Corluka's Luck

I know I shouldn't be laughing, but what happened to Vedran Corluka in Tottenham Hotspur's match at Stoke City was simply hilarious.

With the Spurs down 1-2 and defending late in the game, Corluka was kneed in the chest by his goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes, in a goalmouth scramble and had to leave the field for treatment. After being treated at the sideline for a couple of minutes, a grimacing Corluka was sent back onto the field, just as Stoke City was having another free-kick deep in the Spurs' half.

As soon as the ball as sent in and punched clear by Gomes, Corluka was once again lying on the pitch. Just as everyone was feeling for him, TV replay showed us how unlucky he really was.

This time, he was kneed in the head by Gomes and was knocked out cold. It took some 10 minutes for the paramedics to get him off the pitch and onto a waiting ambulance. Luckily he's okay.

If you think that someone being injured twice in quick succession is unlucky, then Corluka simply had no luck at all. To make matters worse, Corluka's replacement, Michael Dawson, was shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge in the sixth of 11 minutes of stoppage time.

There must be some sort of jinx on the Spurs, which has just two points in the opening eight matches, and the highly-touted manager Juande Ramos, who has brought so much expectation with him but produced so little on the field.

Now if there is really a jinx, let's hope that Corluka's black day has finally broken it.