It’s a known fact that Lennon wouldn’t have got his chance to showcase his ability had, then Spurs winger, Wayne Routledge not picked up a season curtailing injury against Portsmouth on the opening day of the 05/06 season.
At one point the leagues youngest player, Lennon was bought in by then Sporting Director Damien Comolli, presumably as an understudy to Routledge.
However, that injury saw Lennon thrust into the spotlight and many defences had no idea what they were up against.
Packing pace in abundance with the ability to beat a man down the right-flank, the former Leeds midfielder was ticking all the right boxes with the Spurs faithful. At last, the club had a winger that could terrorise defences much in the same way David Ginola did almost 10 years before.
However, as the years have gone by, many feel Lennon’s progress has stagnated somewhat. Yes, he pops up with the odd goal, winners against West Ham and Liverpool spring to mind, and the bulb that flickers into life whenever he sees an opportunity to break-down the right is still ever present but are the cobwebs beginning to form around said bulb?
At 24-years-old, Lennon should have been a regular in the national set-up by now and, perhaps even more so, fans shouldn’t be calling for him to be dropped.
But that appears to be the case for the pint-sized wingman after almost a year of mediocre displays from a player who should be dazzling fans, not boring them to death.
Some were hoping that David Beckham’s brief training camp at White Hart Lane would have seen Lennon’s crossing ability improve significantly, this hasn’t been the case unfortunately and while he pops the odd devastating ball into the 18-yard box, his delivery isn’t consistent enough for him to be considered a Spurs regular, in my opinion.
This apparent lack of confidence hasn’t happened over night and some believe it was the World Cup last year that affected him more so than others.
Injuries have also taken their toll on him and it’s no secret that in the season leading up to the World Cup, his early form made him first name on the team sheet.
Since then, however, his place hasn’t been guaranteed and he was dropped towards the end of last season in favour of Van der Vaart on the right.
Reported falling outs with Redknapp haven’t helped matters either and some fans thought his career with Spurs would be over sooner rather than later after a very public dispute over why he didn’t play against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu back in April.
However, he still finds himself with the number 7 shirt at White Hart Lane and up until the Wolves match, found himself on the team sheet more often than not.
Yet, another niggling injury has hampered his season again and it’s becoming a familiar story seeing the winger sidelined due to one reason or another.
Fans hope that Lennon finds his spark sooner rather than later but will many lose sleep should Levy and co. cash in on him? I very much doubt it.
With Redknapp willing to utilise Dos Santos, having called off a summer move to Sevilla, and Kranjcar back in his good books, Lennon finally has some stiff competition for a starting spot and it will be interesting to see whether he can walz his way back on to the first-team sheet when he returns from his latest set-back.
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