But there were still a couple of moments of magic from the wide man.
Niko came off the bench to hammer home a thunderbolt last-minute winner against Bolton in February, 2011 and made it back-to-back winners with another cracker at Sunderland the week after.In the end though he made only five starts in his 21 appearances.
Niko's excellent first season in 2009-10 was unfortunately cut short by injury sustained in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in April.
But he made quite an impact in his 29 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals including spectacular hits against Peterborough United and Stoke and showstopper against City at the Lane when he beat Emmanuel Adebayor all ends up before slotting home.
Niko joined us from Portsmouth on transfer deadline day in September 2009.
He made his Spurs debut as a second half substitute during a defeat against Manchester United at White Hart Lane later that month.
And although the midfielder had to work hard to win a regular place in Harry Redknapp's starting lineup, he soon established himself as a key attacking player in the side.
Taking up the position on the left of midfield made vacant by a serious early-season injury sustained by fellow countryman Luka Modric, Niko shone.
He opened his goalscoring account for the Club in a 2-2 draw at Bolton Wanderers in October 2009.
And his explosive and direct style of play, cominbed with the ability to find the net from long distance, helped galvanise our form in the first half of the campaign.
He went on to score six goals in 19 league starts before that injury at Wembley ended his season early.
Niko began his career with Dinamo Zagreb, where he made his debut at the age of 16 and captained the side to a league and Super Cup double in 2003.
Niko then joined rivals Hajduk Split in January 2005, earning another championship medal in his first season.
The midfielder moved to Fratton Park in the summer of 2006 and played a total of 100 games, scoring 12 times in all competitions.
