At the beginning of the week, Spurs cemented their place in the top three with a fairly routine victory over Wigan, distinguished by the quality of the goals. Teams around them also conspired to help out as best they could, with Man. City losing at Everton and Chelsea only rescuing a point at Swansea thanks to a deflected injury-time equalizer.

The win was, however, overshadowed by the fact that it took place on the same day as the closing of the transfer window. If the defeat of Wigan was somewhat predictable, Spurs' new signings were anything but.

At first glance, they don't look very exciting and in truth they aren't - two injury-prone players at the wrong end of their careers. Yet if Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen are not the most glamorous acquisitions, they may yet prove to be shrewd ones. Assistant manager Kevin Bond probably gave some insight into the club's thinking when he described them as follows:

"I think that experience and that know-how of having been there before is important. They are the right characters. Having those type of characters in the dressing room and the training ground will be really important for us. The type of people they are, I think they can make an important difference."

The difference in question is consistency, and while both players are unlikely to start many games - injuries to current first-teamers aside - they both possess the qualities required to help Spurs get over the line in a Champions League place at the end of the season.

Going the other way are Corluka, Bassong, Pienaar and Pavlyuchenko, the first three on loan and the last transferred back to Moscow – albeit to a different club. Pienaar may well be looking to make his return to Everton a permanent one, and the suspicion must be that the two defenders are being put "in the shop window". Bassong had already been linked with a move to QPR and Corluka seems to have completely dropped out of favor, despite his versatility along the backline. The Croatian joins Bayer Leverkusen, a good side in a very good league, while Bassong will no doubt get playing time in the leaky Wolves defence.

Among a section of the Spurs support, the departure of the loanees will be mourned less than that of the striker to whom Harry Redknapp once referred, with barely disguised sarcasm, as "Super Pav". Spurs have taken a financial hit on Pavlyuchenko, bringing in not much more than half of what they paid for him just over three years ago. And while not exactly a flop, he cannot be considered to have given good value in his time at the Lane. While it is true that he was never really granted a consistent run in the side, when opportunities were presented to him he rarely looked interested in grasping them. A return to Russia is probably best for all concerned.

Lastly a quick word on the England captaincy debacle. The best candidate for the position never even made the squad for the finals in South Africa but has since worked himself into Fabio Capello's plans with the same sort of tenacity and drive that he displays every time he pulls on a Spurs shirt. It probably goes without saying that Scott Parker won't get the armband.