thfc1882.com

Spurs blog

We’ll concentrate on the league then…

January 31st, 2011 Posted in FA Cup, Match Reports
Jan, 31 2011
5 Comments »

I didn’t write a match preview for yesterday’s FA Cup forth round tie at Fulham mainly because I had a bad feeling about it. I’m not being Mr I Told You So after the event and I didn’t for one second think we’d get our asses handed to us in the manner we did but I thought it would be a tricky tie, won by the odd goal in 3.

Possibly the worse performance under Redknapp? Maybe worse than any Ramos game? The worse since Gerry Francis? These are all statements I’ve seen bandied about since the final whistle and I can’t really disagree with any of them. However, it’s not the first time this season we’ve played like that. Young Boys and Inter away were exactly the same, the only difference was managing to score some goals after the game was lost that papered over gaps larger than the one’s we had running through the entire side at Craven Cottage.

Where to start?

  1. The entire team was shocking
  2. The formation was terrible
  3. Individual errors cost us early on

With the exception of a few players, Bale and Palacios being the main ones it was a full strength team. I watched a Spurs game on ESPN for the first time and was amazed when they stated Corluka was in fact Sandro and then put our starting XI into a line up which looked like this:

Gomes

Hutton    Dawson    Bassong    Ekotto

Sandro

Pienaar     Modric     Lennon

Defoe     van der Vaart

As much as I hate Sky sometimes at least they’re not as stupid to make simple mistakes like that. ESPN must be the ITV of the satellite stations. It was clear to everyone with those players it would be our normal 4-4-1-1 with Pienaar replacing Bale, Lennon in his normal right position and Sandro covering the Palacios role. How pathetic of them not to do their research properly. Right?

Then Redknapp was interviewed before the game, in the tunnel not on the pitch, which for reasons known only to EPSN is where they present the show from. He confirmed there would be a change in formation, but surely it wouldn’t be the same one the TV channel had so mysteriously plucked out of thin air? I was wrong, it was exactly how ESPN had covered it. I hung my head in shame and then proceeded to work out exactly what was going on.

No fluidity, no ball retention, no width, players looking lost in positions alien to them. In all fairness ESPN did get it slightly wrong because Modric didn’t get anywhere near as advanced as they suggested he would. In fact we played a 4-2-3-1 formation with both Sandro and Modric sitting deep. What it meant was we had absolutely no width, much like we did against Newcastle and Fulham found it very easy to deal with. Any width we did have came from Lennon and Pienaar who preferred to cut inside than run down the line, having been told to play on the opposite side to their preferred position. Genius.

Anyway, so the formation was abysmal and not for the first time this season (or last) we’ve been found out tactically. What happened to the simple days of putting players in their natural positions and telling them to go out there and express themselves? More importantly for the short term future, what’s happened to the saying, learn from your mistakes? At the moment we’re making the same one’s time and time again. Everton, Charlton, United and now Fulham to name just the most recent formation and tactical errors. Some have cost us and some haven’t.

Alterations didn’t occur until the second half and the removal of Sandro for Gallas once Dawson saw red was a strange one. Removing Pienaar or Lennon would’ve made much more sense instead of leaving us with no defensive minded midfielder. Remove Pienaar, put Lennon on the right and vdV on the left would’ve left us with a 4-4-1 and a much more balanced team rather than a midfield of offensive minded players who struggled to win the ball back, and left the defence exposed constantly. A puzzler from Redknapp that one. By the time he sent Crouch on for Defoe he’d already given up. At that point the brilliant away support this club of ours has should’ve got up and walked out before Putney Bridge tube station got too busy. If only the players and management showed the same belief and determination of those fans, singing to the last whistle.

The one thing any manager or coach can be blamed for though is individual errors. While the formation didn’t give us the best chance of winning the game, the two individual errors by the normally reliable Dawson broke us early on. Should he have received a red card for his second error and eventual tackle in the box? I don’t think so, but as I believe Phil Dowd is the best referee there is in the country I don’t think he’s to blame. Everyone makes mistakes and he was definitely pulled back. Bassong continued the individual errors later on for the 3rd and 4th goals but without those error’s we would’ve still lost the game of which I have no doubt.

I can’t think of any positives from it and not one player was on his game. In fact, there haven’t been many positives to take from the last few weeks. Coincidentally since the Beckham circus came to town. Obviously that’s just coincidental but while footballers are grown men we all know how precious they can be at times. Who’s to say van der Vaarts drop in form isn’t down to him not being the number one attraction at the training ground any more? All conjecture and probable bollocks. Much like the soon to close transfer window.

Congratulations to Fulham, who deserved the win, set up correctly and took advantage of another off day at the office from Spurs. Let’s hope these off days don’t become as regular as they have been of late or not only can we kiss goodbye to the top 4, we might be saying goodbye to the top 5.

, , , , , , , ,
Read More

A Great Season or an Anti-Climax?

January 27th, 2011 Posted in Articles
Jan, 27 2011
19 Comments »

WARNING: The following 1200 words are the moans of a grumpy old man who believes even though Spurs are sitting in 5th, have AC Milan on the horizon in the Champions League and are still in the FA Cup things aren’t what they were last season. I blame Stratford. If you’re offended by such things please look away now.

