My Spurs debut | Gus Poyet vs Aston Villa | 18.08.2001
Thu 23 November 2023, 16:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Gus Poyet had an eventful start to life at Spurs - which is probably more than can be said about his debut for us against Villa in the Premier League at home back in August, 2001.
Typically, the all-action midfielder was everywhere, involved in an early chance for Les Ferdinand before almost combining with long-time friend Mauricio Taricco to open the scoring before the break. However, apart from a late chance for Gary Doherty, whose volley hit the woodwork, that was about it as it ended in a 0-0 stalemate in front of 36,059 at the Lane.
Gus, who had joined us that summer alongside the likes of Teddy Sheringham, back for his second spell, and Christian Ziege - under the leadership of Glenn Hoddle - began life in Lilywhite with a hat-trick against Stevenage in his first pre-season friendly, was then sent off at Everton before returning to score seven goals in nine games in all competitions, six in eight in the Premier League - including a late volley to grab a draw in the north London derby.
Always a goal threat, Gus went on to score 23 goals for us in 98 appearances between 2001-2004 and later returned as assistant coach to Juande Ramos, winning the League Cup against his former club Chelsea in 2008. Since retiring in 2006, he’s managed the likes of Brighton, Sunderland, AEK Athens and Bordeaux, and is now manager of the Greece national team.
Speaking to us this week - just after guiding Greece to a 2-2 draw against France in Euro 2024 qualifying - Gus recalled that August day 22 years ago...
"Yes, my first official game, my debut at White Hart Lane was against Aston Villa. To be honest, I don’t remember much from the game, a 0-0 (quite boring), especially after the promise we showed in pre-season.
"Also, I remember that some key players of that season were missing, to name a few - Teddy Sheringham, Tim Sherwood were out and Darren Anderton started on the bench.
"I was so excited before the game and I think that showed during my first half, I was involved a lot in the offensive actions but we couldn’t get the goal, and that goal that will always win this kind of game, because it was a 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1 game, for sure. So, disappointing not winning the first game, but also proud of seeing a group of players starting to gel for the rest of the season."
