Spurs stories | Paul Stalteri - highs and lows against the Hammers

From a Hammer horror show to the Hammer-time of scoring one of our most famous winning goals of the Premier League era - Paul Stalteri went through the full range of emotions against West Ham - and he wasn't even playing on that final day of the season in 2005/06!

Capped 84 times by Canada and now back home coaching in the Academy at MLS side Toronto, and part of Jesse Marsch’s coaching set up for the senior national team, we spoke to Paul for Saturday's official matchday programme against West Ham about those memorable days at Upton Park and his playing career spanning 14 years...

How did you come to sign for us from Werder Bremen in the summer of 2005?

Paul: "I had been at Bremen for a number of seasons and my contract was coming towards the end. It was either a case of extend my contract - then maybe stay in Bremen or Germany for the rest of my career. Or, maybe, it was the opportunity to experience something new. I chose the latter.  always wanted to play in another country, especially in Europe. I had some opportunities in a few different countries. As I was out of contract, I was in a strong position in terms of choosing where I wanted to go. I met with Spurs and Martin Jol. We had some conversations about the ambitions of the club and it felt like the right opportunity for me. It was a club that was on the up at the time with a lot of good young players."

What do you remember about your Spurs debut – a 2-0 win at Portsmouth in August 2005?

Paul: "It was a strange pre-season for me. I’d never really been injured in my career. But towards the end of my time at Bremen, I had an ankle injury. I was out for what I initially thought would be a few weeks but it ended up being a few months. It was a bad injury that ruled me out of the majority of the pre-season with Spurs…I didn’t travel to Korea with the rest of the squad. I was able to return for our last match of pre-season and then I had a week of training before the Portsmouth game. We won 2-0 down at Portsmouth, which was a good way to start the season. It was a good experience, playing at a typical English stadium with a great atmosphere. It’s always a fantastic feeling making your debut, especially when you win away from home!"

You scored twice in 35 appearances for us in 2005/06 as we finished fifth in the Premier League. You must have been happy with your debut season for us?

Paul: "It was a good season. Whenever you miss a large chunk of the pre-season, like I mentioned, you are worried about how that might affect you, in terms of fitness and getting in the team. Luckily, I’d always had a good level of fitness, so that wasn’t too much of a concern and I was able to play a good number of games. The season was good for us. We were in the top four for the majority of the season. Of course, we dropped out of the top four on the final day of the season, which left a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth. We’d worked so hard to secure Champions League football, which would have been huge for us, as it seemed to be the same four clubs from England making it in season after season at that time. It wasn’t meant to be but overall, it was a good season. We finished fifth and did so the following season too."

You touched on our defeat at West Ham United on the final day of the 2005/06 Premier League season - a literal and metaphorical ‘sickener’ for us!

Paul: "I tweaked my knee towards the end of the season, so I didn’t play in that game. I wasn’t part of the travelling squad that went to the hotel as a result but I did go to the game with the other players not involved in the squad including Ledley King, as it was such a big match for us. In the morning of the game, we got wind of the situation with so many of our players being affected with illness. I can remember being down in the dressing room area pre-match and that’s when we realised the extent of things. At that level of football, when you’ve got that many players struggling with illness, it’s nearly impossible to get a result. You can maybe carry one or two players but certainly not half the team or more and we already had a number of existing injuries too. We don’t know if the result would have been different had we gone into that game with a fully fit squad but it’s one of those where you look back and think ‘what if’."

Thankfully, our next trip to Upton Park on 4 March, 2007 was memorable for the right reasons as we ended up winning an incredible match 4-3. What did Martin Jol say to you before you came on as a 57th-minute substitute for that day, as we were 2-1 down at that time?

Paul: "‘Go and score the winner!’ Haha! Honestly, I can’t remember what he said. What I can remember is that it was one of those crazy, end-to-end matches. We went behind twice in the game and pulled it level and then what happened, happened!"

At 3-2 down, Dimitar Berbatov brought us level late on with a wonderful free-kick. Moments of magic like that were certainly something we came to expect from Berba?

