It was a move that occurred in the same transfer window as Louis Saha, and had Spurs supporters questioning their managers sanity. Blackburn Rovers and New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen might have been a solid, if slightly uninspiring, signing five years earlier, but the man was now 34 and was visibly sporting grey hairs. Where was the logic, the reasoning, the rationale behind it, when Spurs were launching a serious Champions League push?
''Age becomes a consideration when they cant do the job that you brought them in to do. Certainly, Harry will look at them between now and the end of the season to see how well they do for us, then see where we go from there. Redknapp has done that before, there were a number of them when he was at Portsmouth - with Teddy Sheringham, people thought he was miles past his best but he did really well for us and Paul Merson did unbelievably well for Harry. He has made a number before, hopefully he has done with a couple more. - Kevin Bonds, Spurs assistant manager, January 2012.
With Cameroonian international Sebastien Bassong having been farmed out on loan to Wolves, Nelsen was quickly drafted on a free transfer from a Blackburn side in free fall, and in the end, he turned out to be quite a sensible signing. He only made eight appearances for the club, scoring one goal, but looked confident, assured and composed. The experienced centre-half was released at the end of the season, along with fellow recruit Saha, but for a short-term stop-gap, they were both handy options, if a little plucked slightly from left-field.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
