Dharmabum
Well-Known Member
- Aug 16, 2003
- 8,274
- 12,242
If he does indeed speak the truth - i.e. that he did take his footbal serious, never partied - it's hard to make sense of how he so wasted his talent.
John Bostock was once the golden boy of English football but after struggling at Tottenham Hotspur the midfielder is quietly rebuilding his career in Belgium
PUBLISHED: 21:58 GMT, 29 April 2015 | UPDATED: 22:07 GMT, 29 April 2015
John Bostock read it all. He read the headlines that branded him a flop. He read the accusations that his attitude was not up to scratch. He read the post-mortems asking ‘Where did it all go wrong for John Bostock?’
Now, sitting in the modest clubhouse cafe of Oud-Heverlee Leuven, a club in the Belgian second division, Bostock has finally given up on trying to make sense of it all.
For the uninitiated, Bostock was once the golden boy of English football. A graduate of the Crystal Palace academy, he made his first-team debut at 15. He became the world’s most wanted teenager. Chelsea made a bid when he was only 14. Arsenal sent Cesc Fabregas’ shirt and Barcelona upped the ante by sending Ronaldinho’s boots. Eventually, he settled on Tottenham Hotspur, who paid a £700,000 fee - decided by a tribunal - when he was 16 in 2008.
The midfielder says he has read all the headlines that branded him a flop and accusations about his attitude
Yet in five years at White Hart Lane - punctuated by loan spells to clubs as varied as Hull City and Toronto - Bostock did not start a game for Spurs. Now 23, the boy who captained England at Under 17 level finds himself at his ninth club and playing under a 12th manager in seven years.
‘I’ve spent so long trying to work out what happened, searching for a reason,’ Bostock says, shaking his head ‘I have driven myself crazy thinking about this.’
Bostock, a devout Christian that celebrated his fourth wedding anniversary to his childhood sweetheart in January, does not fit the cliché of the too-much-too-soon generation.
‘I’ve never drank alcohol in my life,’ he says. ‘Never. I didn’t party. I tried to be a good pro. I like a milkshake but that’s as far as it goes.’
‘I take the game seriously and try to do everything right but it comes down to what you do on the pitch. There are players who might go out a during the week but then do the business on the pitch.
‘My big issue was confidence. At 16, I played on instinct, with no fear. The pressure arrived, expectations arrived and when you don’t have that someone there to support you – by that I mean a manager or a coach or a club where there is a plan for you – you feel like you lose control of the situation.’
But he raves with sincerity over the exploits of former Spurs youth team pals, including striker Harry Kane
Bostock is not embittered by his Tottenham experience - indeed, he raves with sincerity over the England exploits of his Spurs youth team pals Harry Kane, Joe Mason and Andros Townsend - but he has been bruised by the trauma of recent years.
‘I signed when Juande Ramos was manager and Damien Comolli was sporting director. It was a very different club to now where Pochettino is giving everyone a shot. No young players were playing. In my position, there was Luka Modric, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Gareth Bale - world class players. I came in at 16 and hoped it would be like it was at Palace. It wasn’t. When you don’t get a game, when you get put back into the Under 18s, it becomes a huge mental challenge.’
Bostock admits he might have made a ‘different decision in hindsight’ - perhaps stayed at Palace a while longer before taking the leap, just as his youth-team team-mates Nathaniel Clyne and Victor Moses chose to do.
It ended on a sour note at Palace - chairman Simon Jordan was furious that the club received a low figure - and Bostock, who grew up on the Selhurst Park terraces, is still to return to the ground.
‘I love the club and I wish things ended on a better note.’ he says, and he seems genuine in doing so. ‘I never intended to hurt Palace fans.’
The midfielder gained experience at several clubs on loan, including Brentford in League One
At Spurs, the opportunities did not arrive. Under Harry Redknapp, Bostock made cameos in Europa League games but his career continued to stall. He was loaned to Brentford, Hull and Sheffield Wednesday with only modest success. Reports claimed that he was sent back by Brentford.
