Crouch’s joke answer to how many goals he’d score that season was scarily accurate

Sometime around 9.20pm on May 5th 2010, Younes Kaboul’s fierce cross-cum-shot was palmed out and the rebound was nodded in by Peter Crouch. Spurs went 1-0 up against Man City in a winner-takes-all showdown for 4th place and Champions League football. Crouch had been the scorer of many an important goal all season and that moment was the culmination of a season’s worth of hard work and perseverance.

A year or so later, the same man scored again at Eastlands… but at the wrong end. His own goal meant that Spurs sacrificed their 4th spot to those same opponents from a year previously and Crouch was left with a shockingly poor return of just four Premier League goals all season. Sure, there was a fair number of Champions League strikes to go with it but, to be brutally honest, they were more down to the work of others (eg Bale v Inter, Lennon v AC Milan).

Last weekend’s mauling at the hands of Man City turned out be Crouch’s last game in a Spurs shirt. And, perhaps symbolically, he gave a fairly anonymous display as part of an ineffectual 4-4-1-1 formation. His transfer to Stoke frees up space in our squad and in our attack for more of a goal-scoring threat. It also should stop us from playing countless long balls over the top that rarely work – Crouch’s presence in a team often renders the long ball as the most popular method of attack, despite its obvious ineffectiveness.

But the criticism stops right there. Crouch, for all his flaws, has been a great servant to the club and has played his part in some of our best moments in the last two years. His starting place has not once looked set in stone, meaning he has had to fight for his place week in week out. And out of the much maligned front three, Crouch was often the one who looked like he wanted his place the most.

Think of a golden moment from our recent past and you can bet Crouch will have been involved. From that goal at Man City to the hat-trick against Young Boys to get us in the CL group stage. From those glorious assists for van der Vaart at the start of last season to that wonderfully composed finish at the San Siro to beat AC Milan. Crouch may have ended his Spurs career on a bit of a damp squib but there were plenty of champagne moments to go with it (the less said about that red card in Madrid, the better).

So, whilst it’s not exactly a crying shame that he’s departed, it would be just that if we let him go without recognising the part he played in our success over the past few years. Cheers Crouchy, please don’t score against us this year.