Crap Signing of the Week: Michael Dawson to Hull City
Published:A one-time England international he may be, but Michael Dawson remains a shadow of the player that once impressed at Nottingham Forest and later Tottenham Hotspur and could cost Hull more than just the £3.5 million they shelled out for him.
The 30-year-old has long been expected to depart White Hart Lane this summer, with manager Mauricio Pochettino wasting no time in identifying Dawson as a weak link in the Spurs backline and a player to be jettisoned in favour of fresh faces.
Part of the defensive line that shipped 51 goals in 38 games last season under AVB and Tim Sherwood, injuries may have curtailed his campaign but Dawson still featured in some of Spurs’ most disastrous results.
He was at the heart of everything wrong during Tottenham’s 4-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and also featured in 4-0 and 5-0 losses to Liverpool home and away as well as 5-1 and 6-0 losses to champions Manchester City.
And while Hull will not be facing those kinds of top four tests week-in week-out, his performances in those games hardly bode well for a team that could be facing a fair few crunch relegation fixtures in the coming season.
More concerning still, is Dawson’s increasing susceptibility to injury, with the 30-year-old ruled out for an extended period of time on three separate occasions last term – twice with a hamstring problem and another time due to a foot injury.
Hamstring problems appear to have hindered his playing time for much of the last two years, with the same problem rearing its head on four separate occasions.
It all means that Dawson may not even get the chance to shine for Hull, who have spent big to land their man.
Tottenham must have been delighted to receive £3.5m for a defender on his way out of the club and the fact that his replacement Federico Fazio cost just £4.5m more to a club looking to the top four.
If he had been signed for less, the ex-Forest academy man would have been tantamount to a bargain. As it is, he is in danger of usurping more consistent defenders like James Chester, Paul McShane or Curtis Davies in the starting line-up.
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