BringBack_leGin
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- Jul 28, 2004
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The inevitable result of our unstable past is that several players once of Spurs now find themselves elsewhere in the Premier League. Some of those are domestic players and some of those were brought to this country from overseas, impressing sufficiently enough at Spurs to be wanted elsewhere but not so much that we would keep them.
This season has seen mix fortunes for a number of our former charges and, at the halfway point, I've taken a look at how their respective season's are evolving with a view to us tracking them until the end of May and seeing who we might feel would still benefit us and who we are glad to be rid of.
Alan Hutton at Aston Villa
Alan joined us for a sizeable fee during Juande Ramos' first season in charge, and made a good start to his Spurs career with a League Cup win. His performances bombing up the pitch from right back added much to our play. Unfortunately it did not last, with off field problems and a seeming lack of application on field conspiring to fate his Spurs career to failure, moving on just 3 seasons and 51 league appearances later.
Alan joined Aston Villa and his career has continued to falter. Now in his fifth season there, only now has he made himself first choice right back at Villa with the club spiralling towards relegation, the turnover of managers a never ending carousel and the supporters of a once huge club vociferous in their disdain for what they are seeing. 2015/2016 will be a season to remember for Hutton, but for all the wrong reasons, the culmination of nine seasons of instability and story of wasted talent.
2015/2016: Alan Hutton, like his club, is showing himself to be not suited to this league any more.
Charlie Daniels at Bournemouth
Charlie's career, conversely to Alan Hutton's, has been one of hard work, patience and, now, reward. A very talented young left wing back with a lot of technique, Charlie was a lanky boy who seemingly lacked the physicality for this league. After a few season's as a reserve player, never appearing for our first team, Charlie eventually found his way to Leyton Orient via a series of loans. After three seasons with the club, Charlie moved to fellow League 1 side Bournemouth. Since then Charlie has been a regular in their side, and now as he comes towards his mature years as a footballer he is performing very well in a Bournemouth side who refuse to play the part of minnows in these shark infested waters (sorry).
2015/2016: Charlie Daniels' consistently good performances raise the question of whether he could have spent his entire career in this league.
Adam Smith at Bournemouth
Adam Smith has, albeit earlier in has career than Daniels, become a Premier League footballer after we deemed him not fit for the purpose. The young right back was highly thought of in our academy, and even looked energetic and purposeful in his one appearance for the first team. Alas, it wasn't to be, and after no fewer than seven loans in 4 seasons, we allowed the young right back to join Bournemouth in January 2014. In that time he has been a regular for Eddie Howe's side, and has impressed with his pace, delivery and tenacity. At the time of writing, Adam is very much the starting right back at Bournemouth, having played the full ninety minutes in Bournemouth's past six matches. I believe that if he had stuck around for six months longer, he'd have met Mauricio Pochettino and potentially enjoyed similar fortunes to fellow academy products Ryan Mason, Tom Carroll and Harry Kane (the former two with whom he came through the same system).
2015/2016: Adam Smith has grown along with Bournemouth as the season has progressed and so far looks well suited to top flight football.
Zeki Fryers at Crystal Palace
Needless to say, life has not been great for Zeki. Signed from Standard Liege, much to the fury of Manchester United, in 2013, Zeki survived one season and seven Premier League appearances for us before being sold to newly promoted Crystal Palace in 2014. With his first season there involving one top flight appearance and a half season loan to Championship side Rotheram, you would not expect his second season to be any worse, but alas it has been for young Zeki, with torn ankle ligaments in July leading to Alan Pardew omitting Fryer's from Palace's squad. Now in the January transfer window, a loan back to the Championship (at best) appears to be the only way for Zeki to save his season.
2015/2016: Zeki Fryers so far is a forgotten man who seems likely to end up outside of the top flight very soon.