Am I the only one who feels this season hasn’t really lived up to what I was expecting from it? The massive break through last season by achieving champions league qualification was followed by a very quiet transfer window in which we only managed to make it a half decent one by signing van der Vaart at the last minute. We’ve had some great games, mostly in the Champions League and breaking another hoodoo at The Emirates but it just doesn’t feel like this season has really “kicked off” yet.

We’ve enjoyed watching Bale destroy oppositions but then spend the next few games in the wilderness on the left flank. Modric has been in the form of his career which is a joy to watch and while he’s been subdued recently van der Vaart is worth the ticket price alone. We’ve been unlucky with injuries to key players, notably Dawson, Defoe and Huddlestone but that’s why we’ve spent so much to get the best squad in the country to cover, but they haven’t. At least it doesn’t feel like they have.

As a team it just hasn’t happened like it did last season. Even with my over pessimistic head on I was starting to believe the hype, but that’s quickly been overshadowed by a feeling of being completely underwhelmed. Whether that’s the lull in the Champions League, this once again disappointing transfer window, the whole Stratford / WeAreN17 debate or the gap appearing between us and 4th (3 points at the time of writing, 4 if you include the goal difference) I just don’t know.

Comparing this season with last is interesting because we’re only 3 points worse off than we were at the same stage and I was only a few weeks away from really believing we had a chance at the top 4. Even when you compare the teams we’ve played (replacing Portsmouth with West Brom and Hull with Newcastle) we’re again only 3 points worse off. However, it’s when I look at the goal difference at the same stage I start to suspect one of the reasons I’m less optimistic is because we’re just not as entertaining and free flowing as we were last season. We’re 14 goals worse off from 23 games played. Ok, so 8 of those goals were from the 9-1 win against Wigan and while they were scored and should count lets say because it’s a freak result we reduce that to a 5-1 win. That would still be 10 goals better off last season than we are now or almost 0.5 goals a game which is huge.

We were scoring goals for fun last season. We were the real entertainers. This season we’re pretenders to the crown and the press are to blame for that. Sure, games involving us are entertaining but that doesn’t mean we’ll win them. We go all out attack and yet we’re scoring less goals than we were last season. Our 32 goals scored so far this season is only 8th best in the league with teams like Newcastle, Bolton, Blackpool as well as the top 4 all scoring more than we have. Even the crisis club Liverpool have only managed 1 less than us as have Blackburn and Sunderland.

I mentioned back in November that there was a possibility that van der Vaart was to blame for our lack of goals and while I got quite a lot of abuse for suggesting such a thing I was right. At least what I was trying to say was right, if not my execution of the subject matter. Harry Redknapp didn’t want to sign vdV. Let me rephrase that, he wasn’t looking to sign a player like vdV. Of course when the opportunity came up there was only one answer and we’re all very glad that answer was yes. He’s been exceptional this season, however by trying to shoe-horn him into a team that played with 2 strikers and width we’ve become a team that unless all neurons are firing can be easy to keep at bay. Just look at our results, most of them are kept below 2 goals a game and winning margins are usually only by one. The formation we’ve been forced to play with only one real striker has resulted in 3 games where we’ve scored three or more goals from 23 attempts. The Champions League is a completely different story though with the figure being 7 times out of 8, only Bremen being able to keep us below 3 goals in our first group game.

Clearly the 4-4-1-1 or whatever you want to call it works fantastically well in Europe, just as many people believed it would before the season started. However, the lone striker (with our personnel) doesn’t in the league, but we have little or no choice if vdV is going to start games which of course he must.

I’ve got sidetracked somewhat as this isn’t meant to be going over old ground on the vdV position and how it’s actually been to the detriment of a team that finished in it’s highest league position for 20 years and almost got into the FA Cup final for the first time in equally as long. The problem is, it could be related to the way I feel. With every passing game whether we stay in touch with the top 4, lose touch, win, lose or draw the one thing that remains a constant is how we’re playing. It’s not this blistering, amazing stuff as we’re being made to believe. There’s been some fantastic moments of course, the vdV second goal against Villa on boxing day was a personal highlight of mine as I stood there freezing my bollocks off but I don’t have the same feeling as I did last season.

Would I if this whole new stadium thing hadn’t come up? Not only were we winning and playing well for a change but last year we were having our tastebuds teased with images of a new stadium in Tottenham. All very sexy, under lights with the large kop like stand. What have we got now? Fans arguing, the club arguing with West Ham, politicians wading in with their opinions and Pele taking a break from advertising his stiffy pills to talk about a subject he has no knowledge of whatsoever.

I was listening to the Spurs Show podcast last night and they mentioned briefly how we’re in the middle of one of our best seasons in living memory and I had to wonder if that was true. Of course it’s one of the best, but one of the best doesn’t have much to compete against does it? Compare it so far to that of Liverpool. A club in a crisis, swapping managers, player unrest, boardroom takeovers and they’re only 6 points behind us now. Sure we’ve got a game in hand but you can see what I mean. If this is one of our best season’s and it’s arguably one of their worse I don’t fancy our chances of remaining above them if they get things sorted.

Forget the extra few points we had this time last season, that’s a negligible amount that can change from one week to the next, it’s the manner in which we’ve gone about it this season with little or no end product and whether that’s down to the formation, the strikers or the opposition defence the more I look at the table the less I think we’ve got what it takes.

