Tottenham Hotspur: Michael Brown and the Decade's 10 Most Underrated Players

If you don't want to feel old then avoid reading the next part of this sentence, a decade ago Glenn Hoddle was just embarking on his first full season as Tottenham Hotspur manager.

It doesn't feel like 10 years ago until you really think about all those that have come and gone at White Hart Lane since that point.

The return of the legendary Hoddle to Spurs would have its moments.

By the beginning of what would have been his third full season as manager and about half way through the 'five-year-plan' he had envisioned upon his appointment, his chairman Daniel Levy decided it wasn't working out.

All that has followed came about from that point.

David Pleat took caretaker duties while Levy did his due diligence on the continental system he would implement for the 2004/05 season.

While Jacques Santini would not last long, his assistant manager Martin Jol thrived for nearly three seasons. He made Spurs a side capable of becoming a consistent top-six presence for the first time in the Premier League era.

Jol's dismissal set the club back a good year or so.

While Juande Ramos would deliver the Carling Cup, it took the comparatively no-nonsense approach of Harry Redknapp to maximise a talented but directionless squad.

On the pitch in this time the key players in this story have included Robbie Keane, Ledley King and Dimitar Berbatov, men who have captured the hearts of the Tottenham faithful.

Alongside them have been a host of others too. Players who have perhaps been underrated in the eyes of the fans, media and even their managers.

And on the other hand, players who have contributed crucially to what has on the whole been a pretty good decade for Tottenham.

Here is a salute to those men who have pulled on the Lilywhite shirt and have worked damn hard, all the while making some pretty good memories of their own too.

Such is the long list of players who have played for Tottenham in recent times, some unsung heroes will have missed out. Please comment with any suggestions as to who also deserves some credit and why.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown joined Tottenham shortly before Christmas 2003, making the move down from Sheffield United where he had built his reputation as a combative all-round midfielder.

The previous campaign with the Blades had seen him score 22 times in a memorable season for Neil Warnock's side.

It prompting Spurs caretaker boss David Pleat to take a chance on adding a little steel to the Tottenham midfielder.

While goals would not come by as fruitfully in the Premier League, Brown's tenacious displays helped ensure his new team did not veer close to a relegation struggle in a difficult 2003/04 for Spurs.

One of the best Tottenham performances of that season came early on in Brown's tenure against Liverpool.

The £500,000 signing and central midfield partner Darren Anderton dominated their opposition counterparts of Danny Murphy and Dietmar Hamann.

Brown's industry combined with Anderton's creativity in a day when everything went right for Spurs in a 2-1 win (which also saw Helder Postiga score his solitary league goal for the club).

The influx of new midfielders the following season would eventually lead to Brown's departure, but not before he played his part in getting the Martin Jol era off and running from the Dutchman's appointment until the end of the season.

Brown's hard-working displays helped re-energise Spurs after a winless run in the last days of Jacques Santini—the best of which came in a great pre-Christmas encounter with Blackburn Rovers.

The midfielder ran his socks off that day, culminating in a moment of brilliance that led to the winner in a 1-0 victory.

Collecting the ball deep in the Spurs half, Brown charged forward to the Blackburn penalty area, stretching the home side with his one-man counter attack.

Reaching the box he cut back and laid it on a plate for Robbie Keane to fire home.

Lee Young-Pyo

Lee Young-Pyo arrived at Tottenham in 2005.

His reputation high followed from his part in South Korea's famous World Cup performance three years earlier as well as a successful spell with PSV Eindhoven.

In his time at Spurs the Korean full-back was not quite good enough to be classed with the Premier League's very best in the position.

He was certainly top of the second tier—something that was evident in particular during his first season.

The previous season seen Timothée Atouba and Erik Edman vie for the left-back position. The former was talented but too prone to taking risks—the latter decent but not overly solid.

Lee struck a balance somewhere between the two. He was fast and capable of joining in attacks, often deployed in the overlap ahead of Edgar Davids or Teemu Tainio who were both more inclined to tuck inside.

