Is John Bostock the next Ally Dick?

Recently on this site, somebody begged the question ‘Where is John Bostock?’ It seemed a good question at the time and one which deserved an answer.

Bostock arrived at Spurs amidst much publicity from Crystal Palace in March 2008. His arrival was met with disgust at Selhurst Park, where Simon Jordan launched into a full blown hissy fit at the fee decided by tribunal.

Bostock was the new ‘wonder kid’: He made his Palace debut as a 15 year old – the youngest player to play for them and big things were expected of him. Spurs were quick to catch on and paid an initial £700,000 for his services – a fee which will rise depending on first team appearances.

He soon added to his record at Palace and became the youngest Spurs player when he featured against Dinamo Zagreb, beating the record held by another much heralded ‘wonder kid’, Ally Dick.

Since then, nothing much. He was at Brentford on loan and then started this season in promising style with Hull City, scoring a fantastic goal on his debut at Swansea. On 31st December 2010 however, Spurs announced that the player had returned from Hull early, after a ‘largely unsuccessful spell’.

He’s just turned 19, so does John Bostock still have a great future, or is he destined to become the next Ally Dick – just another bright young talent who faded away?