It’s been four years since I added something to this blog. The fact that the last post was about a player seemingly wanting to leave Tottenham, the same subject of this new one, may make it seem like I am flaming with anger right now. You might think that I’m ready to start replying to Harry Kane’s social media accounts with sweary rants. Maybe I’ll boo his every touch for the rest of his career.
That’s not how I feel. In fact I’m not actually that bothered. I’m not angry at him, I’m just disappointed.
I said it in my Danny Rose blog, I don’t begrudge any football player wanting to move clubs for more money or for a better chance at silverware. Harry Kane has given a lot to Tottenham Hotspur, and he doesn’t owe us his loyalty. What he does owe the club though is the respect of fulfilling the contract which he chose to sign.
The main person to blame in this current situation is Harry Kane. He signed a six-year contract with a team who are best known for not winning anything. Nobody held a gun to his head. Signing a six-year contract at any team is a bold move. He choose to do that. And yes, Spurs have regressed in that time. The club haven’t matched his ambitions in terms of performance or investment. But they don’t have to. The deal was they would pay him a wage and he would turn up to train and play. One side of the deal have kept their end of this bargain. The other side of the deal have burned the bridges with the fanbase who have defended him for years.
As football fans we project our own love for our club onto the players. We want every player who pulls on the shirt to love that badge the same way that we do. The truth though is that even when that player is a fan themselves, they are swayed by their own needs and desires. We got suckered in to it all. The Roy of the Rovers story. The youth academy boy done good. He became the best striker in the country, the second best striker in the world (maybe the best depending on how you feel about Lewandowski). He became captain of his country. He was one of our own.
I fucking loved that fairy tale. Very few fans in football will ever get to experience what we have with Kane. It was proper football magic. And now it’s ruined. It doesn’t matter what happens now, it will never be quite the same.
When the Gary Neville interview leaked back in May I said that Harry Kane wouldn’t be leaving. I stuck by that every time the subject came up. And for the record, I still don’t think Harry Kane will be leaving Tottenham. It’s a depressed market right now, and nobody is willing to pay the asking price. With three years left on his contract there is no real pressure for Tottenham to sell, and lord knows that Daniel Levy has a lot of work to do to rebuild his own bridges with the fans. Selling Harry Kane right now is not going to help that cause.
If Harry Kane wants to leave and Manchester City want to buy him, that is fine. City can pay the asking price. They are set to pay £100m for Jack Grealish so based on their own value we can open negotiations at £150m. Nut up or shut up.
I don’t know how Harry Kane thought that no-showing training was going to play out. Maybe he thought this was a power play? I don’t believe it is. It will get Sky Sports talking, sure. It has also irreparably harmed his relationship with the Tottenham fans. Football fans are fickle. If he stays, we will cheer when he scores, but no longer is he one of our own. He’s just another mercenary being paid £200,000 a week. Some fans may forgive easier than others, but for me he’s now just a Tottenham player. I always had this image of him as a hard-working, down to earth guy. Somebody that understood our love for the club. He may well be those things, but the lack of professionalism, more importantly the lack of respect is annoying.
No player is bigger than the club. Remember Hossam Ghaly throwing the shirt down on the pitch? To me that is less disrespect than what Kane is showing the club. He’s paid to attend training sessions. Not doing so is disrespect. It’s disrespects the club, the fans, the manager, and his teammates. I’ve seen talk of this gentleman’s agreement but what is a gentleman’s agreement? Does it somehow supersede your contract? Does it fuck.
And if we want to talk about silverware, how about the three cup finals he has played in for Spurs? I don’t think it’s fair to point the finger for losing those games solely on him, but it’s not unfair to say that his performance in all three games was pretty underwhelming. Success or failure is not purely on one player, but he is an integral part of the team that has failed to win anything.
Tottenham fans stood by and defended him through a lot. That embarrassing mess when he insisted he touched the ball to get another goal on his tally? A bit pathetic really, and maybe telling of the man, but at the time we stuck by him. As the diving creeped into his game? We stuck by him.
What price is a fair one for Harry Kane? City will argue that £100m is fair for a 28 year old with repeat ankle injuries, Tottenham will argue that £150m is fair for a talismanic player who simply cannot be replaced. No matter what the fee, Spurs will be weaker without him. The power here is with Tottenham. There is a lot of time on the contract. City can use their sports washing bloody money if they really want him. Otherwise Harry, get in training and start doing your job. It’s pretty simple.
I don’t believe he will go. If he does, then fine. I’ve seen great players leave before. A year or two ago I’d have been hurt at the idea of Kane going, but now I’m genuinely over it. He’s not the same Harry Kane to me any more. And if he stays, I will clap when his name is on the team sheet, I will cheer when he scores, but the love can’t ever come back. There’s no going back. He’s not Roy of the Rovers. He’s not one of our own. He’s just professional footballer Harry Kane.
When Dane Scarlett breaks through, somebody remind me not to fall quite so hard for the narrative next time. Remind me not to put my hopes and my emotions on him. But you know what? I will, because I love my club and I want the players to love it, and respect it, too.
COYS
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