And the Spurs go stumbling on. A missed penalty and a rash, unnecessary challenge prevented us winning but we did go one better than United and managed not to lose. If I were a neutral I would have enjoyed this exciting cup tie but fans on the whole would take a boring win over an exciting draw any day.

Team selection was never really an issue when we were banging them in left, right and centre and the side picked itself, but times are a-changing. While annus horribilis is probably a bit strong, our form since the turn of the year has been worrying, reflected not only by poor results and sloppy performances but now scrutiny of the line-up.

Really not sure how to call this one. Back in August I would have pencilled in Birmingham away as a solid point and a good chance for all three, but it's a different kettle of fish here in January 2010. Our win over Fulham was bizarrely comfortable, but hardly suggested that the Tottenham juggernaut is revved up to full throttle, ready to blitz aside all-comers.

(Apologies for the tardiness – deadline week on the book Spurs' Cult Heroes)
The FA Cup? Why not? The only team that ever seems to beat us in knock-out competitions has itself been knocked out, and for our part we look capable of despatching anyone on our day. This is not a reaction to our win on Saturday, far from it, but rather a reaction to the exit of Man Utd.

I am not quite certain how we lost our cherished banana skin outfit but its pretty clear that Man.Utd found it. There is no reward for its safe return. Keep it, you're welcome. We still have the casual wear Premiership 'blip' jacket but with any luck we will soon dispose of this too. By a peculiar irony we drew Leeds, at The Lane in the next round of the Cup.

If statistics ever made a game a formality then Saturday's visit of Hull is the text book case. Currently 19th in the league without an away win and conceding close to 3 goals per game away from home they are a perfect choice of opponents for us to start the next phase of the season. They have gone 15 games without a win or a clean sheet.

What ho. It's been a while, hasn't it – in fact we haven't had a league game this decade. When we last wandered these parts our glorious heroes had gone into overdrive – four wins in five, clean sheet after clean sheet and plenty of attacking brio. A pessimist might bemoan the fact that the wintry interlude has rudely interrupted the momentum that had been gathering; but Hull at home presents an excellent opportunity to pick up where we left off.

inspired performance by the welshman denies spurs

Before the game I didn't consider that Myhill would offer us too many problems; but he managed to single-handedly take a point back north for his club after an amazing performance denied our players of a single goal. Simply put this will be seen as one of the shut outs of the season as chance after chance was saved; including two double saves.

Once again I got this one nearly right. They didn't score, as I correctly predicted, but I forgot to factor in that they might not only bring a goalkeeper with them but one who was destined to have the best afternoon of his life. Step forward Boaz Myhill. You can't blame Harry for this one whatever alterations you might make in starting line up and substitutions.

(Yes yes, it's about a year late. Sorry. Finishing touches being applied to the opus Spurs' Cult Heroes)

It appears that "Just one of those days" is lined up to become ‘Arry's Triffic Phrase of the Season 2009/10, following the success of "Two points, eight games" last year. The official company line at least appears to be that the blank drawn against Hull is not something about which to get too worked up, and in a sense one can appreciate the point – we may not have been at our fluid best, but Gomes spent most of the game in smoking-jacket and slippers, puffing contentedly on cigar and squinting down the far end of the pitch.

We at AANP Towers are firm proponents of the dying art of chivalry, always happy to whip off the jacket and place it over a puddle for a lady to walk across, or leap into a burning building to save a one-armed orphan; but once on the football pitch I would positively encourage our lot to dispense with the p's and q's, and instead adopt all the airs and graces of a gaggle of behooded youths at a train station.

Curiouser and curiouser. You think you've seen it all at the Lane, you brace yourself for the worst – and are then treated to a completely serene, straightforward, almost routine home win, as far removed from the All-Action-No-Plot mentality as is possible.

It Was The Midfield What Won It

Ledley and Daws were generally rock-solid (the latter a little excitable, in his unique, loveable way) and at the other end Defoe barely touched the ball; but in the middle we held the upper hand, player-for-player and as a unit.

Safe from relegation before the end of January. When did that last happen? And the hoodoo has been jinxed and the jinx has been hoodood. We finally won a Premiership game with Gareth Bale starting. Luka Modric was back to his best and the stand out player on the pitch. He combined with our flying full back to put Fulham to the sword.