Former Tottenham Hotspur F.C. manager Tim Sherwood claims he prevented the club from selling star striker Harry Kane last January.
Kane, who earned his first call-up to the England senior squad this week, has to date enjoyed a tremendous 2014/15 campaign, tallying 25 goals and four assists in 41 appearances in all competitions for Spurs this season.
However, Kane’s development could have stalled or perhaps never came to fruition had it not been for Sherwood, who–as Spurs’ technical director–played a significant role in the 21-year-old’s growth.
“When I first put Harry in the team, Roberto Soldado was on the bench, and after 30 minutes if Harry hadn’t scored the fans would be singing for Soldado to come on,” Sherwood said.
“It took time for Harry to win them over but they love him now and they’re reaping the rewards for it.
“I am delighted for him. It’s just great I resisted the temptation to get rid of him last January because perhaps he wouldn’t be the star he is for Tottenham now.
“He was never close to leaving in my opinion but there were people at the club who wanted to bring in another striker and sacrifice Harry Kane – but I wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
In 2014/15, no Englishman, not even Wayne Rooney, has scored more Premier League goals (16) than Kane.
The Aston Villa boss added: “We never knew whether he was going to reach the level he’s at now but we knew his mentality, desire and passion for the game was second to none.
“He’s got tremendous self-belief. He doesn’t see anyone as competition; he just sees himself and wanting to improve.
“Tremendous credit should go to Christian Eriksen and Gylfi Sigurdsson. As much as Harry was a fantastic trainer, those two guys spent hours on the training field with him; striking balls, working on the right side, the left side, and showing Harry how to train properly.”
Toffees routed in Ukraine
Everton F.C. manager Roberto Martinez refused to place all the blame on the back-five following the club’s 5-2 UEFA Europe League defeat against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday night.
The Toffees entered Thursday’s second-leg with a 2-1 lead, but found themselves down 3-1 at the halftime interval.
Oleh Husyev and Antunes made it four and five respectively before Phil Jagielka late consolation somewhat eased the Merseysiders’ misery.
“The back five have been very strong in the last two games — the same back five only conceded one goal in the last two games from a corner in the first leg against Dynamo, and kept a clean sheet against Newcastle,” Martinez said.
“I felt the communication experience between them would be important today.
“Both teams used the pitch in a good manner but the whole team didn’t defend well enough.”
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