Goodbye Jurr-main Da-foe
Spurs News 24/7Jermain Colin Defoe is pretty much a mirror image of Tottenham Hotspur football club. Erratic, sometimes brilliant, usually not, never quite reaches the potential he promised and struggles with gaps.
Thanks to the 'in the know' information shared by singer song writer and actor Drake (thank you Wikipedia - also has connections with Maple Leaf Sports), we all sort of knew his move to Ryan Nelsen's Toronto FC was on the cards a month or so back. In fact JD has been perpetually on the move out of Spurs ever since he arrived.
He's a purple patch player who, when on form, will instinctively lash the ball in. A more dynamic Darren Bent equally criticised for not offering the team that much else - aside from the goals scored. If they dried up, then the bench and Pompey sighed a welcoming embrace whilst more refined footballers owned a starting position in the Spurs frontline. Wasn't much fancied by most of our coaches/managers. Was only ever a covering option. Wasn't much fancied by a fair share of our support either. Although I like to think when we sing him that song it's with feeling and not because we lack depth with our lyrical skills in the stands.
Yet regardless of his obvious weaknesses and the fact that no player is truly loyal (Berbatov orchestrated a move to Manchester United before he even signed for us and Keane couldn't wait to leave for his boyhood club) it's endearing that Defoe does love to pull on a Spurs shirt. His finest moments have been with us and even though it's quite an easy thing for a millionaire to admit too (I love Tottenham), it's heartfelt when he says it. He's comfortable here. Or was. Maybe that was half the problem.
I prefer to simply accept him for what he is. More than decent, if nowhere near world class, and a solid performance in bursts for the club who has scored his way into the top five all time list even if when struggling to average more than 15 league goals per season. A player that was never truly a first choice and never influential enough to argue for his inclusion. At the ripe age of 31 he'd do well at Toronto. Lock up ya daughters, c-list celebrities and pornstars. Defoe is prolific in the box.
He's with us until the end of February. The deal itself is wonderfully written up with the following caveat that makes JD sound like a make-weight in a marketing business deal:
The transfer of Jermain to Toronto FC also sees the start of an Advertising Rights Agreement with club owners Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. which includes promotional, branding, experiential activities, advertising, broadcasting, social media and digital rights across the 4-year agreement and at all MLSE properties and media sites. MLSE will stock, promote and sell official THFC merchandise at all their retail outlets and support the THFC Official Canadian Supporter's Club.
Additionally, the Club can also announce that we shall play Toronto FC in the second game of our 2014 summer tour on July 23, in-between fixtures against Seattle Sounders on July 19 and Chicago Fire on July 26.
On Toronto's website they let their fans know the phonetic way to pronounce his name.
MLS a more profitable avenue than South Africa with ENIC's plans for slow motion world domination in mind. Although it all fits together quite well, thanks to that ripe old age of the player, the £8M transfer fee and the fact he isn't getting much of a look in at Spurs.
Jermain; Faces, glamour girls, the offside trap and more importantly the White Hart Lane faithful will miss your occasional instinctive power shots and impact driven cameos off the bench. You were never flawed or not good enough, you were simply as good a player as you could have been. Our expectations often clouding the truth that you were never destined to be anything more. At times that was good enough, at times it wasn't. Kudos for the former.
Good luck. Here's hoping to a farewell goal or two.