Aaron Lennon at Everton
Signed from Leeds in 2005 to play back up to Wayne Routledge, Aaron spent a decade at Spurs and in that time gave us many wonderful moments. Sadly, he also failed to impact for too many of the 267 games he played in to ever really fulfil what once was sparkling potential. Unbelievably quick and with a lovely first touch, Aaron sadly never developed an end product and never consistently stamped his authority on games. A shame, as the talent was there, and he was often mesmeric. At his best he got fans off their seats, and I personally remember him more for this, for his electrifying breakthrough season and for the moments against Arsenal, Chelsea and Milan than anything else. I was sad when we loaned him out to Everton a year ago, and sad when we finally sold him in the summer just gone.
Unfortunately, Lennon has faltered this season, struggling to break into one of the league's most potent attacks where the creativity tends to come from the wunderkind combination of Ross Barkley and Gerard Delofeu. With three starts and six substitute appearances to his name, Lennon's career appears to prematurely be on the downward trajectory.
2015/2016: Picked up at Everton where he left off at Spurs, as a bit part player.
Michael Carrick at Manchester United
Not every player to leave Spurs succeeds, but Michael Carrick certainly has. Michael was with us from 2004 to 2006, and after a solid first 18 months he burst into life for his final half season, becoming our playmaker and making every player around him look very good. There wasn't even much fuss when Manchester United signed Carrick. Since then, Carrick has spent a decade as a key player for the biggest club in the country., and now that they are going through a rough period he continues to be a first team player despite coming towards the end of his career. He has won the Champions League, several Premier Leagues and enjoyed a fabulous career (albeit underrated by a succession of England managers). If only we could turn back the clock on this one...
2015/2016: As a great club falters, Michael Carrick continues to be a shining light.
Sébastien Bassong at Norwich City
The forgotten man of our successful 2009/2010 season, Bassong actually appeared in more matches for us that season than legendary centre back Ledley King. Just signed from Newcastle, he even got the show on the road with a goal in our opening day victory over Liverpool. However, by 2012, having seen his playing time reduced dramatically with us and his career going nowhere, he sought a move and we obliged, selling him to Norwich, where he remains to this day. Barring a loan spell for half a season at Watford, Bassong has been a key player for the Canaries, and an ever present this season so far as Norwich keep their heads above the danger zone.
2015/2016: Enjoying a solid campaign for a club who should retain their Premier League status.
Steven Caulker at Southampton (on loan from QPR)
There are some young players who leave because they look unlikely to break through and have a better chance elsewhere. Caulker was the opposite. A product of the same academy group as Adam Smith, Caulker enjoyed different fortunes, breaking into the first team in 2012/2013 under Andre Villas Boas after Ledley King had retired. Despite the presence of Vertonghen, Dawson and Gallas, Caulker actually played eighteen matches that season. However, he felt undervalued and that he deserved more, that he should be a first choice, so he agitated for a move. When he got it, he left for the circus that was Cardiff City, was an ever present in their side and suffered relegation. He moved on immediately to another mess in QPR and was almost an ever present in their side as they were relegated too. Now, loaned back to Southampton, Caulker can boast one Premier League start and two substitute appearances this season. Had the young Caulker realised that he was best served allowing us to nurture his talent he might now be a starting centre back at a side going places. Instead, he finds himself a journeyman at just 24 and not playing any football at all.
2015/2016: Apparently Steven Caulker still isn't ready for regular Premier League football.
Peter Crouch at Stoke
When we signed back our former academy prospect from Portsmouth in 2009, I was not thrilled. A year later, as he headed us into the Champions League on that fateful night in Manchester, I absolutely loved the affectionately named lanky streak of piss. Vile insults aside, Peter enjoyed an industrious two seasons at Spurs and was probably never quite appreciated for what he brought (I am guilty of this as anyone), but more condemned for what he lacked. He wasn't a goalscorer, he had no elegance at all and the only glamour he brought was his rather delectable wife. What he did, though, was enable Defoe and Van der Vaart to flourish while he did the donkey work. For this, Peter, I thank you. However, it was a natural end when he left for Stoke. We'd just brought in Adebayor (who went on to have a great season) and he was surplus to requirements. At Stoke he found a home and is now in his fifth season there, Stoke being the first club he has made over one hundred league appearances for. He played the majority of their matches too in his first four seasons, and had as respectable a goalscoring record as he'd ever enjoyed. However, at the age of 34 and with just three substitute appearances to his name, three metre Peter's career appears to be reaching it's end. He has enjoyed a good career, been to two World Cups and has a better goal per game record for England than Wayne Rooney, but the final curtain cannot be far off.
