Tim Sherwood has slammed the treatment of Japhet Tanganga and Oliver Skipp at Tottenham Hotspur amid the success of Harry Kane.
The former Tottenham academy boss stated that clubs, as well as Spurs, need to ‘wake-up’ and treat their youngsters a lot better and not continue to give chances to big-money signings who can also ‘let you down’.
Kane is a prime example of that because when he was coming through, after a few loan spells in the Championship, he found himself behind big-money players Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.
That’s when Sherwood, who took to the Spurs dugout after working in the academy, provided Kane with his chance in the first team.
The 29-year-old scored on his first Premier League start against Sunderland, and fast forward to the present, and he is now one of the world’s best.
Whilst using Kane as an example, Sherwood thinks more respect needs to be given to academies rather than ‘mediocre’ players who come from abroad, as he told Premier League Productions (05/02/23 at 6:50 pm).
“We are all for the best players in the world coming to the Premier League,” said Sherwood. “We all want that because it makes our league better.
“But the mediocre players, who come into the Premier League, and are blocking up the pathway for our kids are not good enough. Them kids should be given the opportunity.
“Why should the £50, £70 and the £100 million player get more opportunities than the kid? Because they let you down as well. It’s time to wake up for them academies. Let’s not block-up the pathways. Let’s nurture our young talent and give them the same chances as we are giving them multi-million-pound players that are coming into your football club. When they get into the team, they care more.
“They (Spurs) need a wake-up call, that is their main player (Kane), who else is there? There isn’t one. Tanganga plays here and there. Oliver Skipp. They keep getting rid of good talent when they need a chance to play as that man (Harry Kane) had.
KANE IS AN EXAMPLE TO ALL
Whilst someone like Michael Owen was this fresh-faced frightening and deadly finisher when he was coming through at Liverpool and England, someone like Kane was nowhere near that level.
Wayne Rooney is another example. That goal against Arsenal will live long in the memory. These kids were wonderkids and they produced.
But Kane went down a very different road, a more difficult one where he was questioned, but now he could claim to be better than the above two.
He is already Tottenham’s all-time top-scorer, he needs one more to beat Rooney’s England record and it’s a matter of time before he beats Alan Shearer’s.
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