He may be approaching the twilight of his career, but Louis Saha was left feeling like a teenage Roy of the Rovers after scoring twice on his full Tottenham debut.
Many expected 33-year-old Saha to be a bit-part player at most when he signed from Everton in a shock deadline day deal last month, but manager Harry Redknapp handed him his first start against Newcastle ahead of fans' favourite Jermain Defoe.
The former Manchester United striker did not disappoint in a hugely one-sided game that saw Spurs run out 5-0 winners.
Saha took just five minutes to open his account as he poked home Emmanuel Adebayor's cross to put the home side 2-0 up after Benoit Assou-Ekotto's early opener.
The Frenchman added his second 15 minutes later when he picked up Adebayor's knock-down before beating Magpies stopper Tim Krul from 12 yards and Tottenham then went on to cruise to victory.
"It was a great, great feeling," Saha said.
"I am not that young, but it's just like I was living the dream of a young boy - to make your debut and score on your home ground, it's just amazing."
Much of the pre-match focus had centred on Redknapp's tax evasion trial and the clamour for him to be appointed as England manager following Fabio Capello's resignation just hours after the Spurs manager's acquittal.
If Football Association chairman David Bernstein was watching on Saturday evening, then he will have been highly impressed with Redknapp's team.
Tottenham, quite simply, were at their imperious best. Creativity, pace, clinical finishing and hard work were the hallmarks of the display, which came amid a backdrop of chants from the home support begging Redknapp to snub England and remain at White Hart Lane.
The 64-year-old has transformed Spurs from relegation candidates to title contenders in little over three years, and for that reason, Saha understands why Redknapp is the overwhelming favourite to take the England job.
The striker said: "He is right up there with the best managers because he has so much quality around the team and he gets more than 100% from every player.
"It's immense. That shows he has great quality.
"It's great to work for him. He gives you so much confidence. He has a desire to win things. You can see it in his eyes.
"The last two weeks have been really difficult for him and it was nice to end it with a great win and a great performance."
Niko Kranjcar scored Tottenham's fourth with a sweet drive just before half-time and Adebayor turned home a second-half volley to complete the rout.
The Togo marksman had come in for some criticism after a recent goal drought, but he showed how valuable he is to the team by playing a part in all of the home side's goals.
"Adebayor was immense," Saha said.
"Physically, his work-rate and desire to get involved in everything was great.
"He was involved in everything. It's dead easy to play with him and he is a great character to be around."
Newcastle made the long journey back to Tyneside having failed to show any of the fighting spirit that earned them a 2-2 draw against Spurs in the reverse fixture in October.
Demba Ba fashioned a couple of half chances, but otherwise Brad Friedel and the Tottenham defence had a quiet evening and the Magpies dropped to sixth in the Premier League table.
Toon manager Alan Pardew was not too down, however.
"It was their day today but we'll have our day," he said.
Pardew ruled himself out of contention for the England job on Thursday and thinks the position is Redknapp's for the taking - providing he wants it.
"I'm sure Harry will get a phone call and he'll have a decision to make. But he's got a fantastic team here," Pardew said.
"They're definitely in the mix to be the best team we've played, along with Manchester United and Manchester City."
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