Is Townsend losing focus?

 Article by e-Spurs Writer Mark Viales (Gib)                                  

Townsend must kick out his “Gambling Habit” to ensure his Spurs future does not end up as a losing bet.

Andros Townsend has been charged by the Football Association with an alleged breach of betting rules and our next prodigy will have until the 3rd of June to respond to the charges. The real stinger has been his subsequent withdrawal from the England U21 squad which is set to do battle in the forthcoming European Championships next month.

Consider this a missed opportunity to further showcase the talents which have already been lauded with praise whilst under the stewardship of once “odds on” favourite for the England job. A chance to experience the pressures and challenges presented in a top class tournament amongst a good mix of promising youngsters, sadly thrown away. 
 
We have seen and heard of his occasional erratic behaviour and I am sure both the club and the fans would expect these lapses to cease sooner rather than later.

With most of his time spent out on loan, Andros has found himself followed by a cult hero status during his spells away from the Lane. Enthralling various sets of fans with his wing wizardry, astonishingly blessed with a final ball and deadly precision in front of goal, he can bomb down the flanks in unstoppable fashion or cut inside giving the opposition a terrible headache when confronted with the task of dealing with him. Andros is potentially a complete version of Lennon.

In March 2009, he went on loan to Yeovil Town along with John Obika where the pair of them were instrumental in the fight to avoid relegation. Townsend was determined to prove he was a star and with hard work and graft in a lower league playing against men, he certainly proved his worth to Yeovil.

Townsend continued to demonstrate his ability at Leyton Orient where he scored one of many wonder goals which have graced his career so far. His good work even earned him an extension to his loan there.

Andros’ next stint was at Ipswich, which in typical Townsend fashion, started with a bang. The worrying thing here is that, shortly after there were rumours of disciplinary issues and problems with the management…Andros lost his place. Some sources even suggested that he felt that he was too good for the team.

He was then subsequently recalled and scored on his debut in FA cup for Spurs against Charlton with a man of the match performance. There were many who at this point thought he was going to break through into the first team, although he was shelved out again to Watford…just like this season to QPR. Watford terminated loan with rumours of “falling out” with the management again.

With spurs in the Europa league in the 2011-2012 season, many of the youngsters had a chance to shine and none more so than young Andros himself. He impressed throughout this campaign
including the FA Cup, although he was never really given a chance to merge with the 1st team when it mattered.

This season we have seen glimpses of Townsend in a Spurs shirt and in hindsight we should have never sent him out on loan to QPR in January. He would have been the ultimate solution in keeping balance in our team and would have inevitably provided width to allow Bale more space to operate in central areas. Furthermore, Andros would have been a more than adequate replacement for Lennon during the time he was injured. At QPR he has provided the wow factor in an absolutely shocking side and his overall game has come on leaps and bounds.

This is why we need Townsend to focus and not let himself stray from the right path to becoming a Spurs legend. This year I firmly believe he will have the chance to prove that he can be a valuable asset to Tottenham in what must be considered a season where we will launch an assault on all competitions. We will need to show our support to the youngster for his well being and so that he can be a part of this.

As a Spurs Boy through and through having joined us at the tender age of 9 years old, everyone will be hoping that this will not end up on the “sinister end of the scale serious“as one source from the daily mail said adding that Andros was “a good kid with an issue”. A separate statement from the FA said: "Townsend will receive the full support of the FA and Tottenham Hotspur FC in seeking rehabilitation whilst responding to the allegations." I am sure that all Spurs fans will offer their full support should this turn on the ugly side.

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