‘I was never sent back early once,’ he insists. ‘I was 17. We were in a battle against relegation and the manager chose experience. There was a clause that said if I didn’t start for three games in a row, then Spurs could recall me. So Spurs did that. The Brentford manager said I was a pleasure to have around.’
‘In the lower leagues, managers maybe saw me as a flair player and put me on the wing to reduce the risk. I was at Sheffield Wednesday with Gary Megson, which was a different style.
‘At Spurs in the youth team, I played everywhere. They put me at left back at one point. They couldn’t put their finger on where I should be.’
‘Harry Redknapp was good to me, he gave me my debut. Tim Sherwood in the youth team was excellent but we had 20 players on loan at one point. You can feel like another number, rather than a person and every player plays best when he feels special. It should be more than being sent out on loan and getting a phone call asking “Did you play?”.
For the boy that seemed to have the world at his feet just a couple of years earlier, the ordeal yielded an awful lot of soul-searching. He admits there were times he became ‘very low’, times that he even questioned his religious faith. Andre Villas-Boas took over from Redknapp and, Bostock says, the Portuguese manager did not speak to him once.
Bostock: ‘You question everything. You see other people messing about and getting a breakthrough.'
‘You question everything. Every day, you are pushing on and you believe, and you see other people messing about and getting a breakthrough. You think “Will it ever happen for me?”
‘I had long discussions with my pastor, who I am very close to at The Christian Life Fellowship in Greenwich. I was hit hard. My mum was hit hard. If you live by other people’s opinions, you become very shaky, like a wave tossed in the sea.’
‘I over-thought everything, I became almost obsessive. I thought that because of my reputation, I had to do something brilliant in every game. When you think so deeply, you take stuff onto the pitch and look as though you are carrying the weight of the world. I couldn’t relax. Every time I made a mistake, I’d be worrying on the pitch what people would say or write. I’d be thinking “I’m supposed to be the best player on this pitch and I can’t get it right.” I cared too much, if anything. Now I know that a bad performance doesn’t make me a bad person.’
Could Tottenham have done more to shield him? ‘In the Under 18’s we had college once a week and worked with a sports psychologist. It was never really in depth, though. He was a good guy but it was in groups. I definitely would have benefited from more one-on-one. Sometimes you need to play your way out of it. It’s 90 minutes a week, with 22 people, and that’s it. The last two years, that’ s how I’ve viewed it. I have stopped thinking too much. I needed to, for my sanity.’
In June 2013, after a fifth season at Spurs that was split between Swindon Town and Toronto, he was released. It was then that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink persuaded Bostock to head to Royal Antwerp in Belgium.
‘Jimmy said “Just come here and play football.” Regardless of what people thought, I just wanted the platform to show what I can do. Last season was for the first time I’d made more than 12 appearances - including as a sub - in a season.’
Bostock has scored 10 goals this season and is the most prolific midfielder in the second tier in Belgium
He earned a move to OH Leuven and away from the scorching spotlight of the English game, he is quietly rebuilding his career, living with his wife in a plush apartment in the leafy university town of Leuven.
‘I have scored 10 goals this season and I am the most prolific midfielder for assists and goals in the division.
‘I could have earned more staying in England. The level here I’d say is lower Championship or top of League 1. It is packed with talented young players, the technical level is outrageous.’
Bostock has settled well in the dressing room and his side have already qualified for the play-offs as they seek promotion: ‘I’m learning the languages, Flemish and French. You have to. I understand most things but speaking is tougher.’
As he poses for pictures as the sun sets over the local landscape, a group of little boys from the youth teams run past, whispering excitedly to one another ‘Bostock, Bostock!’
Bostock greets them in Flemish and they giggle excitedly. He grins broadly. Finally, he seems at peace and instead of worrying about what went wrong, he is now set on putting things right.