Wow, this has been a massive moan and I apologise for that. We’re sitting 5th and only 3 points behind the top 4 again with the best first team I’ve ever seen at the Lane. Moaning it is, but is striving for perfection a bad thing? ;)

COYS

, , , , ,
Read More

Spurs, Redknapp and The Transfer Window

January 25th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Transfers
Jan, 25 2011
5 Comments »

I was planning on leaving this until after the transfer window had shut but to be honest I’m sick and tired of reading, writing and talking about what stadium we might be playing in come 2016 or whatever date it ends up being. I’m sure I’m not the only one. It’s important of course but the longer it goes on and the more talk there is the closer I feel like I support a company and not a football club. Football’s business, we all know that, as fans we know that better than anyone but I don’t need reminding of it everyday.

So onto the transfer window and what we can expect in the final days before it slams shut. The first thing I wanted to look at was what we’ve done in the previous 4 windows since Harry took charge. I’m not including this window because like I said there’s still time to make it a successful one. Much is said about the January transfer window being a tough one to do business in but when you look at the first window Redknapp had we didn’t shy away from getting the chequebook out. Some of these figures might not be completely accurate but they’re close enough for my purposes.

Winter Transfer Window 2009

  • Jermain Defoe – £16m
  • Wilson Palacios – £12m
  • Carlo Cudicini – Free
  • Pascal Chimbonda – £3m
  • Robbie Keane – £15m

That = £46m.

We bought in or bought back depending on how you look at it two strikers with a proven premier league pedigree. One wanted to come and the other waddled back with his tail firmly between his legs. At the time we had Darren Bent, newly signed Roman Pavlyuchenko and on loan Frazier Campbell so strikers were probably needed, although whether Keane was justified I’ll leave up to you.

The one signing Redknapp made which was one we’d been crying out for was Palacios. The defensive minded, holding midfielder who was excellent when he first joined. Things have done downhill since and for the limited time he’s been at the club you could argue the £12m fee was a hefty one for someone who’s been out of form longer than he’s been in it. Cudicini was bought in on a free as cover and apart from breaking his body in that motorbike accident he’s tried his best to push Gomes. The less said about Chimbonda the better as we’ll see later.

The only player sold was Hossam Ghaly for an undisclosed fee.

Summer Transfer Window 2009

  • Kyle Walker – £4m
  • Kyle Naughton – £4m
  • Peter Crouch – £9.5m
  • Sebastian Bassong – £8m
  • Niko Kranjcar – £2.5m
  • Jimmy Walker – Free

Total = £28m.

Another tidy sum. Similar to his first window he bought in some first team players and some squad players. I guess you could say the Kyle’s are prospects and not squad players and at £4m each they’re looking like good signings. Naughton was given a few chances but never truly in his favoured position and Walker has shown a huge improvement and what we can expect from him in the future. If neither get given the chance or don’t make it I’m sure we’ll get our money back at the very least.

Peter Crouch was bought to add to our strike force after the departures of Darren Bent (our top goal scorer from the previous campaign) and the on loan Campbell which left us with Keane, Defoe, Pav and Crouch. Sound familiar?

Bassong came in to bolster the defence and formed an excellent partnership with Dawson but has since slipped down the pecking order through no real fault of his own. An expensive bench warmer some would say. Niko was last season’s buy of the season at only £2.5m, much like Pienaar seems to be this window’s bargain. Much like Bassong he had a good season last year but has spent most of his time on the bench this time around.

Jimmy Walker came in to give even more cover between the sticks even though everyone could see he was never going to play a game, but on a free and on probably low wages it’s no biggy.

Main departures in this window were Didier Zokora, Darren Bent, Chris Gunter, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Chimbonda less than 8 months after joining us and not really playing. Wonder if the Inland Revenue are looking into that one? It’s hard to tell the overall value of these sales as many of them are “undisclosed” but it would be fair to say approximately £25m was raised from those sales. Or put another way, not too far off the amount we spent.

Winter Transfer Window 2010

  • Younes Kaboul – £5m
  • Eidur Gudjohnsen – end of season loan

Total = £5m

The spending stopped in the last January transfer window but when you look at what the team were doing and what they needed that’s no surprise. Why try to fix what’s not broken? Kaboul joined Defoe, Keane and Crouch as players who had left Spurs only to return and he returned as a much better player. Many, including myself wondered what the thinking behind his signing was because when he left he was a liability but since returning he’s in many people’s preferred starting line ups alongside Dawson. He covered Corluka’s absence at right back brilliantly at the tail end of last season and was the catalyst behind “that” goal against City to clinch the champions league spot.

Gudjohnsen was another one of Harry’s wheeler dealer moves. He only started 4 games and scored 2 goals but his impact, in particular in the game away to Stoke gained us points that ended up being very important.

This window only saw loans which included Robbie Keane moving to Celtic for the rest of the season, again only a year after we spent £15m on him and agreed to a £65k per week contract.

