Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, says that Gareth Bale has the potential to become the best left back in the entire Premier League.

Bale has managed to hold down a regular first team place in the Spurs side and has managed to create a significant impact. He is now part of the Spurs side and the manager does not see him being dropped for a long time.

Bale is also a regular international for the Wales senior side and is growing in experience and stature all the time. It could mark the start of a realising in potential that everyone has said he has for a long time.

Redknapp said: “Gareth is playing superbly, he’s been in great form. I didn’t want to shift him from the left-back position because he’s been outstanding there but we didn’t have many spare bodies at Fulham.”

“He can play wide left or left-back anyway, he can do both jobs and he was a real threat. He’s in great form and is full of confidence.”

“He’s got bigger and stronger and people forget he’s still only a young lad. He’s toughened up a lot, his attitude is stronger, he’s physically stronger, mentally stronger and he has terrific ability, pace, a great left foot – he’s got everything.”

“I think he will go on to be one of the best left-backs or left-sided players in the modern game.”

Spurs are still fighting on a number of fronts but the thing they will want more than any thing by the end of the season is to hang onto fourth place and break into the Champions League for the first time.

This will be difficult though because there are many teams who are currently trying to achieve this. Bale will play a big role in the run in if Spurs are going to get into fourth place and hold the fort.

What Bale does so well is defend from the first part of the game to the last. He then looks to try and get forward to provide another attacking outlet whenever he can. His form has started to mirror Chelsea’s Ashley Cole when he plays at his best.

Bale also has a deadly left foot, which Spurs have been using to deliver balls from free kicks and set plays. Bale would probably be the first to admit that he does not score enough goals but that will come with time and patience.

Since he made the move from Southampton, a former club of Redknapp, he has grown slowly. It is only recently that he has managed to burst into the side and make big contributions.

Whether or not he can hold this down and continue it over a longer period of time remains to be seen.

He has become a crowd favourite at White Hart Lane and there do not seem to be any signs of Bale’s form stopping just yet. Provided he stays injury free, the future is bright.

Former professional football player, Tony Cascarino, has said that England will need Peter Crouch more than Wayne Rooney in South Africa this summer.

Crouch came off the bench to bag a brace in the win over Egypt on Wednesday night. His dominance and physical presence seemed to transform the fortunes of the England side on the field.

Rooney played from the start of the game and gave a typically busy performance, which was capped by a TV clip that showed the Manchester United front man yelling at the entire team in the first half.

Cascarino said: “Who’s the more important striker for England, Wayne Rooney or Peter Crouch? Guess again: it’s Crouch. I’d argue he’s England’s most important attacker – potentially the team’s most important player, in fact.”

“Not the best player, you understand; but there’s a difference between “best” and “most important”. Crouch is one of those players who can make the entire team more effective just by his presence. He’s not the most individually talented, he need not even have an especially good game; but as we saw on Wednesday, when he’s in the team, England are improved.”

“It’s because of what Crouch does to opponents – he scares defences who are intimidated by his height – and what he does to his own team-mates. He adds a dimension to England’s attacks that isn’t present when two small forwards such as Rooney and Jermain Defoe are up front. And by doing that, Crouch influences England as a whole, because they become less predictable and more confident, whether he’s seeing much of the ball or not.”

“There’s enough flair in the England side to create chances without a tall target man, but Crouch gives an extra option. Wingers can cut inside and pass short to onrushing midfield players such as Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard, or send over high crosses and feel optimistic Crouch will get on the end of the ball. They’ve got more choice when Crouch is there. And not being able to predict what will happen makes defences nervous and more vulnerable.”

It is highly debateable to say that Crouch is a better player than Rooney. Any football fan or pundit would pick the United striker ahead of the Spurs player. The point is that together they can become formidable.

Rooney has the work ethic and the skill to create something out of nothing while Crouch gives them something at the very top of the pitch. Just the sheer size of the Tottenham player makes him a daunting striker to play against.

The two need to combine and start working towards making England a threatening attacking team to play against. Teams have worked out how to play against Crouch but not when he has Rooney snapping at his heels as well.

Hopefully the two will bag enough goals to be able to send England into the later stages of the World Cup when literally any thing can happen.

Matt could be Southampton’s saviour

If anyone can save Southampton Football Club, it will be Matt Le Tissier.

That’s the view of fans who have always regarded him as “Le God” and he will take on even greater Biblical proportions if an ambitious bid comes off.

Le Tissier is one of the key supporters behind a possible take-over of troubled Southampton by the Pinnacle Consortium. Saints’ administrator has formally granted the group three weeks to put forward their case which has solid foundations. The consortium has already put its money down, paying a non-refundable undisclosed fee which was enough to make sure staff wages were paid in May. Le Tissier has the pedigree to ensure the take-over succeeds.

Now aged 40, he has always shown his undivided loyalty towards Southampton and is widely regarded as the club’s greatest ever player. As an attacking midfielder, he played 540 games in total and scored 209 goals, second only to Mick Channon, now a horse racing trainer. One of the incredible records Le Tissier held was to slot home 47 out of 48 penalties. Fans came to believe he would never let them down and the same will be true during the next three weeks.