2015/2016: The beginning of the end.
Younes Kaboul at Sunderland
Kaboul enjoyed a storied career at Spurs. Signed in 2007, the young French defender seemed to have everything. Pace, strength, ability on the ball, two good feet, Kaboul could have been great. However, Kaboul's time at Spurs is a tale of inconsistency punctuated by moments both sublime and ridiculous. For 'that' goal against Aston Villa in his first spell, the winner away at Arsenal and the burst down the right to cross for Crouch at the Etihad, there is unfortunately a list as long as he is of sloppy errors, lapses in concentration and poor decision. For everything Kaboul had in talent and in body, he lacked in mind. That's not to say that I'd remember him negatively: he was superb throughout the 2011/2012 season and appeared to finally be fulfilling his promise as the successor to Ledley King. However, it was not to be, and cruelly he suffered an injury on the final day of that season which ended his hoped of going to the upcoming European Championships and kept him out for the majority of the next two seasons. Then, in Pochettino's first season, he was named captain by the new manager, given the opportunity to impress, but did not take it. Whether that was due to his body no longer being there, or his attitude being off (as was reported extensively), it is hard to tell: probably a combination of the two. So, last summer, we sold him. Kaboul had been Sunderland's regular starting centre back, but he had not performed well and in mid-December suffered an injury which would rob him of the next two months. One senses that, though cruel on him, Sunderland might benefit if this forces their hand towards a new centre back this January transfer window.
2015/2016: Poor performances, relegation struggles and injury now too mean that Kaboul has not enjoyed a happy first season so far at Sunderland.
Jermain Defoe at Sunderland
Divisive though this little man might have been with the fans, he scored a lot of goals for us, many of them great goals. He never had a sublime record, and even his best season produced short of twenty Premier League goals, but he is in our top three Premier League scorers (tied with Keane in second place while Sheringham tops the chart) and fifth in our list of all time top scorers (across all competitions). Defoe was a good striker for us, even if frustrating, and his efforts led us to our only season in the Champions League. We sold him for a princely sum to Toronto FC, but despite a decent strike rate, Defoe never settled in Canada. His return to these shored saw him enter a relegation battle last season with Sunderland, and this season, under the stewardship of a manager who tends not to use players of such diminutive stature and low aggression levels, Defoe has started twelve games and appeared off the bench in a further four, probably too few considering the alternatives at Allardyce's desposal. However, he has started the second half of the season strongly with a brace against Aston Villa which should at least earn him a start in Sunderland's next match, and he enters the second half of the season with six goals to his name. He might not be at the peak of his powers, but Jermaine still has something to offer.
2015/2016: Mixed season which might be looking up.
Wayne Routledge at Swansea City
Wayne Routledge signed for us in 2005 and made an uninspiring start to his career with us before sustaining a bad injury just a few matches into the season. What followed was the emergence or Aaron Lennon, and Routledge never found a way back. Three seasons later, having represented us in only five league matches and been loaned out twice, Routledge left for Aston Villa. His fate here was similar, where after half a season not playing, Routledge was loaned out to Cardiff and then sold in the summer to Championship side Newcastle, with whom her was promoted. After a moderately successful first half season in the Premier League, Newcastle loaned Routledge to QPR for the remainder to help their promotion push, after which Wayne found himself sold to Swansea. Here the winger has found a home as a regular first team these past four and a half seasons. So far this season, though, Routledge has struggled for form and fitness, and has as such only started eight of Swansea's twenty matches as they have battled against relegation, albeit appearing from the beginning regularly over the past month. He faces a tough second half of season, as do his club, but is likely to be a player they need to produce if they are to survive a very difficult Premier League campaign.
