Michael Dawson: Oh England my Lionheart

Read this with Kate Bush singing this song in the background. It will make my article 10 times more poignant ! Here is a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydls3iAcs0A

Daws is the kind of player every team is desperate for – he is passionate, faithful and self sacrificing. He is a leader. English in an English team – we have always had a Dawson in the team. We always need someone like him. There was The King, Mabs, Stevie Perryman, Alan Mullery, Dave Mackay, Danny boy, even Joe Kinnear, Cyril Knowles, Phil Beal, Mike England, Graham Roberts, and Razor deserve a mention. It is what makes a British team British. It is a cultural thing. To understand and to relate to the fans you have to be British and passionate. If you have that passion it is usually spent on one team. Why do you think Terry and Lampard have lasted so long at Chelsea. Why Rooney is so valuable to United and Gerrard to Liverpool. City are the exception but they are not an English team ! Mourinho, Ferguson, Shankly, even Harry (just so we can relate!) and all sensible managers understand that the back bone of a team has to be players from that country. Puyol is another easy example for Spain and Barcelona or Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid). If you have that passion it is usually spent on one team. So it is a rare commodity and not easily transferable. Hard to buy it in the short term. Pat Jennings was a Spurs man through and through – he loved Spurs and we all loved him ! But some idiot sold him to the Arse where he performed but he was not passionate. I always shed a tear when I think of how he was mistreated (not this story !). The point being we should appreciate that Daws, and players like him, bring a lot more to the club than other players. He is the figurehead – the epitome of what it is to be a Spur.

As a figurehead and as the number one man, in the dressing room and on the field, it is important he also has the steel and ability to carry this off. Here comes the point of this article ! He is still Michael Dawson – passionate, heart on sleeve but he does get turned too often and he is getting slower. We all fear the match ups with fast centre forwards and dread when the small great players such as Aguero, Silva, Suarez, Hazard cut inside and expose him. So it is time for us to find a new top man.

So luckily we have groomed a young Englishman to take his place. Tall, strong, understands the passion, hard in the tackle, uncompromising, in short a Lionheart. Young Steven Caulker is now ready to fill the void Daws will leave behind. So…………………..   so what twat sold him ? Now I blame AVB and Levy for this debacle. AVB would not promise Caulker playing time and convinced Levy that we had plenty of cover. So we sold him ! We had so much cover that Fryers and Capoue have played there !! No non-British player can fill that Lionheart void. Kaboul and Verts are candidates but we would be a poorer team for it. Vertonghen has already talked about “decisions” if we don’t make Champions League and frankly Kaboul is too injured. Chiriches needs to concentrate on his game so we have no-one. Nobody – we have absolutely no-one. This is as bad for us as the lack of full backs or the depth in strikers.

Thank goodness for Lionhearted Michael Dawson this season.