It was always just PR.

It was 2014 and Harry Kane was a 21-year-old Spurs player struggling to make his break through.

He had been out on loan to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich city and Leicester City. He had not set the world on fire. A handful of appearances the season previous with a couple of goals.

Tottenham were struggling. They had won just 3 of their first 9 Premeir League games.

Up front they had the misfiring Emmanuel Adebayor  and Roberto Soldado. The pair had scored 9 and 6 Premier League goals respectively the previously season.

Kane got his opportunity against Cypriot side in the Europa League, AEL Limassol scoring in both legs.

He would continue to get his opportunities in the Europa League and League Cup, netting against Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Besiktas. He would they grab a hat trick against Asteras Tripoli.

It was against Asteras Tripoli that the “Harry Kane, his one of our own” really took off.

Disillusioned Spurs fans were desperate for any sort of success. They were dissatisfied with Soldado and Adebayor and fully got behind a home grown talent scoring goals for fun in the Europa League.

His relationship with the spurs fans was clinched with a 90^th minute winner against Aston Villa – his first Premier League goal of the season. The next game he would make his first Premier League start of the season and would never look back.

Kane went with the flow, portraying himself as the home grown hero set to save Spurs.

The PR behind it ensured Kane got his opportunities following his Europa League goals. And kept his place in the team despite just 1 league goal in his first 5 Premier League starts in 2014/15. He rode the fans wave into the first team and continued riding it.

But he was never really one of their own.

As a young boy, Kane and his older brother Charlie were regulars over Highbury.

Going with their dad, Pat, the pair would sit outside The Plimsoll with a Lemonade whilst their dad and his friends drank inside.

In 2004, at the age of 11, Kane and his friends went to Islington Town Hall to celebrate Arsenal’s invincible team. The moment led to the famous picture in an Arsenal shirt with his head died red.

That same year he join Tottenham’s academy, whilst continuing to go to Arsenal games.

As he progressed through the Tottenham academy, he would begin going less.

His brother Charlie would follow the path of many young Arsenal fans and started to do home and away going to as many games as possible.

The family only disappeared off the scene at Arsenal due to Harry’s progression into the first team at Tottenham. A decision was made to sever their ties with the club they all grew up watching for the benefit of Kane’s career.

An average striker who grew up in an Arsenal supporting family, who regularly went Highbury would not have the same impact as being one of Tottenham’s own. He would not have had the same backing from their fans that he got.

So the family kept everything very quiet. Shutting down any mention of their links with Arsenal. Furious when the picture of Kane celebrating in 2004 was leaked. Charlie bought in to being “the brothers hero” held on the shoulders of Tottenham fans as they celebrated in Chingford.

Friends who knew him from a young age mocked him for his change in allegiance.

And then we fast forward to now, and the transfer saga over the summer.

The Kane’s pushed hard for a move from Tottenham to Manchester City. They showed their true colours that they never really loved Tottenham. Kane was not living a boyhood dream playing for the club he loved.

This season he has looked disinterested. Unfit.

He clearly no longer wants to be at the club anymore and is barely breaking into a sweat on the pitch.

After 7 years, the honeymoon with Spurs is over. The fans no longer sing his name. His star diminishes with every lackadaisical performance.

Next summer he will be 29-years-old and will probably push for a move again. But who will willing to spend big on him, at that age, with his ankles?

He is probably now counting down to his retirement. To being able to buy a box at the Emirates and sneak back in with his family. Watching the team he grow up supporting with a cap pulled down over his head.

Harry Kane…he was never one of their own.

Keenos

Old Skool Bucket Hats…https://t.co/vlaHeBWIC8 pic.twitter.com/fApsQ4chIz

— 🎗 ///SHE WORE/// 🎗 (@SheWore) June 15, 2021

Much has been written about Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal, including his own autobiography.

Caviar and Sausages by first time author Tony Kokkinos pulls a 180 and approaches the period from the opposite stand point – Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal fan over 50 decades Tony Kokkinos takes us through a 22 year journey of what happened on the pitch. From the highs of eating caviar to the lows of eating sausages.

The book is broken down into the 3 periods of Wenger’s time at Arsenal – the Glory Years, the Austerity Years and the Stagnating Years.

Each chapter tackles a different year, detailing the key games, key incidents. A rollercoaster through that season before you get off and jump onto the next season. From “Arsene Who?” to “Double Bypass”. “The Invincibles” to “8-2” and finishing with “Wenger Out”.

