Cool O’Hara takes heat off Ramos

After spending almost £70million on players, it may have taken one of Spurs' own products to kickstart the season for Juande Ramos last night.

With David Bentley (£15m); Darren Bent (£16.5m); Luka Modric (£16.6m) and Giovani (£4.7m) all on the bench, Jamie O'Hara took the opportunity to put in a commanding display.

On the eve of his 22nd birthday, the energetic midfielder sealed the match with the second goal in the 2-1 win in the 66th minute.

As Newcastle defender Steven Taylor dwelt on a square pass from Fabricio Coloccini, O'Hara stole possession before stroking the ball beyond Shay Given.

Following a summer of multi-million pound investment in international midfielders, it was no surprise that doubts were being cast over the young Englishman's White Hart Lane future.

How could a kid like O'Hara compete for first-team football with Bentley, Modric and Giovani? Why would Ramos keep faith with a raw youngster when he had spent a fortune on proven flair? And why hand O'Hara his chance when the alternatives screamed crowd-pleasing goals aplenty?

Last night's cup tie answered all those questions and Ramos should stay true to his determination to be swayed by current form, rather than past reputation.

Despite O'Hara's best efforts, the opening 45 minutes was everything expected of a League Cup clash between the top flight's bottom two. The passing was atrocious, the invention non-existent and the end product sadly lacking.

At least Tottenham, unlike their disinterested hosts, had their chances to bury this match as a contest long before the interval. But a failure to convert from set pieces, with Roman
Pavluychenko and the otherwise outstanding Jonathan Woodgate the main culprits, could have cost Ramos dearly.

Pavluychenko looked isolated and his team-mates too hesitant before Spurs pressed United's dithering back four far more after the break.

Two terrible defensive errors later and Tottenham were on their way to defending the Carling Cup and easing the pressure on Ramos. Without this much-maligned competition the Spaniard could well be out of a job.

Where last season's Wembley victory earned him instant cult status with the White Hart Lane faithful, last night's win has bought the Spaniard invaluable time.

Pavluychenko opened his Tottenham account with a well-taken header in the 62nd minute from a fine Aaron Lennon cross.

O'Hara added the second and, had Newcastle's Michael Owen not drilled home a typical goal in the 90th minute, this would have been a near-perfect night for Ramos as his Tottenham team finally found the cutting edge to complement Woodgate's defensive lead.

With the former Leeds United and Real Madrid player in this form, it is impossible to name a more effective English centre-half and Newcastle's caretaker manager Chris Hughton is convinced better days lie ahead for his old cub.

"I think Tottenham's position in the League, the same as ours, doesn't lie," he said. "But what I do know is that Spurs have a lot of quality in the team and the squad.

"You only have to look at the bench they named against us and, for me, it will only be a matter of time before they start climbing the table.

"Their squad has been built up over the last few years and certainly I'd expect them to improve very soon."

It was supposed to be nights like this which persuaded Londoner Mike Ashley to part with the best part of £250m and buy into the football dream — the team he bought against the team he used to support.

The chance to get all his friends up from London for the game and then go down to Bigg Market to sink a few bottles of Newcastle Brown.

At least that was the grand plan. But for the Newcastle United owner, the dream has become a nightmare and the game was watched by just 20,577 — the Magpies' lowest crowd for 16 years.

It seems former Tottenham boss Terry Venables could be asked to steer Tyneside's rudderless ship in the short term following a meeting with the United hierarchy earlier this week.

On this evidence, even El Tel will struggle to work his magic on a team which was easily overrun by the only club in a worse position in the Premier League.