Residents of the Russian town of Stavropol obviously do not mind if their local councillors do not take a hands on approach to their job because they have just elected London-based Roman Pavlyuchenko. The Spurs striker received 63 per cent of the vote.

While he ought to be getting his hands dirty helping Tottenham to get out of the relegation zone, Pavlyuchenko has instead decided to join the grubby world of politics. The 26-year-old stood for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

The £14 million man’s lack of goals so far suggest that he might be better doing his Tottenham job from Stavropol rather than the other way round!