Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 West Ham United

Redknapp, the romantic, would certainly give Corals a quick ring if he saw two flies crawling up a wall.

Graham, on the other hand, would make sure the pair were behind the ball and then sign a bluebottle as a covering defender.

Ever the pragmatist, Graham summed up Tottenham and West Ham's contrasting starts to the season, when he said today: 'The first couple of months you have to get results so that you're not fighting for your life at the bottom of the table.

'If the results don't come, the doubts can creep in and then it can be hard.'

Graham's Spurs team have no early worries on that score. This win puts them up into fifth place, just a point off joint Premiership leaders, Manchester United and Leicester.

Redknapp is still looking for his first win after five matches. Last night's defeat left the Upton Park club rooted to the foot of the table with Liverpool next up on Saturday.

Sol Campbell's 66th minute goal separated the two teams but it was two opposing strikers who typified the ultimate difference in these London rivals.

Last season was a virtual write-off for Les Ferdinand. A serious Achilles tendon injury prompted doubts about his White Hart Lane future and even his career.

On the evidence of last night, however, the 33-year-old Paddington-born striker has a great deal yet to offer. While panicking drivers in North London joined the long queues at filling stations, Ferdinand proved last night that he, at least, still has plenty left in the tank.

Ferdinand, who was often the lone target man with Sergei Rebrov and Steffen Iversen dropping deep, gave cousin Rio and the rest of the West Ham defence a busy time with a performance of energetic running and physical presence.

Paolo Di Canio, in contrast, was an enigma for the East London club. The temperamental Italian orchestrated a bright West Ham performance in the first half but felt he should have had a 39th minute penalty and faded quickly after that.

Di Canio's second half performance was as uninspired and distracted as Ferdinand's was committed and, with his disappearance, went West Ham's hopes of earning their first victory of the season.

Even Redknapp admitted: 'Paolo was very quiet in the second half, as quiet as I've seen him.'

West Ham could, perhaps should, have gone in at half-time with at least a one goal lead but a combination of hurried finishing and some fine saves from Neil Sullivan kept the scoresheet blank.

In the second half West Ham's inventiveness seemed to desert them and players such as Joe Cole, Frederic Kanoute and Trevor Sinclair too often went careering up cul-de-sacs.

Spurs, playing a 4-3-3 system but sometimes 4-5-1, took control of the midfield with Steffen Freund increasingly effective.

Spurs, who were without Chris Perry with a broken toe, had to further reorganise when his replacement, Luke Young, went off with an ankle injury early in the second half.

Throughout all the upheaval though, Campbell remained unflappable - the best defender on view by a mile.

West Ham think highly of Kanoute but the French striker looked some way short of match fitness following a hamstring injury and Campbell looked increasingly dominant.

It was perhaps fitting then, that it was the England defender who lost Kanoute at a corner to thump a header into the net via the bar and Shaka Hislop's back.

Campbell's performance emphasised why some of the best clubs in England and Europe are eying the big defender. His departure from White Hart Lane would leave a huge void.

Graham will worry about that, if and when the time comes.

Last night he was content to have kept Spurs' 100 per cent home record intact.

He said: 'West Ham have some good young players in midfield but I think they found it difficult.

'We had them watched and they've played better then their results suggest. We stuck to our task though and our spirit was excellent.'

For Redknapp the search for that elusive first win continues.

He said: 'We got into some excellent positions in the first half but after the break we sat back and invited them on.

'I always thought that, with Rio the only header of a ball in defence, that we could struggle from set pieces and that's how it turned out.

'Now I've lost Davor Suker for some time with a groin problem while Frank Lampard needs a rest.

'He has a bad ankle and while he wants to play, he's not doing himself any favours.'