Santini fails to grasp how things should be at the Lane

As evening fell over White Hart Lane and the messages on the shirts left for Bill Nicholson ran with the incessant rain that drenched the saddest of afternoons, the visitors to the impromptu shrine grew fewer. Even as they filed into the nearby pubs or sat in the post-match traffic along Tottenham High Road, they could think of little else.

Of the glory, glory days. Of style and swagger. And of its complete absence in the players who currently wear the shirt and in the manager who sends them out on to the pitch. Far away from the glasses being raised to the most successful of his forerunners, Jacques Santini sat in his office and watched a video re-run of the defeat by Bolton.

No words of sympathy for the Nicholson family, no apology for the poverty of the Tottenham display on such a poignant afternoon, no tribute to a man who will be remembered in these parts long after the Frenchman is a mere footnote in the club's history.

Of course, Santini's responsibility is to the future, not the past, yet his failure to grasp the essence of the club he manages will have done little to endear himself to Tottenham fans, who hang on to their traditions more than most supporters.

One of those is the ethos of entertainment which Nicholson espoused. Victory without style at the Lane is a hollow victory. Defeat without style is the worst of all possible worlds.

Santini will find little patience for his attempts to cure Tottenham's defensive openness if it means closing off the avenues to attack. The wonderful move for Robbie Keane's 41st-minute equaliser was the one moment of flamboyance from the home side in what was an otherwise comprehensive defeat.

Tottenham captain Jamie Redknapp said: 'It was a very difficult situation but I don't think we should hide behind everything that has happened. 'We started very badly, but when we got the goal and thought we could go on to win it. Robbie's goal was as good any as you will see. But when we tried to push on there was nothing there.

'You do feel the emotion because whenever you talk to someone about Tottenham the first name you think of is Bill Nicholson. My grandad probably tells me more than anyone about him. The push-and-run team. They were great players and he was a great man.