if you stuck a Saturn 5 up their backsides.

I’m past understanding. It is inexcusable. Just run back, the rest we can sort out. This afternoon, Eriksen and Chadli could not be bothered. Erisken, a real talent that I have talked up and who we should rely on during a difficult patch, was substituted at half time, although it could have been any one of 7 or 8 of them. I cannot abide professionals with this sort of attitude. “Fackin’ run around a bit” – it really has come to this. Capoue, a player I like, had his worst game this season, seldom near the action. Soldado was invisible for most of the time.

They looked on as our defence was cut to pieces in the first half by a side that hasn’t scored since the Coronation, apparently. Defending is a team affair. The back four deserve some protection. Every other team does it. Mind you, the back four did a fine job of imploding without any assistance. Kaboul was all over the place up against Benteke, who fortunately was rusty in front of goal and missed chances that he would normally take. As I said last week, Pochettino’s judgement to have such faith in him looks increasingly suspect. Vertonghen was anonymous. The gaps between the four of them were as wide as the Grand Canyon. The first half was the DVD of How Not To Defend.

Better teams than Villa would have scored more than one. Of course Spurs allowed Villa to break their duck. How can everyone be in the wrong place at the same time? We can. Weimann turned the ball in.

At the other end, Kaboul fumbled from close range and Soldado looked wistfully at the ball as he propelled it into Row Z, wondering how on earth it got there. He then set up Adebayor, clean through but his weak shot was saved by the excellent Guzan. Pochettino, Wengeresque, threw his water bottle feebly to the ground. He looked awful, I assume it was a virus rather than the effect Spurs is having on him but then again, perhaps Spurs has become a virus, sucking away the ability to manage a football team. Once again he did not get through to his players although his substitutions eventually turned it around.

It was embarrassing, you get the picture. At half-time the commentators suggested Pochettino would lay into his men. Almost certainly no one was listening. We were getting nowhere fast then Benteke was sent of for pushing Mason in the face after a few tackles flew in on the touchline. It was a way back into the match for Spurs that we had not earned and it looked as though we would not take advantage because we played the same way against 10 as we did against 11. Villa kept us very quiet, then Kane came on to brighten the day. I would have started him. His energy lifted everyone, his runs and angled passes posing problems.

I would not have played Chadli but Chadli it was at the far post to volley home a corner. Then Kane had the nerve to insist that the late free-kick was his and his alone. A most unlikely win, welcome though it was. I feel for Villa fans: when you are down, you are down.

Kane and Mason aside, there were no other positives in this grisly tale of woe. Enjoy the points but tremble at the thought we might play like this again next week. I really thought we had gone past this. Long season….

The day began basking in the warm glow of the celebration of the life of Bill Nicholson, the greatest figure in the long and distinguished history of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. It ended in ignominy as Spurs folded the moment the slightest pressure was applied to their fragile egos.

I’m still struggling to wash away the stench of complacency that lingers like the odour of smoke and stale beer from a night out in a 70s pub. This shower are happy to strut and showboat against inferior opposition in midweek but disappear as soon as they are required to step out of their comfort zone. The intelligence and effort required to hold onto a lead or fight back is apparently beneath them. When they said ‘wear white for Bill’, I didn’t think waving the white flag was what the club had in mind.

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Spurs eased into control early on and maintained it throughout an undistinguished first half without playing especially well. They didn’t have to. An injury-hit Newcastle side low on morale and points offered little resistance. We made fewer chances than we should have – Chadli missed the best of them – but had the comfort of Adebayor’s far post header from a carefully considered cross by Ryan Mason.

Oblivious to the big bloke on the left who came on for the second half, Spurs were undone by the cunning ploy of him getting the ball and running towards our goal. Unchallenged, unnoticed by some defenders, Ameobi scored, the only dispute being whether it was after 7 or 8 seconds. Utterly inexcusable. The whistle had gone but really, the cheek of starting a game before we were ready. At least for their second we tried to get in the way, another run down the left, Sissoko bulldozed  through puny challenges before a cross found the smallest guy on the pitch, far too good in the air for our international centre halves.