Summer Transfer Window 2010

  • Sandro – £6m
  • William Gallas – Free
  • Stipe Pletikosa – end of season loan
  • Rafael van der Vaart – £8m

Total = £14m

Much like the current window last summer was a bit of a let down. At least it was until 6.03pm on the final day when the van der Vaart signing was finalised. Before that we had the confirmation that we’d signed Sandro from Internacional after being linked with him for what seemed like before he was born. Like Walker and Naughton he’s one for the future or at least we hope so. Gallas was bought in because of the injuries sustained to King and Woodgate and ultimately Dawson on international duty. As a free transfer goes this split opinions. Personally I was of the opinion that he wasn’t good enough and while I was wrong I would still prefer to see Bassong given a chance to rekindle his partnership with Dawson and that’s got nothing to do with who Gallas used to play for but more to do with Gallas not being the future of the club.

Pletikosa was yet another keeper Redknapp bought in to act as cover. He was needed because Jimmy Walker was melted down and used as glue. No major ins or outs apart from Adel Taarabt for £1m to QPR where he’s currently destroying defences in the Championship, and once again plenty of loans.

In total Mr Redknapp has been given approximately £70m NETT to spend on transfer fees. Not too shabby in 4 windows but it should be highlighted that there’s only been £20m in the last three. That’s no great surprise as I’ve said before given how successful the team has been in that time. However, it’s still £70m in 2 years so what have we got for that expenditure?

Current First XI (when everyone’s fit – not including King or Woodgate who are never fit)

  1. Jermain Defoe – £16m
  2. William Gallas – Free
  3. Rafael van der Vaart – £8m

That’s it. £24m of the £70m spent is currently playing in our first team. Crouch could be put in there too but for the purposes of this I’m trying to go with what Redknapp would choose against the majority of teams when all the players are fit.

The remaining players, or £58m worth of playing staff spend the majority of their time on the bench or making substitute appearances.

  1. Wilson Palacios – £12m
  2. Robbie Keane – £15m
  3. Peter Crouch – £9.5m
  4. Sebastian Bassong – £8m
  5. Niko Kranjcar – £2.5m
  6. Younes Kaboul – £5m
  7. Sandro – £6m

That’s not to say it’s not important to have strength in depth because it is. The likes of Palacios, Crouch, Bassong and Kaboul have all played major parts so far this season. Sandro might do in the future and you’re always going to get players lose form like Keane and Kranjcar. As has been said many times before we’ve got one of the strongest squads in the league and it’s not hard to see why when our bench costs more than a lot of teams first XI.

Within a maximum of 2 years and in some cases 1 year, players like Palacios, Keane, Crouch, Bassong and Kranjcar have gone from major signings totalling £47m, to players who are now considered not good enough and are either being touted about to other clubs or replacements are being lined up to come in.

We would all agree as a team we have improved immensely. 2 points from 8 games into Europa league contenders to champions league qualifiers and until recently title challengers. All within just over 2 years. That’s some improvement and it’s been largely down to Redknapp.

What I’m trying to say is apart from the odd signing that may have helped at the time to get the odd point here and there have we actually been successful in the transfer market since Redknapp’s arrival? The majority of the team were already in place and it just needed a bit of maturity and coaching which Redknapp has given to take it to the next step.

Make no mistake, this is not an anti Redknapp article in the slightest. Perhaps the money just hasn’t been available in the last few windows having only spent £22m in the last 3. That’s hardly Harry Redknapp’s style is it? Or the players just aren’t available? Look at what we’ve been linked with during this window. I sometimes find myself stuck between two trains of thought, worried we won’t sign the striker we so desperately need or worried we’ll sign Phil Neville!!

We were all looking forward to this window, knowing full well that business is usually harder to do but hoping it won’t be impossible. The last couple of games have shown beyond a doubt the strikers we’ve signed in recent years are no longer up to the job for one reason or another. Looking at it in a more sinister way, Daniel Levy has given £40.5m for strikers and is (we hope) being asked to dig deep once again for another. If that was me I’d be wondering why we bought the wrong one’s in the first place. Or are they the wrong one’s? Has the arrival of vdV meant we now need a striker who’s completely different to what we bought originally?

One things for sure, the final days of this window will have a major impact one way or the other on our season but if we do buy and spend big, the last 2 years have shown us that money doesn’t always bring success and no-one’s too good for the bench.

COYS

, , ,
Read More

Game and Result is Just a Little Blah

January 24th, 2011 Posted in Match Reports, Premier League
Jan, 24 2011
6 Comments »

I’m finding it really hard to write anything in relation to Saturday’s game. I’m not sure why that is but maybe it’s the fact I can see 4th spot slowly disappearing into the distance? As a result this will be short and sweet.

We were unlucky with injuries at left back but with only 10 minutes on the clock before Bale had to leave the action and judging by his previous left back performances this season it might not have made much difference. He could’ve overlapped Pienaar and offered us more of an attacking threat but that’s something we’ll never know for sure.

The one thing we do know is we weren’t unlucky. A 1-1 draw was a fair result for both teams albeit Newcastle will feel hard done by, conceding in injury time. Things weren’t much different to our 2-0 win a few weeks ago at White Hart Lane really. That was a fairly close encounter only separated by two pieces of brilliance from Lennon and Bale. If Defoe had managed to slot home his chance in the first half or if Modric’s blistering drive had been 2 inches lower we would’ve enjoyed our first win in Scotland since 2004. If’s, But’s and Maybe’s. Both game’s also had a sinister undertone with Newcastle seemingly trying to foul their way through the game. It seems Alan Pardew has decided this is the best way his team should play which is a pity because that’s not in Newcastle’s make up as a club.