‘It’s been a rocky road but I am rebuilding my confidence and I’m happy.’ he smiles. ‘Everyone has a different path to the top and when that path is tricky, the destination is even more enjoyable when you get there.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-rebuilding-career-Belgium.html#ixzz3Yeegj7y1
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
John Bostock was once the golden boy of English football but after struggling at Tottenham Hotspur the midfielder is quietly rebuilding his career in Belgium
- John Bostock signed for Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 16 for £700,000
- Now 23, the midfielder plays in Belgian second tier with OH Leuven
- Bostock says he's never drank alcohol in his life and questioned his faith
- Says some players go out often but it is about what happens on the pitch
- Bostock left Crystal Palace and has never been back to Selhurst Park
- Former England U17 captain is now at his ninth club in seven years
- Worked with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and is now happy again in Belgium
- Is the most prolific midfielder in his division and says he is confident
PUBLISHED: 21:58 GMT, 29 April 2015 | UPDATED: 22:07 GMT, 29 April 2015
John Bostock read it all. He read the headlines that branded him a flop. He read the accusations that his attitude was not up to scratch. He read the post-mortems asking ‘Where did it all go wrong for John Bostock?’
Now, sitting in the modest clubhouse cafe of Oud-Heverlee Leuven, a club in the Belgian second division, Bostock has finally given up on trying to make sense of it all.
For the uninitiated, Bostock was once the golden boy of English football. A graduate of the Crystal Palace academy, he made his first-team debut at 15. He became the world’s most wanted teenager. Chelsea made a bid when he was only 14. Arsenal sent Cesc Fabregas’ shirt and Barcelona upped the ante by sending Ronaldinho’s boots. Eventually, he settled on Tottenham Hotspur, who paid a £700,000 fee - decided by a tribunal - when he was 16 in 2008.
The midfielder says he has read all the headlines that branded him a flop and accusations about his attitude
Yet in five years at White Hart Lane - punctuated by loan spells to clubs as varied as Hull City and Toronto - Bostock did not start a game for Spurs. Now 23, the boy who captained England at Under 17 level finds himself at his ninth club and playing under a 12th manager in seven years.
‘I’ve spent so long trying to work out what happened, searching for a reason,’ Bostock says, shaking his head ‘I have driven myself crazy thinking about this.’
Bostock, a devout Christian that celebrated his fourth wedding anniversary to his childhood sweetheart in January, does not fit the cliché of the too-much-too-soon generation.
‘I’ve never drank alcohol in my life,’ he says. ‘Never. I didn’t party. I tried to be a good pro. I like a milkshake but that’s as far as it goes.’
‘I take the game seriously and try to do everything right but it comes down to what you do on the pitch. There are players who might go out a during the week but then do the business on the pitch.
‘My big issue was confidence. At 16, I played on instinct, with no fear. The pressure arrived, expectations arrived and when you don’t have that someone there to support you – by that I mean a manager or a coach or a club where there is a plan for you – you feel like you lose control of the situation.’
But he raves with sincerity over the exploits of former Spurs youth team pals, including striker Harry Kane
Bostock is not embittered by his Tottenham experience - indeed, he raves with sincerity over the England exploits of his Spurs youth team pals Harry Kane, Joe Mason and Andros Townsend - but he has been bruised by the trauma of recent years.
‘I signed when Juande Ramos was manager and Damien Comolli was sporting director. It was a very different club to now where Pochettino is giving everyone a shot. No young players were playing. In my position, there was Luka Modric, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Gareth Bale - world class players. I came in at 16 and hoped it would be like it was at Palace. It wasn’t. When you don’t get a game, when you get put back into the Under 18s, it becomes a huge mental challenge.’
Bostock admits he might have made a ‘different decision in hindsight’ - perhaps stayed at Palace a while longer before taking the leap, just as his youth-team team-mates Nathaniel Clyne and Victor Moses chose to do.
It ended on a sour note at Palace - chairman Simon Jordan was furious that the club received a low figure - and Bostock, who grew up on the Selhurst Park terraces, is still to return to the ground.
‘I love the club and I wish things ended on a better note.’ he says, and he seems genuine in doing so. ‘I never intended to hurt Palace fans.’
The midfielder gained experience at several clubs on loan, including Brentford in League One
At Spurs, the opportunities did not arrive. Under Harry Redknapp, Bostock made cameos in Europa League games but his career continued to stall. He was loaned to Brentford, Hull and Sheffield Wednesday with only modest success. Reports claimed that he was sent back by Brentford.
