Source: Daily_Mail
Jamie O'Hara tells Tottenham: I¿m a big fan, but I still want to see you lose to Portsmouth!
Jamie O'Hara is preparing for his debut as a television pundit. 'I've told the lads, any rascal boots and I'll hammer 'em,' he grins. 'Anything pink or yellow or anything that looks like it's been won in a raffle.'[LNB]Mixed emotions: Spurs player Jamie O'Hara wants his team to lose to Portsmouth in the FA Cup[LNB]Portsmouth will miss him at Wembley, but the armchair audience might be in for a treat when he joins the ITV team to share his thoughts on their FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham tomorrow.[LNB]O'Hara talks as he plays. Bubbling with life. Daring and direct.[LNB]He has already flirted with controversy by admitting he wants Spurs a club he has supported all his life, who loaned him to Pompey but still pay him and who rejected a request to let him play against them to lose tomorrow. But he hasn't been tempted to change his opinion.[LNB]'It was always my dream to play for Spurs,' says O'Hara. 'I'll never forget the first goal Ii scored for them, against Sparta Prague. was such a great honour. The picture of me celebrating it with the fans is on the wall in my games room.[LNB]'I want Spurs fans to know how much feel for the club, but I've got to be professional.I'm playing for Portsmouth and want Portsmouth to win and get to the final because that's the club at.[LNB]'Avram Grant asked Harry Redknapp if could play but wasn't too keen on it to be honest. It would be unfair to play against the team paying my wages. If I scored or had a fantastic game and we won, it wouldn't look good for Harry or me. He's got to protect himself and his team. The best scenario is for me to keep out of it.'[LNB]He wasn't so happy to sit out two years ago. Four days after the euphoria of Sparta Prague, Juande Ramos dropped O'Hara from the Carling Cup final team as Spurs beat Chelsea.[LNB]He had the Wembley suit and had spent more than two weeks' wages buying 40 tickets for friends and family but did not even make the bench.[LNB]'It broke my heart,' admits O'Hara. 'Gus Poyet, who was the assistant manager, came up after and said I should go out celebrating with the lads but couldn't. I went straight home with my Dad.[LNB]'It was crazy because I started the next game. That's what it was like with Ramos. You could never figure out his thinking.[LNB]'He made me in a way. I was on loan at Millwall, battling away, sometimes on the bench, and he brought me back. Two weeks later, was starting against Arsenal at the Emirates.[LNB]First love: Jamie O'Hara just wants to play for Tottenham[LNB]'I could never criticise him for leaving me out because he gave me that opportunity and nobody else did. He hurt me that day, but Ii had to look at everything else he'd given me.'[LNB]Back in the Carling Cup final, 12 months later, Redknapp had replaced Ramos and rewarded the young midfielder for a brilliant display[LNB]in the first leg of the semi-final against Burnley, but there was another cruel twist as Spurs lost on penalties to Manchester United.[LNB]'Harry made a point of saying Ii'd got us to that final and said he'd get me on the pitch,' recalls O'Hara.[LNB]'He said wasn't starting but he'd give me half an hour no matter what. And he did. really like Harry because he's always told me where Ii stand. came on and ended up missing a penalty. always get emotional because love Spurs and feel a connection with the fans. They would have all wanted to be down there taking that penalty. felt like Ii'd let them all down.'[LNB]Despite his Tottenham upbringing in Dartford, O'Hara's natural talents were nurtured at Arsenal's academy. 'Spurs didn't have any scouts down there so they were never in the picture,' he says. 'Man United and City wanted me, but Arsenal seemed like the best academy, probably still is. It was the best choice made in my life.'[LNB]Then, with the offer of a three-year professional deal on the table at 17, he crossed north London to White Hart Lane.[LNB]'It was a like a brick wall for English players at Arsenal,' says O'Hara. 'I didn't leave on bad terms but there was no way through. needed to keep developing.'[LNB]Loan spells at Chesterfield and Millwall helped him mature. 'I'm this nice footballer from Arsenal who likes to pass it but that's not reality is it?' he says.[LNB]'You have to run around and win your tackles. You can't turn up and not fancy it one day.[LNB]'It's all right for me, 18 and living at home but the bloke next to me is playing for his mortgage. He has three kids and a house to pay for and needs a win bonus.'