Premier League HOT or NOT: Mourinho and Moyes misery, Adama's hair, Tottenham's title dream

What’s sexy, and what isn’t, in football this week…

HOT

Adama’s hair
As timeless Premier League hairdos go, this one is definitely up there with Abel Xavier and Barry Venison. Bright, bold and full of flair, perhaps what makes Traore’s barnet especially endearing is the way it contrasts so arrestingly with the Middlesbrough side in which he plays. An ironic statement from the Spanish winger, perhaps, about a lifeless Boro attack epitomised by Steve Agnew’s bald head. It is this satirical element which elevates Adama’s haircut to a true work of art, as opposed to Venison’s which was just a man with a silly mullet. Sadly, it was a familiar case of mazy dribbles with no end product from the peroxide 21-year-old. He still has no assists, or goals, this season. But he now looks even better on the highlights.

Mourinho’s interviews
Yes Jose, you’re still the best. Manchester United’s performance in a goalless home draw against West Brom was exceedingly drab, but the manager’s post-match interview – in which he comprehensively dismantled the BBC’s Conor McManamara after the reporter made the unarguably silly suggestion that the two sides has “cancelled each other out” – was one of his best. Contemptuous, sneering and amusing, even if it’s never quite clear whether the humour – “David de Gea did a funny thing” – is intentional or not. Whether this was a calculated ploy to distract from United’s fading top-four hopes, or a genuine example of a grumpy middle-aged man who no longer cares if people like him, it was much better to watch than the football.

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Tottenham’s title dream
It’s time to start believing in it/fearing it – not least because it might be the only chance we get. Chelsea’s home defeat to Crystal Palace may turn out to be an irrelevant blip, but we don’t know that yet. If the Blues were to lose to Manchester City in their next game, their trip to Old Trafford two games after that would take on a season-defining significance. Spurs play Swansea, Watford and Bournemouth in the same period. The gap now is seven points; it could be one point within two weeks. With Harry Kane set to return from injury in a run-in that will mark an emotional White Hart Lane swansong, the Tottenham title dream is ON. (Unless Chelsea beat Man City on Wednesday in which case we can all go back to sleep.)

NOT

West Ham
As Spurs dream of the championship, it’s time for their east London rivals to fear the Championship. Defeat to Hull closes the gap between the Tigers and the Hammers to six points and leaves Slaven Bilic’s side looking very much like the proverbial side that drops like a stone from mid-table into peril. Two points from their last six games, a daunting run-in that features Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton, a growing injury list that is exposing the fragility of their squad and owners that can’t resist commenting publicly on the team’s every twist and turn are all causes for concern. After being outplayed and out-fought by Hull, next weekend’s match against Swansea looks like a six-pointer- and a potential job saver – for Bilic.

Rudy Gestede
Premier League life started so well for the Beninese beanpole when he scored the winner against Bournemouth on his Aston Villa debut on the opening day of last season. Since then he has gone 39 games and counting without emerging victorious from a top-flight match – and this is his fault. Gestede’s glaring miss in the final minute of Boro’s crucial game at Swansea – having been perfectly teed up for a header by Alvaro Negredo – was nothing short of unforgivable. “His movement was terrific,” said his manager Steve Agnew with tear-jerking generosity. “I’m sure he’ll tuck away the next chance that comes along.” Oh Steve, we wish you were our dad.

David Moyes
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any lower than 20th in the table without a goal in five games and seven points adrift of safety, the Sunderland manager was caught “off camera” threatening to “slap” a female journalist who had asked him some “naughty” questions. In the footage of the incident, most of those present appear to be laughing (nervously, perhaps) at Moyes’ comment. And it could be that this is the Scotsman’s idea of humour, or flirting? But then again, it does seem unlikely that Moyes would have been in a jovial, or flirtatious, mood in the immediate aftermath of a dismal 1-0 defeat by Watford.

@darlingkevin