‘I was never sent back early once,’ he insists. ‘I was 17. We were in a battle against relegation and the manager chose experience. There was a clause that said if I didn’t start for three games in a row, then Spurs could recall me. So Spurs did that. The Brentford manager said I was a pleasure to have around.’
‘In the lower leagues, managers maybe saw me as a flair player and put me on the wing to reduce the risk. I was at Sheffield Wednesday with Gary Megson, which was a different style.
‘At Spurs in the youth team, I played everywhere. They put me at left back at one point. They couldn’t put their finger on where I should be.’
‘Harry Redknapp was good to me, he gave me my debut. Tim Sherwood in the youth team was excellent but we had 20 players on loan at one point. You can feel like another number, rather than a person and every player plays best when he feels special. It should be more than being sent out on loan and getting a phone call asking “Did you play?”.
For the boy that seemed to have the world at his feet just a couple of years earlier, the ordeal yielded an awful lot of soul-searching. He admits there were times he became ‘very low’, times that he even questioned his religious faith. Andre Villas-Boas took over from Redknapp and, Bostock says, the Portuguese manager did not speak to him once.
Bostock: ‘You question everything. You see other people messing about and getting a breakthrough.'
‘You question everything. Every day, you are pushing on and you believe, and you see other people messing about and getting a breakthrough. You think “Will it ever happen for me?”
‘I had long discussions with my pastor, who I am very close to at The Christian Life Fellowship in Greenwich. I was hit hard. My mum was hit hard. If you live by other people’s opinions, you become very shaky, like a wave tossed in the sea.’
‘I over-thought everything, I became almost obsessive. I thought that because of my reputation, I had to do something brilliant in every game. When you think so deeply, you take stuff onto the pitch and look as though you are carrying the weight of the world. I couldn’t relax. Every time I made a mistake, I’d be worrying on the pitch what people would say or write. I’d be thinking “I’m supposed to be the best player on this pitch and I can’t get it right.” I cared too much, if anything. Now I know that a bad performance doesn’t make me a bad person.’
Could Tottenham have done more to shield him? ‘In the Under 18’s we had college once a week and worked with a sports psychologist. It was never really in depth, though. He was a good guy but it was in groups. I definitely would have benefited from more one-on-one. Sometimes you need to play your way out of it. It’s 90 minutes a week, with 22 people, and that’s it. The last two years, that’ s how I’ve viewed it. I have stopped thinking too much. I needed to, for my sanity.’
In June 2013, after a fifth season at Spurs that was split between Swindon Town and Toronto, he was released. It was then that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink persuaded Bostock to head to Royal Antwerp in Belgium.
‘Jimmy said “Just come here and play football.” Regardless of what people thought, I just wanted the platform to show what I can do. Last season was for the first time I’d made more than 12 appearances - including as a sub - in a season.’
Bostock has scored 10 goals this season and is the most prolific midfielder in the second tier in Belgium
He earned a move to OH Leuven and away from the scorching spotlight of the English game, he is quietly rebuilding his career, living with his wife in a plush apartment in the leafy university town of Leuven.
‘I have scored 10 goals this season and I am the most prolific midfielder for assists and goals in the division.
‘I could have earned more staying in England. The level here I’d say is lower Championship or top of League 1. It is packed with talented young players, the technical level is outrageous.’
Bostock has settled well in the dressing room and his side have already qualified for the play-offs as they seek promotion: ‘I’m learning the languages, Flemish and French. You have to. I understand most things but speaking is tougher.’
As he poses for pictures as the sun sets over the local landscape, a group of little boys from the youth teams run past, whispering excitedly to one another ‘Bostock, Bostock!’
Bostock greets them in Flemish and they giggle excitedly. He grins broadly. Finally, he seems at peace and instead of worrying about what went wrong, he is now set on putting things right.
‘It’s been a rocky road but I am rebuilding my confidence and I’m happy.’ he smiles. ‘Everyone has a different path to the top and when that path is tricky, the destination is even more enjoyable when you get there.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-rebuilding-career-Belgium.html#ixzz3Yeegj7y1
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