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When your team wins a penalty, it is normally a signal for some type of rejoicing to take place. Whilst no side is ever guaranteed to convert all of their penalties, you would expect the majority of spot kicks to fly into the back of the net. Whilst a penalty being awarded isn't quite as good as a goal, it's certainly the next best thing.

This is true of course, unless you support Spurs. When a penalty is awarded at White Hart Lane you hear the normal amount of cheering, but then something very strange occurs.

Slowly, it collectively dawns on the crowd that rather than this being an opportunity for Tottenham to score, it is instead more likely to serve as an opportunity for another player to completely humiliate himself.

Most supporters know exactly who their penalty taker is and who would deputise if the first choice taker was unavailable. Yet for Tottenham fans, every penalty awarded sparks a mass debate over which of Spurs' highly paid professionals is least likely to miss from 12 yards.

Over the last week I have been at White Hart Lane and witnessed two different players miss a penalty. On both occasions I saw several grown men turning away from the action, because they were so sure that the penalty would be missed.

It was pretty obvious to anyone who has followed Jermain Defoe's career that he would spurn his chance to score against Liverpool. He has now missed seven of his last 12 penalties, which is the sort of record of success you would normally associate with someone who had taken their spot kicks while blindfolded.

Defoe has surely now got to be banned from grabbing the ball in such situations, although the alternatives aren't that much better. There can't be many players with more reason to be confident right now than Gareth Bale, but he missed a penalty against Werder Bremen, after Roman Pavlyuchenko fluffed from the spot in Tottenham's game against Blackburn.

Rafael van der Vaart has also missed for Tottenham this season, although as he showed a lot of confidence in the two that he has successfully converted, perhaps it was just an anomaly. Unfortunately, Van der Vaart is now out with an injury for the next month, leaving Spurs without a reliable penalty taker.

So who are the other contenders? Robbie Keane has a good record from the spot, but rarely features in the Spurs first team these days. Niko Kranjcar is another attacking player who is currently out in the cold.

Of the midfielders, Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone both missed the last time that they took a penalty for Tottenham. Luka Modric scored one for Croatia in Euro 2008, but could be suffering from penalty phobia, after missing in the shoot out that saw his team eliminated by Turkey. Wilson Palacios struggles to pass the ball five yards, so it may be too much to expect him to score from 12...

None of Tottenham's four penalty misses this season have proven to be costly, with Spurs going on to win all of these matches, but if they keep on missing, there's bound to be consequences further down the line.

Harry Redknapp's side are now just a point off fourth place, despite having endured the rigours of a Champions League campaign. Spurs are available at 2.8 to finish in the top four and 32.0 to win the Premier League.

Of course, what Tottenham really need is not just a penalty taker but the sort of striker who can also lead the line in a 4-5-1 formation. If Tottenham can recruit such a player in January, then perhaps their ambitions can be fulfilled.


By Dan Fitch

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