As if the impending departure of Gareth Bale wasn’t enough already for Tottenham fans, the current standoff between player and club is now beginning to become unpleasant for all those involved. With Daniel Levy content to dig his heels in and wantaway Bale still keen to push through a move, the deal could well overshadow what has been a glittering career for the Welshman at the Premier League club.
So do Spurs fans deserve a little better from Bale?
It is easy to castigate Bale for even having the first thought of wanting to leave. The reality is, unlike fans, players often do not have even remotely the same emotional attachment to their respective clubs. Should they be criticised for it? I don’t really think so. Much like an employee being headhunted by a larger firm offering better pay, in the workplace this is more often than not viewed as totally legitimate.
On the whole though few Spurs fans seem to begrudge Bale the transfer as a whole, more often taking offence at the apparent lack of respect shown by both player and agent building up to it.
Fans talk a lot about respect for the club. The stage the club gave Bale to show off his world-class pedigree somehow makes him indebted to Spurs going forward. If we want to talk about respect, and I am aware that I am beginning to sound like a certain Spaniard here, do we not also need to remember when Spurs were all too keen to offload the fledgling Welshman?
Back in 2009, under man-management supremo Harry Redknapp, Spurs were apparently willing to get rid of their Welsh-flop to clubs like West Ham and Birmingham for as little as £3m. The only reason Bale was given the chance was because Benoit Assou-Ekotto was sidelined with injury, more by luck than judgement by Spurs. So does Bale really owe Tottenham the respect? I’m not too sure.
The other point that is worth making is whether Bale has actually done anything ultimately wrong here. Unlike Modric who spent most of last summer throwing tantrums and handing in transfer requests, Bale has kept himself very quiet. Frustratingly some might say for the world’s media who have been pining for that exclusive story.
A trip to Marbella was made out to be a swipe at the club, only for Villas-Boas to later confirm it had been a club decision. The series of recent training ground snubs were however not apparently sanctioned, leading to rightful criticism of this aspect of the players conduct. However, when you compare Bale to other big name movers, in the main he has actually been extremely considerate in his dealings.
What more do fans expect?
Should Bale come out and just be honest? Would a statement confirming his love Madrid really make things better for Spurs fans? If anything it would be a statement of the obvious that would probably harm the club’s bargaining position rather than doing it any good.
Should Bale not be playing for the club up until any move is confirmed? Clearly the series of mystery injuries are no more than a guise to keep Bale out of First Team action, something that in my opinion suits the interests of both clubs. Spurs should be preparing for life without Bale and as such a team without him at this moment is probably sensible. There would be nothing preventing him from picking up a serious injury to throw the move in jeopardy, and it would be naïve if you thought such an occurrence would be a good thing for Spurs.
So no I don’t think Spurs deserve more from Bale. Caught up in a culture where player interest comes first, Bale is behaving as well as can be expected given the circumstances. Yes if you want to take these so called ‘Sky Sources’ as gospel he is as I speak crying his eyes out on the doorstep of Hotspur Way begging to leave.
If Bale wanted to cause a furore around this deal, there is certainly a lot more he could be doing to exacerbate the tensions. I would agree that behaviour verging on that of the departed Croat should be looked on with disdain, but we clearly aren’t at that stage yet.
Hopefully in years to come when a meeting between Spurs and Madrid again becomes a reality, fans will see it fit to give one of their standout players of the last decade the standing ovation that to this day he still merits.
Do fans really deserve any better from the flying Welshman?
Let us know in the comments below
