Parker driving Spurs to new promised land

IT takes a brave man to compare any player to Tottenham legend Dave Mackay but just maybe Harry Redknapp has it spot on when he says Scott Parker has the ability to follow in his footsteps.

The last time Tottenham won the league back in 1961, Mackay was the heartbeat of the side and played a major role in helping them win the double.

Exactly 50 years on and Tottenham may have finally found someone who shows the same fearless attitude and leadership qualities that can help the north London club stand their best ever chance of winning the title.

Despite Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy having major reservations over spending £5m to bring the 31-year-old to the club during the summer, Redknapp was determined to land his signature and knew he could be the final piece in the jigsaw. How right Redknapp could be.

You cannot underestimate the impact Parker has had on this Tottenham side. Redknapp was clearly looking for a leader on the field and the England midfielder has not disappointed with his superb displays.

He was voted Premier League player of the month for November and he was outstanding once again as his side equalled their best ever run in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Bolton.

Many people in the game have laughed at suggestions that Tottenham could actually win the Premier League this season. But it is not out of the question and if they win their game in hand over Manchester United, they can move to within four points of leaders Manchester City.

Much of that is down to the impact that Parker has had at the club and Redknapp is still having to pinch himself that no other big clubs wanted to sign him.

Redknapp said: “Scott Parker — what a good player he has been for us. I’m surprised no one else signed Scott in the summer. He was sitting there, wasn’t he? It took three or four months to get him and he was there — how someone else didn’t come in and nick him I don’t know.

“Scott’s a really good player, fantastic, a proper footballer. There’s nothing flashy about him, he’s not a Billy Bigtime, he just gets on with it, he works his socks off, he can play, he’s a smashing boy.”

Parker has no doubts he made the right move and knew he had to make an immediate impact if he was going to win over the Tottenham supporters.

Having been part of the Chelsea squad which won the Premier League back in 2005, Parker knows more than most in the Tottenham team what is needed to go all the way and is confident his side can beat anyone when they are producing this kind of football.

Parker said: “I always said to myself I needed to hit the floor running when I came here. Obviously they have got a very good squad and I couldn’t afford to come here and really start off slowly. I needed to make a good impression and I feel I have done that really.

“I think we’ve got an exceptional team and it is a joy to play in it every week. There are some very good players — not just in the team, but in the squad. It is a strong squad and on our day we can beat anyone.

“At the moment our form suggests we can get up there and give it a go. It is new for us but we are consistent at the moment and long may it continue.”

Gareth Bale paid the ultimate tribute to his former Wales manager Gary Speed when he opened the scoring after just seven minutes and took off his boot to show the message ‘Gary Speed R.I.P.’. Speed would have been proud of his man-of-the-match display.

Second-half strikes from Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe made it another memorable day for Tottenham as they picked up their sixth successive league win.

In stark contrast, Bolton manager Owen Coyle must be wondering if his luck has completely deserted him after witnessing one of the worst refereeing decisions of the season which cost his side any chance of getting something from the game.

Gary Cahill became the fifth Bolton player to be sent off this season and you have to question how Stuart Attwell came to the decision to issue a red card. Cahill badly controlled the ball and brought Parker down, but the Tottenham midfielder was at least 45-yards from goal and was never in a goalscoring position.

Coyle will appeal against the decision but he is not expecting any sympathy from referee’s chief Mike Riley, who completely ignored his calls last season following the games against Liverpool and, ironically, Tottenham at White Hart Lane last season.

Coyle said: “I spoke to him after we lost an offside goal in the 94th minute at Liverpool to Joe Cole. He said he’d ring me back. I rang him after we played here, Spurs got two penalties, we scored one, and had the biggest shout when Cahill was brought down, but was booked for diving.

“I rang him 34 days later after he was supposed to ring me back, so you can draw your own conclusions on that. Mike’s obviously in charge of those refs.”

Coyle will certainly be hoping that his chairman Phil Gartside stays away from the telephone and gives him more time to turn things around following a nightmare start to the campaign.