After Tottenham Defeat, is it Time to Panic?

Yesterday was sobering to say the least. Before the game I said that this is not a great Spurs team and that only Bale is brilliant - and I hold to that - but we made them look like world beaters for much of the game.

To be fair, had we made it to half time goal less, the result may have been different; but then had that Bale shot that smashed against the bar gone in, I fear we might have shipped five or six.

It was so obvious that the defence were dropping too deep and that there was an ocean of space between the back line and the midfield, but nothing was done to change things. I saw Allardyce waving for Noble to play higher up the pitch but the back four didn't move up with him, terrified no doubt by the pace of Bale, Lennon and Defoe. And the third goal showed why they were so scared!

Of course, we return to the problem of the full backs. When you come up against Bale and Lennon, you need pace on your flanks, and we don't have it. There's nothing to be gained from criticising McCartney and O'Brien, it has been a policy for far too long to plug the full back gaps with make weights - and for years now that policy has been costing us. That needs to be addressed in January.

More of a concern was the lack of mobility of Carroll, the ineptitude of Maiga and the number of times that Diame lost possession in the centre of midfield. People will credit Carroll for the third goal but he was not working hard enough for me. He never ran into the channels, he rarely closed when Spurs had the ball and when we did break, as with Nolan's cross which narrowly failed to make it to Jarvis, Carroll was miles behind the play and making no attempt to catch up.

Should we panic? Well the next few games are likely to be traumatic and we could slide down the table quickly. Any suggestion that we are a genuine top ten team was exploded at White Hart Lane. The focus must be on survival and with Redknapp in charge at QPR and Southampton finding their feet after a horrible opening sequence of games, that may no be as easy as some people were beginning to assume. Wigan showed how ordinary this team is and Spurs rammed it down our throats. It might not be time to panic but it is time to say a quiet prayer to your God.