IF THEO WALCOTT is the best thing since sliced bread, they ought to call Aaron Lennon “Kingsmill”. Two years before Walcott consigned David Beckham to history with that hat-trick in Zagreb, Lennon threatened to do it at the 2006 World Cup.

Lennon, who was 19 at the time, appeared to be the answer to England’s prayers on the right flank after his electrifying introduction from the bench during the World Cup quarter-final defeat against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen. Unfortunately for the young Yorkshireman, and for Tottenham, he personifies his club’s current malaise, losing his way to such a degree that he no longer commands a regular place in a team bottom of the Premier League, let alone in the international squad Fabio Capello announces tonight.

Lennon won the last of his nine caps (he has never been on the losing side) in the Euro 2008 qualifier away to Andorra 18 months ago, since when he has been overtaken in the pecking order not only by Beckham and Walcott, but also by David Bentley and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Still only 21, he is confident of resuming his international career but knows he must regain optimum form with Spurs first.

His struggle to do so epitomises the collective enervation at White Hart Lane this season, which is down to a debilitating mixture of low confidence, lack of leadership on the field and inconsistent selection. All the ins and outs undermine the assimilation and gelling process, militating against the required cohesion.

Since the appointment of Juande Ramos just under a year ago, Spurs have spent roughly £90m in the transfer market, recouping two-thirds of it, mostly from the contentious sales of Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. Lest we forget, they finished only 11th last season, down from fifth under Martin Jol, but with Bentley, Luka Modric and Roman Pavlyuchenko on board this was billed as their big push for the Promised Land, aka the Champions League. Not only is it not happening, but results have bordered on the humiliating. Since their Carling Cup triumph in February, Tottenham have played 18 Premier League matches, winning just three.

Defoe, Keane and Berbatov, all proven, prolific scorers, have not been adequately replaced. Modric, Bentley and Pavlyuchenko have all been disappointing and the team cries out for a latter-day Dave Mackay at its midfield hub. The reputation Ramos established in Spain is being eroded by the week and inevitably, given the club’s treatment of Martin Jol before him, there is mounting speculation that he might not survive further embarrassment in the next two league games, at home to Hull this afternoon and away to Stoke.

Lennon, who has been over this treacherous ground before, when he was relegated with Leeds, has an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. He explained: “People there thought we were too big and too good to go down but that’s been proved wrong a lot of times and Spurs can’t afford to think like that. At Leeds we should have been good enough to stay up but, once your confidence goes, everything goes. We’ve got to dig in and stick together. If we do that, we should come good.”

Lennon denied that Berbatov had “poisoned” the Spurs dressing room, as Terry Venables has suggested, or that the Bulgarian’s disaffection was the root cause of the team’s predicament. “I don’t agree,” he said. “The lads always knew Berba was going and we can’t hide behind that. To be fair to him, he was always good in the dressing room. Because everyone knew he was going to go, it would have been better for the club if it had happened earlier, instead of dragging on, but that’s not what put us in this position. We’re just not playing well and should be doing a lot better.”

Lennon felt Keane’s eve-of-season departure had been a bigger blow. “Robbie was our captain and he’s missed a lot — off the pitch, as well as on it,” he said. Critics had also blamed Ramos’s poor command of English and consequent communication problems for Tottenham’s shortcomings but Lennon insisted this perception was erroneous, too. “The gaffer conducts all his meetings in English now,” he said. “Gus Poyet \ will chip in with the odd words here and there, if the boss is stuck for the right meaning, but his English is good enough to get across what he wants to say.”

From Lennon, the requirement is straightforward. “The gaffer tells me to stay out wide, get on the ball as often as possible, beat the full-back and get my crosses in,” he said. “He knows my game and he’s been really good with me.” Of his stalled international career, he said: “Injuries set me back after the World Cup. My confidence dipped and I wasn’t playing as well as I can. With a good pre-season behind me, I feel a lot better this time.”

Walcott was going to take some shifting now but Lennon is “up for the challenge”. He said: “I’m pleased for Theo. I was really happy for him after the Croatia game because he’s only a young lad and took a lot of stick previously. It was good to see him do well and shut a few people up.” Were Spurs capable of doing the same? “I think so. We’re embarrassed about being at the bottom, the players feel it worse than anyone. I don’t like going out at the moment and have to avoid watching Match of the Day. When people say footballers don’t care, it’s a load of rubbish.”

Fine words, time for the proof.