Tottenham boss gives up Jones chase
Jan 17 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
TOTTENHAM have called off their pursuit of Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones after their offer of £14m was rebuffed by the Black Cats.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, whose club were criticised by Ricky Sbragia for what he perceived as attempts to ‘unsettle’ his players, says that his interest has “ended” after they were told Jones was not for sale. Tottenham were prepared to include England forward Darren Bent, a summer target of former Black Cats boss Roy Keane, in a bid to get Sunderland to soften their stance on one of their star assets, but that has failed to bear fruit.
While Spurs have apparently ended their interest in Jones, Phil Brown – another target of Sbragia’s ire – insists that his hopes of signing Sunderland skipper Dean Whitehead are not dead. While Redknapp’s comments appear to spell the end of their bid to take Trinidad & Tobago forward Jones to White Hart Lane, it would not be a surprise if they returned with another bid in the summer – or even made an approach before the end of this month if they received any sort of encouragement.
“The chairman made an offer for Kenwyne
Jones. They don’t want to sell him, so that is the end of that one,” said Redknapp.
“There is nothing more you can do. He spoke to (Sunderland chairman) Niall Quinn. But they decided he is not for sale, and that is their decision.”
That defeatist attitude is not shared by Hull boss Brown, who accused Sbragia of naivety in his determination to keep hold of his captain.
“If he’s not for sale, then he’s not for sale, but everyone has a price. If we can get close to their valuation, they might be willing to sell,” said Brown.
“It’s a simple matter of fact that they have identified their targets and we have identified ours.
“To come out and say that he’s not for sale is a bit naive.”
Meanwhile, Sbragia has urged supporters to grant Paul McShane a second chance to impress after promising the recalled defender that he will be given first team opportunities after returning from Hull.
McShane was allowed to leave in the summer after a inauspicious first season for the Black Cats and it appeared as if his disappointing performance in the Tyne-Wear derby would be his last appearance in a Sunderland shirt.
But with the Black Cats low on defensive resources, and Sbragia making slow progress in his bid to secure reinforcements, McShane was brought back from a successful loan spell in East Yorkshire.
Good displays for the Tigers should have answered some of the supporters’ questions about his Premier League pedigree and Sbragia feels there are reasons for his under-whelming debut season at the Stadium of Light.
Lack of match fitness and being played out of position – Sbragia views him as a centre-back, not a full-back – have been provided by the Sunderland boss as mitigation for his poor performances.
“People are assuming he is cover, but he is not coming in to make up the numbers, he is challenging for a position. Now he has to show me he should be in the team,” he said.
“It is difficult to throw him in at right-back, in the deep end, it is difficult to play there if you don’t teach him because he has always been a centre-back.
“He is an old-fashioned defender, not a cultivated footballer. He gives his all and he has come back from Hull a better player because he has had experience in the Premier League. He does not come back to make the numbers up.
“It’s important to remember that Paul didn’t have the match fitness in the last game for us and we didn’t play particularly well against Newcastle either.”
