MUCH has been made of the early season contribution made by Tottenham's two new boys Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor. Rightly so – they have made an impact and are very much playing if fit. Less has been said of the two other newcomers, who have both made in their brief time at Spurs so far their positions their own.

 

In goal Brad Friedel has rid the defence of the Gomes collywobbles, which increased blood pressure on the terraces, and today turned a game where at most we deserved a point into three on the road.

At right back, Kyle Walker has shown how beneficial it was to play 20 top flight games on loan for Aston Villa last season. His return after the success at Villa Park is such that he has solved a conundrum Harry Redknapp had failed to deal with for awhile, namely that right full back berth, when it became clear that Vedran Corluka and Alan Hutton were not the answers to the question.

 

The 21-year-old signing from Sheffield United had the England manager Fabio Capello in the stands to impress today. He had his work cut out defensively, with wily old pro's John Arne Riise and Damien Duff conspiring on his flank. It wasn't made easier for him by the fact in front of his spot was Aaron Lennon, who isn't the keenest of players when it comes to tracking back. Add that to physically tough challenge offered by the wanderings of Bobby Zamora, who liked to drift wide, and from the whistle he was in for a busy afternoon.

Walker on two had already amde a telling tackle in his own half, and then was involved in Tottenham's first goal. The opener came on 10 when Walker got down the flank, showing good pace and good control: he got to the by line and cut the ball inside for Lennon. His cross shot went too deep for Adebayor but Gareth Bale was on hand to drive home, making it three goals in two games for the left winger.

 

Walker then showed again at the first half mid-way point the confidence he is enjoying at the moment, and why Redknapp talks of him as the England full back for the next decade. He had got forward and with little options available proceeded to do a Christian Ronaldo style series of step overs to work himself some space. He was brought down and it looked like a free kick but it wasn't given. Instead of thumping the ground and having a moan as so many footballers like to do, he was up on his feet and had covered the length of the pitch in Usain Bolt-like fashion within a moment of being hacked down. After such a lung buster he didn't even jockey the ball – he just went in on Clint Dempsey with a great sliding challenge and won it cleanly. It was a sequence that sums up Walker as a player: strong and tricky going forward, and determined when it comes to his defensive beat.   

 

Spurs held their opponents at arms length for much of the first period, Fulham huffing and puffing and Tottenham swatting away their atacks as if it was a minor irritant, though witohut really creating too much themselves.

The second came close to the end of the first half, with Aaron Lennon zipping past three defenders and drilling home at an angle with his weaker left foot. It was a great end to a strangely muted performance from all in the away team.  

 

Fulham got one back early in the second period when Spurs failed to clear a corner – the final touch was off the back of lanky defender Brede Hangeland after Kaboul had failed to clear, and now Fulham had their tails up. It meant more defensive work for Walker to do, yet perhaps due to his solid performance in the first half, things kept gravitating to the other side of the pitch as Fulham had got bored of running into his impressive athleticism, and instead pressured Assou-Ekotto's area.

 

In a series of half chances, the best perhaps for Fulham came  when Friedel then had his palms stung on 70 by a great drive from Chris Baird. Otherwise it was a case of Spurs keeping things neat and tidy and Fulham showing alot of effort but lacking the final touch required.  Spurs continued to ride their luck as the pressure mounted, and we were reminded of how Ledley King's world class credentials when he scurried to the left to stop Clint Dempsey rolling the ball home after he had rounded Friedel. The Fulham attack had 23 goal attempts to Tottenham's six, but scored just once: partly this was due to the great performance of Brad Fiedel who pulled off a number of good saves, but also the continued protection he was afforded by the back four, which Kyle Walker has stepped seemlessly into. The defender got away with it at the death when he blocked a crazy goal mouth scramble and seemed to handle it as he lay on the deck: it may have been harsh (it was hard to tell), but regardless of whether it should habve been given or not, it was just another sign of an all action display.

 

In stoppage time, after Fulham seemed more likely to get one, Jermain Defoe was tee'd up by Adebayor and he ruthlessly drilled it home from around the penalty spot to make it three away goals and three away points without ever really getting into top gear.

 

Finally, a word on this terms' away kit.

 

It is a skin tight nylon purple number.

It is as it sounds: disgusting.

 

I have a cupboard full of old shirts dating from my teenage years that may offer a cultural historian an insight into the fashions of the early 1990s, as seen though the eyes of some one buying over priced sportswear. And while some of them may a tough time being excused on the spurious grounds of trendy retro fashion, even the very worst (perhaps the baby blue third kit that had Spurs written across the chest in weird lines) is a hundred times easier on the eye that today's monstrous kit.

 

This purple number has no redeeming features. And purple: why purple? Granted, we once had a kit in the 1890s that was tangerine gold and chocolate, which may make purple if mixed together in the rigtht proportions, but it isn't a colour that has ever been associated with our club.  So Spurs, next year, give us an all yellow away kit, with no go-faster stripes or silly two-tone patterns woven in. Just a plain yellow kit like we had in the 70s and 80s. And never make us trot out in these purple pyjamas again.