The conundrum facing Mourinho… and the Wolves defeat.

The conundrum facing Mourinho… and the Wolves defeat.

Mourinho desperately wanted to slow our descent into chaos and then reverse it, that is why he put Alderweireld and Vertonghen on the bench and why he also put Parrott in the squad. The first half of the match it looked a wise move, then in the second, we ended up like a full-size rubber doll being deflated (just like a scene from Only Fools and Horses… remember, they went down on Del, Roddy and Grandad).

With a few minutes left, he probably thought, what the heck, a Parrott is just as good as an eagle when the chips are down… Personally, if I was going to give him a chance I would have brought him on earlier, I don’t think he even got a touch to the ball.

As the players left the field, they were dispirited … Mourinho said that they should have got something from the game. The only thing we deserved was what we got. This is our third defeat in a row, and our first home league loss since Chelski came to our ground on 22^nd December.

I know people look at the results around us and think “we are still in with a shout,” but that isn’t the point… if we can’t beat teams like Wolves (and we did at the away game) and other teams below 6^th in the league, then we don’t deserve to be regarded as one of the elite. The only team that is showing any signs of quality is Liverpool, and they aren’t really that good, it is just that their opponents haven’t been fully engaged with them. Watford finally burst their bubble (3-0). City, in second, are not firing on all cylinders. If it wasn’t for our crazy league of Merry-go-round, we could be facing relegation by now. Daniel Levy, for whatever reason, hasn’t been investing in the team like other top clubs have. Yes, I know he has to pay off the clubs debts, but to make money you've got to spend… a top-four place and a few Cup finals will bring the money in (dividends for him and us). If we don’t get into the top four, we will lose the revenue of Champions League football and if we are not in it does that then mean the money we could have spent would then have to be curtailed? It is looking like a vicious circle and a spiral that is pointing us downwards. All depressing… not only for the likes of me, the fans but also the players and coaching staff as well. What Daniel Levy thinks, one can only speculate. But at least he is the highest-paid football director, so not all bad news.

Let us pick over the bones of our defeat… granted it isn’t going to cheer anybody up unless one is an Arseholenal, United, Chelski or some other degenerate of a supporter. The only ones walking away with a smile on their faces, on Sunday, as if they had just rogered the moggy, was Wolves fans.

Both Spurs and Wolves harbour hopes of reaching the Champions League next season, but it is Wolves who boast the better form and now also the better platform to do so. Hopefully not… ahead of them in the queue of hope will be us (I say that with fingers crossed), United-We-Fall, the Rent-boys, the Infringers of North London and that is without mentioning the Liverbirds or the Middle East City dogs.

Of course, the task of qualifying for Europe's premier competition could be made easier (hopefully) if the Middle East City dogs continental ban is upheld, and fifth place comes into play. How dare these bastards overspend and break the fair play rule, and we don’t even spend what we are allowed… it isn’t cricket (no, its football, but not as we know it, Jim!). Anyway, enough, I hear you shout of this flippancy… back to misery…

 Wolves, who could also book a place through the Europa League, showed resilience to twice come from behind and were largely inspired by their two wide forwards - Jota and Adama Traore.

Jota is in superb form and had a hand in all three of Wolves' goals, with his pass sending Jimenez away to slot the winner beyond Paulo Gazzaniga 17 minutes from time. The visitors, who are now level on points with United-We-Fall in fifth, had the phenomenal Traore to thank for bringing them level as he rode a heavy tackle by Tanganga to keep alive a move that ended with Doherty crossing for Jota to score from close range. That was the Portugal international's sixth goal in his past three games in all competitions.

Our striker crisis is well recognized and our supporters will welcome an early Kane return from a hamstring injury, which appears to be ahead of schedule, but our short-term solution, if we are to keep our European hopes on track needs to be rethought, otherwise by the time Kane comes back it could be all over… by then the shit will have already hit the fan… or is that the fan hitting the shit?

It was from the Ivory Coast international's driven cross that gave us the lead, as Bergwijn pounced after Alli's initial effort was saved to score his second Tottenham goal since a January move from PSV. Alli then found Aurier in space on the edge of the Wolves penalty area and the 27-year-old cut inside before bending a left-footed effort into the far corner.

But it was at the other end we struggled, looking indecisive on occasions with both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen on the bench, as we failed to stop Wolves' quick, attacking breaks.

Despite enjoying large spells of possession (65%), we were unsuccessful in registering a shot on target in the second half, so Mourinho brought 18-year-old Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott on in added time to hopefully give the impression that he was listening to the cries of a new bird wanted. Then afterwards he said Parrott wasn’t ready… Oh, well, give him a few seconds, and he won’t be. But his arrival earned a cheer from the home fans. At least they had something to cheer about, before leaving the arena of dreams dejected.

So, that was the end of that disappointing day. Now we must move on. The hope of a bit of Silverware could be in the air, that is if we can overcome Norwich City in the fifth round of the FA Cup, at our ground. Then if we are triumphant – a bit of hope usually has the guarantee of lifting one's dreams – we might be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat at Turf Moor, instead of preparing for a sadomasochistic party.

We have now lost three consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time since May last year. As for Jose Mourinho, well, he has lost three games in a row for only the fourth time during his managerial career, doing so once with Porto, Chelsea and Manchester United (at least we are not the only club in his managerial portfolio to suffer such hat-tricks).

As for Steven Bergwijn, well, he is the first Tottenham player to score in his first two home Premier League appearances since Rafael van der Vaart in October 2010 and the third overall, after his fellow Dutchman and Jermain Defoe (February 2004).

I wish I had reported a happier day at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for you, sadly it wasn’t to be… but, there is always next time.