At the end of a week in which George Graham's long search for a new striker
suffered another setback, Steffen Iversen grabbed a hat-trick and Spurs scored
seven goals.
And the jeers which have so often accompanied their powder-puff displays this
season were replaced by disbelieving White Hart Lane fans singing ``We love you
Tottenham, we do.''
Who needs John Hartson or even Sergei Rebrov - said to be boss Graham's latest
target after the collapse of the £6 million deal for Wimbledon's muscular but
injured Wales star - on days like these?
It was Spurs' biggest win in the Premiership but a desperate day for one of
their biggest old favourites Glenn Hoddle, who saw his ragged Southampton side
savaged after twice taking the lead.
The ex-England coach has now lost three successive matches in London and might
need to recruit faith healer Eileen Drewery to instill some belief into the
desperate side he has inherited.
Chris Armstrong, usually the butt of the Tottenham boo-boys, scored twice and
missed two other chances while Sol Campbell and Darren Anderton were also on
target, although Campbell's header seemed to go in off Southampton's Dean
Richards as Spurs twice clawed their way back from behind in a bizarre first
half.
There had been little indication of the dramas to come in a scrappy opening 25
minutes in which Armstrong missed his almost obligatory sitter for Spurs and
Mark Hughes, recalled for possibly his last Saints match before moving to
Everton next week, and Chris Perry both needed running repairs for head injuries
sustained in predictably fierce aerial combat.
But then Jo Tessem scored with Saints' first on-target shot on the end of a
speedy breakaway exchange between Hassan Kachloul and Wayne Bridge and the fun
really started.
Tessem was soon to surrender the role of top Norwegian on show as Iversen
found his shooting boots.
Campbell launched himself at Anderton's right-wing corner four minutes later
although the final scoring touch may have gone in off luckless Richards.
Saints were past caring about that when poor marking by Armstrong, who was
supposed to have back-tracked to mark the lanky Tahar El Khalej, gifted Hoddle's
new Moroccan signing a free header and a debut goal from a Marian Pahars'
free-kick out on the left.
Perry, his head swathed in plaster after the clash with the equally-bloodied
Hughes, had been forced to give up the struggle by then and was replaced by
substitute Luke Young.
But Spurs turned adversity into triumph with two goals in two minutes,
Anderton reacting quicker than anybody to prod home David Ginola's cross and
Armstrong atoning for his earlier blunder with a thundering drive inside Jones's
near post.
But Southampton badly shot themselves in the foot when Iversen landed a fourth
Tottenham goal in first-half stoppage time, a poacher's strike that was more
spectacular in its unexpectedness than any that preceded it.
Paul Jones rushed out of his goal to repel Armstrong, but Francis Benali made
a complete hash of tidying up the loose ball, presenting it to Iversen who,
spotting the goalkeeper struggling to get back on his line, lofted it past him
from 25 yards.
Iversen was a coat of paint away from scoring again in the first 10 minutes
of the second half when, put through by Leonhardsen, his shot beat Jones but
scraped the outside of a post.
El Khalej, having a colourful baptism in Premiership football - Ginola's
sizzling run had left him flat on his back in only the second minute when a
brilliant Jones save was required to keep out the Frenchman's shot - might
easily have conceded two penalties soon after the break.
Leonhardsen, who has shaken off the ring-rust evident in his previous two
comeback games from a long-term groin injury, crossed dangerously from the right
and the ball hit the Moroccan on the shoulder before running down his arm.
Referee Mark Halsey allowed him the benefit of the doubt - and again three
minutes later when Armstrong went tumbling under his challenge when cutting in
fast from the left.
But by now Saints were in a sorry state and Armstrong punished them with a
fifth Spurs goal on 63 minutes, deftly flicking home Stephen Carr's low cross at
the near post before Jones or Richards could get to him.
Even midfield battler Steffen Freund, yet to register a Spurs strike, went
close with a powerful effort that tested Jones as Tottenham lined up to take
shots.
Armstrong should have had his hat-trick when Ginola set him up but he
slid the chance wide before teeing up Anderton for a rasping drive that just
cleared the bar.
Saints defending was a mess but it must be said Spurs' was not much better.
They were all over the place when Pahars slid in to meet Tessem's cross but
toe-ended a clear opportunity off target.
Twelve minutes from time, though, Spurs were 6-2 up when Mauricio Taricco,
getting in behind a scattered Southampton rearguard, delivered a wonderful low
cross from the left, and Iversen slotted it under Jones.
And Iversen completed his treble when Ginola's deflected pass ran nicely for
him to beat the hapless Jones again.
Appropriately, Spurs left the field to the strain of Robbie Williams's ``Let
Me Entertain You'', but Hoddle could not have been amused.
Teams
Tottenham:
Walker, Carr, Perry (Young 29), Campbell, Taricco,
Leonhardsen, Anderton, Freund, Ginola, Iversen, Armstrong.
Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Ferdinand, Korsten, Clemence.
Booked: Freund, Carr.
Goals: Richards 28 og, Anderton 39, Armstrong 41, Iversen 45,
Armstrong 64, Iversen 78, 90.
Southampton:
Jones, El Khalej, Richards, Benali, Tessem,
Oakley, Kachloul (Le Tissier 68), Marsden, Bridge, M. Hughes,
Pahars.
Subs Not Used: Moss, Beattie, Rodrigues, Soltvedt.
Booked: Benali, Kachloul.
Goals: Tessem 26, El Khalej 33.
Att: 36,024
Ref: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).
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