Tottenham Fan View: Beware the wounded animal as West Brom look for a response

Oh, Tony. Did it have to end like this? West Brom and Chelsea fans joined together in telling the Welsh coach what they thought of his methods last weekend. Your football is sh*t, they chanted, before the former-Stoke man lost his job just two days later. Rumour has it that even some West Brom players were joining in with the rendition, from the safety of their executive box.

And they say romance is dead.

Pulis will move on, of course. This is a wily student of the game. A man who got his FA coaching badge at 19 and his UEFA ‘A’ licence aged just 21. He’s been around the block enough times, had conflicts of philosophies with enough chairmen and disillusioned supporter groups, to know when things aren’t right. And equally, that it won’t be too long before someone requires his very unique set of skills again.

Maybe he’s got his eyes on the Wales job? Although what Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey would make of international-grade Pulisball is anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile West Brom’s desire for an exciting, progressive coach will have to wait for a week at least, as they’ve put Gary Megson in temporary charge. He’s vowed to keep things ‘chugging along’ until they can think of something better.

Inspirational.

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Dortmund delight

Tottenham should head into Saturday’s brush with the Midlands club in a delirious state of confidence, after another fine Champions League performance in Dortmund on Tuesday.

How many of us feared that Spurs might bomb in the group stages again this year? If we made heavy work of a mini league containing Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow, how on earth might we cope against European heavyweights. Real Madrid, winners of three of the last four Champions League titles and Borussia Dortmund, 2013 finalists and winners in 1997.

But here we are, top of the pile, looking down on creation and into the knockouts with a game to spare.

The big question for the weekend will be whether Mauricio Pochettino will bank on Dele Alli having enough stardust leftover from his adventures on the continent.

By his own standards, the precocious young midfielder has been fairly quiet in the League this season. Too often on the peripheries of the action, struggling to make an impact. In the big European fixtures, however, he’s been one of Spurs’ most decisive players. Two goals against Madrid; two assists at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday.

But can he do it against a Gary Megson side?