Defensively Lee was a good interceptor of the ball, using his pace to get the jump on attackers.

It is arguable that the back four he formed along with Ledley King, Michael Dawson and Paul Stalteri (with Paul Robinson behind) was the strongest defensive unit Spurs have had in recent seasons.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto took Lee's place early on in 2006/07 before injury to the new signing saw the Korean gain his place back.

He would remain until 2008—a generally reliable performer when called upon. The highlight of his remaining time being his contribution to the 5-1 Carling Cup thrashing of Arsenal in his last year.

Teemu Tainio

Teemu Tainio was one of several players from the previous regime let go by Juande Ramos in the summer of 2008.

Considering the Spaniard was not long for White Hart Lane either, it was a shame Tainio did not get to stay longer at Tottenham.

A versatile player, the Finnish international could play comfortably play across the midfield and on occasion even helped out at full-back.

Bravery in the tackle and a sturdy engine meant Tainio was a player Spurs could rely on to get amongst his midfield counterparts.

He was also a great facilitator of the attacking aspects of his team's game.

When he did win the ball he was tidy in the pass and could quickly bring others into the game.

Goals were not Tainio's forte, but one that will go down in Tottenham folklore was the the timely volley he struck against West Ham in the remarkable 4-3 comeback win in 2007.

Tainio was also a member of 2008 Carling Cup winning side, coming on in the 75th minute not long after Dimitar Berbatov's penalty equaliser.

As the game went into extra time his running was vital as he kept hounding the Chelsea players in what was a tense and riveting encounter, helping to keep Spurs in the game before Jonathan Woodgate's winner.

Anthony Gardner

Injuries got the better of Anthony Gardner in the end, and sadly for the defender they have continued to cause problems for him since departing from Spurs in 2008.

Now at Crystal Palace he might at long last escape their curse.

Gardner arrived at Tottenham in 2000 from Port Vale along with other lower league purchases in Luton's Gary Doherty and Peterborough duo Simon Davies and Matthew Etherington.

It was easy to see why he had attracted Spurs' interest. He was an imposing figure at six-feetfive-inches, but was no slouch and for a defender was quite elegant on the ball.

His best time at Tottenham came in the 2003/04 campaign when, with Ledley King often deployed in defensive midfield, Gardner was the rock in the Spurs defence.

Relatively unscathed fitness wise, he delivered a clutch of top performances getting the best of some of the Premier League's most dangerous forwards including Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and most notably Thierry Henry.

It was the season where he received his solitary England cap.

In his time at Spurs he was never quite unable to achieve desired consistency. At times when he did return to the line-up he was unable to quite gain the form to stake a regular first-team place.

Gardner remained a useful squad player for some time. When he was able to shake that inconsistency he could come in and do a job.

Martin Jol said as much when he signed him up to a three-year contract extension in 2006.

He told the club's website "Anthony is a valuable member of our squad, a good professional who always does the job when called upon."

One defining memory of Gardner always sticks in this writer's mind.

Against West Ham in 2002, the game was level at 2-2 when the leggy Gardner galloped forward past through the lunges of desperate Hammers' defenders before letting fly with a shot from the edge of the box.

The finish wasn't so pretty as it deflected in off Gary Breen's legs. But any winner against West Ham should definitely be cherished. Speaking of which...

Paul Stalteri

Paul Stalteri was forever guaranteed legendary status in the eyes of most Tottenham supporters.

On Sunday 4th March 2007, he took hold of the ball just outside of the Spurs box after West Ham had lost possession.

With the score at 3-3 he burst forward and played the ball into the path of Jermain Defoe.

Continuing his run, Stalteri followed the play so that when Robert Green parried Defoe's shot Tottenham's number seven was there to tuck it away. 4-3. Brilliant.

So with all this in mind just why is Stalteri one of Spurs' underrated players, especially when he is behind one of the club's most memorable moments?

