In a bizarre article in a Russian newspaper this week, former Spurs player Sergei Rebrov warned the club's newest recruit about life in Tottenham - and warned him off the area.

His comments to the new £13.8million striker Roman Pavlyuchenko kicked off a race row when he claimed residents living near the White Hart Lane stadium were "dark-skinned" and the reason for the area's high levels of crime.

He went on to advise Pavlyuchenko to drive, not walk, around the area to avoid being robbed. Behind the prejudicial overtones of this sweeping statement, I hear cries of "hypocrite" ringing in my ears. I would be amazed if Rebrov had actually ever got out of his swanky sports car to walk the streets of Tottenham, even just to pop down to the nearest sarnie shop.

Over Rebrov's four years at the club I cannot even hazard a guess at how many millions of pounds he earned - I run out of fingers and toes to count on. But a lot of this money would have come from the pockets of the faithful Tottenham crowd who throng the stadium each year.

It seems to me like he's sticking two fingers up at the people in the area who support thousands of people threading their way through the streets each week, who put up with the violent football crowds on Saturday afternoons, or who are banned from drinking outside their own pubs for fear they may solicit an angry word from a rival supporter.

If you do step outside the secure stadium walls and have a look around the area you will find a diverse mix of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. I'm not sure Ukranian Rebrov or Russian Pavlyuchenko should be surprised about this.

You will admittedly find pockets of crime around the area, as you will in many parts of London. But the root of the problems in this area can be found in its deprivation - a deprivation that footballers sidestep with their golden hellos and ridiculous salaries but feel they can criticise as soon as they leave the area.

In the same Russian article, Tottenham was compared to South London borough Croydon, for its levels of low-income families. Like Tottenham, Croydon suffers from a high crime rate but it is gradually overcoming its bad reputation with kind words from overseas.

Just this month French President Nicholas Sarkozy praised Croydon for its ability to overcome adversity, poverty and crime and build a wave of homes, shops and attractions worth visiting. One has to wonder if Monsieur Sarko has ever visited Croydon himself, but that's another story. However if there's a glimmer of foreign amour for this troubled town, then maybe Tottenham's star-studded visitors should start showing more love to Haringey's eastern fringes.