Premier League

TOTTENHAM star Harry Kane was released by Arsenal aged 12.Roy Massey was the Gunners’ academy manager at the time and made the decision to let the future England captain go.
Harry Kane was in the Arsenal academy but got let go
Harry Kane has gone on to be one of the best strikers in the worldCredit: Getty
He has admitted in an interview with talkSPORT that he did not believe Kane was good enough to make it as a player.
After his release, Kane spent three years without a club before being snapped up by the other club in North London.
Massey explained: “To release Harry Kane… we don’t have a crystal ball.
“If we did then we would be successful in every youngster than we take on.
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“Harry was a lovely young player. He was quiet, shy, didn’t have what we thought it would take to become a professional footballer and so we were totally mistaken.
“Although I’ve got to say that when Harry was released when he was 11 or 12 years of age, he did go to play for his Sunday league club for the next three years so no other club’s picked him up in that age group.
“It was only when he was 15 he went to Tottenham and obviously he’s had great success.”
Massey previously revealed that Kane’s father Pat told Arsenal that his son was interested in becoming a goalkeeper in a desperate attempt for him to retain a spot at the club.
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However, the ex-academy chief has helped nurture several other talents despite his mistake with Kane.
Massey brought through the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jack Wilshere, Emile Smith-Rowe, Josh Dasilva and Joe Willock, all of which have gone on to have successful career in the Premier League. More

EX Tottenham and Liverpool defender Steven Caulker has opened up about his struggles during his playing career with gambling addiction and substance abuse.The defender, who made one appearance for England and scored on his debut, revealed how he once blew £250,000 the day before playing a Premier League game against Arsenal.
Steven Caulker on the podcast Under The CoshCredit: YOUTUBE @underthecosh2388
Steven Caulker scored on his England debutCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Caulker was Jurgen Klopp’s second signing as Liverpool managerCredit: EPA
Caulker, 31, opened up about how his struggles with addiction led to him having a journeyman career.
The defender broke through at Tottenham aged 21 and made 29 appearances for the club.
From there he had stints at Cardiff, QPR and Southampton as well as becoming one of Klopp’s first signings when he joined Liverpool on loan.
His struggles with gambling and substance abuse meant he found himself unemployed aged 26 before joining Dundee after he called them to request a trial.

Since then he has gone on to play for several Turkish sides before joining Wigan in January.
He said in a podcast with Under The Cosh that while he was playing for QPR he became a regular at casinos.
On losing £250k the day before he was set to play Arsenal, Caulker said: “That night I’d done five casinos and did £250k.
“Then a day later we were playing Arsenal.
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“Played Arsenal. Not sure what the score was. We either lost 2-1 or drew or something like that.
“They had Sanchez up front and everything like that.
“Anyway the next day Les Ferdinand, the sporting director calls me into his office and said ‘the casinos have called me.’
“He said I wanted to call you before the game but I thought ‘how the f*** can you go out there and play, that’s a quarter of a million pounds, just how?'”
Caulker then said: “I was just used to it. I was just numb to everything that was going on.”
The defender, who is now a free agent after being released by Wigan Athletic, also opened up about his time at Southampton under Ronald Koeman.
He said: “When I signed for Southampton, Koeman didn’t have a clue who I was.
“Went into his office and he did not know who I was. He did not know who he was signing that day.
“I walked in, shook his hand and he just kind of looked at me.”
Caulker soon found himself out of the Southampton team after being displaced by Virgil Van Dijk and Jose Fonte.
He said the spell on the sidelines saw him spiral into an alcohol addiction and that when his agent called to say Liverpool wanted to sign him he was drunk in a Dublin hotel room after a night out.
He said: “I was out the squad at Southampton so I went to Dublin for a piss up.
“I was there off my head, still in my clothes, had two missed calls from my agent and I was thinking f****** hell.
“Pick up the phone and my agent said you’ll never guess what, Liverpool want to sign you.”
Caulker became Klopp’s second signing after forgotten star Marko Grujic, and was mainly used as a striker in his four appearances for the club despite being a centre-back.
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During his spell in Turkey Caulker spoke openly about his struggles with mental illness and addiction with The Guardian.
He has since been following a 12-step recovery program to help tackle his addiction issues. More

