Harry Kane- record breaking Spurs goal scorer

 Harry Kane- a record breaking Spurs goal scorer.

Over the weekend Spurs striker Harry Kane broke the record of immortal Spurs goal machine Jimmy Greaves. There are times when you can only  admire the phenomenal feats achieved by the man who, in some cases, has to plough a lone furrow up front for his club. A striker for any club spends most of the match wandering, wondering, roaming, hunting and then pouncing hopefully for his bumper crop of goals. Occasionally he simply hangs around penalty areas like somebody on their own waiting for a late night train in the hope that it does eventually thunder out of the tunnel and ends up on the platform.

For Harry Kane the successful conquest of scoring more goals than any of his recent predecessors must have the sweetest taste of them all. In recent decades Kane has surpassed the highly regarded likes of Steve Archibald and Garth Crooks. During the 1970s the legendary Martin Chivers and Alan Gilzean became idolised for the simple act of hitting the back of the net with commendable frequency. Most forwards are judged somewhat unfairly for either their technical prowess or natural ability. When it does all fit together seamlessly the devoted fans chant their songs of adoration and enduring adulation.

But Harry Kane finally overtook the master craftsman who was Jimmy Greaves, all smoothness of movement, instinctively gifted and full of breathtaking acceleration. In one match against Manchester United, Spurs moved the ball almost magically towards Greaves feet and, with one wondrous turn of his body from just over the half way line, Greaves drifted past a whole succession of United defenders, gliding over the grass nonchalantly with the grace of a ballroom dancer, rounding three United players before scoring quite the finest goal the old White Hart Lane had seen for quite some time.

Kane of course has scored goals for fun over recent years, a born poacher with a destructive shot, explosive pace, a perfect nose for goals and an immaculate positional sense. During the recent World Cup in Qatar we thought he'd re-discovered his blistering form for club and country. But then he became the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons. After converting one penalty for the equaliser in the quarter final against France, Kane, mindful that the piercing eyes of a nation were watching him with splendid anticipation, approached another spot kick that would certainly have taken the match to extra time.

Remembering where we'd been as a nation in World Cup Italia 90 against West Germany and where we would be yet again six years later in Euro 96, you'd have thought salutary lessons had been learnt. But Kane confidently stepped up to the ball and, maybe overcome with momentary unease, seemed to dig his foot into the ground and the ball must have landed somewhere in a desolate Saudi desert. The cynics would have told us that we should have known that something like that would happen.

But for Spurs Kane has been positively unstoppable, firing beautifully executed goals from all angles and ranges, timing his runs into space near the 18 yard box with remarkable accuracy and then finishing in the manner of a born striker who knows exactly where the goal is. With Son Heung Min for company and sharing the workload with admirable persistence and chipping in with his fair share, Kane will go down in the Spurs Hall of Fame.

In West Ham's 2-0 FA Cup fourth round victory over Derby County you were reminded of another striker with a dazzling knack for finding the goal. Steve Bloomer, back in the early 20th century, scored with an amazing consistency and still, misty eyed Derby fans yearn for somebody anybody to launch the club back into the Premier League elite with vast quantities of goals. Bloomer of course was no slouch for England as well.

And then you thought back to the early 20th century ironically when Everton's Dixie Dean once found the back of the net with 60 goals in one season. Are we to assume that defences of the day were ever so lenient and charitable? The fact is that Dean was simply irrepressible and how the Toffees could do with a Dean of the modern day incarnation.

The former Leicester City and Spurs striker Gary Lineker loved nothing better than a clear sight of the goal before swooping in with goals that flowed like a river from his feet and head. Having already established himself as a valuable asset at his childhood club of Leicester City, Lineker scored dozens and dozens for Spurs.

But now Kane finds himself in the best of company. Strikers have always had a sixth sense, a premonition of when the goal is going to be scored and certainly won't be the last to break a goal scoring record. Lineker once scored a hat-trick for England against Poland in the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico. Kane must have desperate to look for a hole in the ground after that missed penalty against France in Qatar. And yet Kane who also came through the Spurs youth academy will be heartened by the knowledge that sometimes the goals simply dry up when least expected.

Today he finds himself acclaimed as one of the great all round finishers in the Premier League. He has yet to win any major trophies for Spurs and this has to be a considerable source of personal frustration. A season or two ago Kane could have been tempted by the blandishments of a move to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City but persevered with Spurs in the vain hope that something surprising would take place at Tottenham.

But the cynics and snipers are only too ready to criticise Kane for a complete lack of ambition, an insatiable appetite for winning Cups and of course the Premier League. At the moment he remains a Spurs player and the ones who continue to deride him so cruelly may be consumed with a private jealousy that will always endure as long as there are strikers with a boundless flair for being in the right time and place. Keep going Harry. England and Spurs still need you.