[LNB]Unpredictable: Juande Ramos axed Jamie O'Hara for the Carling Cup Final - then picked him for the next match[LNB]Away from the football pitch, O'Hara suffered as he watched his mother, Ann, fighting a battle against Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer which claimed her life in 2004.[LNB]'The thing that upsets me is that she's missed seeing me play for Tottenham and England Under 21s,' says, who has tattoos on his forearms in memory of her.[LNB]'I hope she's looking down on me and one day, when I'm up there, she'll talk to me about the time Ii played in the cup final. hope she can see it. hope she's proud of me, of what Ii've achieved and the person become.'[LNB]She will be. It was Ann's ambition to own a bakery and when he earned a pay rise at Spurs, O'Hara bought West Wickham Bakery for his father, Paul. He is also in the process of launching a charity designed to supply hospitals with life-saving machines.[LNB] Next year, O'Hara will marry model Danielle Lloyd, who is expecting their first child in July. Just don't call them a celebrity couple.[LNB]'We're not a celebrity and don't ever want to be seen as one,' he says. 'I'm a professional footballer and I've put in years of hard work to become one. I might be going out with a celebrity, but don't go out with her for her profile. It wouldn't bother me if she's never photographed again.[LNB]'She's a fantastic person. We hit it off straightaway. We got so close so quickly. We have a fantastic bond and we really love each other a lot. don't care what anyone else thinks as long and we're happy and our families are happy.'[LNB]As a footballer, O'Hara has proved himself an outstanding Premier League player this season, excelling at Portsmouth even though the club lurched from one crisis to another. [LNB]Golden couple: Danielle Lloyd and Jamie O'Hara [LNB]Four owners, two managers, late wages, a transfer ban, High Court, administration, a nine-point deduction and, soon, relegation.[LNB]'It started taking its toll after Christmas,' says O'Hara, who went back to Spurs briefly in January before signing another loan deal.[LNB]'The owners were leaving and Paul Hart left. We lost Younes Kaboul, who was having a fantastic season, and there was talk of other players like Aruna Dindane not being allowed to play any more. was becoming a fiasco.[LNB]'Quincy [Owusu-Aabeyie] came in, did fantastic and was gone. came in one day and said: 'Where's Quincy?'. They said: 'Oh, he's gone to Qatar'.[LNB]'All the lads said we'd stick together. We bonded really quickly and to think we got to Wembley with a team thrown together in a week is amazing. But too many things were happening.[LNB]'You're in the limelight for all the wrong reasons and you can't compete in the Premier League when it's like that.[LNB]'It's sad we'll be relegated because believe we're better than some of the other teams down there. Ii hope they get an investor, rebuild and have a go at getting back up next year, but you look at Leeds and hope that doesn't happen.'[LNB]O'Hara's future lies elsewhere, although not necessarily at Tottenham, where he has a contract until 2013.[LNB]'I'll sit down with Harry Redknapp in the summer and have a discussion,' he says. 'I need to know if I'm in his plans next season.[LNB]'It will be a big decision because I've always wanted to play for Tottenham, but I'm 24 next season and, after this season, it would be hard to get my head around sitting on the bench again.[LNB] 'I don't want to be one of those players who comes on for the last 20 minutes and does a job. I want to play 90 minutes and be the best player. If I'm still going to be classed as the squad player then I need to know.[LNB]'Tottenham are a big club and will always be striving to do more. There will always be competition for places and big-names signings.[LNB]'I feel like I might have to move on to another club to develop into an important player like Luka Modric. It's no good for me to be the fifth or sixth midfielder.[LNB]'I've got to look to move on or I'll be 28, wondering what I've done for the past four years. I want to be a Modric but you can't just sit around. It's a big summer for me with some hard decisions to make.[LNB]'I'm excited because this season I've put myself in a position where hopefully there will be big clubs who want to take me.'[LNB]Quite right. O'Hara is a man in demand.[LNB] Harry Redknapp tells Pompey fans: Don't forget what a good job I did at Fratton ParkNew Portsmouth chief David Lampitt vows to tackle the cash crisis at Fratton ParkKanu: I believe in magic! 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