No. No and No!

No. No and No!

Onomah must be given his chance.


According to the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa want to buy him.


Steve Bruce wants to break the bank for him

Is he really that good?

If you frequent the forum you`ll know that for more than a good few years Onomah has been one of my tips to make the grade as a Premier league player, but it almost goes without saying that not everyone has agreed and despite his magnificent World Cup, or the huge impression he`s made at Villa on loan, they still don`t.

I`ve chosen my words carefully, some might say I`m hedging my bets. Before he sat on his backside for most of last season I`d have confidently said he would make it in the Premier League as a Spurs player, but a wasted season means we simply can`t be certain of his progress at the top level.

I have previously argued at the time (the previous summer) that he needed competitive playing time to finesse his skills and his footballing education. Nothing, absolutely nothing in my view measures and teaches a young player like playing competitively against men week in week out.

I can`t help but wonder if he had been playing for a few seasons in a lower league how it would have brought him on and matured him – just like it did Alli Dele.

No loan.

Poch held him back, in fact at one time Poch seemed of the view that if you were loaned out then a decision about your future was already made [it was not at Spurs], but it seems I was wrong.

Whilst reading Poch`s book
he had this to say on Onomah:

” We ended up convincing him to stay, despite having one foot out of the club after many clubs showed interest ..” later he says;

“..offers [loan] for Harry Winks and Josh Onomah, but I`d prefer to keep close by [rather than send them out on loan]

There are a good few mentions, so it`s clear to me he believes Onomah has a very bright future ahead of him.

Whilst he handed Onomah his debut against Aston Villa of all clubs, we didn`t see much of him after that, an injury and perhaps how difficult our end of season run was becoming probably put paid to his chances.

I was delighted when he went out and loan and even more-so when he went to Villa – the last time they had one of our young players on loan they ended up preparing him pretty well for us, in fact some might say they helped him become the best Right back we`ve had in my living memory.

Risky.

It`s a huge risk playing debutants in the Premier league and keeping them involved, losing games costs Managers their jobs, of course that`s a given, but not performing the way the chairman expects the team to when it matters most at the business end of the season will get you the sack too; just ask Harry Redknapp (which I had the opportunity to do recently and it was my impression that as we faltered, Harry`s fate was sealed).

This summer he got his loan, apparently we`re still fighting off interest in him and his progress has been impressive.

The Villains.

Bruce [manager of Villa] is making his thoughts clear and if I didn`t know better I`d say he`s trying to shape Onomah thinking by his consistent praise and publicly making his thoughts known;
After the recent win over Fulham he said:

“We`ll try and break the bank for him!

It now seems there is a bit of a bandwagon being put behind the efforts to do just that; they have a owner with money but of course have also now been curtailed by the Financial FairPlay Rules. But selling some of their deadwood should free up space on the wage role and with increasing confidence at Villa that they are going to play a big part in the promotion race, having young players on board that you believe can complete at a higher standard is unquestionably going to fill Bruce and Villa`s boards minds if they continue their improvement – no small part of which is being increasingly recognised as Onomahs doing.

Bruce added;

“But we know Spurs have got a very good player there.”


I for one hope he`s right, I believe he would add depth and competition for the attacking Midfield role, and although at a younger group his overall play in the Winning World Cup squad was as impressive as I`ve seen from a Spurs lad, and let`s be honest, medal winning players are few and far between in our squad – so far.

So would you sell or keep?