Defoe has yet to play a full game under his new head coach and found himself on the bench, yet again, for the visit of City. Given less than twenty minutes to make his mark, and with the two teams locked at 1-1, Defoe made an instant impact, latching on to a fortunate rebound to slot home the winning goal. Despite this, Ramos will still not guarantee Defoe a run in the starting XI. "There's no one, two, three, or four in order," said Ramos. "We simply have four centre-forwards to play in two positions so two can play each game and two have to sit it out. Obviously we now only have three forwards to choose from so the minutes will get shared around, mathematically he has more chance of playing."
Hardly encouraging words for a player who scored 21 goals in all competitions last season and although Defoe has insisted on numerous occasions that he is happy at the club, he is yet to sign a new deal, with chairman Daniel Levy keen to avoid a repeat of a popular player leaving to a rival club on a free transfer (Sol Campbell, anyone?).
It's not the first time Defoe has been the victim of mixed messages from the management. Out of favour under Martin Jol, Defoe fell victim to Sven Goran-Ericksson after the ex-England manager infamously chose the inexperienced Theo Walcott over the Tottenham striker in his squad for the last World Cup in Germany. Sven's logic was mind-boggling: "He is one of the better strikers but the situation, which was a long time ago, was that he didn't player many games during the year," said the Swedish lothario. "That was the reason why I took one who almost never played. I gambled." It's the sort of reasoning that has hampered Defoe's international career, resulting in the former West Ham man being criticised for his lack of impact at international level whilst only being given ten minutes here and there to prove himself. He faces a similar scenario at club level.
Is it simply the case that Defoe has found himself at a club with at least two more accomplished strikers? His goal-scoring record is comparable with his team-mates and his attitude has been exemplary. Even Sven moved to praise his reaction to being dropped for matches where he could have expected to feature for England. Is Defoe's problem his enthusiasm, which leads him to stifle following moves by wandering offside too often, as was suspected to be the case under Jol? Perhaps it's a mixture of all three, though these factors do not explain why Defoe sat on the bench against Manchester City whilst Darren Bent, who is struggling for form, huffed and puffed to no avail. Or maybe it's because he's small and his managers simply forget about him. If only it were that simple.
It seems more likely that Defoe is a victim of the nature of his game, for he is, first and foremost, a goal-scorer. Like Michael Owen he has little else to his game but what he does, he does very well. Unfortunately a player like Robbie Keane, who is ostensibly a 'forward' rather than a 'striker', is favoured because he brings more to the team. That said, it's hardly as if the Irishman and the Bulgarian who often partnership have been in sparkling form this season. Though Keane has bagged his fair share of goals, Berbatov has been heavily criticised for his attitude and performances, yet Defoe has rarely, if ever, been asked to replace him. Perhaps Ramos has subscribed to the false belief, as Jol did, that Defoe and Keane cannot work as a partnership. Although Ramos denies it, there is no doubt that there is a pecking order at the club, with Berbatov and Keane enjoying the lion's share of the managers favour.
Unfortunately for Defoe, little looks like changing. The player constantly refers to the fans when talking about his desire to stay at the club ("I want to stay at the club. Like I keep saying the fans have been fantastic towards me" the player said in a recent interview) and it must be heartening for him to hear the reaction from the stands when his name is read out over the loudspeaker. Defoe is determined to repay the faith the fans have in him but what he really needs is for some of that faith to rub off on his manager.