If Le Tissier was a string of rock, he would probably have Southampton written through and through.Born on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, he had trials with Oxford but only ever played for Southampton which, even in those days, was not financially well off. He could have earned a fortune elsewhere but rejected moves to both Chelsea and AC Milan and tore up a deal with Tottenham at the last moment.

He was known as a player who could score goals from nothing at crucial times and although he played only eight times for England, his name is forever engraved in Southampton folk-lore. He was given the freedom of Southampton and has had developments named after him, including a plane.

Having carved a niche for himself as a football commentator, no-one should under-estimate Le Tissier’s passion for his former club. This is not a whim. Soccer is in his blood and all three of his brothers played football, if not professionally. One of his brothers is chairman of the Guernsey Football Association.





Le Tissier doesn’t want the glory of saving Southampton FC. If vanity was part of his make-up, he would have left Southampton at the height of his playing career to seek a greater stage and bigger rewards.

This is about doing what he believes is right. He couldn’t see Southampton go to the wall, any more than loyal fans could. Perhaps when this bid succeeds, they will name something else in honour of Le God, perhaps the stadium or a stand or a statue at the least.

Blackburn Rovers have set an example to the rest of the Premier League by slashing the cost of their adult season ticket prices. In a recent survey Blackburn came in the top three of a study that determined which football club offered the best value for money in terms of its season tickets.

Blackburn have acted on the news by stating that they will decrease their prices again for the 2009/2010 season, hoping to attract sell out crowds to every home game they have. It is welcome news to a lot of fans in a hard economic period where a lot of people simply can’t afford to go to matches every week.

The Premier League has been harshly criticised by government figures and fan groups alike over the last few seasons owing to the fact that the price to see even a single game in the Premier League is often more than the price of an adult season ticket at a lower league club.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United all have ticket prices which go way over the £100 mark to sit in certain areas of their grounds on a match day, which are sums that a lot of normal working people just can’t afford. The move by Blackburn should be taken as an example to everyone else because all too often not enough is given back to the people that pay to go and watch their club.

There was recent news that a supporters group had prompted Manchester United into introducing fairer season ticket terms and reducing prices slightly. Hopefully more clubs will follow suit as well as taking more from Blackburn’s example in order to get more people along to Premier League games this season.

The Bundesliga in Germany is the most watched league in Europe owing to the simple fact that the price of tickets is substantially less than it is in England. The atmosphere at games is just as good, even though the football may not be of as good quality.

It is such a relatively small step for massive clubs to take in a world where Premier League teams earn millions through other avenues such as sponsorship and TV rights. Fair enough gate receipts may be the fundamental form of income for a football club but more sides need to create a situation where the fans are getting better value for their money.

Even the prices of food and drink in most grounds are way over the top in terms of what you would normally pay. So even after you have busted a gut to pay to get in and watch your favourite team, once you are inside for the best part of three hours you have to fork out x times more than the food is worth just to make yourself feel happy and comfortable.

It is not on and all credit to the sides that take every measure they possibly can to make the match day experience of a supporter as good as it can be for the smallest possible price.

Ledley King is one of those players that has been gifted to have been given more than enough talent and potential, but is plagued by a string of injuries that have meant he will never be able to fulfill his football dreams.

King has spoken this morning about his dream to make England’s World Cup squad for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Although this may be a fairy tale story it is unlikely he will get anywhere near the squad by the time it is announced.

Two or three years back he was playing regularly for Spurs and was a fixture in the international side. His performances whenever he was handed the captain’s armband in a pressure situation were admirable and he genuinely looked like he could reach the levels of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry on a constant basis and make them sweat over their place in the side.

The problem is because of his health and bad run of injuries, his good runs were always temporarily halted, cancelling out any progression he had made and meaning this was just another case of a player taking one step forward and two steps back.

He said: “It’s a difficult situation, my priority first and foremost is always Spurs – with the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign going so well, there is a real opportunity to do something great on the international stage again.”

“Every player wants to play as much as possible, but I’ve long accepted the fact that it is not a privilege I have.”

The problem for King is that in all the time he has spent laying on the treatment table, someone else has stepped in and got ahead of him in the pecking order. In terms of the number of international matches between now and when the World Cup squad is announced, King realistically only has a small amount of time to make any impact.

This first means get his place back in the Spurs side, which has now been established since Harry Redknapp stepped in and took up the managerial position. He needs to do this quickly and have a good pre-season ahead of the next campaign to make sure he is starting when the first whistle is blown.

It is not all doom and gloom for King though and if things go his way he could have a good shot and replacing someone if they pick up a bad injury or fall away from the form that England boss, Fabio Capello, has now come to expect.

His first and main priority should be Spurs. When he is fit he personifies everything that Tottenham are about, the passion, the enthusiasm and the aggression. If he is a regular in the Spurs side at the start of the season then he has some hope. If he is playing well and gets the nod just after the turn of the new year then the dream may come true.

The problem is though that the odds are stacked well against him. For Ledley King to make the 2010 World Cup squad then he’ll have to do something very special.

