Football FanCast columnist Andrew Fitchett reflects on yesterday’s 9-1 drubbing of Wigan.

I don’t know about you but I never feel quite comfortable when Spurs are doing well. I know it’s sad, and pessimistic, and typical of a Tottenham fan, but you can’t help but feel that disappointment is lurking round the corner with a switchblade ready to relieve you of your happy disposition.

Sat comfortably in the luxury of the Park Lane on Sunday afternoon at half-time, I could only see our thoroughly deserved 1-0 lead as the set-up for yet another sick gag where we dominate like a PVC-clad call girl, only for the lowly opposition to perform a textbook rope-a-dope and plunder a last minute equaliser. As one commentator said when Ireland were 1-0 up in Paris during the week, it’s not the disappointment that kills you – it’s the hope.

So, come the final whistle, as everyone looked around at one another, not quite sure what to say other than ‘9-1, we’ve won 9-1, 9-1… 9-1!’, I felt part of a surreal universe where Spurs were a ‘proper’ side. In the Premiership era. With a legitimate spot in the top four.

It was a great day at the Lane, no doubt, and sure to be one where people will recall where they were when it happened. After all, if they score more than nine this century in a league game it would take some doing. However, when all the dust has settled over the stupendous score-line and the performances of Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Niko Kranjcar and everyone else, the biggest point might be that Spurs were just so ruthless.

As mentioned, it’s been a common trait for us to dominate games and get nothing for our efforts. Before the game, there may have been some tension over the fact that we were in a prime position to press home an advantage in the table after some lacklustre results for our rivals in the race for fourth spot. The first half performance only heightened those anxieties as we started with real intent, only for Wigan to creep back in approaching the break. It was all too familiar. However, Sunday’s Spurs was a team with a new edge, not happy to settle for a mere 1-0 advantage at the half, but incisive enough to exploit a side that were there for the taking.

Defoe summed up the new spirit with his five brilliantly taken goals, and when David Bentley scores you know the team are in the mood for business.

Let’s just hope we get more of the same next week at Aston Villa. If we win there it will open up a gap between ourselves and at least one of the chasing pack, a chance that Spurs don’t normally take – and end up regretting.