Oh Danny Boy

There's an old saying you might be familiar with - a time and a place. This turn of phrase essentially looks at the timing of an event and questions whether it was wholly appropriate for it to occur at a specific time or a certain place. Usually, when somebody tells you there's 'a time and a place', they're criticising you for voicing your opinion. I think we can all safely say to Danny - there's a time and a f*cking place, son.

The irony of all ironies is that Rose's outburst is released by The Sun three days before the season, precisely the day Spurs would have tweeted '3 days left!' with a nice picture of Rose pointing to the name on the back of his shirt - the exact name he prioritises above any badge on the front. So much for loyalty.

Let's not jump the gun totally, though. Rose did not say he actually wants to leave, right? Only that he would consider an offer from up North - so essentially Man United, who he has been heavily linked with all summer. Quite convenient, really. Maybe he can say hi to Kyle on his way past.

I'm not so much disappointed with Rose's comments themselves as the timing of them. Imagine training all summer to get fit, only to release to the press three days before we kick off the new season that you deserve more money and you want to win trophies. Well, obviously. I could not name one player, one fan, one member of staff who doesn't desperately want silverware. It's patently obvious, Danny. That's why we were all so gutted we fell short again last season. The point is, we're progressing. It may not look like it in the transfer market, but we are. In case it had slipped your attention, Danny, we knocked down 100+ years of history to build a new stadium precisely so we can compete financially at the top. We might not be spending £50m on Unknowndinho, but we're more ambitious than we've ever been - we're just acting smarter.

That brings me to my next point. Rose, who hasn't played for us in over six months, magically believes he is due a new contract. No disrespect, Danny - I think you're the best left back in the league - but you can't demand more money if you haven't even kicked a ball since January. It's absurd, really, that this interview revealed such a lack of humility on Rose's behalf. Harry Kane, comfortably the best striker in the league, has never once spoken like that. I'm embarrassed Rose would act that naively.

Speaking of naive, perhaps the most idiotic of comments Rose made during his interview was that he wishes Spurs would sign a player 'he did not have to Google'. Do you realise how ridiculously insulting that is to the likes of Nkoudou and Janssen, who are clearly not household names in England? I know he wants a marquee signing - again, we all do, Danny - but that isn't the way we've been operating these past few years. I spoke about Rose's lack of humility above, and it speaks volumes about the man's intelligence that someone who was bought as a teenager and made into the player he is today would not remember his roots. Everybody starts somewhere, not everybody moves as a superstar. Have some respect in future instead of digging out your teammates.

In fairness, Rose does deserve more money. Truthfully, all of our top players do. But we simply cannot operate as one of the top clubs under our current financial restrictions. It's basic business. 'But Palace pay Zaha 100k a week!', I hear you cry. They also pay the majority of their squad between 10-20k. We simply cannot afford to double all of our top player's wages at this moment in time. We will, but we cannot right now. I'm sure the players we have on our books understand that. Once the stadium is built and our revenue is literally doubled, I'm sure we will up the contracts of all players who have remained loyal during this time. The key word there being 'loyal', Danny, not slagging us off to a two-bob newspaper.

It's all well and good, Rose telling us it's predominantly about trophies and not money - then why not stay and give it your all to winning one where it would mean so much more? Would you rather sit on the bench every other week for United and win the Europa League, or go down as one of Tottenham's greatest ever by achieving our first league title in over 50 years? Maybe it's the romantic in me, but I feel like it would mean so much more for this group of players to achieve genuine success together, as opposed to selling out for a couple more quid and joining the big boys.

In reality, I know the game does not work like that. You get paid what you're worth, and Danny is right in that respect - he is worth more. But he wasn't always. It wasn't too long ago that our fans actively bemoaned Rose signing his first new deal under Pochettino - and rightly so, he was a terrible defender a few years back. But do you know who made him one of the most potent left backs in the game? Pochettino. It was no secret Poch had a soft spot for Danny - they could often be seen embracing post-match, and he often heaped on the praise for his star left back in interviews. Rose even called Pochettino a father figure last year. It's fair to say the two had an enviable relationship. But let me tell you, Rose has all but burnt his bridges by going to the press and talking to that rag of a newspaper. He has betrayed the trust Pochettino had placed in him, and he should be utterly ashamed of his conduct. Pochettino made him the player he is today - the least he could do, if he wanted more from football, is to have these conversations behind closed doors like Walker must have.

It's likely this ill-timed outburst will spell the end of Rose at Spurs.

So what do we do now? I believe selling Rose, at least morally, is the right way to go. But realistically, Pochettino will not want to lose another star full back, even if he has kicked up a fuss in the public eye. I trust there have been some important conversations occurring at Hotspur Way today, and it will be very interesting to see what Pochettino's next move is. He is a man of immense pride, and Rose's behaviour will have no doubt hurt him. I'd hate to lose such a great player, but I trust Pochettino will make the correct decision.

The crux of the matter is that while Rose has hit on some home truths in his interview, it was never a conversation that should have taken place in public. He has embarrassed himself, the club, but most importantly, the manager that showed so much faith in him when even the fanbase had begun to give up. I hope he acts with more decorum in future, whether that be with an apology to us, or when he moves on to the next big thing after tarnishing the club that made him. A sad state of affairs indeed. Let's hope the rest of the boys can put the smiles back on our faces this Sunday. COYS!