Just seen this article on Sky Sports.com Caulker sets Spurs target Defender determined to make the grade at White Hart Lane Steven Caulker hopes he will be ready to stake a claim for a regular role at Tottenham next season after fine-tuning his game during three loan spells. The highly-rated centre-half has spent time with Yeovil, Bristol City and Swansea in an effort to prove himself to the coaching staff at White Hart Lane. He has developed at pace during each of those loan stints, with this season's stay with Swansea seeing him compete on the Premier League stage. The 20-year-old has also become a key figure for the England U21 side, with an eye-catching display for the Young Lions against Belgium on Wednesday seeing him net a goal and help to keep a clean sheet in a 4-0 win. Caulker is pleased with the progress he has made over the last few years, but admits making the grade at Spurs and gracing the biggest competitions in club football remains his ultimate target. "I've been out on loan and done my bread and butter work, now next season I will be looking to break into the Tottenham team," said Caulker. "It will be difficult because there is competition for places at Spurs but I am confident in my own ability and we will see where the summer takes us. "I've been out on loan for the last few years and it has done me no harm but I would like to stay at Tottenham next season. I've seen some of the football they have played this season and I want to be part of that. "There's no reason why they can't finish third and I would love to play in the Champions League next year. "I followed them closely in the competition last season. I went to watch the games against Real Madrid and AC Milan and they were fantastic occasions. The atmosphere at both games was amazing and I've never known anything like it. "If I could be involved next season, I would be delighted. It would be another milestone in my career." ------------------------ Hopefully he'll get his chances with us next season, I know some fans have said they'd rather he went out on loan again to play regularly but I think he'll benefit more from training and playing with our team, under our manager and coaches. From the way he's played this season I can't see why he wouldn't be good enough to hold down a squad place and I think it's important we capitalise on his enthusiasm, just as Livermore has come in and done well after turning down loan moves in the summer.
I love sounding big headed when I say this but I knew he was/ will make it to the top level of English football. Remember watching him in a FAYC game vs Arsenal - we lost 3-1 but he was immense. Aerially unbeatable and made some strong tackles and straight away I believed he had the credentials to be a top player. His loan moves away from the club have proved extremely successful. 7 out of 8 end of season awards at Yeovil and then won YPOTY at Bristol City while also being named in the Champions team of the month one time. Looks like a seasoned pro alongside Williams at Swansea. Scored the another night for England U-21s. I'm still debating whether a bit part season with us is or isn't better than another year long loan to a Prem team. Either way I'm excited at the potential of this lad, finally got a real gem from our already impressive youth system.
He seems really grounded, which is an unfortunately uncommon attitude amongst today's young footballers. His interviews from the last few years have shown a determination and realism that I really admire, taking each loan as both a learning experience and a gift from the club that he's at. Nice to see that he turned up for the Champions League games last season despite being out at Bristol City, too.
I remember a couple of Spurs fans on old 606 said they saw him at those games. If I recall correctly he was injured and on crutches when he went to the Milan game and still stopped to talk to Spurs fans that he met.
At the very least he'll be a member of our 25-man squad next season, and he'll be getting chances in Cup games. I said a while ago we'll be freshening up our defensive options in the summer, with Caulker and Naughton replacing Bassong and Corluka in the squad (which will also aid in cutting the wage bill) and Vertonghen looking likely to be arriving as well.
I started a thread about Caulker a while back and how he would fit in to our plans for next season.I was surprised how many people thought he shouldn't be brought back to Spurs next season and would rather he had another loan out(as people thought he would only be a bench warmer). I for one had watched a lot of Swansea games and you could see that Caulker was growing into an excellent CB.I think we would be truely stupid not to use him next year.With Ledley obviously finding it harder each year,Caulker seems the ready made replacement and free.
A few years back, plenty of fans were happy to see the back of Kaboul - I wasn't one of them, I hasten to add - yet since his return he's been immense for us, adding himself to the list of Things Juande Ramos Made An Utter Bollocks Of.
I think quite a few of the younger lads go to watch the games. I saw Massimo Luongo at the Newcastle game, we shouted his name out and he turned around and laughed, think he may have been with the other Aussie kid we signed a couple of weeks back - Gallifueco (sp?). Remember seeing a few other lads too at different games just can't think of their names.
Don't know where you saw Luongo, but a lot of the youth players sit in the East stand in that corner bit where it joins the Paxton stand. I don't know if you've seen Luongo play, but he's a real gem and I rate him very highly.
Damn, I had to look it up - and now think that if you shout Giancarlo Gallifuoco's name very loud, people will think you're an Italian with Tourettes. To which I say vaffanculo!
Sherwood seems to really rate Luongo, too. Not seem enough of him to have an opinion, but our youth coaches always seem to compliment him after games. It's about time we brought some players through and with the likes of Caulker, Townsend, Carroll, Livermore and Kane, we might finally start to do so.
Sherwood absolutely loves Luongo. He always singles him out for praise after a game and quite rightly so, as the guy always perfoms well. Returning to Caulker, I have lost count of the times we have had a young CB at the club who was destined to be "the next Ledley King". Most of them are now struggling in the lower divisions of the non-league. But at long long last, we do seem to have produced a genuine contender for a top defender. There is no doubt Caulker will go on to be an established player in the PL and maybe at international level as well. To give yourself a chance of making it in top level football these days, you have to step up during every year of your development. Caulker has undoubtedly done that and with competence as well. I really hope we see him in first team action very soon.
The other thing to note is that he's done so despite some injury setbacks, SC. Young players seem to struggle badly to recover from missing almost any amount of football during this important time in their progression, but Caulker's had a couple and carried on regardless.
Caulker MUST feature next year or needs to move on. He has gained good PL experience this year and proved that he can cut it in a competent and exciting side. The only step from here has to be into our squad and the opportunity to develop with some established quality around him. I think Caulker def could be a top player and if he is not in our plans for next season then something is horribly wrong!!
The question is though Relayer, would he gain more by spending another year at Swansea or by fighting for a place in our current side? When we've got players like Gallas and Nelsen available, who could see out a season as back-up before moving on, I'm not sure that I know the answer.
That's a fair point, but it is finding the balance at the risk of potentially losing him... Gallas appears to have been a positive influence at the club even when sitting on the bench or injured. I don't think that Nelson has any aspirations to a first team slot and cannot believe that he was brought in as anything other than cover. Assuming that Daws and Kaboul become our No 1 pairing next term, that only leaves what kind of role Leds will play. Personally, I think it may be time to sign him up on the coaching side and that would free up the place for Caulker.
