TIME TO LET SHAGGY GO?

DARREN ANDERTON has pleaded with Tottenham's owners to decide his future and Opta Index have decided to consult his stats for the season to investigate if the talented midfielder is worthy of a new contract or not.

With his current deal expiring at the end of the season, Anderton claims that this could be the last major contract of his career and insists any deal has "got to be absolutely right."

But with only a 66% passing accuracy to his credit, the lowest ratio for a Spurs midfielder, Anderton may be a bit hopeful in hoping to secure himself a long-term deal. Although to his credit, the England international has the joint-second highest number of goal assists at White Hart Lane this term, setting up his team-mates for three Premiership strikes.

Terry Venables signed Tottenham's longest-serving outfield player in June 1992 from Portsmouth and he describes his nine years at the club as a period of great frustration.

"The whole time I've been here we've won only one thing".

Anderton continued by claiming that Spurs have failed to achieve their potential in the time period that he's been at the club, finishing no higher than seventh in the league with the five different managers he has played under.

Following the sale of David Ginola, he is one the most creative players that George Graham has at his disposal and his greater responsibility in attack has seen him improve his shooting accuracy of 42% from last term, with Anderton largely responsible for Tottenham's free kicks in the attacking third of the field.

And the skilful performer can be deadly from set-pieces as he demonstrated when he outfoxed Sasa Ilic in Spurs' FA Cup win at Charlton last month.

But there are doubts over his fitness for this weekend's quarter-final at West Ham in what is a critical match for both teams.

If fit, Graham will demand that Anderton can provide some good service from the flanks and improve on his crossing ratio of 29%. Although only seven other Englishman have attempted more than his 100 deliveries in the Premiership this term, he can be slightly wayward in his delivery.

With Tottenham's new owners ENIC proposing that the club move away from their White Hart Lane base, it might also be time for them to have a clear-out of players and give the injury-prone Anderton the possibility of a fresh challenge away from the slippery streets of N17.