So in the end, the season finished not with a bang in Manchester, but with a whimper of a penalty shoot-out in Eindhoven. The damage had been done at the Lane a week previously, and it s easy to forget that we went to a former Champions League side and w

So in the end, the season finished not with a bang in Manchester, but with a whimper of a penalty shoot-out in Eindhoven.

The damage had been done at the Lane a week previously, and it's easy to forget that we went to a former Champions League side and won, but it wasn't enough to prevent another disappointing exit.

I doubt any Spurs fan felt confident going into the penalties, and even with JJ's chance to win it there was just never the feeling of it being our night. Not even the amazing sight of Didier Zokora doing the impossible and finding the net could divert us from the inevitable, and seemed to signal the start of the summer holidays and an extended wind-down with the traditional Spurs thoughts of "next season".

Any idea that we might be spurred to a strong finish didn't last long into Sunday's lacklustre trip to Eastlands. In the stadium we hoped would provide the season's finale we got another little cameo of what has gone wrong in the league this year.

Another lead surrendered, another goal conceded from a set-piece, another fruitless awayday. I don't suppose anybody needs to tell Ramos where the improvements need to come, but this was a neat reminder of why we are marooned in mid-table.

With 20 per cent of the league programme still up for grabs it's a depressing thought that we will just be going through the motions, especially with so much of our expensive season tickets still to be fulfilled.

Let's hope that the players are thinking about next season, and that they might need to get their fingers out to ensure they see it at the Lane.