This was a result to make Juande Ramos feel a little bit better about himself. Not a lot better, mind you, because these are still largely his players, although maybe not for much longer after this alarming return by Spurs to bad old ways.

The honeymoon had to end some time: there are only so many times you can wave a magic wand before the magic wears off, even if your name is Harry Redknapp, but it was the way Tottenham’s new-found form completely deserted them on Saturday that will be worrying Spurs fans for the next few days.

Was this the real Spurs or just a momentary blip in their hitherto remarkable revival story? Has Redknapp just been papering over the cracks during those five wins and a draw or has he really turned the team around. Few fans would dispute that he will have to make some changes, starting with the goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who made another howler here to set Fulham on their way to a thoroughly deserved victory. If Roy Hodgson’s team could play like this away from the home comforts of the Cottage they really would be challenging for a place in Europe.

Gomes is the only ever-present left in the Spurs team this season although some would say he has gone missing all too frequently at times. He was certainly on hand in the 33rd minute when Jonathan Woodgate got his head to a cross from Simon Davies and misdirected it towards his own goal. Even so, it looked an elementary catch for any Premier League keeper. Gomes somehow managed to fumble the ball over his own goalline. Tottenham never recovered.

Redknapp said he will stand by his man, but then he has no other option until the January transfer window opens. “It was a farcical goal,” he said. “He’s my goalkeeper – he’s got to do the job. I’ve got him and another goalkeeper, a Spanish lad who’s 37 and then you’ve got kids. His record at PSV Eindhoven told you he was a first-class goalkeeper. I’ve got to stay with him. The goalkeeping coach, an Austrian lad [Hans Leiterd] has got a very important job now, he’s got to get inside his head.”

Even Hodgson described Gomes’s gaffe as “a glaring error”, but it would be a mistake to lay this defeat entirely at the Brazilian’s door. Tottenham were poor from 1 to 11 and Redknapp himself hardly got his team selection spot on. It was obvious from early on that Spurs were lacking width but the manager didn’t change it until half-time when he brought on Aaron Lennon and Roman Pavlyuchenko on. They looked better but not a lot and didn’t offer a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

But then Fulham were never likely to be the defensive push-over for Spurs that a disinterested Liverpool side had been in the Carling Cup in midweek. Fulham may defend in numbers but you couldn’t describe them as negative, leastways not at home. Jimmy Bullard was their driving force. How the expensive Luka Modric, a similar sort of player in looks and style, paled in comparison.

Paradoxically, had it not been for Gomes, Spurs would have suffered an even heavier defeat. He made several fine saves. It’s the elementary stuff he has problems with. He was nowhere to be seen in the 70th minute when Davies got his head to a corner by Paul Konchesky. Woodgate blocked it only for Andy Johnson to lash in the rebound. The Carling Cup hero Frazier Campbell, coming on as a late substitute, crowned a pretty good week for him personally with a nice, composed finish, but Redknapp’s men never looked like reprising their Houdini act

Tottenham's supporters came to the banks of the Thames convinced Harry Redknapp could walk on water. They left wondering how quickly they could chuck their goalkeeper overboard. For the umpteenth time this season, Heurelho Gomes dropped his team in it and, on this occasion, the feelgood factor introduced by Redknapp could not salvage them. Fulham deflated the air of confidence that had brought such buoyancy to White Hart Lane, and were more comfortable than a tight scoreline suggests. This was the Tottenham of old. The players looked fallible again.

As Roy Hodgson pointed out in the week, such is the football climate that with each result a team can be catapulted to the verge of European qualification or denounced as relegation fodder. Things can indeed change quickly. Spurs ended the day back in the bottom three.

Although they were significant architects of their own downfall, Fulham deserved great credit for the way they dismantled Tottenham's game plan, and set their own tone so enthusiastically. Defensively sound, energetic in midfield, and with a pair of relentless chasers up front in Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, they were everything their opponents weren't. 'We deserve a big pat on the back for the amount of pressure we put on them,' said Hodgson.

But he could not ignore the gigantic helping hand they received from Gomes. On the half-hour mark, when Simon Davies lofted in a speculative cross from the left, Jonathan Woodgate's attempt at a clearing header should have provided Gomes with a routine catch. But Tottenham's keeper doesn't do routine. Or catching, for that matter. He duly dropped the ball over his own goalline. 'Farcical,' lamented Redknapp, who cannot address the situation until the January transfer window opens.

'It's difficult,' Redknapp admitted. 'He's my goalkeeper. He's got to do the job, in all honesty. I've got another keeper, a Spanish lad of 37, and then I've got kids. I've got to stay with him.' David James? Shay Given? Let the rumours begin, for he is not expected to stay with Gomes any longer than necessary.

Redknapp must have had some choice words during the interval. The first half had given him a clanging reminder of why Tottenham needed him in the first place. As well as being wretched defensively, they were notably flat on the creative front, with the midfield who had been the platform for Tottenham's recent feats easily stifled by Jimmy Bullard and Danny Murphy.

The Hammersmith End gave Gomes a hero's welcome as he trudged to the goal in front of them for the second half , and he was soon exposed again as Tottenham's half-time reshuffle, with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Aaron Lennon introduced to help Darren Bent, failed to inspire any improvement.

Andy Johnson had a close view as to how Gomes's shattered confidence is unsettling his defence. First Ledley King kicked the ball against his own hand - provoking Johnson to yelp for a penalty - and then, from a corner, Woodgate was obviously too nervous to leave the cross for his keeper, and when his poor clearance fell to Davies, the Welshman nodded across for Johnson to steer in Fulham's second. Their comfort zone did not last long, though, as substitute Frazier Campbell applied a beautiful finish to a neat break with 10 minutes to go.

Tottenham have specialised in grandstand finishes since Redknapp's arrival. This time, though, he left stony-faced, with a stark reminder that his revival job is very much a work in progress. Gomes's last action of note, incidentally, was a superb save to claw away another classy Bullard free-kick. It is doubtful that is enough to convince Redknapp not to go shopping as soon as possible

In the end, so low did Heurelho Gomes look, that you could only feel sorry for him. The Spurs goalkeeper set a buoyant Fulham on the road to a deserved victory with another gaffe as Harry Redknapp's unbeaten start ended at seven games.

Gomes's problems seemed to begin in the kick-about when Fulham fans cheered his name on the team list, following his recovery from a midweek injury against Liverpool that meant he played yesterday with a plaster covering a cut lip.