2-0

Tottenham suffered a slow, long death in the afternoon. And there is little hope of immediate resurrection under a new saviour, according to Alan Sugar. There is no “short-term fix”, intones George Graham, and his equally criticised chairman echoed the words yesterday in dealing brusquely with the multimillionaire David Sullivan’s interest in a stake in Tottenham as a stepping stone to taking over at White Hart Lane.

Sullivan, who currently cannot buy more than a 9.9% share in Spurs because of his Birmingham City interests, would not get Tottenham “on the cheap”, insisted Sugar, who told his would-be successor that if he wants to invest serious money then he would have to “stump up the £70m some say we need to build up a championship-winning side”.

Spurs’ share price is 60p but Sugar also told Sullivan to “forget about basement prices and tune into the true value of about 140p a share”.

Meanwhile the supporters’ emotional investment in Spurs is being exhausted. In the Bull Ring city, George Graham and his team were goaded almost beyond endurance by an Aston Villa who had clearly been practising their moves for this performance. It was a wonder that chants of ole did not accompany every flourish.

Villa’s fans gleefully chorused “George Graham is an Arsenal fan”, something that Tottenham supporters already knew. It is more disturbing for them to learn that this seasoned, knowing manager cannot explain their dismal away form. “It would be easy to sort it out if I knew,” Graham admitted.

“You’re Spurs - and you know you are,” sang their fans lustily of David Ginola after a long period of silent lament at the 11 still wearing the white shirt. Ginola closed his 13-minute cameo with arm aloft to the away section before disappearing down the tunnel. With that signal, the light must have gone out of many Tottenham lives.

Villa are good and getting better by the game. Yet their fans are not entirely happy, brandishing large cards embossed with the “£” sign as the teams emerged. The message to Doug Ellis is to reopen the cheque-book for a new striker.

Gregory playfully approved of the protest. “We need one or two others to take us on. I’m not complaining but we are by no means paupers.” With a new striker, Gregory’s target of a top-three place would surely become more expectation than hope.

Gregory has a genuine team in which weaknesses are covered willingly. Currently the strikers Dion Dublin and Julian Joachim do not score, so the midfielders pitch in. Ian Taylor compensated beautifully here with two goals matching the high precision of the side. A clever header from Alan Wright’s cross and a calm shot after a Dublin backheel were the minimum Taylor and his colleagues deserved.