The fact was by this time the Canadian full-back was no longer a first team regular and thereafter his first team performances would be few and far between.

A troublesome hip injury coincided with the arrival of Pascal Chimbonda who displaced him when he joined in the 2006/07 season.

The year before that however, in his debut season at Spurs, Stalteri had been an important part of the team. They came so close to qualifying for the Champions League, forming a strong back-four, most commonly alongside Dawson, King and Lee.

Stalteri straight away became first-choice right back upon joining from Werder Bremen.

He was solid throughout the 2005/06 campaign and was also good going forward too.

It is arguable that no right-back has formed quite a strong partnership with Aaron Lennon in front of him in right-wing than Stalteri.

The Canadian supported his young team-mate, whether it was offering the overlap when Lennon's own runs were halted, or feeding him the ball before staying back and providing help should it be needed.

Roman Pavlyuchenko

When it comes to Roman Pavlyuchenko the argument between most Spurs fans seems to be divided between those who think he is inconsistent and frustrating.

Then there are those who think he is a striker of quite substantial talent who benefits from prolonged runs in the team.

This writer is firmly in the camp of the latter, those of you in the former are wrong. So there!

In all seriousness, most at Spurs have took Pav to their hearts, and this is one player you would class as being underrated by the manager more than other parties.

It should be noted that as of writing, with Jermain Defoe, Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart all performing strongly, the Russian's place down the pecking order is about right.

In the past however, this has been a striker's who talent has been neglected.

The most significant example came in the 2009/10 campaign. Until being brought on against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round that January and scoring a superb goal, Pavlyuchenko had been unfairly and unfathomably shunned by Harry Redknapp.

As Spurs' season stuttered every so slightly, the calls and songs from the fans for the Russian international were heralded by Redknapp.

There is no denying that the striker (along with the re-emergence of Gareth Bale) galvanised Tottenham on their march to Champions League qualification.

His goals in that spell, including a superb vindicating double at Wigan, kept Spurs firing at that point. It was also more indication of when given a run of games that Pavlyuchenko does perform.

This had been the case the previous season when he scored in every round along the way to the Carling Cup final.

It was the case early in 2010/11 with Defoe injured and Robbie Keane out of form, Pav was for a spell given the nod ahead of Peter Crouch to partner van der Vaart.

He responded with several goals including against Inter Milan in the Champions League and Chelsea in the Premier League.

When he is on song, he scores goals that can be truly scintillating. For evidence of that goalscoring talent, just check out the all-important goal he scored in the first-leg against Young Boys last year.

Jermaine Jenas

With Jermaine Jenas, the disappointing thing has been there have been flashes of a truly great all-round midfielder that have never been consistently capitalised on.

It is mostly there in those long, pacy, gliding runs where he is able to move past players with ease and put himself in to great positions.

But this ability to really take a game to the opposition has only been there on sporadic occasions.

Now with that said, it is time to state the case for the defence of Jenas.

While he has never quite lived up to the potential and hype heaped upon him early on in his career, he has been a very, very important player for Tottenham in his time at the club.

There are two points to expand on here. First the tireless worker, doing the jobs that generally go unnoticed unless looked for.

Jenas' energy meant he could get around players in midfield, winning the ball off them and breaking up play. If he lost possession, few would seek it back with quite as much hunger as the sometime England international.

This was evident when he became injured not long into Harry Redknapp's tenure as manager in December 2008.

Spurs lost focus in a spell that threatened to see them dragged back into a relegation fight.

There is also the fact that Jenas was something of a clutch performer, turning up in big games when others failed to do so.

It was a trait that seemed to manifest itself most notably in several goals in the north London derby. His finest game against Arsenal, was perhaps his finest for Tottenham.

The 5-1 Carling Cup semi-final win that secured a place in the 2008 final was in large part thanks to the efforts of Jenas.

He opened the scoring after only a few minutes, receiving the ball from Berbatov before rifling in a fine low-shot. It was his free-kick that then proceeded to find its way in off Nicklas Bendtner's head for Spurs' second.