Paul: "Absolutely! When I was playing in Germany, I came up against Dimitar a number of times when he was playing for Leverkusen and I was with Bremen. His qualities were always obvious and he was part of a very good, attack-minded Leverkusen team. I can remember when the club asked me about the possibility of bringing him in and I said it was a no-brainer. He was such an amazing player – so technically gifted on the ball. He had so much individual skill and his finishing ability was second to none. He could do it all. What an incredible free-kick it was against West Ham. We saw him do things like that on the training field of course and so many other things. Nothing he did in a Spurs shirt necessarily surprised me though, because I’d seen him come up with the unexpected time and time again in Germany!"

The game was in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Lee Young-Pyo tackled Bobby Zamora just outside our penalty area. Can you take up the story of your dramatic, match-winning goal from there?

Paul: "Lee Young-Pyo put in the challenge that led to me receiving the ball as you say. I took the ball up the field and I saw Jermain Defoe’s run. I played a through ball to him and he took off. I took off too. There was a big transition towards their goal – some 90 metres. I knew Jermain wouldn’t be passing the ball and for me, it was a case of keep going and see what might happen. Eventually he shot and the ball came loose to me and I was in the position to score. As a coach now myself, that’s a classic example of something I’ll talk about to my players. What happens when one team switches off on a play and the other doesn’t. That’s when something happens. The West Ham players switched off in that split moment and I kept going. And that’s how I got to score that goal."

What’s the feeling like seeing the ball hit the back of the net in those circumstances?

Paul: "In that moment, it’s just an incredible feeling. What made it even more special was it happened at the end of the ground where our supporters were. You could see in their celebrations what it meant to them. It was a fantastic moment."

How do you reflect on your loan spell at Fulham in the second half of the 2007/08 season?

Paul: "It was an unusual situation for me at Fulham as I was involved with a team fighting against relegation for the first time. At Bremen and at Spurs, we were always challenging towards the top of the division. In those teams, scoring was never an issue for us whereas, when you’re down at the bottom of the league, even scoring goals can be an issue. If you go a goal behind, you wonder how you are going to get back into the match. It was a challenge going to Fulham but we had some good players there and Roy Hodgson arrived with such experience and know-how. He did a fantastic job keeping Fulham up that season and then the club really pushed on in the rest of his time there, getting to a European final etc. He had that calmness and belief. There came a point where we were odds on to be relegated. We had to win our final three matches of the season to stand any chance of staying up. We were 2-0 down away to Manchester City at half-time in the first of those. Fulham hadn’t won away for something like 18 months but we managed to come back and win 3-2. Incredible! We then beat Birmingham at home and went away to Portsmouth on the final day of the season and won there too. Staying up, against the odds, was very special. It was a memorable moment for everyone involved."

Interview: Andy Greeves

What prompted your decision to leave Spurs for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer of 2008?

Paul: "I was at an age where I wanted to be playing regularly and I wasn’t getting that opportunity at Tottenham. I hadn’t really featured under Juande Ramos and my contract was in the last year, so I knew it was a situation where I was likely moving on at the end of the season anyway. A move just happened about six months earlier than expected. My time at Mönchengladbach was similar to Fulham in that we were in a relegation fight. At Christmas time, heading into the break in Germany, they were rock bottom of the league. It was a record low points tally after something like 17 games. I think they only had nine or 10 points, something like that. We managed to pick up around 21 points in the second half of the season to stay in the Bundesliga against the odds."

You retired from playing in 2011. What have you been up to since then?

Paul: "After retiring, I went into the Canadian federation (Canadian Soccer Association) and I coached a lot of the youth teams - the Under-15s, Under-17s and I helped out with the Under-20s too. I was assistant for the men’s senior team for a few years too. After that, I joined one of the teams (York United) in the new Canadian Premier League that had been formed, as an assistant. I did that for a few seasons and then I joined Toronto FC in the MLS. I’ve been here for three years now. I was first team assistant for a few seasons and now I’m based in the academy. I am also part of Jesse Marsch’s staff with the Canada national team. I help out with the men’s team when I can. I went with them to the Copa America over the summer - a really good tournament where we finished fourth."