2015/2016: An inconsistent season so far which needs to be salvaged.
Gylfi Sigurdsson at Swansea City
Gylfi Sigurdsson had an eventful two years with Spurs under Andre Villar Boas and then Tim Sherwood. Similarly to so many others at Spurs, he arrived with bags of potential and seemingly that style which we should all love. He was meant to be the successor to Van der Vaart after all. Alas, two seasons later he'd not produced much more than the mediocre, a few exceptional goals aside and found himself back at Swansea. HIs first season back was successful too, with the Welsh fans being more than pleased with his trademark thunderbolt strikers, his subtle passes and a first touch which just never appeared at White Hart Lane. This season, however, has been harder, with the club struggling and his form dropping off. The lack of a potent goalscorer to whom Gylfi could supply the passes has had an effect too, but if Swansea are to escape relegation this season he'll need to improve on his three goals and one assist so far.
2015/2016: Inconsistent and needs to improve
Kyle Naughton at Swansea City
The last ex Spurs player at Swansea, Naughton's time at Spurs can be compared withRoutledge's. One of two young right backs signed at the same time, it was Naughton who had a good reputation, not the younger Walker. However, it was Walker who would dislodge and replace Corluka, with Naughton enduring a series of loans as Routledge had before. The heigh of Nauton's time with us came under Villas Boas management, where he appeared for us regularly, albeit not ever in his preferred position, but the arrival of Pochettino signalled the end of Naughton, the new manager preferring the pace of Walker and even new youngster Dier ahead of the Yorkshireman. After half a season during which Naughton appeared a meagre five times in the Premier League, we agreed to sell him to Swansea. A year later and he continues to be their regular right back, although not always a nailed on starter, but like the other two ex Spurs players he has been short of form and needs to improve in the second half of the season.
2015/2016: Not quite looking the top flight player he wants to be.
Heurelho Gomes at Watford
It is in no small part due to this man that while the other two promoted sides have amongst the five worst defensive records in the league (and thus, are in danger of relegation this season), Watford have the eighth best defensive record at the time of writing and are not that far off the Europa League qualification places. Gomes has had a storied time in English football, enduring great highs and awful lows with Spurs before not even appearing in the league during his final season. After his eventual release, he signed for Watford in the Championship and was impressive as they gained promotion, and since their return to the top flight has been consistently impressive. Yes, there is the odd lapse still, but on the whole he is reliable, assertive and still capable of astounding saves (who remembers the three against Arsenal?). Twenty games in and he has in fact kept one more clean sheet than our own world class goalkeeper, despite having a far inferior (in theory) set of players in front of him. I, for one, am happy for him and hope that he enjoyed a good few seasons yet at the top table.
2015/2016: A resounding success so far this season, one of the league's best goalkeepers.
Étienne Capoue at Watford
Capoue arrived at White Hart Lane with a great reputation as an enforcing midfielder who could dictate play. In his initial matches he was strong, composed and looked like he'd provide great service to our cause. It wasn't to be, and two seasons later he boasted only 24 appearances, the majority of which he looked disinterested, slow and unimaginative. Admittedly his first season was blighted by injury, but there was no excuse for his second season performance and the biggest inditement was the level to which we improved when he was usurped from the side by a previously untested (and written off) young man called Ryan Mason, a player with half the stature but twice the presence of Capoue. However, after signing for Watford this summer Capoue has gone some way to redeeming himself as a player. Now coming into the peak of his career, he marshall's their midfield well, protecting their defence and bringing the ball forward too. Clearly he is a much better player than we ever witnessed (and much better than I ever gave credited too), so why he failed with us I don't know, but he is living up to his potential now and could even be an outside contender for a place in France's squad as they host next summer's European Championships.
