A new era at White Hart Lane? More like same old Spurs. From the euphoria of beating Chelsea to win the Carling Cup, ending their nine-year wait for a trophy, Tottenham Hotspur returned to the pit of mediocrity at St Andrew’s on Saturday.

The mitigating circumstances were endless. The players appeared drained from their exertions at Wembley, possibly hung over, too, after some had been pictured getting off their faces at Faces, the Essex nightclub where they had celebrated long into the night. And, after all, it was only the Barclays Premier League, a campaign written off as a bad job well before the arrival of Juande Ramos, the head coach, in October. Mid-table security would seem to have been secured and the Uefa Cup looms on Thursday, when PSV Eindhoven visit North London for the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.

Still – and despite enjoying 60 per cent of the possession - Tottenham were poor. It may be difficult to determine whether Ramos is perturbed, with his thoughts relayed via a translator, but it is fair to assume that his blood boiled underneath a calm exterior. “When a team has a big victory, they deserve to have a big party,” Ramos said. “They had sufficient time for a full recovery. But, yes, I am angry with the players because they weren’t at their best.”

Six of the Wembley starters stepped out against Birmingham City, although the centre-back partnership of Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King was missing. Woodgate was injured and King was left out to rest his troublesome knee. Mikael Forssell has had persistent injury problems, too, yet when fit, the marksmanship of the Birmingham forward is up there with the best. As the Tottenham defence disintegrated, he collected a hat-trick of the highest quality – applied by head, right foot and left foot. “You dream about a day like this,” he said.

The threat of relegation may haunt Birmingham, but they were up for it, Forssell nodded them ahead and after Dimitar Berbatov had been denied by a post, Tottenham huffed and puffed to their worst defeat under Ramos. Sebastian Larsson curled in a free kick and Forssell struck twice more before Jermaine Jenas scored a late consolation. Unlike post-Wembley, though, he barely celebrated.

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Maik Taylor 6 - S Kelly 5, R Jaidi 6, L Ridgewell 4, D Murphy 6 – S Larsson 6, F Muamba 5, D Johnson 5, G McSheffrey 5 (sub: S Parnaby, 68min 5) – M Forssell 8 (sub: C Jerome, 83), J McFadden 5 (sub: M Zarate, 83). Substitutes not used: C Doyle, M Nafti. Booked: Johnson. Next: Portsmouth (a).

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson 4 – A Hutton 5, Y Kaboul 3, P Chimbonda 3, T Tainio 3 (sub: J Jenas, 46 5) – S Malbranque 4 (sub: R Keane, 46 4), D Zokora 4 (sub: C Gunter, 72), T Huddlestone 4, J O’Hara 6 – D Berbatov 4, D Bent 3. Substitutes not used: R Cerny, A Lennon. Next: West Ham United (h).