Ferdinand on Bent

Posted by Stevio in Tottenham Hotspur on August 16th, 2008

Former Spurs striker Les Ferdinand reckons Darren Bent will help Tottenham break into the top four by playing upfront on his own.

Ferdinand said: “Darren just needed a little bit of time.

“He was Charlton’s top striker but at Tottenham he found himself behind Berbatov, Keane and probably Jermain Defoe too.

“Darren needs some loving, he needs an arm put round him and to be told he’s No1.

“That’s what’s happened now and we’ve seen the results during pre-season.

“Tottenham have got the right manager in Juande Ramos and they’ve got a good team.

“If Berbatov leaves, they’ll need another striker, but they’ve definitely got an opportunity to break in – especially as Darren’s used to playing up front on his own.

“He did it at Ipswich and he played that way for a long time at Charlton.

“Darren can definitely do the job for Tottenham, it’s just a case of having the right players around him.

“As long as they’ve got someone else in the team who can add goals – and Jermaine Jenas and Luka Modric will definitely score a few – I think Spurs are in good stead.”

On other recent signings, he added: “I’ve seen him at close quarters and Modric has really impressed me.

“A lot of people said he would be too lightweight for the Premier League but I’ve seen him take a few knocks during pre-season and he’s got up and got on with it.

“He looks like he’ll be a good acquisition for the season.

“Bentley’s also a quality player and Blackburn’s loss is definitely Tottenham’s gain.

“He wants to prove himself and become an England regular, so I’m expecting good things from him.”

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Sir Les worried over striker departures

Posted by Stevio in Transfers on July 26th, 2008

Les Ferdinand has revealed his concern about Spurs’ possible lack of goalscoring this season.

The former Spurs striker said: “As a former player and a fan it worries me because all we hear about is the big players like the Berbatovs and the Keanes perhaps leaving and we are not hearing about replacements.

“I don’t think they can afford to sell both of them. If they both leave then Spurs are left with Darren Bent. I do think Darren is a good player but his career hasn’t started off well at Spurs.

“If you lose those two players you are losing 40-odd goals a season. How do you replace that? We don’t even know who Ramos is thinking about.

“I do like the new manager and I think he has some great ideas but it just worries me at this stage that there is not more positivity coming out of Spurs instead of negativity.

“He may have some strong ideas and may need the Keane and the Berbatov money to be able to go out and get who he wants but they won’t be proven in the Premier League when these two are.”

He added: “I have got to be honest, I would prefer to see the two front boys not go rather than bringing in anyone else because anyone that comes in will need that settling in period.

“We know how tough the Premier League is. There haven’t been that many strikers who have come in and hit the ground running. Fernando Torres did it, and Ruud van Nistelrooy did it but Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez needed time as did Dennis Bergkamp. There is no guarantee they will hit the ground running.”

Les, now 41, said of Spurs’ chances of success this coming season: “They could definitely do well in the Champions League straight away.

“Berbatov is a class act and hit the ground running when he first came here. And I have always said about Robbie Keane since he came to Tottenham that he is one of the players I would happily pay to watch.”

On Spurs new boy, Luka Modric, he said: “He looks a really good player but he is 5ft 6ins or 5ft 7ins and he is coming into the toughest league in the world so I would like to see how well he copes with that.

“That is always the question when you bring in foreign players.”

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