Gareth Bale

[Pathfinder]

Journalist shares what Gareth Bale kept saying in private when he was back at Spurs

Bale hasn’t quite made it as a golfer yet, but he still has plenty of time to progress in that field.

tbrfootball.com

‘He was telling people’: Journalist shares what Gareth Bale kept saying in private when he was back at Spurs​

Charles Jones
Thu 28 September 2023 11:15, UK

Gareth Bale’s footballing career is over, and, these days, you’re way more likely to see him on a golf course than in a football stadium.

The Welshman has just played a part on the winning team in the Ryder Cup Celebrity All-Star competition, and he’s likely to stay in Rome to watch the Ryder Cup this weekend.

Bale has always had a penchant for golf, and according to Dan Kilpatrick, speaking on The Tottenham Way Podcast, at one point, he actually wanted to turn pro.

According to Kilpatrick, Bale was often telling people at Tottenham during his loan spell during the 2020/21 season that he wanted to turn professional in golf, but, sadly, it looks as though that hasn’t worked out.

Bale always spoke about golfing​

Kilpatrick shared what he knew about Bale and his golf ambitions.

“I remember when Bale was at Spurs, he was sort of harbouring ambitions and he was telling people that he wanted to have a crack at being a pro golfer. I remember hearing that and thinking I was onto the story of a lifetime, but it hasn’t quite worked out,” Kilpatrick said.

Still time​

Bale hasn’t quite made it as a golfer yet, but he still has plenty of time to progress in that field.

Bale isn’t old, he’s only 34 years old, and the fact that he’s already almost playing off a scratch handicap shows just how good he is.

He certainly has the money to pay for the top coaches in the game, and given that he already has that elite sportsman mentality, he could well end up making it in this sport.

Don’t write off Bale as a potential golf star just yet.

 

[Shotgunofmichalebrow]

I'm assuming you've only been following Spurs this century?

If so, you've missed out on some truly incredible players that would likely make your decision that much harder.

Having said that, nobody else comes close? Not even our greatest ever goalscorer?

I'm going to caveat that last bit. The record shows that he's our best striker ever, but I still think that Greaves is the best this country has ever produced.

Was he even better than Gascoigne? Gareth I mean?

 

[Deuterz]

Since 1990.

Bale was miles better than Kane.
Gascoigne was my favourite for the majority of my Spurs supporting life. Lennon was close in terms of getting the East stand on their feet every time he got the ball - but Bale was on a completely different tier.

The quality of his goals and his ability to beat players still astonish me.

Kane was good at his job of nailing penalties and getting the ball in the goal, but I would probably argue King was on a similar tier to Kane in terms of how well they did their jobs on the pitch. Great players, but Bale was like a superhero.

Nah. Thought the same a while back - Kane is clear. Proving it now.

 

[Deleted member 13260]

I've followed Spurs for over 55 years. Kane is not only one the greatest players ever to play for Spurs, but also England.
Bale is also one of Spurs greatest ever players. Both him and Kane would be in my all time Spurs XI.
Bale left Spurs when he was 24, and went on to great success with Real Madrid. I doubt Kane would have achieved less if he had joined a top European club like Real at 24.
For the record, I rate Mackay, Greaves, Jennings and Hoddle on the same level as Bale and Kane, as Spurs players in my time that were world class. A few others were also nearly at that level.

From what I have seen, Greaves looked a better goalscorer than Kane - but I didn't watch him play every game so can't really say. May not have had the passing range or aerial threat of Kane, but appeared a wonderful dribbler and a truly, naturally gifted player. Statistics tell me he did it consistently too, but I won't likely find many clips of him having games he just couldn't get involved in etc.

Had Kane joined Madrid at 24 I expect he would have won European Cups - but I doubt he would done things like Bale did in cup finals.

In terms of raw efficiency, they are probably both 9/10 or 10/10 players. In terms of excitement, I think Kane would be a 7/10 compared to Bale's 10/10.

'For England' is a different thing than 'best English player'. I would (without seeing him play each week) expect Bobby Charlton to top the ranks there.

From my 33 years, Kane, Gerrard, Gascoigne are probably all up there. Should be saying Shearer, Owen, Rooney too - but feel they had spells for England where they didn't perform like the others.

 

[Pól]

Best player I have ever seen turn out for Spurs.
Nobody else comes close.

Modric doesn’t come close? I mean Luka fucking Modric

 

[NotThatTedHughes]

Was he even better than Gascoigne? Gareth I mean?

May not have been a better technical footballer but more dynamic. See my last post.

 

[Shadydan]

Put it this way.....if we had Kane that night against Inter with only ten men, do you think Kane would have got that hattrick or destroyed them in the home leg?......

Put it this way do you think Bale would have been the all time top goalscorer for our club if he stayed as long as Kane?

Silly comparison.

 

[Shadydan]

Didn't say he was miles better than Kane.....but a better footballer yes....teams used to shit themselves when Bale had the ball. But i enjoyed watching both in our time.....sad there wasn't a better team around them......

