Tottenham emerge as serious title contenders

Football

After Monday night's 4-1 demolition of Manchester United at White Hart Lane, people are starting to take Tottenham's title aspirations seriously. The bookmakers are certainly, as shown by Ladbrokes slashing the odds on a Spurs triumph from 100-1 to 25-1 - much to the disappointment of Gerry Francis.

While the Spurs manager had kept his wallet in his pocket, joking that yesterday's victory would probably push his undervalued and underrated side out further, striker Chris Armstrong sounded the championship charge.

Two more superbly taken goals finally banished any doubts about the wisdom of Spurs' pounds 4.5m investment in the Crystal Palace striker.

It also pushed Francis's men back into fourth place, seven points adrift of the leaders Newcastle, having played two games more.

"Of course we're serious about going for it - our League position shows that," says Newcastle-born Armstrong.

"But we have to be realistic - Newcastle have to slip in a big way for anyone else to win it off them. Europe has always been our first aim and we're well on course for that. But whatever Gerry achieves is a bonus because he is still building."

Armstrong, now on the 10-goal mark, was bought by Francis to replace Jurgen Klinsmann. "Everyone knew Jurgen was an absolutely world class act and I had the same situation when I moved to Palace, where I had to cope with the legacy of Ian Wright.

"You just have to cope. I had a manager who believes in me, and the Spurs fans are always prepared to be patient. They showed that with Chris Waddle and Darren Anderton and they've been good to me. It's good to repay them."

It is a tribute to Francis's coaching and motivational skills that he continues to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear at White Hart Lane, signing just three players in 14 months to replace three world class departures in Klinsmann, Nick Barmby and Gheorghe Popescu.

More than that, he has coped with major injury crises, none much worse than now with eight regulars on the treatment table. Yet he has lost only 10 out of 51 League games, a remarkable ratio.

However, he knows the system is against him. Only sides who can invest in huge squads having a realistic title chance. Packed programmes like at Christmas are no help either.

Backing the call for a mid-winter break, he said: "After 27 years of being away from the family, as a player and a manager, it would be nice to get the break.

"It's no coincidence that we get so many injuries over the Christmas period because we play so many games in a short space of time, normally at this time of year on heavy pitches.

"They talk about how Christmas changes the League picture - but a lot of that is down to injuries. And injuries to key players can cost you dear."

That was amply illustrated by United, who already had Denis Irwin, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister out and gambled disastrously on goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

Tottenham, in contrast, rested captain Gary Mabbutt to ensure his recovery from an ankle injury for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Hereford.

n Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday defended their decision to pull out of a re-arranged date for their Midlands derby at Birmingham. The game was postponed on New Year's Day, but Birmingham, who also host Wolves in Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie, had quickly arranged a new date for today - only for their Molineux rivals to refuse to play the match on the new date. Wolves were apparently reluctant to face Barry Fry's team twice in four days.