Kane need not follow my path: Sheringham
Sheringham believes the England captain doesn't have to leave Spurs to win trophies
Teddy Sheringham made the decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Manchester United in 1997 to chase silverware, but he is adamant that Harry Kane need not tread the same path.
Like Sheringham before his departure from White Hart Lane, Kane has yet to win a major trophy despite being regularly feted as one of the elite centre-forwards in world football.
In an interview on BBC radio earlier this month, fellow former Spurs and England striker Sheringham said: "At the moment, they are nearly at the top. For me, that's not good enough for Harry Kane because he is tops.
"There is going to come a time in Harry's career when he is going to say: 'I can't be a nearly man any more. We have to go one step further for me to win things.'"
But the 52-year-old told The New Paper that "there is no reason (for Kane) to go anywhere else other than Tottenham".
Speaking at yesterday's launch at The Incubator at Esplanade Park for the July 20-21 Singapore leg of the International Champions Cup, he said: "He wants to get to the top and I've stated that along the way that if that doesn't happen at Tottenham, he might want to leave to go to somewhere where he would win trophies.
"At the moment, the way I see it, Tottenham Hotspur are a club on the up. They are aspiring to be (at) the top the same way Harry Kane (is).
"It was very different when I was at Tottenham. I felt the club didn't have the right ambition.
"I wanted to play with top players, the best players, so I had to leave.
"I don't think that is the case with Harry. He is in a position where he has a fantastic manager at the club and they are going to a new stadium with the crowd behind him.
"Everything is on the up...
"The club are moving with him, so there is no reason to go anywhere else other than Tottenham."
Spurs have made tangible strides in recent times - they have not finished below third in the English Premier League in the last three seasons, recorded successive FA Cup semi-final appearances in 2017 and 2018 and have made the Champions League quarter-finals this season for the first time since 2011.
However, Spurs' lack of silverware has been used as a stick to beat them with.
Ex-Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho recently took a swipe at Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, saying: "Some coaches like to sell the idea of a philosophy, but you have to sell the philosophy after you win.
"If you win nothing, what is the point?"
Sheringham responded to the remarks yesterday, saying: "Mourinho is very clever at getting the stats and working them in his favour.
"I think anyone who has looked at Pochettino's record over the last 10 years, what he has done at Tottenham, without a doubt, we are not there yet, but we are a growing club.
"And Pochettino is demanding that we grow. The supporters understand that. Yes, the next level is to win something.
"He knows that, he's not playing that down at all. There's where the club is heading."
Spurs are heading for a new dawn with their spanking new £1 billion (S$1.8b), 62,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium set to finally host their first top-flight fixture when Crystal Palace visit next week.
Sheringham admitted that the late-season switch to a new home might be "a distraction" for his former side. He said: "It's something that has been thrown at us and it'll probably bode well for next season when we move into it properly."
'White Feather' Ravanelli ruffles the feathers
The Singapore leg of the International Champions Cup (ICC) might be four months away but the competition between Juventus, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur has already kicked off.
At the launch for the July 20-21 tournament at The Incubator at Esplanade Park yesterday, there was banter aplenty among the club ambassadors Dwight Yorke (United), Francesco Toldo (Inter), Teddy Sheringham (Spurs) and Fabrizio Ravanelli (Juventus).
Juve's former Champions League-winning striker Ravanelli, nicknamed the "White Feather", proved to be the instigator by ribbing his former Italy teammate Toldo.
"We are different from Inter. We're always at the top," said the 50-year-old via an interpreter as he flashed a cheeky smile and patted his compatriot on the back.
Toldo responded by reminding Ravanelli that his Inter side of 2009/10 are the only Italian team to win the Treble of the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup.
Not to be outdone, Ravanelli replied: "We don't rely on memories, we rely on reality."
That sparked the English clubs' representatives to join in on the fun as Sheringham chimed in: "Excuse me, you know we won this tournament (the ICC) last year."
Yorke was having none of that, responding: "All these other teams right here vying for second and third and fourth."
Before the ICC kicks off, Juventus will be vying for their third Champions League crown.
Despite the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo - who has won the title five times, including four times in the past five seasons - Juve legend Andrea Pirlo believes Manchester City are the best team left in the competition.
Ravanelli disagreed,telling The New Paper: "(Manchester City and Barcelona) are the favourites, but there are other big teams like Liverpool and Juventus... it's hard to say at this point if they are really the best."
Of all the sides left in the tournament, Juve have the biggest lead on the domestic front, with a 15-point advantage on second-placed Napoli in Serie A. It allowed them to rest seven players ahead of their second-leg comeback against Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16.
But Ravanelli believes Juve's Serie A stroll could also be a disadvantage, saying: "The 15-point lead we have might be perceived as an advantage but... it is also a disadvantage, because they might lose focus."
- DILENJIT SINGH
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