2015/2016: Finally looking like a very good midfielder
I'll be interested to see how the stories of the above players unfold as this seasons progresses, to see who continues as they have been and who enjoys (or suffers) a turnaround in form and fortune.
This season has seen mix fortunes for a number of our former charges and, at the halfway point, I've taken a look at how their respective season's are evolving with a view to us tracking them until the end of May and seeing who we might feel would still benefit us and who we are glad to be rid of.
Alan Hutton at Aston Villa
Alan joined us for a sizeable fee during Juande Ramos' first season in charge, and made a good start to his Spurs career with a League Cup win. His performances bombing up the pitch from right back added much to our play. Unfortunately it did not last, with off field problems and a seeming lack of application on field conspiring to fate his Spurs career to failure, moving on just 3 seasons and 51 league appearances later.
Alan joined Aston Villa and his career has continued to falter. Now in his fifth season there, only now has he made himself first choice right back at Villa with the club spiralling towards relegation, the turnover of managers a never ending carousel and the supporters of a once huge club vociferous in their disdain for what they are seeing. 2015/2016 will be a season to remember for Hutton, but for all the wrong reasons, the culmination of nine seasons of instability and story of wasted talent.
2015/2016: Alan Hutton, like his club, is showing himself to be not suited to this league any more.
Charlie Daniels at Bournemouth
Charlie's career, conversely to Alan Hutton's, has been one of hard work, patience and, now, reward. A very talented young left wing back with a lot of technique, Charlie was a lanky boy who seemingly lacked the physicality for this league. After a few season's as a reserve player, never appearing for our first team, Charlie eventually found his way to Leyton Orient via a series of loans. After three seasons with the club, Charlie moved to fellow League 1 side Bournemouth. Since then Charlie has been a regular in their side, and now as he comes towards his mature years as a footballer he is performing very well in a Bournemouth side who refuse to play the part of minnows in these shark infested waters (sorry).
2015/2016: Charlie Daniels' consistently good performances raise the question of whether he could have spent his entire career in this league.
Adam Smith at Bournemouth
Adam Smith has, albeit earlier in has career than Daniels, become a Premier League footballer after we deemed him not fit for the purpose. The young right back was highly thought of in our academy, and even looked energetic and purposeful in his one appearance for the first team. Alas, it wasn't to be, and after no fewer than seven loans in 4 seasons, we allowed the young right back to join Bournemouth in January 2014. In that time he has been a regular for Eddie Howe's side, and has impressed with his pace, delivery and tenacity. At the time of writing, Adam is very much the starting right back at Bournemouth, having played the full ninety minutes in Bournemouth's past six matches. I believe that if he had stuck around for six months longer, he'd have met Mauricio Pochettino and potentially enjoyed similar fortunes to fellow academy products Ryan Mason, Tom Carroll and Harry Kane (the former two with whom he came through the same system).
2015/2016: Adam Smith has grown along with Bournemouth as the season has progressed and so far looks well suited to top flight football.
Zeki Fryers at Crystal Palace
Needless to say, life has not been great for Zeki. Signed from Standard Liege, much to the fury of Manchester United, in 2013, Zeki survived one season and seven Premier League appearances for us before being sold to newly promoted Crystal Palace in 2014. With his first season there involving one top flight appearance and a half season loan to Championship side Rotheram, you would not expect his second season to be any worse, but alas it has been for young Zeki, with torn ankle ligaments in July leading to Alan Pardew omitting Fryer's from Palace's squad. Now in the January transfer window, a loan back to the Championship (at best) appears to be the only way for Zeki to save his season.
2015/2016: Zeki Fryers so far is a forgotten man who seems likely to end up outside of the top flight very soon.
