WestBelfast Spurs
Well-Known Member
- Jul 15, 2011
- 2,597
- 3,183
The Curious Case of Steven Caulker
- Thread starter Rout-Ledge
- Start date
WestBelfast Spurs
Well-Known Member
- Jul 15, 2011
- 2,597
- 3,183
apart from Vlad's wonder ball to Cattermole the other week and getting done at Southampton (running passed the ball) I think hes been one of the better signings
matthew.absurdum
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 3,734
- 10,126
Within 10 mins, two errors from Caulker, and Sturridge scores 2 goals
And he struggles to have game time now
It seems like a perfect business for us now to get that fee
And he struggles to have game time now
It seems like a perfect business for us now to get that fee
matthew.absurdum
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 3,734
- 10,126
responsible for offside trap failure
mightyspur
Now with lovely smooth balls
- Aug 21, 2014
- 9,779
- 27,046
Pisses me off that Caulker left us. My sister in law is good friends with his Dad and could have got me loads of info. I could have been "ITK". Instead, I'm IDK 
spursfan77
Well-Known Member
- Aug 13, 2005
- 46,680
- 104,957
I always thought he was a good player but something mentally wasn't quite right as he had all the tools to be a really good player.
Also, Seems like what really happened in the Bahamas is covered here.
https://amp.theguardian.com/footbal...ntal-illness-addictions-gambling-drinking-qpr
“At Swansea a year later it was an injury which brought it all to the surface, and Spurs sent me to Sporting Chance to sort myself out while I was recovering from my knee but I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t experienced enough pain to make me want to stop. I was gambling heavily when I went back to Tottenham, staying up to crazy hours of the night in casinos. I guess never feeling good enough played a big part in that. I never felt I was on the same level as any of the first-teamers but a big win in the casino and money in my back pocket might change that. Being dropped rattled me even more because football was what I had relied on to make me feel better. So then the gambling was every single day. The pain of losing all my money, combined with the shame and guilt, ate away at me. So I’d drink myself into oblivion so I wouldn’t have to feel anything. I was numb but I was out of control.”
The chairman, Daniel Levy, eventually sought him out on a post-season trip to the Bahamas. “He just said: ‘The way you act is unbelievable. You either sort yourself out or go but I can assure you, if you leave, you’ll be going down, not up.’ I was young, stupid. I took it as a challenge, a chance to prove him wrong. I was so immature. So I went to Cardiff and, for six months, everything was amazing. I was captain, the manager, Malky Mackay, knew I had some issues but offered to be there for me. I felt wanted, so there was no gambling, no heavy binges but the second he was sacked, all the demons came back. That’s all it took. Even before we played the next game, I’d convinced myself nothing would be the same. That’s the kind of catastrophic thinking I’ve had to address.
Also, Seems like what really happened in the Bahamas is covered here.
https://amp.theguardian.com/footbal...ntal-illness-addictions-gambling-drinking-qpr
“At Swansea a year later it was an injury which brought it all to the surface, and Spurs sent me to Sporting Chance to sort myself out while I was recovering from my knee but I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t experienced enough pain to make me want to stop. I was gambling heavily when I went back to Tottenham, staying up to crazy hours of the night in casinos. I guess never feeling good enough played a big part in that. I never felt I was on the same level as any of the first-teamers but a big win in the casino and money in my back pocket might change that. Being dropped rattled me even more because football was what I had relied on to make me feel better. So then the gambling was every single day. The pain of losing all my money, combined with the shame and guilt, ate away at me. So I’d drink myself into oblivion so I wouldn’t have to feel anything. I was numb but I was out of control.”
The chairman, Daniel Levy, eventually sought him out on a post-season trip to the Bahamas. “He just said: ‘The way you act is unbelievable. You either sort yourself out or go but I can assure you, if you leave, you’ll be going down, not up.’ I was young, stupid. I took it as a challenge, a chance to prove him wrong. I was so immature. So I went to Cardiff and, for six months, everything was amazing. I was captain, the manager, Malky Mackay, knew I had some issues but offered to be there for me. I felt wanted, so there was no gambling, no heavy binges but the second he was sacked, all the demons came back. That’s all it took. Even before we played the next game, I’d convinced myself nothing would be the same. That’s the kind of catastrophic thinking I’ve had to address.