Redknapp’s starting XI wasn’t as bad as it’s been in recent weeks although the constant inclusion of Alan Hutton, a defender who can’t defend, baffles me and he was at blame for the Newcastle goal. I can only imagine the moans and groans coming from many Spurs fans had it been Ekotto that badly out of position, twisting, turning and pirouetting his way into no-mans land to let Coloccini, a central defender, fire into the bottom corner. Personally I would’ve preferred to have had Kaboul playing in a more defensive role in midfield than start with Jenas but he took the gamble of including him after his performance against Everton and it worked well enough.

We controlled the game for large periods during the first half with Modric, Jenas and vdV playing little triangles around the Newcastle midfield but we once again had little cutting edge in the final third. vdV had dropped so deep for the majority of the game we were playing 5 across midfield. With only Defoe up front he offered little challenge to the Newcastle defence. In the second half Redknapp was out thought tactically by Alan Pardew, a man who kept Tevez and Mascherano on the West Ham bench when he was in charge there. He moved Joey Barton, that ever so gentle pillar of society, from his wide role into the centre. From that moment on we lost control of the game.

vdV was coming even deeper to help the midfield regain possession and get himself into the game which meant when we did get the ball our striker was alone and a good 20 yards away with no support. Redknapp tinkered a little by putting Lennon out onto the left which worked not only for our goal but on a few other occasions too. If the little man had a left foot we could’ve even sneaked the win. The one thing we’ve got to be careful of when playing with vdV as a second striker is him dropping too deep. I’ve said many times I hate playing with 1 striker and with vdV dropping into midfield it’s no longer a 4-4-1-1 but a 4-5-1 which is basically a crap formation.

All in all a poor performance. Not terrible but just lacklustre. Another game to add to the list of games we might’ve won had we bought that stand out striker in the summer.

In other news the Olympic Stadium / NDP debate rages on across all forms of communication. Am I the only one that’s getting bored of it now? I don’t think for one second the decision will be awarded to Spurs but I just wish they’d hurry up and announce it either way so we can all go back to moaning about other things.

Sky’s very own Monkeyman (Richard Keys) and the alcoholic Scotsman with a hatred for Spurs (Andy Gray) have both been very naughty boys. Recorded suggesting a female linesman/women/person would need the offside rule explained to her and I believe they also called Karen Brady an ugly trollop. Having seen both ladies performances recently I can confirm only one of those comments is factually correct. To narrow it down a little, the lineslady (I like that) had a good game.

Onwards and upwards. 7 days to buy that striker. FA Cup next and I had a cracking weekend in the fantasy football. It’s not all bad.

COYS

, , , , , , , ,
Read More

Barcodes Test of Credentials

January 21st, 2011 Posted in Match Previews, New Stadium, Premier League
Jan, 21 2011
4 Comments »

There’s so much going on at the moment with regards to the new stadium, political spin left, right and centre. Even Pele’s talking about it. This afternoon Daniel Levy wrote an open letter on the official site which unless you’re blind confirms the boards first choice is moving to Stratford. Instead of writing something else related to the Olympic Stadium wouldn’t it be nice to concentrate on the football? Yes? Then here we go.

Tomorrow brings a tough trip up to Newcastle. I can’t bring myself to say Sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park. I was planning on making the trip before the season started but looking at the date when the fixtures came out I assumed it would be snowing and called off so didn’t bother buying a ticket. Anyway, we don’t have the best of records up there, in fact we don’t have the best of records outside London but four league defeats on the bounce symbolises a pretty poor return.

The return game went by without too much incident. That’s if you ignore Kaboul being sent off, Tiote flying in all over the place and being lucky not to be sent off, Andy Carroll putting his weight about, Joey Barton being Joey Barton and two fantastic strikes by Lennon and Bale to win us the game. Tiote’s suspended tomorrow which is excellent news. Not only has he been one of their best players but I doubt some of our players have forgotten him over the last 4 weeks and could’ve been looking for a little retribution.

We’ve got a couple of injury concerns that will probably mean a first team start for Steven Pienaar. I have a feeling that sentence might be repeated for some time to come with Mr Versatile in the squad. Depending on who’s injured though will depend on where he plays and we could get a sneak preview of the future. I’m going to do something I rarely do and that’s play the “What team will Harry pick” game. I don’t normally play it because I don’t like losing and I always do.

For the purposes of this I’m going to assume both Ekotto and Palacios aren’t making the trip. We all know we lack cover at left back which means either Bassong or Bale will play there. I would presume it’ll be Bale as that’s what Redknapp has done a couple of times already this season. I think it’s fair to say that in the future, left back is a position Bale could play because of the extra space he’ll get to run into but for it to work he needs to improve his defending and more importantly we need to have the right players to cover him when he’s forward. At the moment we don’t have those players so it’s not something I can see being employed regularly right now. For tomorrow’s purposes though it can work as long as we choose the right player to replace Palacios.

