Soccer: Graham wants Spurs to focus on pitch battle

George Graham has told his players to forget about the turmoil off the pitch despite admitting that there are "too many different agendas" at White Hart Lane.

The Tottenham manager believes his players have been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the club's future, caused mainly by ENIC's takeover.

Running alongside this has been the saga over where Spurs captain Sol Campbell will be playing next season after his contract expires in the summer.

To cap it all the club's affairs have been laid bare in public because of former chairman Sir Alan Sugar's libel case against a national newspaper.

Together with the uncertainty over his own position, Graham is clearly frustrated by the various soap operas.

He said: "The trouble with Tottenham is that there are too many different agendas.

"Talking about contracts, bringing in a new manager, a takeover and now a court case.

"We should be focused on the football and that's what I've told the players and my staff.

"We've got to concentrate on the job in hand - and that's football - and let all the other things look after themselves.

"But this season has been very bad for that. We are here to play football and we've got to be focused on that and not worry about all the other side issues.

"I think the players have been affected, but we've come through it here and done very well."

Against this backdrop it was not hard to see why Graham was so delighted with Spurs' first Premiership away win of the season.

Sergei Rebrov stole all three points with a last-minute winner, which was Tottenham's first goal in 461 minutes of Premiership action, to end their league run of four successive goalless draws.