Tottenham's career of Troy Parrott did not amount to much for one with such talent and promise.
Ninety -six minutes and without goals, starting with the defeat in penalties in a draw in the League Cup in Colchester United, followed by six minutes from the bank in two Premier League games.
And ending with a cruel symmetry when Tim Krul saved his penalty in a defeat for the Norwich FA shooting on a night when Eric Dier entered the local crowd to face the abusive fans of the Spurs.
Covid put the country to stop and Parrott never launched again in northern London. Few noticed and less worried when Az Alkmaar paid £ 7 million for their services last summer.
But he has prospered in the Netherlands. First borrowed in Excelsior last season and now at the forefront of a young Az outfit currently sixth in the Dutch Eredivisie, just three points from the third and already reserved in the final of the KNVB Cup.
They lost 1-0 in Tottenham in October, but they are improving that it would not be football if they and their striker of the Irish center of 17 goals did not fear the Ange Postecoglou team in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Troy Parrott has scored 17 goals this season for Az Alkmaar while preparing to face Tottenham
Parrott had little impact on the Spurs with a lost penalty in its final competitive act for the club
José Mourinho gave Parrott his debut in the Premier League and some felt that he had something special
Parrott was identified by Az after impressing Excelsior. They wanted to fill the void left by Vangelis Pavlidis, an international Greece striker who signed from Willem II at the age of 22 and sold Benfica for £ 18 million last summer after 80 goals in three seasons. Pavlidis was the top scorer in Eredivisie last season with 29 goals.
“It was not easy for Troy to follow that,” says Simon Zwartkruis, who covers Az for Dutch Magazine Voetbal International. 'The expectations were high, but you can compare their situations.
'Four years ago, Pavlidis was not so well known. He came after doing well in a smaller club like Parrott. They were at a similar age. Everyone sought to see if it was good enough for Az and took a year or so to reach the necessary level.
'It is not fair to compare Parrott with Pavlidis last season, but compares it with Pavlidis in its first season, Pavlidis had 15 goals in early March and Parrott has 17 goals. Then, he is going quite well.
Parrott has been accepted by AZ supporters, who have a reputation for high critical standards, who will not be lost in a former Tottenham player. They hope to win attractive football and see their players graft.
And while they gave him an inflatable parrot, and regularly they sing his name with the melody of 'Freed of Desire, the true pimm of popular acclamation of modern football, he must be doing something well.
There are those who Tottenham who always thought that Parrott had something out of the ordinary. It was their instinct to finish those that first led them to offer an escape from the city of northern Dublin, where it grew, an area harassed by social problems that include drugs and crime.
Parrott had loans with people like Millwall and Milton Keynes Dons before moving abroad
The Irish striker will seek to impress against his old club in the Europa League
He was playing for Belvedere, a club formed in 1971 with 16 complete internationals in the ranks, where they had never seen anyone better than Parrott in their adolescence.
“Big, fast, strong, brave and always scoring goals,” according to Vincent Butler, co -founder and honorary president of the club, which can still imagine a semifinal of the Cup in Limerick when the Parrott goals transported their team from two down to take it to extra time, then conjured the winner.
'He pursued everything, that was his registered trademark. There was no lost cause in which Troy would worry.
Spurs won a fight to sign it, but could not make him a player of the first team. José Mourinho, who gave Parrott his premiere League to 17 less than a month after his first limit of the Republic of Ireland, questioned his attitude when asked to return to those under 21 years.
The disappointing loan spells in Ipswich and Millwall were followed by an explosion of 10 goals in Milton Keynes Dons and an ineffective year in Preston before kicking once more in the Netherlands.
He scored 17 for Excelsior under Chief Marinus Dijkhuizen, a former striker who focused on Parrott's positional awareness to ensure that his completion capacity was effective.
“I wanted to play too much football throughout the field,” Dijkhuizen said to Mail Sport. 'Its main quality is calm in front of the goal, but it was often not in the war zone when the crosses entered.
'That was the main thing we changed. He became very important to us, and worried about the team, although he was on loan, which I liked of him.
Parrott chose to finish instability by joining Az Alkmaar and has thrown out in the Dutch club
'With confidence he improved and had a very good season even though we were relegated. His game adapts to football style in the Netherlands and has continued to show this in AZ, a bigger club where he has more opportunities and there is more competition for places.
“That is also good for him because it can be a bit easy during the week, but I like it and is still young, playing in a bigger club in great games like this against Spurs.”
The Spurs always expected Harry Kane echoing, returning after several loans to enter the first team, but Parrott wanted the end of instability after finding his feet in Excelsior.
“I do not regret it at all,” Parrott said before the drawing of the Europa League in Alkmaar. 'It just didn't happen to me in Spurs and I agree with that. It was the right time for both of us to advance and when I look back I only think about the good times I had growing there.
'I am here now, I love life here and I am focusing on that, I still improve and improve. We are much better as a team than when we play in London. I hope to see what we can do and it will be good to see some family faces'.