Up until recently I was a big fan of Harry Kane. I was a fan of the way he plays football, and a fan of his presence on the field. I was even a fan of the way he conducted himself off the field. Seemed like a great player and a great lad. And, I think a lot of people would have probably agreed with me. But then all of a sudden, recently, I started to notice things were beginning to change.

Harry Kane started to show signs of a couple of key character traits that didn’t sit well with me. A couple of things that have really diminished the respect that I had for him. And to be honest, I feel a little let down. Let me start by saying, in terms of skill and talent, Harry Kane is a world class player. His ability on the field is unquestioned. His touch, his right foot, his left foot, his head and his vision and understanding of the game, set him apart from most of his piers.

And his goal scoring record in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal. Should he continue in this way, which is highly probable, by the end of his career there is good chance he will be held among the greats. But as stated above, I have noticed a change. And it’s not a positive one.

It was earlier in the season I noticed that the normally upstanding Harry Kane, was starting to “go down” a little easy, especially at key moments. It was not just an isolated incident either, it was starting to become a recurring theme. I would even go as far as to say that along with team mate Dele Alli he has built up a reputation as a diver.

And then, there was the ghost goal. It was against Stoke. It was a free kick, whipped in by Christian Erikson, which seemed to miss everyone and make its way into the corner of the net. But did it miss everyone? Wait a second, Harry Kane seems to be celebrating like the goal must have been his. But was it? I have seen all the replays possible from all the different angles and all I can come up with is that whether he got a touch or not is inconclusive.

The goal was accredited to Erikson, game won, situation over. Or was it? Harry certainly didn’t think so. In fact in the post match interview he said  “its my goal for sure, it flicked off my shoulder and went in. I don’t care, it’s my goal”. He actually even had the distaste to swear on his own daughters life. Which, for me, is a semi deplorable act in itself. Erikson, to his credit didn’t make a big fuss, he said “Harry celebrated like he scored, so I guess he must have touched it”.

After Harry Kane’s insistence, Tottenham appealed the decision to the FA and it was over turned. The goal was awarded to Kane. In actual fact, its not that big a deal, but here is my problem with it. Firstly, if at all, the contact he made with the ball was wafer thin. In my opinion not enough to determine in actual fact it was his moment that ensured a goal was scored. But that is not even the big issue here for me.

For me, and secondly, this incident has shown the negative side of greed and egotism, that normally does not make for a happy team environment. In simple terms, it’s just plain selfish. I mean, would it have made the world of difference if he wasn’t credited with this goal? It is highly unlikely that he will win the golden boot this season. And when his career end’s, and he would have undoubtedly scored hundreds of goals, will the fight for this solitary goal have been worth the damage it has done to his image and reputation?

And let’s be clear on this, he has taken a serious beating over this from both players and fans alike. An interesting question would be, why has the public reacted this way? Why am I reacting this way? Well, because humanity, myself included, does not understand, nor like, such pathetic, self centred moments of greed. They don’t like it when a player shows absolutely no respect for a fellow colleague in the search for personal gain. And they don’t like it when a player seems to put personal accolades over team spirit or togetherness. Football is a team sport after all, and it should always be about the team first. For me it is as clear as that.

What the hell, both he and Tottenham were thinking, I’ll never know. As for Harry, he should really start to think about where he is heading. Whilst it is highly likely that people will look back on Harry Kane as a great football player when the dust settles on his career, will his achievements be enough? Look at Cristiano Ronaldo for example. Undoubtedly one of the best players to ever put on a pair of football boots. His career statistics and accolades are second to none, like Messi. But there is one big difference. Character. Because of character, everyone thinks Messi is a God, and everyone thinks Ronaldo is a PRICK.

It’s time for Harry Kane to make a decision.