When Glenn Hodddle parted with just over £6m of his summer budget on FC Porto's Helder Postiga, nobody really new what to expect. We learned that he was a regular feature in a top European side, and that he was a key figure in the Portuguese Under-21 squad. As well as this, Felipe 'Big Phil' Scoalri, the World Cup winning Brazilian coach labelled Postiga as one of the most exciting talents to come out of Europe for many a year. Spurs fans were now entitled to be excited. His debut against Birmingham was tough, his next game versus Leeds a massive improvement. However, thirteen games in, and Postiga is yet to open his goalscoring account. He has been well supported by the Spurs faithful and has even been given his own song. Unfortunately, his failure in front of goal yesterday and his inability to get into the game slowly began to frustrate a number of fans, some who even took to jeering him off the pitch.
Many strikers rely on confidence, especially youngsters, and even more so, strikers playing in a foreign league, living away from home for the first time. It took Diego Forlan 27 games to open his Manchester United account, and he is now part of the furniture at Old Trafford, scoring goals on a far more regular basis. Forlan's first goal came from the penalty spot, a gift you could say. Postiga needs something like that, a penalty, a deflected shot or a rebound off his backside. There are two factors that will make the young striker a success, himself and the support of the fans who must not let their frustration add to the frustration Postiga clearly feels. He will come good, it will just take time. But hopefully not too long...