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From then on, Spurs had no idea of how to score. Eriksen briefly flattered to deceive then faded into the morass with the rest of this sorry bunch. We shuttled the ball back and forth across the edge of the box, with each man holding on to the ball just long enough for them to be tackled. Could not keep the ball. I’ll excuse Rose, always available on the left even if not every cross was accurate, and Mason, who seems to be the only one who’s read the memo about playing the ball quickly and forward. Lennon came on to add pace and width, and resolutely kept as far away from the touchline as possible. This was beyond tactics, it was just stupid.

Last weekend I tried to pick the bones from a performance of contradictions. There was good and bad, progress since Pochettino took and regression. Now I think we have a clearer idea of where we stand.

The striker problem has been done to death. Levy has left us ludicrously short of options. Thursday night was part of Kane’s development not a sign that he’s a matchwinning Premier League striker, although I’m delighted with his progress. Other things that in the recent past I have noted but left as asides or footnotes have come centre stage. Kaboul’s heroic performance at the Emirates could, should have been a sign of much needed resilience. Instead that good game is the blip amidst a mediocre run. I read about his inability to motivate as captain – that’s not the problem. He needs to play better, especially alongside Vertonghen who’s just coasting. And if the mananger’s key job is to judge players, I question the wisdom of putting so much store in a man who has lost the spring and suppleness that made him stand out, or for that matter selling Dawson when there’s no effective back-up.

After the QPR game I characterised Lamela as our hero in waiting, and supporters have waited so long for such a figure. He doesn’t seem to want it. Rabonas are for the hipsters and the showreel. Easily crowded out by defenders when he has the ball, off it he doesn’t cover. No coincidence Newcastle put that big bloke on our right. Dier was exposed: suddenly he looked so young, the aura of strength and promise slipping away. Mason screamed at Lamela, “F**king get back”. He didn’t.

Eriksen unable to control a midfield. Chadli happy when he can play the game at his own pace but unwilling to graft when that’s required. He was not alone. Our hopes for goals largely rest on that midfield three but all they gave us was indifference.

Most worrying of all, we do not have the players to suit Pochettino’s style. A pressing game, early forward passes, high tempo – if these are his trademarks this group of players are not responding. It’s noticeable that Mason, the player who does, is young, new and so presumably willing to listen and learn. Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen remain resistant. Yesterday Poch was unable to influence matters on the pitch. This unresponsiveness from the players does not auger well for the future and is of grievous concern, given that by and large this squad will take us through to the end of the season.

No doubt you’ll read invocations of the spirit of Billy Nick in stark contrast to the lack of commitment and application of yesterday’s team. There’s a great deal of truth in that. Nicholson would indeed have been furious at the sight of such a sorry spectacle but it’s not as if he would have been unduly surprised. On plenty of occasions during his reign, Spurs’ soft centre was laid bare and the slow handclap echoed round the Lane. He may have set the standards but many times the players failed to achieve them and not in the ‘defeat has echoes of glory’ sense either. I’m talking about inconsistency and defensive openness.

There are differences though that the players, manager and board would do well to reflect upon this week as they try to turn things around. In the current climate, Nicholson would have faced persistent calls for his dismissal in the media and from supporters on social media. Spurs finished 7th, 6th and 11th in the 3 seasons following the ’67 Cup win. After the glorious Cup Winners Cup victory in 1963, league form was patchy – 6th and 8th in the next two seasons. The League Cup wins in 71 and 73 would have been adversely compared with the Double and Europe – ‘only’ the League Cup.

In fact, these seasons demonstrate Nicholson’s great strength as a manager – he rebuilt teams, twice, going on to success each time. He wasn’t dismissed. He was allowed to choose his own players, albeit within a constrained budget. He was given time.