SOUTHAMPTON goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was targeted by laser thugs in Republic of Ireland’s defeat in Greece.The Saints stopper had a green light shone in his face as he attempted to save Anastasios Bakasetas’ early penalty which put the Greeks ahead.
Gavin Bazunu was targeted by laser thugs in Republic of Ireland’s defeat in GreeceCredit: Sportsfile
Ireland’s William Smallbone has a laser shone in his eyeCredit: Rex
Bazunu had to rush from his line to deny Masouras with a challenge which sparked fevered calls for a penalty from the locals among a sparse crowd.
Their pleas may have gone unanswered on that occasion, but they did not with 15 minutes gone when Austrian referee Harald Lechner was advised to take a second look at O’Dowda’s block after Sheffield United defender George Baldock had crossed from the right.
Bakasetas took charge from 12 yards and drilled the resulting spot-kick past the helpless Bazunu to give the Greeks a lead they deserved.
Pantelis Hatzidiakos very nearly handed Ireland a route back into the game when he stabbed Doherty’s cross inches wide of his own goal.
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But the reprieve proved temporary when Evan Ferguson flicked Smallbone’s 27th-minute corner across goal and Collins timed his arrival to perfection to level, albeit after another VAR check.
Bazunu had to get down well to claim a skidding attempt from Bakasetas and saw another fiercely-struck attempt from the midfielder deflected just past his right post.
Ireland were undone once again within four minutes of the restart when Bakasetas slid the ball into Masouras’ run into the penalty area and watched him curl a shot around Bazunu to restore his side’s lead.
Kenny, who had replaced Idah with Mikey Johnston at the break, sent on James McClean – winning his 99th cap – and Jason Knight in the aftermath of the goal with Greece smelling blood.
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Ireland belatedly started to take the game to their hosts and Collins was denied a spectacular second by Odysseas Vlachodimos’ flying save with 18 minutes remaining.
Former Celtic frontman Giorgos Giakoumakis could have wrapped up the win 11 minutes from time after working his way into a good shooting position, but lifting his effort harmlessly over the bar.
Doherty might have levelled with a stoppage-time snapshot which was saved by Vlachodimos, and his misery was compounded at the death when he was sent off as tempers flared.
James McClean was also targeted by lasersCredit: Rex More

WALES fans fumed at Kieffer Moore’s clumsy red card against Armenia and called for a replacement. Moore was sent off for an off the ball incident, leaving Wales to lose 4-2 to Armenia with ten men.
Kieffer Moore was sent off against ArmeniaCredit: Rex
So fans raged at the Bournemouth man and called for Wrexham’s Paul Mullin to take his place.
One tweeted: “Paul Mullin couldn’t do any worse than Kieffer Moore.”
Another said: “People calling for Mullin to start over Kieffer Moore so somethings gone horribly wrong in that Wales game.”
One added: “Mullin is a better striker than Keiffer Moore. He honestly is.”
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Mullin has never played at international level but he is eligible to play for Wales through his grandmother.
The striker scored 46 goals in 51 games in all competitions for the National League chapions.
The ex-Cambridge hotshot hopes his goal scoring heroics for Wrexham, owned by Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, can lead to an international call-up.
But Wales boss Robert Page, who overlooked Mullin for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey this month, wants to see how he fares in League Two next season.
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Page said: “If he’s playing in League Two and scoring goals, then we will look at and consider him.
“But there’s a massive gap from where he’s been to League Two. We will continue to monitor him.
“I watched him against Sheffield United in the FA Cup and I was very impressed by him. I wouldn’t want to play against him. 
“Forget his goal scoring and his eye for goal, I like him because he’s a pain in the backside to play against.
“He’s like a rat, I like his work rate and I want that. 
“We will keep monitoring him and if he keeps scoring goals as he goes up the levels he’ll prove himself.”
Wales are keeping tabs on Paul MullinCredit: PA More