TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR can thank their own inability to win matches for the acquisition of a player who could prove to be their most influential foreign signing since Osvaldo Ardiles. A televised cup-tie, lost in the mists of time, led to a series of replays that caught the attention of a young Edgar Davids and made him into an unlikely supporter of the club.

“I became a Spurs fan a long time ago,” the 32-year-old Holland midfield player, said after an impressive debut that helped to put his new team at the top of the Premiership table. “I saw a match on television when they drew in the cup. In Holland when you drew you had penalties, but they had to play all over again and that left an impression. I can’t remember when it was or who it was against, but they replayed two or three times. It was special to run out at White Hart Lane.”

His fellow supporters, who have endured any number of false dawns in recent seasons, will hope that his love affair with the Lane continues. Although he has worn the colours of bigger outfits — even the most diehard Spurs fan will admit that AC Milan, Juventus and Barcelona qualify in that category — his motivation on the smaller stage could not be questioned. He shook off a training injury to make his first Premiership appearance at his new home and gave a 90-minute exhibition of cajoling, organising, tackling and linking.

Martin Jol, the Tottenham head coach, agreed that Davids had taken over the leadership of the team from his first kick in English football (delivered by Ray Parlour, somewhere in the vicinity of his ankle).

“Exactly,” Jol said. “He has played in all the good teams, and not only good teams — fantastic teams — so he’s got good habits and he tries to give us a bit of that. Before the game we were still a bit worried because he hadn’t played for four or five months, but he looked like he was 26 and on top of his game, so that was very pleasing. He had the injury last week but he was getting better and better and training three or four times a day. He’s got somebody with him, a physio, and even in his hotel he’s doing that. Wednesday he said ‘I think I’m fine to play.’ ”

Davids himself played down his contribution. “It’s not about being the leader of the team, it’s about being there for the team if they need you,” he said. “That’s important that everyone knows that. If they need some help then I’m there, but this team already has a couple of leaders. It’s important that key players stand up.”

The first key player to step up was Jermain Defoe, who hit a vicious shot through the eye of a needle to break Middlesbrough’s resistance after 49 minutes and the England forward provided the final pass for the second 15 minutes from time, although the blame lies with Mark Schwarzer. The Middlesbrough goalkeeper failed to deal with a mis-hit shot by Mido, the Egypt striker, who looked sharp after spending the close season working on his fitness. “I was lucky with the goal but sometimes you need a bit of luck,” Mido said.

Both Jol and Davids warned supporters not to get carried away and emphasised that the youth of their squad will almost certainly bring unpredictable results. There were enough reminders of that on Saturday, when Middlesbrough could have taken a point. They set out to stifle in the first half, but carved out chances after the appearance of Mark Viduka as a half-time substitute. However, the profligacy of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Stewart Downing and George Boateng and two excellent saves by Paul Robinson denied them a share of the points. They have yet to score this season despite a formidable, and high-budget, array of attacking talent.

Steve McClaren, their manager, felt that there had been little between the sides and that his team had not “taken the defining moments”. However, Boateng was more downbeat. “We only got going once Tottenham scored and then it is too late,” he said. “If we approached the game the way we played after they scored, then we would have won. We were too lax and certain players who have big things expected of them don’t deliver at the moment.”

Perhaps Middlesbrough need what Tottenham appear to have found in Davids — a fan in the dressing-room to motivate a team of expensive mercenaries.

SHADY DEAL

The Tottenham marketing department has wasted no time introducing Edgar Davids-related products. A wig from the online Spurs shop costs £11.99 and £9.99 will get you dark blue shades with “Davids” in gold on the right eye and 5, his squad number, on the left. Don’t all rush . . .