Aaron Lennon at Everton
Signed from Leeds in 2005 to play back up to Wayne Routledge, Aaron spent a decade at Spurs and in that time gave us many wonderful moments. Sadly, he also failed to impact for too many of the 267 games he played in to ever really fulfil what once was sparkling potential. Unbelievably quick and with a lovely first touch, Aaron sadly never developed an end product and never consistently stamped his authority on games. A shame, as the talent was there, and he was often mesmeric. At his best he got fans off their seats, and I personally remember him more for this, for his electrifying breakthrough season and for the moments against Arsenal, Chelsea and Milan than anything else. I was sad when we loaned him out to Everton a year ago, and sad when we finally sold him in the summer just gone.
Unfortunately, Lennon has faltered this season, struggling to break into one of the league's most potent attacks where the creativity tends to come from the wunderkind combination of Ross Barkley and Gerard Delofeu. With three starts and six substitute appearances to his name, Lennon's career appears to prematurely be on the downward trajectory.
2015/2016: Picked up at Everton where he left off at Spurs, as a bit part player.
Michael Carrick at Manchester United
Not every player to leave Spurs succeeds, but Michael Carrick certainly has. Michael was with us from 2004 to 2006, and after a solid first 18 months he burst into life for his final half season, becoming our playmaker and making every player around him look very good. There wasn't even much fuss when Manchester United signed Carrick. Since then, Carrick has spent a decade as a key player for the biggest club in the country., and now that they are going through a rough period he continues to be a first team player despite coming towards the end of his career. He has won the Champions League, several Premier Leagues and enjoyed a fabulous career (albeit underrated by a succession of England managers). If only we could turn back the clock on this one...
2015/2016: As a great club falters, Michael Carrick continues to be a shining light.
Sébastien Bassong at Norwich City
The forgotten man of our successful 2009/2010 season, Bassong actually appeared in more matches for us that season than legendary centre back Ledley King. Just signed from Newcastle, he even got the show on the road with a goal in our opening day victory over Liverpool. However, by 2012, having seen his playing time reduced dramatically with us and his career going nowhere, he sought a move and we obliged, selling him to Norwich, where he remains to this day. Barring a loan spell for half a season at Watford, Bassong has been a key player for the Canaries, and an ever present this season so far as Norwich keep their heads above the danger zone.
2015/2016: Enjoying a solid campaign for a club who should retain their Premier League status.
Steven Caulker at Southampton (on loan from QPR)
There are some young players who leave because they look unlikely to break through and have a better chance elsewhere. Caulker was the opposite. A product of the same academy group as Adam Smith, Caulker enjoyed different fortunes, breaking into the first team in 2012/2013 under Andre Villas Boas after Ledley King had retired. Despite the presence of Vertonghen, Dawson and Gallas, Caulker actually played eighteen matches that season. However, he felt undervalued and that he deserved more, that he should be a first choice, so he agitated for a move. When he got it, he left for the circus that was Cardiff City, was an ever present in their side and suffered relegation. He moved on immediately to another mess in QPR and was almost an ever present in their side as they were relegated too. Now, loaned back to Southampton, Caulker can boast one Premier League start and two substitute appearances this season. Had the young Caulker realised that he was best served allowing us to nurture his talent he might now be a starting centre back at a side going places. Instead, he finds himself a journeyman at just 24 and not playing any football at all.
2015/2016: Apparently Steven Caulker still isn't ready for regular Premier League football.
Peter Crouch at Stoke
When we signed back our former academy prospect from Portsmouth in 2009, I was not thrilled. A year later, as he headed us into the Champions League on that fateful night in Manchester, I absolutely loved the affectionately named lanky streak of piss. Vile insults aside, Peter enjoyed an industrious two seasons at Spurs and was probably never quite appreciated for what he brought (I am guilty of this as anyone), but more condemned for what he lacked. He wasn't a goalscorer, he had no elegance at all and the only glamour he brought was his rather delectable wife. What he did, though, was enable Defoe and Van der Vaart to flourish while he did the donkey work. For this, Peter, I thank you. However, it was a natural end when he left for Stoke. We'd just brought in Adebayor (who went on to have a great season) and he was surplus to requirements. At Stoke he found a home and is now in his fifth season there, Stoke being the first club he has made over one hundred league appearances for. He played the majority of their matches too in his first four seasons, and had as respectable a goalscoring record as he'd ever enjoyed. However, at the age of 34 and with just three substitute appearances to his name, three metre Peter's career appears to be reaching it's end. He has enjoyed a good career, been to two World Cups and has a better goal per game record for England than Wayne Rooney, but the final curtain cannot be far off.
