Gareth Bale. Frank Worrall
do so.’
They had lost but had battled back – a theme that would become something of a constant as the season progressed. Spurs could certainly score goals, but they were guilty also of conceding too many of them, a failing that Gareth knew could well cost them dearly if they ever came up against opposition such as Barcelona.
But for now, even though they had lost the first leg, there was hope and belief that they would see the job through as they relaxed on the plane journey back to London.
Even Young Boys suspected they may have had their chance – and blown it by not making Spurs pay more on their Astroturf. Young Boys’ Enfield-born right-back Scott Sutter – a Spurs fan – summed up the feeling of anxiety in their dressing room: ‘It was a dream for me to play against Tottenham. As a player it doesn’t get better than this, walking out in front of a full house to play Tottenham – I could never have imagined it like this.
‘We tried to look for the fourth goal and we had a couple of very good chances to extend our lead. I just hope we can keep as concentrated.’
Gareth and the boys definitely had to keep their concentration levels high – no sooner had they arrived home than they were back training at Chigwell in preparation for another crunch game, the Premier League clash away at traditionally hard-to-beat, dogs-of-war battlers, Stoke City.
This would be the match in which Gareth Bale’s season truly came alive: the match in which he would be the two-goal hero after the damp squibs of the Man City and Young Boys outings. It would also be a turning point for the boy – the first time he had scored two goals in his professional career and the moment he truly announced himself as a potentially major star in the domestic game at least. Plus Gareth finally put to bed the embarrassment of being red-carded at the Britannia Stadium in the reverse match back in October 2008. Then, Spurs were at the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline, with Gareth being dismissed after just 17 minutes for bundling over Tom Soares in the box – a foul that led to Danny Higginbotham scoring for Stoke. The defeat was probably the lowest point of the Juande Ramos reign: after the match Tottenham were four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table and had already lost six league games.
Fast forward two years and Spurs were now rocking and rolling under Redknapp and Gareth’s first goal in the win over Stoke arrived on 19 minutes when Aaron Lennon set him with a defence-splitting ball. Gareth’s first shot was blocked by keeper Thomas Sorensen but the Welshman bundled home the rebound. If the first goal had a touch of luck, the second was an absolute belter as Bale fired home on the volley with his left foot.
In between, Ricardo Fuller scored for the Potters, and they were then denied what appeared a legitimate equaliser when Jon Walters’s late header appeared to cross the line, but no goal was given.
Gareth was beaming afterwards, saying his two-goal salvo had iced the cake on ‘one of the best days of my life’. Gareth said of his volley: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever caught a shot as sweetly as that, It’s a great feeling when you hit one like that. The first one went in off my nose, but they all count and now I feel I am repaying the manager for giving me a regular run in the team.
‘I still don’t know if my role is left-back or left midfield but I always knew my confidence would increase with more games.’
Boss Redknapp was full of praise for him, explaining that this sort of show had been what he had expected Gareth to finally deliver after many previous days of disappointment – days when he had been forced to deliver ‘tough love’ to the Welsh wonderboy.
Redknapp said: ‘When I first came to the club he was still a baby. Every time he got touched he’d limp off the training ground and then be all right again in five minutes. I made him realise he had to be mentally tougher if he was going to make it in the Premier League. And to be fair to the lad, that’s what he’s done. He’s come on leaps and bounds and his confidence is sky high.
‘I just said to him, “C’mon Gareth, stop f*****g about with your barnet and toughen up”. Real good tactical stuff – but it worked.’
Harry admitted that he had worried about the boy in that demoralising period during which the team never won a league game when Gareth was in the starting line-up. He said: ‘That record was a burden for him – and a burden for me. Even Alex Ferguson asked me, “how can you pick him?” and I couldn’t. I’m a superstitious person and it was difficult to keep putting him in my team. But at the same time I always knew there was a player in there and there was no way I was going to sell him. On top of that he’s also a smashing lad. You couldn’t meet a nicer kid.’
But despite Gareth’s two goals, Harry surprised the press corps listening to his every word when he said he believed the boy would eventually return to left-back; that he thought he was more suited to that than the left wing. Redknapp said: ‘I think Gareth will be as good as Ashley Cole, the best left-back anywhere. Cole started out as a winger at Arsenal and ended up as a full-back and this kid will be the same. He played at left-back against Benfica the other week and I’ve not seen a performance like it. He kept running from deep, crossing balls from their by-line and then getting back. I can’t think of a better British left-sided player.
‘That left foot of his is amazing, he can run all day, he’s 6ft 2in and can head it and his technique is unbelievable. He’s got everything and I couldn’t even begin to put a value on him.’
Gareth had been voted Man of the Match against Stoke, with even Potteries boss Tony Pulis being heard to comment that ‘the boy’s a phenomenon; he could be world-class’. He temporarily basked in the glory of his performance and the adulation but, true to form, was hardly carried away by it all. Just as he had been forced to knuckle down and keep up his spirits and self-belief during his rough spell, so he would now wave away the plaudits.
Gareth Bale wanted to be a world-class footballer but he knew that it wouldn’t just happen by luck; he was a grounded lad who was always willing to dig deep and work hard for his success. And, anyway, neither Harry nor his team-mates would tolerate anyone within the squad getting carried away if they were singled out for praise. The Spurs lads quickly took the mickey out of anyone who started to act the ‘big I am’; bringing them down to earth with a bang…or by playing practical jokes on them.
But Gareth soon had another chance to show how he was developing into a class act, with the return leg at White Hart Lane of the Champions League qualifier against Young Boys. Their two-goal comeback had given them hope (and what could turn out to be key away goals) in the 3-2 loss a week earlier, but now they had to do the business in front of their own fans…or face an ignominious, early exit from the competition and the end of their dreams of playing in the world’s premier club competition (for another year at least).
Redknapp issued a rallying call before kick off, urging his men to smash the Swiss with an avalanche of goals. He said: ‘We’ve got to swarm all over them from the start. Our pride is at stake and we want to get into the Champions League proper. The place will be jumping and that will be a big thing in our favour. I wouldn’t say we are favourites. But the bottom line is if we can’t win, we don’t deserve to be in the competition. We have got to win – draw and we are out.’
This time his boys would make no mistakes, thrashing the Swiss 4-0 at the Lane and setting up a party atmosphere as they finally made the Champions League proper. A Peter Crouch hat-trick helped them on the way, with Jermain Defoe adding to the rout that saw Spurs advance 6-3 on aggregate.
Crouch may have scored the hat-trick, but it was Bale who, for the second time in less than a week, left the critics purring with delight. The Guardian’s Kevin McCarra summed it all up when he wrote: ‘Tottenham Hotspur ambled into the Champions League proper and looked as if they belong among the type of clubs who consider this tournament their natural habitat. Young Boys, by contrast, were entirely ill at ease, and had Senad Lulic sent off after he brought down Gareth Bale to concede the penalty from which Peter Crouch notched his side’s fourth…
‘The striker, all the same, was overshadowed. Bale contributed to each of the goals and, at 21, personifies a side that appears to have come of age. By