Tottenham fans acclaim four-goal Berbatov, but will he soon be moving up north?

Yet remarkably, Reading led this match no fewer than three times as these two teams traded seven goals in 20 mad minutes in the second half when defending became a forgotten art.

With some predictability, rival managers Juande Ramos from Tottenham and Steve Coppell from Reading found no joy from the footballing pantomime unfolding in front of their eyes.

All they felt was their heart rate rising to an unhealthily high level in conjunction with their mounting anger. Ramos said: "It was 90 minutes of crazy football, very uncomfortable to experience."

Perhaps even more remarkable, at the end of this feverish afternoon's football, was the admission that Berbatov's future at Spurs is still clouded by uncertainty.

"I cannot reassure Tottenham fans that he is going to stay at the club," said Ramos, talking through a translator.

"Only the chairman can decide that. The chairman knows I want Berbatov to stay and, if it was up to me we would not lose him, but there are other factors to take into account, including the player's feelings and opinions."

Those words might be of some consolation to Sir Alex Ferguson, smarting from the loss Manchester United sustained across London yesterday. For Ferguson has made no secret of his admiration of Berbatov — and the Bulgarian has not silenced speculation that he could soon be plying his trade in Manchester.

That would be a disappointment to Tottenham fans, for Ramos is winning hearts and minds at a rate of knots. Eleven goals in two matches over the holiday tend to win a man a degree of popularity. Before the end of the afternoon, he could be seen waving, if coyly, to those jubilant Tottenham supporters chanting his name. Coppell, barely able to contain his emotions, said through clenched teeth:

"It's obvious we have to score six or seven goals away from home to get a result. It's massively disappointing. It feels like there's a hole in your life, almost. I'm not very happy ... in fact I am angry."

The benign nature of the first half gave no indication of the mayhem that was to follow.Reading fell behind in the seventh minute to Berbatov's first goal, a simple tap-in after Robbie Keane had turned the ball across the goalmouth. But within nine minutes they had levelled the score, due to a misjudgement by Spurs keeper Paul Robinson.He became entangled in a crowd of players and his weak clearance from a free-kick invited Kalifa Cisse to shoot into an unguarded net.

What followed the tea-break was football of the kind that tests the sanity of managers, but reminds others of an age when caution was cast to the wind. Tottenham fans of a certain vintage are all too familiar with this style of football; the kind that former captain Danny Blanchflower referred to as the "Glory Game". Even so, the Spurs of the days marshalled by Blanchflower and Dave Mackay would never have conceded goals as wilfully as those surrendered yesterday.

The timetable of the goal avalanche was as follows: In the 53rd minute: Tom Huddlestone allowed Ivar Ingimarsson to evade him and head in from Nicky Shorey's corner. In the 63rd minute: Graeme Murty intercepted Jermain Defoe's cross, but passed it into Berbatov's path.The striker thumped Tottenham level.

In the 69th minute: Another corner from Shorey and Dave Kitson, a lifelong Spurs fan, scored with a beautifully judged header to give Reading a 3-2 lead. In the 73rd minute: Berbatov showed great awareness by turning Ibrahima Sonko before curling the ball past Marcus Hahnemann to equalise again.

In the 74th minute: Kitson coolly took his second goal with his left foot after a fine pass from Stephen Hunt.

76 minutes: Reading capitulated again to allow Steed Malbranque to make it 4-4.

In the 79th minute: Robbie Keane's penalty was saved by Hahnemann, but Defoe came to his rescue with a diving header from the rebound as Reading protested. "The goal shouldn't have been given," said Coppell. "Defoe was three yards inside the area and that's a hell of a start over a 12-yard race."

In the 83rd minute: Berbatov slammed his fourth to secure Spurs a 6-4 victory. Just think,Reading return to White Hart Lane on Saturday to play Tottenham in the FA Cup. Bring a calculator.