The last time Tottenham hosted QPR it was a portent of doom.
Neither manager survived another 14 months; a misfit was replaced by an injury waiting to happen inside three minutes for Rangers; and Hoops huffed and puffed to recover a lead given them by Bobby Zamora on 33 minutes.
They didn't, and the writing was on the wall for boss Mark Hughes, although Nedum Onuoha reckons the memory of the game is one to take into Sunday’s.
“Alejandro (Faurlin) set up a chance for Bobby who scored, and we were very unfortunate not come away with something. If we play anywhere as good as that time we stand a good chance,” said the defender playing centre-back that day, co-incidentally a Sunday as well.
Rangers were without a win at White Hart Lane, and they had to wait another 12 fixtures before beating Fulham in a deep and dark December.
By then an ex-Spurs manager had replaced Sparky, but Harry Redknapp was still left staring at just four wins and 21 defeats when Rs propped up the table in May.
Against Tottenham, the much maligned Jose Bosingwa limped off before latecomers sat down. Keiron Dyer came on, and had his best game for Rangers. That said, there were only five to choose from.
Hughes courting of Bosingwa was a mistake - a new contract for Dyer was plain bizarre.
The former England player himself lasted only seven minutes of his first game in August 2011.
Dyer then got injured again in a reserve match, but despite playing only that solitary seven minutes, was offered a one-year extension at the beginning of the following season.
After the Spurs match, he scored his only Rangers goal in the FA Cup against West Brom in January, and three days later was shown the door by Harry.
Rangers were shown the door by a Faurlin own goal on the hour, and a minute later one Gareth Bale smashed the underside of the bar for Jermain Defoe to follow home.
Sparky was all optimism after the game - little did he know.
“In overall in terms of level of performance it was at the level I feel we need to be in the Premier League,” he said. A pity there weren’t a few more like it.
