Former Tottenham star Jamie O’Hara has urged the club to retain Cristian Romero as captain despite his recent difficulties.
The central defender, who has been outspoken about Spurs’ struggles this season, is currently suspended after a reckless challenge on Casemiro against Manchester United.
During an exclusive, sit-down interview with 10bet, O’Hara also echoed Ange Postecoglou’s view that Spurs must spend like a top club to achieve success on the pitch.
Captaincy question
“I wouldn’t take the captaincy off Romero. I don’t see what the point in doing so would be,” O’Hara stated with regard to the Argentine’s leadership role.
“He’s there for the foreseeable. He’s been made the captain. He is a leader and he has got us out of some massive holes.
“Yeah, I know he’s spoken out about the club, but I don’t think the first thing you should be doing as an interim manager is coming in and taking the captaincy off Romero.
“That’s not going to get the players on side. That’s not going to get a player onside that you need.
“I know he’s out for another three games, but he’s a massive player for us.
“We need to be doing everything we can to keep the man, and I wouldn’t want to frustrate him.
“I would not be thinking about taking the captaincy off him at all. He’s a top player. Him and [Micky] van de Ven are two world-class defenders.”
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Postecoglou’s comments
O’Hara then touched on former manager Postecoglou’s recent comments, saying: “I think Ange’s comments were taken out of context.
“He said we’re not a big club in the transfer market when it comes to wages. He didn’t say we’re not a big club.
“He said when it comes to wages, we don’t act like a big club. Meaning we don’t pay 300 grand a week for players.
“He’s been there. He knows what it’s about. He’s been in the board meetings.
“When he goes in and asks for players and doesn’t get them, obviously he’s going to get frustrated.
“Spurs are a massive football club and they need to act like a massive football club when it comes to that.
“I think that’s what he was trying to say. Spend money. Pay the wages like the big-six teams do.
“We’ve only really had Son [Heung-min] and Harry Kane earning big wages. The rest of them aren’t on that money.
“You want to get the best players, like your [Eberechi] Eze’s, and go after players – you’ve got to pay bigger wages.”
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Potential relegation
“Yeah, absolutely,” O’Hara admitted when the question of Spurs’ potential relegation came up.
“They have got to find a way out of trouble for sure. It’s been a terrible season.
“We’re not out of it yet. We’ve got some tough fixtures coming up and we need to pick up some points.
“This manager needs to hit the ground running and he needs to get a tune out these players. We’ve got enough good players in the team to find a way of winning.
“Even with all the injuries that we’ve got, there’s still enough decent players to not get relegated.
“And that’s all it’s about this season, sadly, in the league – not getting relegated.”
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