With every passing week the theory that Harry Kane is a human trophy repellent gathers more and more momentum.

When it was first suggested – during his many dry years at Tottenham Hotspur – that Kane has some sort of silverware curse hanging over him, we all thought it was little more than a humorous side story.

But now there is increasing evidence that he has brought this jinx with him to Bayern Munich, and what started out as a joke is looking increasingly like reality.

As the player himself has admitted, he left his boyhood club to give himself the best opportunity of winning things before his career started to wind down. And where better to go than Bayern, the overwhelming dominant force in German football who were on a run of 11 successive title victories.

Surely, adding England’s captain and all-time leading goalscorer to an already successful team would only ensure bigger and better things and an upping of the trophy flow.

Not exactly.

While Kane has continued to do what he has always done – banging in the goals on a regular basis – his quest for elusive silverware is not going to plan.

The signs that he may have unwittingly brought his curse along for the ride were there from the beginning: in his first game for his new club, they lost the German Super Cup to RB Leipzig 3-0. And it only got worse when Bayern were knocked out of the German Cup by third division side Saarbrucken in November.

Over the past week the situation has deteriorated further with Munich hammered 3-0 by league leaders Bayer Leverkusen to leave them five points off the pace in the title race before going on to lose 1-0 to Lazio in their Champions League clash.

If this continues, I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry’s teammates start turning up for training with strings of garlic hanging round their necks before forcing their new colleague to shower in holy water.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry’s teammates start turning up for training with strings of garlic hanging round their necks

Maybe in his teenage years a young and impressionable Harry did some strange deal with an old gypsy lady granting him all the talent in the world but in return he would never be allowed to actually win anything? Sounds stupid, but you never know.

There is, of course, time for things to turn around. Not just this season but over the next couple of years as well. And I don’t realistically expect him to see out his time in Germany without getting his hands on a trophy or two, although it might take a new manager to make that happen.

But right now, as things stand, the whole curse theory is not as mad as it once seemed. In fact, just to be on the safe side, Gareth Southgate might want to think about finding another main striker for the summer...

 

Sven the going gets tough

Next month, Sven Goran Eriksson will get to fulfil his lifelong dream of managing Liverpool when he takes charge of the team for their charity match against Ajax.

The club said last week that the Swede, who is battling terminal cancer, would be in the dugout as part of the management team for the annual fundraiser.

Letting the former England boss live out his dream is a fantastic gesture by the current league leaders. It’s something that just about everyone involved in football wanted to see happen, including Liverpool’s fans, who lobbied the club on Sven’s behalf.

Yes, it’s only a friendly, and yes, it’s only a legends team. But it’s still going to mean so much to a man who only revealed to the world that he and his father have supported Liverpool their whole lives on the same day he announced his cancer diagnosis.

I think it’s fair to say that because of Sven’s participation there will be a lot more interest in this year’s charity match that normal – which will probably mean it raises more money than it would have otherwise.

So, what we have here is one of those unique occasions in football where one small gesture means that absolutely everyone wins. And that makes me feel all warm inside.

 

Good run, questionable performances

Some Manchester United fans are getting a bit carried away with their recent run of results.

In fact, I rather shockingly overheard two of them talking last week about how they are now “only” 13 points behind top spot.

There’s a word that springs instantly to mind and it starts with a ‘d’ and ends with ‘elusional’.

Yes, at the time of writing they have strung together some good results, collecting 13 points from their last six league matches and closing the gap to the top four.

But I can’t be the only one who feels their performances have not actually been that good. Take the match against Aston Villa last Sunday. They managed to walk away with all three points but, in my humble opinion, the better team lost.

Finding a way to win when not at your best is an admirable quality which all the most successful teams need. But it can’t be your only quality, especially for a team of United’s stature.

Maybe a string of lucky wins was what the players and Eric ten Hag needed to grow their confidence and to give themselves a platform.

But the fact that they are not dominating games, are not blowing opponents away and still don’t seem to have a clearly defined style suggests this is nothing more than a streak of good fortune.

Villa managed 23 attempts on goal on Sunday, and that suggests that the same underlying problems are very much still around for the most expensively assembled squad in world football.

Yes, I get that United’s fans will be relieved by the recent run, especially after losing so many games in the first half of the season.

But deep down – apart from those two deluded individuals I mentioned earlier – the majority of supporters must realise these wins are only papering over the cracks, and the only way back to the top of the game is a complete and comprehensive rebuild.

 

E-mail: James.calvert@timesofmalta.com

Twitter: @maltablade