I ripped this off Spurs Community where they posted it in full.
https://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/in...watch-harry-kane.77170/page-2286#post-7557430
Apparently it was behind a paywall. If it's too much mods please delete.
Harry Kane’s tawdry behaviour does not befit an England captain
Henry Winter
Chief Football Writer
Thursday August 19 2021, 12.01am, The Times
Gareth Southgate faces the headache of his captain, Harry Kane, reporting for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers without having played this season.
The England manager announces his squad next week for the games against Hungary, Andorra and Poland and, as well as addressing the issue of Kane’s sharpness, he will also have to field questions over the striker’s controversial handling of his desired move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City.
This increasingly acrimonious transfer saga is going down to the proverbial wire and a club’s concern risks becoming a national one. At the very least, it threatens to be a distraction that Southgate could do without as his thoughts turn to Qatar and the World Cup next year.
One of England’s three training sessions at St George’s Park comes on transfer deadline day, August 31, with the FA planning extensive media activity before the qualifiers. The cameras are likely to be there in force.
Kane’s recent behaviour has damaged his reputation
Southgate could do with Kane’s future being decided — either way — before the players are scheduled to report on August 29 and 30 to prepare for the qualifiers against Hungary on September 2 in Budapest, Andorra three days later at Wembley and then Poland in Warsaw on September 8. As captain, Kane would be expected to speak publicly before at least one of these.
Kane will want to be involved because he loves captaining his country and he is chasing Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record of 53. He is on 38 goals, two behind Michael Owen, who lies fifth in England’s all-time records. Kane would expect to add to his tally if featuring against Andorra, ranked No 156 in the world.
The 28-year-old has been Southgate’s captain on 39 occasions and effectively his first choice since being given the armband against Scotland at Hampden Park in 2017. If Kane is not deemed match-fit, following his delayed return from holiday, and the transfer stand-off, then Harry Maguire would be the obvious contender to lead England out.
Given the Premier League’s pandemic-related delayed start to last season, Kane did kick off with two England games, against Iceland and Denmark, but he will now inevitably be behind other players who could have played four or five club games before turning up for England.
Southgate will fear the situation becomes a distraction
The story’s lengthening nature is a potential frustration for Southgate. Yet this situation should be relatively straightforward: City just have to meet or get close to Daniel Levy’s valuation of his most important player, a world-class striker who has three years left on a contract with no release clause. With City having spent £100 million on Jack Grealish, the Spurs chairman has every right to believe Kane is worth £150 million. As many Spurs supporters are pointing out, why on earth should Levy, such a noted negotiator, let Kane go on the cheap?
Even the situation with Kane’s apparent “understanding” with Levy about letting him go should be straightforward: firstly, in football, gentlemen’s agreements tend not to be worth the paper they are (not even) written on and, secondly, City still have to come up with an offer that reflects Kane’s worth. Games are being played but, for Levy, this is all about when the price is right.
Of potential damage to England is that Southgate’s captain, an FA role model, is increasingly being accused of a lack of professionalism towards his club and respect towards his supporters. Kane should have returned earlier for the new season, as all of Southgate’s other Euro 2020 final players did. He missed Sunday’s win over City, when Spurs fans sang: “Are you watching, Harry Kane?” He has (so far) missed the opportunity to post congratulations to his team-mates on a famous and deserved victory. That failure to acknowledge his team-mates’ impressive efforts highlights Kane’s determination to drive through this move to City even more.
So has his decision not to travel to Portugal for tonight’s Europa Conference League play-off against Paços de Ferreira because he is focusing on regaining fitness. A great servant for Spurs, the scorer of 222 goals in 336 appearances, he cuts an increasingly lonely figure there, just working out how to escape. Many Spurs supporters have turned angrily against Kane, even voicing agreement with Levy, a rare occurrence. Kane has a case about Spurs not investing sufficiently at the right time but he has lost the PR battle.
Kane’s reputation has been damaged not by his desire to move, as most people can understand his motivation of wanting to win the Premier League and Champions League, but by his unacceptable behaviour, ranging from the delays to the failure to salute his team-mates’ success on Sunday.
His conduct runs against everything that he once stood for. Even if City match Levy’s valuation, and Kane gets his way, he will need a convincing charm offensive, open and honest, to win back the many admirers disappointed in his behaviour. Kane has every right to be ambitious and to further his career, but an England captain, especially, should be behaving with more respect for employers and supporters.
