SPURS COME UNSTUCK - BIG TIME.

So Tottenham's magical run in the Champions' League has almost certainly come to a shuddering halt at the hands, or feet, of Real Madrid.

Tottenham have been living on borrowed time for longer than it's healthy to remember. Their recent league result, draws with 3 of the bottom clubs in the Premier league, have hardly suggested they were really Champions' League material and Real have driven the point home, emphatically. It may be fair to say that the loss of Peter Crouch inside the first 15 minutes was a major factor but his wasn't the first dismissal the club has suffered in an important match this season; after all, it was only after they were reduced to 10 men that they nearly staged an astonishing come-back against Inter Milan at the San Siro, but making a habit of such situations is surely something that should be avoided.

Tottenham are a decent side but nothing very special. Their progress in the Champions' League this season has been pretty amazing but now, bar an act of god, it's over. Sadly, their recent league performances have been such as to make it very unlikely that they will qualify for next year's Champions' League and they will have to settle for the lesser UEFA League and even that could be problematic if they don't start scoring a few goals. Their strikers have been a largely impotent force this season while their defence has been less than impenetrable - not a recipe for success.

What Harry Redknapp has done with this team is remarkable but he's reached the end of what can be achieved without long term committment and major investment, neither of which seem to be in the minds of the Tottenham Board. While Arsenal and Manchester United have picked a manager and then given him time to properly develop a team and a philosophy, Tottenham have changed managers more times than I've changed my socks. Harry is, sadly, too old to be a long term proposition but what is the Board doing about finding a man who can lead this team for the next 10, 15 or 20 years ? This is what they must have if they are ever going to be real challengers for major trophies. Instead, the Board seems to want to move the team to the outskirts of East London, at the Olympic stadium site, alienating it from its supporters and its roots.

50 years after their great double-winning season, Tottenham have yet to find any sort of consistency in play or in management. Their overall record, even including this year's heights, speaks for itself - mediocre, at best - while neighbours Arsenal have outstripped them in every way. Sad, but true.