Tim’s post about aesthetic fascists in football seems to be an expansion on the basic comment of ‘just what is it with Spurs fans?’ I’ve thought for some time that they are willingly cursed by the comment by Danny Blanchflower that ‘The game’s about glory, doing things with style’.

I’m sure at the time it seemed right, the very epitome of the Spurs way. But look where it leads you. No longer a big club, having not won the league for over 40 years and perennial champions in the alternative universe where points are awarded for artistic impression.

But help is at hand. I can reveal a way to exorcise the curse, which doesn’t involve publicity stunts involving end-of-the-pier fortune tellers. They must sign Robbie Savage.

It’s hard to think of a more unloved player than Savage. It doesn’t help looking like what would happen if Dean Gaffney and an Afghan hound were placed in Seth Brundle’s transporter chamber and merged with each other. However, he’s effective. That’s why he’s regularly picked and the clubs where he’s played value him greatly. This concentration on effectiveness would free Spurs from this curse and supplant tippy-tappiness in its stead. Which is the way it should be. Then all their ball players might actually have to come up with new and interesting ways to remain in the treatment room.