That player isn’t Pienaar, who would naturally sit on the left wing as Bale’s replacement. I would choose Kaboul. I’m forgetting Jenas just because we’ve seen how well he does in that position away from home against a tough side recently. Kaboul would not only be naturally able to cover Bale when he pushed forward but also give us a little bit of bite centrally. He offers a decent presence going forward too, as he did against Newcastle for the Lennon goal. So here it is:

Gomes

Hutton     Dawson     Gallas     Bale

Lennon     Kaboul     Modric     Pienaar

van der Vaart

Defoe (or me)

As I said, that team won’t get chosen and I’d expect someone like Jenas to play instead of Kaboul which would leave us very open and prone to counter attacks, especially if Lennon and Hutton start pushing forward too. Harry might pull a surprise and stick Bassong at left back, keep Bale in midfield and put Pienaar centrally but I’m assuming as young Seb can’t get a game in central defence he isn’t going to at left back.

Big game? Massive game? For once I don’t really feel it is. Of course I don’t want to lose and keeping the pressure on those above us is of paramount importance but we’re going to lose touch eventually anyway aren’t we? NO!!! I hear you cry. Maybe you’re right. Ok then, this is another massive game. A must win. Go for it, pick the team that’ll give you the best chance of winning (that’s the one above) and score one more than them. Keep Nolan and Barton quiet. If Lovenkrands, Best or Ameobi have a good game against us then it’s just bad luck. Let’s be honest, it’s not like that’s going to happen every week.

They say the new stadium is vital to our future success, and while it’s important, it’s what we do on the football pitch that has always taken this club forward, so get it right there, keep pushing the top 4 and get Champions League football again next season. No disrespect to Newcastle but if that’s what we want we’ve got to start winning these games.

COYFS

, , , , , , , , , , ,
Read More

Spurs Sign Super Sub?

January 19th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Transfers
Jan, 19 2011
8 Comments »

The transfer window is a funny ol’ thing at the best of times, but the January version is stranger still. Personally I’d be happy to see it removed completely and either have no windows or just the summer one. Anyway, I digress. Yesterday we finally captured the signing of Steven Pienaar subject to a work permit on a 4 and a ½ year deal. The fee that will be paid to Everton is between £2.5 – 3m with the South African international earning a reported £70k a week.

Transfers always divide opinion. I expect there’s a few out there who thought Klinsmann was a bad signing in 1994 and there will be plenty who believed Helder Postiga was the missing link we’d been craving for so long. Steven Pienaar has divided opinions more than any transfer I can think of in recent years. I’m not sitting on the fence but I do have my feet firmly planted on both sides of it. Splinters are starting to appear but I can’t make a decision either way.

There’s no doubt the guy offers versatility and cover across our midfield better than anyone else we have in our squad. He can play on either flank which will provide excellent cover or competition to both Bale and more probably Lennon, and he can play centrally which could see the likes of Jenas pushed further down the pecking order. Whether he would get in front of a Palacios type player is another matter and judging by how badly we played at Everton without a holding midfielder I’d be worried if that was the plan. Then of course Huddlestone is only 6-8 weeks away from making a return too so would he get in front of Tommy?

So versatility is his main attribute to the team. Everton fans will tell you he’s been fantastic but that’s a little over the top. He had a good season last year but this time around he’s looked a shadow of himself and even when he was playing well he was rarely a headline grabbing, match winner. Maybe the uncertainty over his future has caused his dip in form and I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being.

£3m for a player, any player, in today’s climate isn’t a lot of cash. I’ve heard some people say that because of the windfall we’ve reportedly received from the sale of Darren Bent from Sunderland to Villa, it’s like getting Pienaar for free. That doesn’t really make much sense to me because it’s still spending money but as I said, £3m isn’t a lot of money when you consider his international team mate Bongani Khumalo cost £1.5m and he has no experience of the premier league.

The £70k per week is a concern for me though. I understand it’s how things work these days when you sign a player for a small transfer fee because they don’t have long left before they can go on a Bosman, but I don’t like it. If the reports are true it will mean Pienaar is or will be close to our highest earner. This for a player I can only see on the bench.

What if, like Niko, he needs regular games to play well? If that’s the case and he doesn’t make the first 11 week in, week out, he’ll become a lead weight around our neck much like Robbie Keane. In 3 years time, Pienaar could’ve played 60 games for Spurs, most of them from the bench or in the Carling Cup but still be earning £70k per week. If true, and I’m only going with what’s been reported then that’s complete madness in my eyes.

So, a super sub he’ll be. Or will he? There are two options for him to play regular football and I’m not sure I like either of them. Let me know if you think he can play somewhere else though, or if you think either of the following are good options.

Left Midfield

Harry Redknapp has made many comments that Gareth Bale’s future position is at left back and while I’m not against that for the future, he and the team aren’t ready for it just yet. We’d need to be a lot better at covering defensive positions than we currently are if we were to allow Bale to become a marauding left back. Palacios, Sandro (at the moment) or Huddlestone wouldn’t allow that to be a possibility. Just look at the two games this season when Redknapp’s tried it, West Brom and West Ham. So if the plan is for Pienaar to play on the left of midfield and push Bale back I’d be concerned and we would need a very good holding midfielder to be signed in this window too.

Right Midfield

Aaron Lennon’s been in and out of form since he recovered from his injury last season so maybe he’s been bought in as genuine competition for Azza. After all we don’t have any natural competition in that position now Bentley is out on loan and Redknapp isn’t going to give Townsend a chance. Players like Modric and vdV can play out there if needed but we miss the Croatian centrally when he does and Rafa isn’t disciplined enough. So maybe it’s Lennon who will have to up his game and when you look at how he’s performed the few occasions when Bentley looked to push him that could benefit us hugely, if not benefit Pienaar personally.