2015/2016: The beginning of the end.
Younes Kaboul at Sunderland
Kaboul enjoyed a storied career at Spurs. Signed in 2007, the young French defender seemed to have everything. Pace, strength, ability on the ball, two good feet, Kaboul could have been great. However, Kaboul's time at Spurs is a tale of inconsistency punctuated by moments both sublime and ridiculous. For 'that' goal against Aston Villa in his first spell, the winner away at Arsenal and the burst down the right to cross for Crouch at the Etihad, there is unfortunately a list as long as he is of sloppy errors, lapses in concentration and poor decision. For everything Kaboul had in talent and in body, he lacked in mind. That's not to say that I'd remember him negatively: he was superb throughout the 2011/2012 season and appeared to finally be fulfilling his promise as the successor to Ledley King. However, it was not to be, and cruelly he suffered an injury on the final day of that season which ended his hoped of going to the upcoming European Championships and kept him out for the majority of the next two seasons. Then, in Pochettino's first season, he was named captain by the new manager, given the opportunity to impress, but did not take it. Whether that was due to his body no longer being there, or his attitude being off (as was reported extensively), it is hard to tell: probably a combination of the two. So, last summer, we sold him. Kaboul had been Sunderland's regular starting centre back, but he had not performed well and in mid-December suffered an injury which would rob him of the next two months. One senses that, though cruel on him, Sunderland might benefit if this forces their hand towards a new centre back this January transfer window.
2015/2016: Poor performances, relegation struggles and injury now too mean that Kaboul has not enjoyed a happy first season so far at Sunderland.
Jermain Defoe at Sunderland
Divisive though this little man might have been with the fans, he scored a lot of goals for us, many of them great goals. He never had a sublime record, and even his best season produced short of twenty Premier League goals, but he is in our top three Premier League scorers (tied with Keane in second place while Sheringham tops the chart) and fifth in our list of all time top scorers (across all competitions). Defoe was a good striker for us, even if frustrating, and his efforts led us to our only season in the Champions League. We sold him for a princely sum to Toronto FC, but despite a decent strike rate, Defoe never settled in Canada. His return to these shored saw him enter a relegation battle last season with Sunderland, and this season, under the stewardship of a manager who tends not to use players of such diminutive stature and low aggression levels, Defoe has started twelve games and appeared off the bench in a further four, probably too few considering the alternatives at Allardyce's desposal. However, he has started the second half of the season strongly with a brace against Aston Villa which should at least earn him a start in Sunderland's next match, and he enters the second half of the season with six goals to his name. He might not be at the peak of his powers, but Jermaine still has something to offer.
2015/2016: Mixed season which might be looking up.
Wayne Routledge at Swansea City
Wayne Routledge signed for us in 2005 and made an uninspiring start to his career with us before sustaining a bad injury just a few matches into the season. What followed was the emergence or Aaron Lennon, and Routledge never found a way back. Three seasons later, having represented us in only five league matches and been loaned out twice, Routledge left for Aston Villa. His fate here was similar, where after half a season not playing, Routledge was loaned out to Cardiff and then sold in the summer to Championship side Newcastle, with whom her was promoted. After a moderately successful first half season in the Premier League, Newcastle loaned Routledge to QPR for the remainder to help their promotion push, after which Wayne found himself sold to Swansea. Here the winger has found a home as a regular first team these past four and a half seasons. So far this season, though, Routledge has struggled for form and fitness, and has as such only started eight of Swansea's twenty matches as they have battled against relegation, albeit appearing from the beginning regularly over the past month. He faces a tough second half of season, as do his club, but is likely to be a player they need to produce if they are to survive a very difficult Premier League campaign.
