NEWS: PAUL ROBINSON'S long-term future at Tottenham Hotspur remains in considerable doubt despite the England international playing his part in winning the club's first trophy in nine years with the manager, Juande Ramos, still intent upon recruiting a new goalkeeper at the end of the campaign.
Ramos gave Robinson his first start in six weeks in the Uefa Cup tie against Slavia Prague at White Hart Lane last Thursday and the 28-year-old retained his place for Sunday's success in the League Cup final against Chelsea, a game attended by the England manager, Fabio Capello.
Robinson's display at Wembley was understandably rusty, the goalkeeper appearing vulnerable at times to crosses and exposed by Didier Drogba's first-half free-kick, though his fine save from Salomon Kalou late on helped to confirm Spurs' victory.
That set up a rousing end to a difficult period for Robinson on and off the pitch with his four-week-old son Jack having spent time in hospital during the build-up to the game suffering from bronchiolitis.
"That put things into perspective for me and helped my performances," said Robinson. "I'm absolutely delighted. I'm not going to stand here and say it's been an easy season because everybody knows it's been a rough time for me.
"But to go through the bad times makes me appreciate the win even more.
"You never imagine as a professional you are going to be left out of the team. But when I was left out this (the final) was my target and where I wanted to be. I got my head down, worked very, very hard and tried to get my place back in the team.
"It was my target to get back in the team for this game. And, fortunately for me, I got one game before the final to get a feel for it again and here we are."
Yet, despite restoring Robinson to the first team, Ramos has earmarked strengthening the goalkeeping position as a priority at the end of the season.
Interest is retained in the Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who is contracted to the Dutch club until 2010, as well as the Italy under-21 international Emiliano Viviano at the Serie B club Brescia. The Tottenham sporting director, Damien Comolli, has also sent scouts to watch the Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, though reports have been less than favourable.
Meanwhile Alex Ferguson says this season's Premier League title race is so close that it may be the first to be decided by goal difference since the it's inception. That, Ferguson believes, would be to the advantage of his Manchester United side, whose 5-1 trouncing of Newcastle United on Saturday gives them a goal difference of plus-40, four better than the leaders Arsenal and 19 superior to Chelsea.
The last time two clubs finished on level points at the top of the league was in 1989, when Mickey Thomas's last-minute goal at Anfield enabled Arsenal to pip Liverpool for the title.
Before then it had happened on only four occasions in history - when United won the league in 1965, Arsenal in 1953, Portsmouth in 1950 and Huddersfield in 1924.
- Guardian Service
