Danny Rose has admitted he expected a frosty reception from the Tottenham supporters when he returned to the field against Real Madrid for the first time in nine months.
Instead, the travelling Spurs fans chanted Rose’s name. The defender has been out of action for the majority of the year with a knee injury.
Some supporters questioned his attitude following an interview in August in which Rose appeared to criticise the club’s ambition, as well as the the transfer and wage policies.
The 27-year-old has now confirmed he was fined for his comments. In quotes published by the Evening Standard, Rose recalled his relief at the Bernabeu after a tough few months.
“My opinions will be voiced in a different way from now on”, said the left-back, who came on in midfield against Madrid. “I’ve been disciplined and we move forward together as a club.
“I’m trying to look forward now for the rest of the season. First and foremost I have to try to win my shirt back. [What I said has] gone now, my manager [Mauricio Pochettino] has forgotten about it and we all move forward and we try to win this club a trophy.
“Since I was injured it has been very difficult, very frustrating. It was hard to watch the lads do well last season and even this season they’ve done very well, which has also been difficult to watch. But to come on for the last few minutes on Tuesday was special and I can’t wait to get going now.
“We were all hoping I wouldn’t need an operation. All the signs were saying I didn’t and we just hoped and hoped and we lost a bit of time. In the end we decided to have the op and here I am.
“It’s taken a lot longer than expected but I’m over the moon I’m back. I want to win my shirt back here, win my shirt back for England. I want to win something here this season and I want to be in the World Cup squad at the end of the season. My season starts now.
“The plan in my head was to play some minutes against West Ham. I did well in training on Sunday and I got in the changing room and was getting ready to have a shower.
“The manager called me upstairs and said: ‘You’re doing well, do you think you could do 10, 15 minutes in Madrid?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course, no problem.’
“It’s just been an unexpected couple of days because I thought I would be watching the game on TV at home. It’s amazing he put me on in midfield as well.
“It’s been a frustrating period but this last couple of days has made it all worth it.”
Regardless of his comments back in August, it’s a huge positive to have a player of Rose’s calibre back in the squad.
Let’s just hope we can keep hold of him, but im thinking he’s going to go to Man Utd, mind you with Ben Davies playing as well as he is Rose may not be that big a loss, look at the Kyle Walker thing he’s gone and he’s been replaced and all seems fine.