The other difference is Nicholson’s personal committment. This was no golden age of unbroken glory. He watched many poor performances and it hurt him, deep inside. I doubt very much if anyone at the club felt that pain this morning.

To celebrate his life, I did exactly what I normally do at every home game. I think that’s what he would have wanted. ‘Wearing white for Bill’ is OK as it goes. I’m not sure signing the wall in the club shop is quite the appropriate tribute but if people want to sign, why not.

Yet on the same day, there are more stories in the papers about a possible move to Milton Keynes while the new ground is built, something that supporters in the recent Trust survey overwhelmingly opposed. I don’t know anyone who understands why the club would consider this even for a millisecond, let alone be in favour of a move.

Once again it was left to supporters to say the one thing that truly matters right now. A flag in the north west corner displayed another quote from the great man: “We must always consider our supporters for without them there would be no professional football.”

Signing a wall or buying a shirt with Nicholson’s name inside the collar is marketing, not involvement or a tribute. To me, it’s an insult. Yesterday the stands, the trains home, the burger queues, all were filled not with anger but with apathy. The distance between club and supporter inches ever wider. It’s no way to run a football team.

The memories of last season’s 6-0 defeat at Manchester City are hard to erase. The goals themselves, one conceded after 13 seconds, were bad enough but it was the manner of the capitulation that can still bring out a cold sweat in the middle of the night. In particular an image revealed by the TV of four or five Spurs players otherwise engaged as the whistle blew. Thinking more about the first train home than the game. Kaboul tying his shoelaces.

A section of the media, Neil Ashton and Martin Samuels in the vanguard, saw that their victim was vulnerable and pounced on Villas-Boas, unleashing a torrent of criticism stored up from days at Chelsea, not Spurs’ fault but we suffered most. ‘We’ meant ‘them’ but soon enough AVB had to refer to Tottenham as ‘them’ not ‘us’ because he was gone.  Two managers later, it feels like several seasons have passed but in fact it’s under a year. Time flies when you’re not having fun.

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The match ebbed and flowed in timelapse, half a season’s worth of incidents speeded up and packed into 90 minutes. 4 penalties, sublime skill, pathetic defending (form both teams), end-to-end football in an open, exciting match that for neutrals could have been the best game of the season so far. How dare they enjoy that?

39 goal attempts and almost as many turning points but Soldado’s missed penalty after an hour did for us. The time for ifs and buts, could-haves and should-haves was past. In the middle of a spell in the second half where we took the game to City and found their defence was almost as porous as ours, Bobby stepped up, waited for the keeper to move and as usual put the ball low towards the corner, tried a tested routine, reliable….except this time something in the wiring of a brain that has seen him score goals for a lifetime fused. It compelled him to put the ball in the direction Hart was diving. It sucked all the strength from his leg muscles.

Hart saved the feeble effort. Shortly afterwards the keeper blocked Soldado’s fine effort from Rose’s cross. The game was gone and with it what remained of the Spaniard’s fragile confidence. Until then it had been his best game for Spurs for a long while. The link-up play with Eriksen in particular was delightful at times and one first-half pass sliced apart the City defence only for Mason to hit Hart’s legs with an outside-of-the-foot prod when something more substantial was required to put Spurs one up.

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So: goals and penalties, let’s go. Preface: in my view Aguero is the best in the world in the box and this was an outstanding day even for him.

First goal: Lamela gave the ball away and had a lousy match. City overloaded on our left in the first half, seeing Dier and Lamela as our weak spot and how right they were. Aguero does this thing: in the box most strikers take a touch forward before shooting. He shifts the ball a yard diagonally away from the goal and therefore from the defender in front of him then shoots. It’s impossible for the defender to tackle because he’s now two yards from the ball with Aguero in between. This also opens up the angle for the far post. The real problem here for Spurs was not so much Kaboul even though he gave him too much room but that Aguero needs two men to block and cut down that angle and space. We never did that.