I know you didn't, the comment I reacted to did and then you replied to it.

Better 'footballer' is entirely subjective, to be fair I'm not mad at those who have a preference, but saying that one was miles better than the other is an unnecessary extreme.

 

[Shotgunofmichalebrow]

Its crazy the level of footballer Spurs have had. If you compare with Arse we are way ahead They had that Wenger French team but we have have had world breaker centerforwards and Balon Dor level midfielders. Our all time eleven craps on most teams.

 

[Airfixx]

Bale was a defensive liability at that point, the only way to get the best out of him was to play him behind the striker but that wasn't happening with Kane dropping deep.

He was fucking shocking in the NLD (@ WHL?) that season.... Absolute Ghost...... RB was totally exposed all game.

 

[Shadydan]

He was fucking shocking in the NLD (@ WHL?) that season.... Absolute Ghost...... RB was totally exposed all game.

He was worse in the Zagreb match when we K.O out of UEFA

Pretty sure Lloris' comments after the match were aimed at him.

 

[Airfixx]

Even though Bale wasn’t the player he had been he was still criminally underused by that cunt Jose.

Seemed like he was being stubborn because he was a club signing or something.

Wasn't just Mourinho though. Mason didn't start Mr Cup Final in a cup final. Brought him on late and barely touched the ball.

Tragic.

He was worse in the Zagreb match when we K.O out of UEFA

Pretty sure Lloris' comments after the match were aimed at him.

I got the sense that it was a 2-way problem between the two rather than it just being Jose being a cunt to Bale. How much of that was born of Bale playing/training beneath himself with Wales/Euros in mind......?

 

[Shadydan]

I got the sense that it was a 2-way problem between the two rather than it just being Jose being a cunt to Bale. How much of that was born of Bale playing/training beneath himself with Wales/Euros in mind......?

Another Levy special, didn't fit into the team and got him in purely because there was an opportunity.

This fanbase is so weird, they blame Levy for things he shouldn't be blamed for and absolve him for things that he should be blamed for

 

[Airfixx]

Another Levy special, didn't fit into the team and got him in purely because there was an opportunity.

This fanbase is so weird, they blame Levy for things he shouldn't be blamed for and absolve him for things that he should be blamed for

It was the Covid summer......... Dosh was limited and it was a chance to inject some WC-quality to tide us over without massive outlay (which in basic terms made sense); but too much wasn't clicking behind the front 3 for it to work (Every few matches we'd switch up the CBs and we weren't even playing a proper front 3 anyway; as Jose and his new right hand man were trying to get some antiquated version of 442 off the ground; yet it actually played out more like a wonky 352 - Yuk!).

 

[Deuterz]

Real Madrid, the biggest and best club in global football (by miles) didn't want a discount, special relationship sub 100m punt on Kane when they need a striker.

They paid a world record fee for Bale when they already had Ronaldo.

Says it all really.

Whilst 'who's the best' opinions are subjective, the position of the player is relevant.

Wide forwards are the most valuable (best) players.
Attacking midfielders probably rank slightly above strikers.
Then central / defensive midfielders, to defenders to keepers.

Strikers haven't been the prized assets in over 20 years really since 442 died.

It literally only says that Madrid were focused on Mbappe at that point and when they signed Bale he was much younger than Kane. Madrid didn’t want another ageing player, haven’t you noticed their recent strategy?

Yeah they’d have taken Kane on some massive bargain but it’s pretty clear that after Hazard they’re steering clear of big fees for ageing stars.

 

[Jenny Talia]

View: https://twitter.com/xAlexTHFC/status/1728181841675313256

 

[5purs]

Interesting read....

Zinedine Zidane, José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Paolo Maldini, Gareth Southgate and Gareth Bale are just some of the members that created the newly formed UEFA football board recently

An independent voice of experience and expertise on fundamental football-related topics, including the Laws of the Game, refereeing, match calendar, elite youth development and players well-being

As former manager Arsen Wenger pushes for more games per calender year, citing the spread of wealth being a positive football, some of England's oldest clubs have raised concerns

The English national football cups will be cut from the 2024/2025 season to allow space for the new UEFA and FIFA calenders

English lower table clubs state their existence is in jeopardy as such cup games generate the majority of annual income

The effect on the world's oldest cup competition is also now irreversible, as UEFA and FIFA plan further expansion to their competitions in the near future

The tradition of the FA Cup is in danger of becoming nothing more than a memory as England and the English FA appear to allow our game to collapse

 

[yes]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26d_lEyQQP8

Into my golf. Was watching this, there are some pretty interesting comments from Gareth in this. Very candid/uncensored about football. Said he preferred Spurs to Madrid (more of a family environment) and essentially said that Ronaldo is a bit of bellend

4:13 in if you don't fancy watching the whole thing.

But a fair bit of banter from him throughout.