Jamie O'Hara

Jamie O'Hara will be one those 'what might have been' players at Tottenham Hotspur.

The former Arsenal academy product arrived at Tottenham in 2003.

He progressed as a player with numerous loan spells. He even had one-on-one practice sessions with Edgar Davids during the Dutchman's time at the club.

It was one of the big plus points of the Ramos-era that the Spaniard gave the young midfielder his chance not longer after taking charge.

Making his debut against Portsmouth in December 2007 he set up Berbatov's winner.

Three days later he made an even better assist. He hit a beautiful pass to play in Steed Malbranque for Spurs' second in their Carling Cup quarter final victory.

O'Hara would miss out on the fun that followed in the competition, but thereafter played often in Ramos' remaining time in charge.

At the beginning of the following campaign he was superb away at Newcastle, once more in the Carling Cup, before playing a big role in the eventful semi-final win against Burnley.

In the final against Manchester United the midfielder had his penalty saved by Ben Foster as Spurs lost a close-contest.

The Tottenham supporters proudly sang O'Hara's name three days later in a 4-0 win against Middlesbrough. Unfortunately, there would be few more proud moments for him in a Spurs shirt.

Despite signing a contract extension later in 2009, Redknapp then straight away sent him on loan to Portsmouth.

O'Hara was superb at Fratton Park, one of the few plus-points of a terrible Premier League campaign, but despite his performances there he was viewed as surplus to requirements by his Tottenham boss.

Noureddine Naybet

As the Jacques Santini-Frank Arnesen continental revolution was in full-swing in the summer of 2004 it was a case of out with the old and in with the new.

Several of the old guards including Darren Anderton, Christian Ziege and Gus Poyet bid farewell.

The massive turn-over saw mostly youthful players from home and abroad like Sean Davis, Pedro Mendes and Reto Ziegler arrive.

Along with them, one exception to experience came in the form of Moroccan legend Noureddine Naybet.

Arriving after eight years with Deportivo La Coruna, the centre-back's class was evident from the beginning.

He delivered some impeccable performances as Spurs conceded only three goals in the first eight games.

Here was a truly intelligent defender, blessed with years of experience at the top level, something that was of great benefit to those around him.

There is no doubting that alongside Naybet, Ledley King matured a great deal as a defender that year. When Michael Dawson joined midway through the season he too benefited from such an example to play alongside.

Naybet had a great 2004/05 season, but the fledgling partnership of Dawson and King proved difficult to break up the following campaign. Still, it was a pleasure to watch such a quality player even for such a short time.

Steed Malbranque

What would turn out to be Steed Malbranque's last game for Tottenham Hotspur was an effectively meaningless 2-0 home loss to Liverpool on the final game of the season.

You would not have thought so watching Malbranque as he ran himself into the ground like it was a title decider.

That was the Belgian midfielder for you, a tireless and dynamic performer who would never give less than his best effort.

Arriving from London neighbours Fulham in 2006, Malbranque's first season at Spurs was on the whole a good one.

Deployed in left midfield he was a constant attacking threat for his team.

Not necessarily as dangerous with the ball as Aaron Lennon on the other flank, or Keane and Berbatov up-front, but a player who would be at your heels and keen to sniff out any chance he could.

It was the following campaign that Malbranque was especially important for Tottenham.

As the team struggled early on in 2007/08 amid the rumours surrounding Martin Jol's job, along with new signing Gareth Bale and Keane, Malbranque was one of the few players that did not disappoint.

There was always a pride in his performance, a great spirit, one that certainly endeared itself to the White Hart Lane faithful.

Malbranque's goal was the cherry on top of the 5-1 win over Arsenal later that season. He delivered another industrious performance in the subsequent Carling Cup final win over Chelsea.

After a spell at Sunderland, his quick release from Saint-Etienne last month were accompanied by rumours Malbranque had retired.

The midfielder quickly denied this, and the hope will be this credit to the game of football is soon playing again.