Spurs need to sell Harry Kane and have faith in the positivity of Postecoglou

With Harry Kane, Tottenham are stuck in a ‘win now’ cycle; sell him and put some eggs in the Postecoglou basket instead…

As the new season approaches, Spurs find themselves at a crossroads: out of Europe for the first time since 2009/10 on the back of their lowest league finish (8th) since Harry Redknapp’s debut campaign, and with little indication that they will rebound as quickly as they did 13 years ago.

Harry Kane looks set to depart with owner Joe Lewis reportedly overruling Daniel Levy and insisting their star man is sold if he is unwilling to sign a new contract. It’s the world’s sh***est ultimatum.

Levy has been reminded that he is only an employee but he is still in charge, much to the disdain and disgust of the fanbase, who lay all blame for any failings over the last 20-plus years at his feet.

And, oh yes, another new manager is in place with Ange Postecoglou swapping Celtic Park for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Paradise for well, erm.

Thankfully, the big Aussie might just be the perfect man for the task of re-energising a directionless football club and an apathetic fanbase who are crying out for something to dream about.

In truth, Spurs have been meandering since the abrupt sacking of Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019, just five months after he led the club into their first ever Champions League final. And probably even before.

While it could be said the Argentinian’s magic had begun to wane, again it goes back to the man working above him who refused to back him with the funds to take the next step as the new stadium took precedence.

Not a single player was bought in the summer of 2018, the year after Kyle Walker was sold to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City just weeks after the club’s best-ever top-flight points tally (86).

Levy then employed the antithesis of Pochettino in Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, two malcontents, both of whom seemed to hate the football club and its history, and never resisted the opportunity to pin the blame anywhere but on themselves.

On top of being ex-Chelsea managers (and title-winning Chelsea managers at that), both men are permanently in ‘win now’ mode, which makes long-term building and planning near-impossible, which has been to the detriment of Spurs, who have only gone backwards in the last four years.

Sure, Champions League football was secured under Conte but they exited in the meekest fashion possible against a poor Milan side. So what really was the point?

If you’re not going to win the biggest trophies – and Spurs really shouldn’t, particularly with the state wealth now polluting the Premier League – you may as well play entertaining football and give fans something to get behind. They used to call it ‘the Spurs way’.

If nothing else, it can be guaranteed that Postecoglou will look to do exactly that, with his Celtic side being fast, attacking, exciting and any other adjective which suggests entertainment but not necessarily success.

With players like Son Heung-Min, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and new recruit James Maddison at the club, it isn’t hard to envisage a positive, front-foot playing style being quickly adopted.

Harry Kane? He is the club’s best player now and probably ever, but it’s now time to let him go. Both for his own career and for a full rebuild to take place at Tottenham.

Through no fault of his own, Kane’s presence again keeps Spurs stuck in that pesky ‘win now’ mode, with Champions League qualification a necessity if they are to have any hope of convincing him to sign a new contract before the end of next season.

This means that Postecoglou may have to sacrifice some of the beliefs and methods which could take time to implement in favour of instant success, which has been Spurs’ ruination in recent years.

A step change is needed. A rebuild and a reboot. Levy needs to swallow his pride and let Kane go, preferably for £100m or more and far away from the Premier League. Give that money, and time, to Ange and see what he can do over the next few years.

The possible departure of Kane comes 10 years on from the sale of Spurs’ last true megastar in Gareth Bale. While lessons should be heeded from who they bought with that cash (apologies to Christian Eriksen but hello to Paulinho and Robert Soldado), it did coincide with the club’s best period of league success since Bill Nicholson’s vintage.

(Just forget the final few months of Andre Villas-Boas (another ex-Blue) and the short stint of Sherwood before Pochettino’s arrival.)

With Pochettino now devastatingly at Chelsea, never have Spurs needed a figurehead who can galvanise the supporters like he did all those years ago; Ange’s motivational and inspiring words will come as a welcome tonic to the dreariness of the last four years on the white side of north London.

And really? Can he do any worse than eighth?