Forget what the football pundits say. Take no notice of speculation by the fans. And certainly ignore the managers themselves!

When you see a so-called star player wrapped up in thick coat, hat and gloves and not even on the bench, you just know that all the rumours about leaving a club are true.

It was always odds-on that Robbie Keane was going to leave Liverpool and rejoin Tottenham, despite all the red herrings which were put in the way.

Despite the very public humiliation of being left out of the squad to face Chelsea, Keane’s future was still at Liverpool, according to manager Benitez. So what happened less than 48 hours later? He was sold for around £12 million to Spurs, the club he had only left last summer.

On reflection, however, perhaps it’s time to start analysing how the managers phrase their answers, rather than what we think they are saying.

Benitez told the world: “It’s not my idea to sell him. We have confidence in him but he knows he is not playing to his true level. Robbie’s future is to be ready, to score goals and to work for the team.”

Okay, let’s rewrite that slightly to read: “It’s not my idea to sell him. It’s the board’s. After all, I never wanted him in the first place. It was their deal. Robbie’s future is to be ready, to score goals and to work for the team – it just won’t be Liverpool, that’s all.”
Make’s more sense, doesn’t it?

The same applies to Harry Redknapp’s comments following their 3-2 defeat at Bolton. He ruled out the possibility of Keane returning to north London, saying: “He’s a terrific player and a good lad but he belongs to Liverpool so it’s not a possibility.” Well, yes, at that stage he did belong to Liverpool but not for long.

The big question now is has it all been a waste of time and money, given that Keane went to Liverpool for £20.3 million last July? Will he come back a stronger and wiser player or will his confidence be knocked? It’s true that with Liverpool he struggled to win a place in the team and scored just five league goals in 19 appearances but fans say to be on form you need to be given the chance and not dropped at the earliest opportunity.

Keane himself says he knows a lot of Spurs fans will be very disappointed with his decision to leave the club he had served so valiantly for six years in the first place. However, as he begins his new four year deal with Tottenham, he has pledged to give his all for the club and for the fans. And well done to him for having enough guts to admit: “Leaving Spurs last summer proved not to be the right way for me.”

At least the club is already behind him and there was a boost when Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy posted this comment on Tottenham’s official website: “We never wanted Robbie to leave in the summer. We acknowledged the six years’ dedicated service he gave this club and reluctantly let him go. I am delighted he has chosen to return.”

The EPL January transfer window has finally come to an end and there were a few more players on the move.

Fifth-place Arsenal, who now seem to be out of the title race, has signed Russian Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg. He should help the Gunners as long as Wenger plays him instead of sitting him on the bench. The 27-year-old Arshavin scored 51 goals in 232 games for Zenit, and was the 2006 Russian Footballer of the Year.

Portuguese international Ricardo Quaresma left Italy’s Inter Milan and signed on loan with Chelsea until the end of the season. Although he’s only 25, Chelsea becomes the fifth club of Quaresma’s career. Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho paid 16.3 million pounds for him last year.

West Brom signed winger Juan Carlos Menseguez from Argentine Primera Division champions San Lorenzo along with Youssouf Mulumbu from French club Paris St Germain.

Fulham signed French midfielder Olivier Dacourt, 34, on loan from Inter Milan until the end of the season

Twenty two-year-old Charles N’Zogbia’s left Newcastle after he was swapped to Wigan for 24-year-old Ryan Taylor. Newcastle also reportedly received six million pounds in the deal.

In loan moves: Calum Davenport joined Sunderland from West Ham, James Chester left Manchester United for Peterborough United, Tel Ban-Haim went to Sunderland from Manchester City, Michael Chopra left Sunderland for Cardiff City, and Matt Derbyshire was loaned out from Blackburn to Greek side Olympiakos.

Striker Robbie Keane’s return to Tottenham from Liverpool became official after six miserable months at Anfield under manager Rafael Benitez. The Spanish manager cost club owners about five million pounds or more by signing the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland striker last year for close to 20 million pounds. It’s not sure how much Tottenham paid to get Keane back as both clubs are now disputing figures.

It was an odd move in the first place as Liverpool had striker Peter Crouch, but Benitez sold him for some reason to Portsmouth for about seven million pounds before signing Keane. So at the end of the day, Liverpool has neither Crouch nor Keane, and are out millions of pounds. And yes, Benitez is still employed there. In another twist to the story, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has said Keane will now captain Tottenham, but defender Ledley King will retain the club captaincy, whatever that means. It will also be interesting to see how the fans at White Hart lane will greet Keane after he deserted them in the summer.

Meanwhile on the pitch, Championship side Burnley continued its FA Cup run by beating West Brom 3-1 at home in their fourth-round replay. Burnley will now face either Cardiff City or Arsenal in the fifth round. Burnley are getting used to beating Premier League sides this season as they have already beaten Fulham, Chelsea, and Arsenal in the Carling Cup and came oh so close to knocking Spurs out of that competition too, only to lose in the last two minutes of extra time last month. The Arsenal vs Cardiff FA Cup replay was postponed due to current weather conditions in England. Translation: It’s cold and snowing.