And Lampard was in an offside position in the keeper’s line of sight. Questionable to say the least. not according to Alan Shearer on MOTD. Lampard couldn’t be offside ‘because Lloris wouldn’t have saved it anyway.” Rewrite the laws if it suits why don’t you. Or use your brain, which is why you get paid a 7 figure sum for a torrent of smug drivel.

Penalty: down goes Lampard who as all English football knows is a fine upstanding top hole pip pip decent chap. Except he wasn’t upstanding this time. he never dives so it must have been a penalty. He did and it wasn’t.

Second penalty: Kaboul ploughs in on the trickiest player in the league David Silva. Blatant pen, Kaboul reckless in the extreme and as captain no example to the rest of his side. Lloris saves with his legs. Lloris always dives to his left, you know.

Third pen: ours, Soldado was tripped outside the box. You know the rest. The ref’s having a mare, you may have gathered by now.

Fourth pen: Fazio who had until watched the penalty box mayhem without contributing much, pulled Aguero down as he ran in the box towards a cross. Might have got away with that in Spain. Sent off: was the ref certain Aguero would get on the end of that ball? I don’t think he could be. No red.

Fourth City goal: long ball, Aguero did that thing again. The free kick was taken quickly, three yards in front of where it should have been. Should therefore have been brought back. Did I mention the ref wasn’t having a good game?

Returning to the problems posed at the top of this piece, what’s important to me is whether or not we have moved on since then. That match was an example, albeit stark and extreme, of our problems in recent years against the top four. I used to say, ‘our rivals for the top four’ but there’s no chance of that, long gone. Spurs have a long-standing fatal problem of team deficiencies in attitude and togetherness coupled with failures of individuals at key moments. It’s a toxic combination.

Leave the ref out of it, yesterday showed familiar flaws. There were signs of better team play, especially coming forward. In the week Eriksen’s international manager criticised him for not dominating games. It’s something I’ve pointed out here too. Without putting undue pressure on a player who is still quite young, he has the talent to do much more. Goodness knows we need it. Yesterday he scored our equaliser with a fine right-footer, could have had another in the fist half when he passed unaccountably instead of shooting with his left and for the first hour was always a threat. Maybe he responded. It may be more to do with the extra room we have when we go away. City are the most attacking and therefore open of the top four and give others room.

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Without the ball we didn’t press so much as fall back, staying narrow, compressing the space and forcing City down the flanks, which worked well versus Arsenal and defending a lead against Southampton. Mason was delightfully energetic and combative, robbing the City midfielder to set up the first and generally being a right old nuisance. He moves the ball on quickly and his determined to take his chance. He’s waited a long time. Perhaps in the modern game 23 is the new 19. Players have to learn their trade elsewhere before coming into first team contention, more fully formed as footballers than in past generations.

On the bad days we’ve tended to fade. Fade – say what you mean man: give up. The late goals plus Milner hitting the post is a sign that problem hasn’t gone away but some mitigating circumstances, I reckon. 2-1 down, we had to push up and had a real chance until missed chances and the sending-off. Pochettino’s substitutions hindered rather than helped. The arrival of Townsend and Dembele disrupted the team’s balance. It would have been better to tweak, keeping the central midfield solidity as an attacking base.

However, we’ll get nowhere if we give the ball away with such profligacy. Kaboul and Lamela were the worst culprits in the first half, losing the ball close to our box. These errors led directly to at least two goals. Also, our progress was hampered by individual errors. Kaboul’s tackle for the penalty was inexcusable and even allowing for Aguero’s brilliance in the box there were other unnecessary, totally avoidable mistakes. The faults of key players are there too often, especially when we don’t have the ball.  Never mind the ref, we simply can’t play like this. It’s our fault, no one else to blame.

Lloris was great, I love him. End on a positive.