2015/2016: An inconsistent season so far which needs to be salvaged.
Gylfi Sigurdsson at Swansea City
Gylfi Sigurdsson had an eventful two years with Spurs under Andre Villar Boas and then Tim Sherwood. Similarly to so many others at Spurs, he arrived with bags of potential and seemingly that style which we should all love. He was meant to be the successor to Van der Vaart after all. Alas, two seasons later he'd not produced much more than the mediocre, a few exceptional goals aside and found himself back at Swansea. HIs first season back was successful too, with the Welsh fans being more than pleased with his trademark thunderbolt strikers, his subtle passes and a first touch which just never appeared at White Hart Lane. This season, however, has been harder, with the club struggling and his form dropping off. The lack of a potent goalscorer to whom Gylfi could supply the passes has had an effect too, but if Swansea are to escape relegation this season he'll need to improve on his three goals and one assist so far.
2015/2016: Inconsistent and needs to improve
Kyle Naughton at Swansea City
The last ex Spurs player at Swansea, Naughton's time at Spurs can be compared withRoutledge's. One of two young right backs signed at the same time, it was Naughton who had a good reputation, not the younger Walker. However, it was Walker who would dislodge and replace Corluka, with Naughton enduring a series of loans as Routledge had before. The heigh of Nauton's time with us came under Villas Boas management, where he appeared for us regularly, albeit not ever in his preferred position, but the arrival of Pochettino signalled the end of Naughton, the new manager preferring the pace of Walker and even new youngster Dier ahead of the Yorkshireman. After half a season during which Naughton appeared a meagre five times in the Premier League, we agreed to sell him to Swansea. A year later and he continues to be their regular right back, although not always a nailed on starter, but like the other two ex Spurs players he has been short of form and needs to improve in the second half of the season.
2015/2016: Not quite looking the top flight player he wants to be.
Heurelho Gomes at Watford
It is in no small part due to this man that while the other two promoted sides have amongst the five worst defensive records in the league (and thus, are in danger of relegation this season), Watford have the eighth best defensive record at the time of writing and are not that far off the Europa League qualification places. Gomes has had a storied time in English football, enduring great highs and awful lows with Spurs before not even appearing in the league during his final season. After his eventual release, he signed for Watford in the Championship and was impressive as they gained promotion, and since their return to the top flight has been consistently impressive. Yes, there is the odd lapse still, but on the whole he is reliable, assertive and still capable of astounding saves (who remembers the three against Arsenal?). Twenty games in and he has in fact kept one more clean sheet than our own world class goalkeeper, despite having a far inferior (in theory) set of players in front of him. I, for one, am happy for him and hope that he enjoyed a good few seasons yet at the top table.
2015/2016: A resounding success so far this season, one of the league's best goalkeepers.
Étienne Capoue at Watford
Capoue arrived at White Hart Lane with a great reputation as an enforcing midfielder who could dictate play. In his initial matches he was strong, composed and looked like he'd provide great service to our cause. It wasn't to be, and two seasons later he boasted only 24 appearances, the majority of which he looked disinterested, slow and unimaginative. Admittedly his first season was blighted by injury, but there was no excuse for his second season performance and the biggest inditement was the level to which we improved when he was usurped from the side by a previously untested (and written off) young man called Ryan Mason, a player with half the stature but twice the presence of Capoue. However, after signing for Watford this summer Capoue has gone some way to redeeming himself as a player. Now coming into the peak of his career, he marshall's their midfield well, protecting their defence and bringing the ball forward too. Clearly he is a much better player than we ever witnessed (and much better than I ever gave credited too), so why he failed with us I don't know, but he is living up to his potential now and could even be an outside contender for a place in France's squad as they host next summer's European Championships.
2015/2016: Finally looking like a very good midfielder
I'll be interested to see how the stories of the above players unfold as this seasons progresses, to see who continues as they have been and who enjoys (or suffers) a turnaround in form and fortune.
