BUNCH OF CISSES

Tottenham 1, Sunderland 2

THIS was a day that began badly at White Hart Lane . . . then just got worse and worse.

By 4.50pm, there was simply nothing to smile at — unless, of course, you happened to be a Sunderland fan celebrating on-loan Djibril Cisse’s winner.

Tottenham fans arrived amid endless talk of an attack on the top four after a summer of prolonged transfer activity.

Then they heard Dimitar Berbatov was dropped from the squad as he was not ‘focused enough’.

What they didn’t know was that Manchester United had just filed a £25million take-it-or-leave-it offer for the Bulgarian — and Spurs are likely to take it this week to end this on-going saga. As if all this was not bad enough, Spurs wasted a bright opening by fading backwards to rubbish all those hopes even this early in the season of making the Champions League.

In midweek, boss Juande Ramos likened skipper Ledley King to a Rolls-Royce parked in the garage.

King and his team-mates more resembled a rusty Lambretta with two flat wheels parked outside a rubbish tip. Assuming Berbatov goes, you have to hope Ramos dispenses with the lone striker method that lumbered Darren Bent on his own up front.

Sunderland tried it, too, with El-Hadji Diouf in the role.

But just how effective is this system at home where some Tottenham fans paid upwards of £70 to watch poor Bent bang his head against a brick wall.

And just to put the tin hat on it, the day came to a close with Ramos failing miserably to put any lead in his pencil when answering the obvious questions about Berbatov. Here is supposed to be a tough Spaniard, a hard-liner brought in to sort Tottenham out.

No such luck. Ramos simply ducked, dived and dodged the bullets fired at him by breathless Press men eager to get to the bottom of Berbagate.

No mention of Manchester United, no suggestion about what he will do to convince his sulking star to stay and no air of confidence that this fellow is in charge of his own, Berbatov’s or the club’s destiny.

Imagine Black Cats boss Roy Keane standing for all this. How he must have chuckled last night on the way home. No Berbatov to worry about and three points in the bag.

Keane said: “We won’t be dancing on the streets of Sunderland today for beating Tottenham away from home. We’ll celebrate with a nice cup of tea and a sandwich.

“It was a good start for Cisse. We were always going to put him on the bench and he gives us good options and challenges the other strikers. Berbatov was missing but Bent is a good player. And Tottenham have quality that is up there with other teams.

“It takes time to get points across to new players and Tottenham must be patient like our own fans.”

Sunderland went ahead through Kieran Richardson’s 55th-minute rocket from 20 yards after first King then Jermaine Jenas failed to clear.

Jenas slotted in a decent 73rd-minute equaliser after Luka Modric had seen one shot blocked and a follow-up effort clawed away by Black Cats keeper Craig Gordon.

But sub Cisse rose beautifully to head in seven minutes from time from Daryl Murphy’s cross.

True, Spurs had other chances and Bent, Jonathan Woodgate, Gareth Bale and David Bentley all went close in the second half.

At the other end, Sunderland hit the post through ex-Spurs man Steed Malbranque.

Next up for Ramos is a daunting trip to Chelsea next Sunday. By then, Berbatov will presumably be a thing of the past — another example of Spurs being nothing more than a stepping stone for the big teams.

SPURS FANS: Have your say on this game

SUNDERLAND FANS: Have your say on this game