It's still early to judge Pochettino

We've won five of our six games in November; moved up from 11th to 7th place in the Premier League, and secured qualification for the knock-out phase of the Europa League. Yet the ratings for the team and the head coach are the lowest of the season so far. Why is that?

Well, the answer lies in performances, of course, and a good degree of fortune. When we won in Greece against Asteras Tripolis, we had our backs to the wall in a second half, in which we might have cconceded four or five goals. When we beat Aston Villa and Hull away, both wins were achieved against 10 men, and with late, late goals.

November has been a month in which chants of "We want our Tottenham back" and "Levy out" have been heard, albeit briefly. It was also a month in which we lost our fourth home league game out of six played at the time Stoke went away with three points.

The high intensity displayed against Everton on the last day of the month, together with not a little skill has lifted spirits, and that level ideally needs to be maintained in December, when we play no less than 8 games, starting at Chelsea tomorrow (3rd December).

Aaron Lennon, who has played only 182 minutes this month, apearing in only the last three games has achieved the highest marks of any player, and thus gets the "Player of the Month" vote. Lennon came off the bench at Hull, and was impactive down the right wing, together with another substitute, Vlad Chiriches. Aaron played the full 90 minutes at home to FK Partizan, and was at his best for the first hour against Everton, playing down the right and supporting Chiriches at right back.

However, Harry Kane, who has appeared in all 6 games, played 404 minutes, and scored 3 goals, including his first two Premier League goals of the season, might more fairly be called our player of the month. His average in November was 6.83, getting very close to Lennon. Kane also was voted man of the match three times.

Goalkeeper (and now Captain) Hugo Lloris was voted man of the match twice, and maintains his consistency and deserved favour with Spurs fans, continuing to lead the way for the season.

I was asked recently how Pochettino's ratings compare so far with thosse of the previous three managers. At this time, they do not compare favourably with those of Harry Redknapp, or Andre Villas-Boas, but despite some of the gloom displayed this month, he is already an improvement on Sherwood in all departments. Sunday's win over Everton has improved his status, of course. Long may that trend continue!

Don't forget to check out the players' current figures re. appearances, cards, goals scored and accumulated ratings to date below.

...if you want to read reports of the matches played during this season, then links are on the Spurs Odyssey Fixtures/Reports page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances over 14 years!