John Bostock loan failure is puzzle for Harry Redknapp

Having only just turned 18, it is too soon to say John Bostock is at a career crossroads. Yet the teenager, who was playing first-team football for Crystal Palace when he was 15, must know his rapid ascent has slowed to a standstill.

Bostock is back at Tottenham from a loan period with Brentford in time for tonight's Premier League game against Fulham but he is unlikely to figure as anything more than a spectator.

The midfielder began his spell at Brentford with both goals in a 2-2 draw with Millwall but failed to secure a regular starting place. The move was then soured by Tottenham's demand to have the player return temporarily for FA Youth Cup action.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp must now conduct an inquest with Brentford's Andy Scott, having hoped when Bostock set off for Griffin Park in November that subsequent phone calls would contain nothing but praise. After all, that was what had happened when Redknapp allowed Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe and Michael Carrick to cut their teeth in the lower leagues during his time in charge at West Ham.

"Brentford haven't renewed the loan," Redknapp said. "He was on the bench on Saturday and the Saturday before. But they haven't got a divine right to play because they come from Tottenham. If they're not playing well enough then they don't get picked, do they?

"I keep harping back to when I loaned boys like Rio and Frank out. Frank went to Swansea and was fantastic. Michael Carrick was at Swindon and I was getting calls saying they'd not seen anyone like him since Glenn Hoddle.