Jamie O’Hara has revealed that he knocked on the door of Martin Jol’s office when he was just seventeen years old and told the Dutchman that he wanted to play for the first team.
The midfielder insists that he was full of belief that he was ready to make the step up at such a young age and didn’t want to wait until he was older after looking at the likes of Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcot who had made the breakthrough as teenagers.
O’Hara revealed that Jol swiftly shut down his request but made the comments after training with the first team and feeling that he had made an impression.
He went on to make it onto the bench three times under Martin Jol, but it was under Juande Ramos where he played his best football in a Spurs shirt.
The England Under-21 international left Spurs to join Wolves on a permanent deal for £5million in 2011 following a successful loan spell (Express and Star).
Opinion
Tottenham’s academy players can certainly learn something from O’Hara’s hunger and desire to succeed, however Mauricio Pochettino is know for giving youth a chance in the first team. Who knows, maybe under Poch, O’Hara would have played more games for Spurs.
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