Marty
Audere est farce
- Mar 10, 2005
- 40,137
- 63,715
I've just finished reading it too. It's quite tragic reading this seeing how it all played out. The Bristol City bit where they just didn't seem to care was a real WTF moment. Even though he says that his first spell at Sporting Chance came too early for him you wonder what might have been had someone at Bristol City or even Spurs really forced him to deal with it when he was still a teenager...
Hopefully we're better equipped and have a better infrastructure around these things nowadays. From what I recall, making sure we took steps towards being a more professional outfit was one of the things Baldini did well (can't remember what ITK said that).
brendanb50
Well-Known Member
- Jul 21, 2005
- 4,486
- 3,895
I think unfortunately we're still very much at the start of the sport managing these types of issues properly. Even in day to day life, there's still a huge stigma attached to addiction and mental health but you'd think the degree of funding available in football would mean that clubs would protect their 'assets' against every possible issue - this very recent case shows otherwise.
Calling someone an asset isn't quite how i wanted to put it, as we're talking about a very human issue but to me, that's how they're viewed thesedays. Perhaps the clubs need to spend more energy looking at the human side of their staff and players and take a greater duty of care in looking after them.
brendanb50
Well-Known Member
- Jul 21, 2005
- 4,486
- 3,895
I do hope that our togetherness as a side (from Poch downwards) helps with this sort of thing. I've only played at an extremely amateur level but playing in a team is a social experience, they become your friends and family sometimes for a lifetime. The modern game has pushed a degree of this to the fringes as there's so much money involved in decision making.
THFCSPURS19
The Speaker of the Transfer Rumours Forum
- Jan 6, 2013
- 37,890
- 130,524
The Levy stuff surprised me, I thought the chairman wouldn't get involved in personal stuff and that would be the manager's job.
Not just Bristol City or Spurs but QPR and his former agents also. For fucks sake, heres a kid crying out for help and you want to fuck him off to Russia?!?!? What the fuck? Shame on them. Disgraceful
DJS
A hoonter must hoont
- Dec 9, 2006
- 31,266
- 21,766
Still a real shame he didn't make it here as had cracking potential.
Shame we perhaps didn't provide quite as much as support as we could have (?) and that as he admits he wasn't ready at time to take it.
Another big problem with a lot of footballers, to spread quite wide apersions, is a lot of English ones aren't very intelligent and neglect their education...
They really need to be educated better at a young age, like the French do they train and also make sure their players are educated correctly.
Shame we perhaps didn't provide quite as much as support as we could have (?) and that as he admits he wasn't ready at time to take it.
Another big problem with a lot of footballers, to spread quite wide apersions, is a lot of English ones aren't very intelligent and neglect their education...
They really need to be educated better at a young age, like the French do they train and also make sure their players are educated correctly.
mpickard2087
Patient Zero
- Jun 13, 2008
- 21,889
- 32,561
Just a sad story all round. Obviously its told from his viewpoint but the clubs don't come out of it that well. When it comes to us, was it wise to keep sending a fragile kid off on these loan spells? I also don't know what to make of his ultimatum from Levy... You don't know what went on, what the club had to put up with, and maybe they had reached the end of their tether, but even if he himself wasn't facing up to needing help the club should maybe have taken football out of the equation at that point, supported rather than cut him loose, and focused on helping the human being get better.
arunspurs
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 8,832
- 35,620
The first thing in this situation is admitting the wrong. From my personal experience, that is the most difficult to do. It really lifts the pressure. He is still 25. If he has good influence around him & he put his mind on the job, he still could come back & come back well.
Lilbaz
Just call me Baz
- Apr 1, 2005
- 41,363
- 74,893
He was allegedly at lewis's house out of his nut trying it on with his daughter. Levy didn't have much choice but to get involved.
arunspurs
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 8,832
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As for as the Tottenham & Levy bit - just shows how less or close to nothing we know as fans about our players. Nothing is straight forward. And trust in Levy. The man knows when to advise & when to cut lose a player. For Caulker sake, I would have hoped he listened. Wonder how he would be doing at current Poch management than at a carefree(or careless) Harry reign...
