Sunday 13 August 2017 12:44, UK
Danny Rose was right to speak out about Tottenham's transfer and contract policy, says Oliver Holt on the Sunday Supplement.
In an interview with The Sun during midweek, Rose admitted time is running out for him to win trophies and said he wants to "play up north" in the future.
Rose revealed he hopes Spurs make a couple of signings - "not players you have to Google and say, 'Who's that?' I mean well-known players" and also expects a pay rise when he negotiates his next contract.
The left-back then apologised to the club and fans, but Holt says he was right to speak out.
Mail on Sunday chief sports writer Holt said: "I'm not going to hold Danny Rose up as a freedom fighter, but I think a lot of people are thinking that he's just saying what other Spurs players are thinking.
"He might actually be doing Mauricio Pochettino a favour, because if it is an issue within the dressing room, he's brought it out into the open.
"I don't get this thought that footballers should stay silent, shouldn't rock the boat, it's like: 'Let's patronise the footballers because they haven't got a brain.'
"I'm pleased that Danny Rose said what he said, it was a terrific interview. The only problem I have with it is that he apologised. Why did he apologise? He said what he thought, he said it eloquently, it was a good interview, don't apologise for it, stick to your guns!"
The Daily Telegraph's chief sports writer Paul Hayward agreed, admitting that Spurs do not compete with the top clubs in the Premier League when it comes to wages.
"He's making a fair point about the wage constraints at Tottenham, and the fact they don't really compete with the top four or five clubs in the transfer market, that's all reasonable," Hayward said.
"Pochettino appears to be happy to be work under this model, or at least he appears this way in public, but the players are becoming restive, which in the end is going to be a problem."
But the Mirror's chief sports writer Andy Dunn disagreed, and believes Rose wasn't in the correct position to criticise the club's policy.
He said: "The fact of the matter is, this is a player who hasn't played since January, and a player without whom Spurs did particularly well in the second half of last season.
"He's a good player, he's not Roberto Carlos, and Pochettino has been good for him. I don't actually think he's speaking from a massive position of strength."
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