Les Ferdinand is well into his stride by the time he tackles Tottenham's perennial puzzle of style versus substance from the perspective of Kevin Keegan's 'Entertainers' at Newcastle.
He has been through his exit from Queens Park Rangers, his thoughts on developing young footballers, hopes for the future and work to improve awareness of prostate cancer in the black community, and we will return to that in good time.
He has dropped the fastener from his lapel badge, disappeared under the sofa to retrieve it in a flash and emerged smiling because he knows the power of what shows up front is no good without some sort of security at the back.