Toda the rooster joins Tottenham
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Your support makes all the difference.The club with the cockerel on their crest yesterday unveiled their newest signing – the "red rooster" from last year's World Cup.
Kazuyuki Toda, the Japanese midfielder who sported the striking dyed mohawk-style haircut – apparently known as the "rabid red rooster" – during the tournament, signed a one-year loan deal which will cost Tottenham Hotspur £185,000.
His arrival signifies the end of Steffen Freund's four-year spell at the club, with the manager Glenn Hoddle revealing he will not be offering the German, who has just turned 33, a new contract this summer. There was also increased speculation that the Spurs captain Teddy Sheringham may soon be presented with a similar scenario. Another veteran, Tim Sherwood, travels to Portsmouth today to discuss terms and undergo a medical.
But yesterday was about the 25-year-old from Shimizu S-Pulse of the J-League. He has played 20 times for his country, including four times in the World Cup.
Toda's appearance was rather more sober than it has been. Even Hoddle was drawn to comment: "Over the years I understand he has been a bit experimental with his hair." Indeed. As well as the rooster, there have been styles called the Disco King, the Samurai Ponytail and the White Wolf – to name but three.
Toda, an aggressive defensive midfielder who likened his own playing style to Manchester United's Nicky Butt (another red rooster, perhaps), clearly takes his no-nonsense reputation off-the-field as well. He walked out on Sunderland last week in the middle of a trial period – much to the annoyance of manager Howard Wilkinson – only to pitch up at Tottenham the next day. "That's a matter for the clubs," Toda said.
Then, yesterday, he was asked if he sought advice from fellow import – and World Cup team-mate – Junichi Inamoto about life in the Premiership. "No," came the reply. So, are you friends? "That's a question for him." No again, then.
His signing certainly provoked as much interest from the Japanese media as that of Inamoto at Fulham, and Hoddle was asked whether the north London club would seek any commercial benefit. "I would have thought so, but that is for others," he said. The player was recommended to Hoddle by Steve Perryman, who was Toda's coach for five years in Japan, where he also played under another Spurs legend, Osvaldo Ardiles.
"Steve said that, of all the Japanese players, he had the pedigree to play in the Premiership," Hoddle said. The player himself, unsurprisingly, said it was his dream to play here but acknowledged that other Japanese have struggled. "It is my aim to change that," he said.
As for that other vital detail – his squad number – he will wear the No 44 shirt. "Four is my lucky number," Toda said. "But it is not available, so I chose 44. Four means happy in Japanese."
Not for Freund, it does not. He, of course, currently occupies the No 4 shirt for Spurs or, at least, for a few more months he does.
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