Original infographics bring each season to life. From amusing footnotes to pitch maps.

The “Arsene Knows” graphic is a reminder of the intelligence of Wenger and how forward thinking he was. Many of his predictions throughout his career were proved right.

The book title in itself is an Arsene Wenger quote from 1998 that has proved to be true:

“If you eat caviar every day, it’s difficult to return to sausages.”

Wenger took Arsenal fans to the heights of caviar and then back down to the sausages.

Written with zero judgement, this is a book that all Arsenal fans should have on their shelves as a historical memoir of The Arsenal under Wenger.

Caviar and Sausages by Tony Kokkinos is available now on Amazon.

She Wore

Ever get the feeling you are not wanted somewhere?

That is what it feels like going down The Arsenal at the moment.

What the club are playing it with the organisation of a match day I do not know.

For 15 years getting into the Emirates has been a fairly easy task. Small queues before the turnstiles but usually no more than a 5 minute wait.

When the terror level was raised a few years ago they introduced a “Coat check point” at the bridges and stairs where you basically need to open your jacket. A steward also gave you a pat down at the turnstiles.

Even these changes made to keep us safe barely had an affect on how long it would take to get into the stadium.

And then we come to this season.

We appreciate the Covid issues, but getting into the stadium has been a nightmare this season. And for Wimbledon midweek it was the worst “experience” of the season.

They had barriers up at the turnstiles to get people in line before getting to the turnstiles. This create a huge amount of overcrowding around the stadium, with queue times of up to half an hour.

It is almost like the club are making it deliberately hard to get into the stadium quickly which in turn will force people to get into the ground earlier, and boost beer, food and merchandise sales within the ground.

For a fan like me who turns up at 14:55 it has created an unworkable situation.

I do not want to get to the ground early. Drink crap beer in  soulless atmosphere. But if I do not do that I will probably end up missing the first 10-15 minutes.

And then we come onto the beer.

Usually 2 of me mates would go into a queue and buy half a dozen beers for the 6 of us, or however many are standing around at half time wanting a pint.

But against Wimbledon everything changed. Maximum of 2 beers per person.

This was frustrating for two counts.

The first is that it was not advertised. No signage. Nothing.

So me mate queued for 10 minutes to get a beer for us all, then returned with just 2. The rest of us died a thirst.

Secondly it leads to more queues.

Now two people can not go and get 6 beers together. Not even 1 fella grabbing 3 beers. Anything more than 2 and you will need an extra person. And then an extra transaction. For why?

Do they think the one geezer on his own is buying 3 beers at half time to drink them all on his own? He is clearly buying for him and his mates.

So now we end up with double the length queues, double the transactions.

The restriction has never been in place in the Emirates. The ground is not cauldron of booze filled hate.

You then have the new queuing system to get beers.

No longer do you just queue up looking at the bar.

They have added barriers in an attempt to get everyone queuing up in one long, straight line. Another ridiculous decision.

Taking into account Covid, you would think the club would want as few people queuing as possible. But whatever the club has introduced has led to more queues.

Longer queues to get into the ground. Longer queues to grab a beer.

What is really odd is the club want you to spend money. They want you in the ground earlier and quicker.

And anyone who has ever worked in a bar will know speed or serving is the most important thing.

Serve someone, get straight onto the next one.

So now it is “get to the ground 90 minutes before” on one hand but then “we are going to make you queue longer to get a beer” on the other.

It all just does not add up.

I saw someone on Twitter state that this is the club getting its own back on the so-called “legacy fans” following the protests over the European League. That they are trying to make the “match day experience” a miserable one so that people get feed up, don’t renew, and it opens more seats up to be sold to tourists.

This of course would make no sense as it has been shown this season that the club is struggling to sell out. They frighten off someone like me who has been going for 30 years, they might not replace me.

Maybe they just do not want a certain type of fan in the ground anymore?

They do not want someone having a pint at half time. They want those who will buy a pie and a bag of sweets.

I have no idea what the club are doing, but it could make Sunday very interesting inside and out the ground…

Keenos

Arsenal beer mats still available #Arsenal #ArsenalFC #afc https://t.co/zn8hEh76Df pic.twitter.com/gleJK6GuJ3

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) August 19, 2021