Tottenham Hotspur: Reality Check

The last two games have been massive for Spurs fans. No, not the Carling Cup Final or the UEFA Cup game against Shakter. I'm talking about the two games against Hull and Middlesbrough.

Certainly at the beginning of the season no Spurs fan, not even the most pessimistic, would have thought we would have been in the position that we currently find ourselves in—that is, fighting for survival.

Questions have been asked about the current squad—whether they have the bottle or the head for such a fight, and I truly believe that were it not for the signings in January, Spurs could have been finding themselves heading into the Championship.

In that respect, we should count ourselves lucky that we are still an attractive proposition to many players outside of the top four (and even one player in the top four)!

For me, Palacios and Keane have been crucial signings and will be the main reason we will stay up. Those players, combined with the resurgence in form of Aaron Lennon. To think that there was talk of us selling him in January makes me shudder.

In terms of who will go down, I'm afraid that I have to be fairly unimaginitive in that I believe West Brom and Stoke will be relegated. The other team I think will go down is Newcastle, who have a very tough run of games and do not seem able to play as a team.

I believe that Tottenham will stay up this season. Moving onto next season, this season has given us the reality check we need. Spurs are not the biggest club outside the top four, and we are not Champion's League material.

Talk of signing world class superstars will hopefully be forgotten, a crime all Spurs fans seem to have been guilty of, including myself. I suspect there will be yet another overhaul in the summer, with players such as Bentley, Pav, and Jenas moving on.

In their place I would like to see some hard working players signed, such as Stephen Hunt from Reading and Matt Taylor from Bolton. These are very unexciting players, but would provide the dynamism that Spurs seem to have lacked this season. Also a decent striker. David Villa anyone?