This past summer in 2014, Spurs had just appointed a new manager in Mauricio Pochettino and were tipped for big changes with regards to the playing staff. As it happens, the club bought six new players, let no less than nineteen players leave on a permanent basis and loaned out eleven (which kind of justifies the media hype around Spurs' transfer dealings when it comes to transfer windows), but the idea of the overhaul was to freshen up the club with Pochettino's building for the future in mind. It seems bizarre, then, that Spurs would sell thirty year old Michael Dawson and replace him with 33 year old John O'Shea - but it's a link that actually happened. The Sunderland defender has a had a great career with Manchester United, but he is past his best now and was never going to be a long-term - or even short-term - solution to Spurs' defensive issues.