As I’ve already mentioned he can play centrally but I don’t see that being a long term option or a viable one really, given how attacking the rest of our midfield is.

This is nothing against Pienaar himself. He seems like a guy who wants to play football and gives his all in every game which is great. The competition he’ll provide can only be a good thing at the club and the £3m hasn’t exactly hurt us, but will that £70k per week (£3.6m per year) get him a starting place and if not, that seems like a lot to spend on a substitute.

For what it’s worth I wish him good luck and I obviously hope he does well, but if I were him I’d use some of the signing on fee to purchase a nice pair of gloves, warm tracksuit and a heated seat for the bench.

COYS

PS, any chance of that star striker I keep reading so much about? You know the one we’ve been missing all season, the one that could cement our place in the champions league positions and allow us to push on to the next level? I’m not trying to tell Mr Redknapp how to do his job but isn’t our midfield regarded as our strongest area already? 12 days to go to make or break our season.

, , , , , ,
Read More

Haringey Council Speak Out

January 18th, 2011 Posted in Articles, New Stadium
Jan, 18 2011
25 Comments »

One of the problems we’ve faced with regards to the new White Hart Lane or Olympic Stadium argument is mixed messages from all parties. It’s been hard to understand exactly what’s going on from one day to the next. It’s fair to say Spurs haven’t been forthcoming with answers and it’s hard to see how they can be without potentially putting one of their options in jeopardy which is something from a business perspective they’re unlikely to do. It does seem clear however that the board have a preferred option at this present time.

The big sticking point and one of the arguments against staying in Tottenham has been the Section 106 agreement whereby being allowed to develop in the area the developer (Spurs) would have to contribute towards developing the local area too. There have recently been plenty of accusations that Haringey Council haven’t been forthcoming with help for the club until recently when threatened with the possibility of the club moving. Whether this is true or not we only have the following to go by but at least someone is talking to the fans. Make what you will of this:

Lucas Brown, a Spurs fan, wrote to the Haringey Council Leader, Clare Kober asking what they had done to help the club and keep them in the borough. This is her reply:

Dear Lucas

Thank you for your email and concern over the possibility of Spurs moving to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford . Let me make clear that I share your concerns. Any such move would be a hammer blow to North Tottenham and I and Council officers are doing all that we can to make sure that this does not happen.

I am aware of debate amongst Spurs fans over the possibility of the Club moving to Stratford with fans holding mixed feelings. In my view if the Club were to move it would be a sad end to over 100 years of history between the area and the Club. Given the club’s distinct North London roots I doubt many fans will be excited by the prospect of moving to East London .

Can I assure you that Haringey Council has been working hard with Spurs to bring forward proposals to develop a new Stadium at White Hart Lane . The approved scheme at White Hart Lane would provide for the best football facilities in the country. Given the scale of the proposals we have managed to achieve planning approval in record time which compares favourably with other similar developments – the Emirates Stadium took 4 years to achieve planning approval.

I think that it is important that I set the record straight with regards the section 106 agreement that Haringey has negotiated with Spurs. I can confirm that the total agreement is around £15-£16million. Given the scale of the development proposed the section 106 agreement is a relatively small proportion of the predicted £450million cost– around 3.5 per cent. The section 106 agreement would also deliver a number of transport improvements which would help alleviate some of the problems experienced on match days.

The agreement which has been negotiated with Spurs is consistent with developments of this kind. It should also be remembered that if Spurs were to move to the Olympic Stadium their proposals would require them to make a similar section 106 contribution to Newham Council.

There has been quite a lot of inaccurate reporting about the council’s support for Spurs and attached is a fact sheet which we have sent to national, local and specialised media to correct this which I hope you will find useful.

I hope that you can see from my response that I take this issue very seriously. I will continue to work with the Club to achieve what we all want which is for Club to remain in Tottenham, with a state of the art football stadium and spectator facilities as part of a revitalised Tottenham.

Kind regards

Claire Kober
Leader of the Council

Below is the “fact sheet”:

Inaccurate reports have included the claim that the council has dragged its feed. Please read on to see that the reverse is true.

The S106 agreement

  • A Section 106 planning agreement is an agreement by the developer to make a financial contribution to offset the impact of the development on the local community (e.g. some funding towards transport and infrastructure improvements).
  • The S106 and 278 (which covers some highway improvements) agreements amount to a total of around £15-£16million.
  • S106 is a relatively small proportion of the total predicted £450million cost of the development – around 3.5 per cent. Note also that the cost is an investment that will bring returns to THFC
  • The higher costs of the Northumberland Park site against Stratford are certainly not solely attributable to this small S106 agreement.
  • Such negotiations and agreements are entirely normal and an accepted part of the country’s planning system and a scheme of this scale will always be subject to a planning obligation (s.106 agreement).
  • If Tottenham Hotspur were to move to Stratford, they would be required to make an S106/ 278 agreement for any new scheme.

Haringey Council’s support of Spurs’ plans

  • Haringey Council has always been committed to keeping Spurs in Haringey. This commitment – which has been embedded in our plans for the borough since the early 1990s, remains.
  • Planning officers worked closely with Spurs throughout the planning process.
  • The overall planning process took around two years – a relatively short length of time for a scheme of such scale. Plans for Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, for example, took around four years to be passed by Islington Council.
  • The council was supportive of Spurs’ offer to TfL of £2million towards Tottenham Hale Station improvements, although TfL had asked for £5.6million.
  • Haringey Council has been supportive of many elements of Spurs’ planning application, including the demolition of listed and other nearby buildings, the building of a large supermarket, and the club’s negotiations with the Mayor of London and English Heritage.
  • The council has granted in principle support for compulsory purchase orders to make it easier for Spurs to obtain what remaining land they need.

The bigger picture for London:

  • Spurs staying in Haringey is good for Tottenham, for Haringey and for London as a whole.
  • If Spurs stay at White Hart Lane, three major areas stand to benefit from major investment and regeneration – Tottenham (Northumberland Development Project), Stratford (the Olympic site) and West Ham (the area around Upton Park stadium). If Spurs leave, not just Tottenham will miss out. Their desertion would deprive areas of vital regeneration opportunities and affect the whole of London.
  • Losing Spurs would be a hammer blow to the area and to those Tottenham fans who identify strongly with the history they have at White Hart Lane.
  • Spurs deliver a number of schemes which benefit the local community, including study support and To Care is To Do and the extremely welcome work of the TH Foundation.
  • West Ham’s bid guarantees a sporting legacy for athletics and other sports, as well as football.
  • If Spurs were to get the site, their plans for a new stadium would be delayed even further – if they demolish and re-build the stadium, they will have to go through the planning process, and the re-building and would not be able to move until 2015/2016 at the earliest.

Football:

  • Spurs leaving would effectively hand North London to Arsenal, destroying decades of history and leaving tens of thousands of fans with no local team.
  • While Spurs fans travel from far-and-wide, the team is also widely supported in the local community and the roots of the club’s support are embedded in Tottenham. The wishes of many of these fans are being ignored.
  • Spurs say that other clubs have moved stadium without having to change their name. However, many of the examples cited have either not moved since the early 20th century, have moved to within the same area (e.g. Arsenal) or plan to move to a nearby site. A more relevant example would perhaps be Wimbledon’s move to Milton Keynes, and subsequent change of name to MK Dons.
  • Moving to east London would be a wholesale change for Tottenham -  the club’s name is undoubtedly synonymous with the area.

Nobody for one second suggests councils are always 100% honest and don’t have their own agenda when they talk, but at least it’s something. Some information that has been given to the fans, the people that matter and the people who care about what’s happening at the moment.

What you make of it is up to you. Whether you believe a local council can force a company with a Trademarked name to change that name if they so wish is up to you. Whether you believe it’s fair or not for Spurs to pay 3.5% of the proposed total cost of the NDP to the council for improvements to the local area is up to you. Whether you want to stay in N17 or move to Stratford, at least there is finally some information coming from those involved.

The online petition will be passed to the relevant people soon so if you haven’t already signed it please do so here

, , , , , ,
Read More

What If’s & If Only’s

January 17th, 2011 Posted in Match Reports, Premier League
Jan, 17 2011
6 Comments »

I didn’t write a match preview for yesterday’s game because I didn’t want to jinx it. I started to write one on Sunday morning but realised I was talking about how this was not only our best chance in ages but on our home patch we could end United’s unbeaten run and do so quite easily. All we had to do was pick the right team and play to our potential and it’d be 2-0 or better.

Then I remembered how many times I’ve thought the same thing. The constant trips to Old Trafford believing IF we play well we’ll win only to spend the 3 hour drive home wondering why we didn’t turn up again or why this decision or that decision went against us. It’s almost a ritual as a Spurs fan you have to go through. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll beat United quite regularly and there will be fans out there who know no different. Just like those who think giving Chelsea a good game and taking 3 points of them was a regular occurrence before the last few seasons.

While it wasn’t quite the normal game tinged with regret and disappointment yesterday it did leave the usual thoughts of what if and if only. What if we’d played to our full potential and if only we had that brilliant striker.

On the bright side though, we dominated a game against a United side who will either win the league or finish second in my opinion. Unfortunately we did that without creating too many chances. Only 3 times I think we hit the target and our best chances were only half chances. Crouch and vdV both came close in the first half, Crouch having probably the best chance and really should’ve scored instead of putting his shot just wide of the upright. I was jumping up like so many around me but the net never moved as we thought it should. Rafa’s curling drive in the second half which looked for all the world to be heading into the top corner and be a fitting goal to win any match, went high and wide by the smallest of margins.

Other than those chances there was nothing else really. We did well to make Carrick spend more time covering his defenders when they were out of position than dictating play centrally as Modric did so brilliantly for us and the fact Vidic was the best player on the pitch and some would argue the reason we failed to score is indicative of how the game went. Nani and Berbatov were quiet for the entire game, at least until they were both substituted, which can be viewed as them having poor games or us not letting them play and Rooney ran around (and his mouth) trying to get his team going with little effect.

They still had their chances and our poor record against them made you believe at some point they would break to score the goal that left us with nothing to show for our performance once again, but it never happened.

Rafael was harshly sent off with 15 minutes to go, although after the imaginary yellow card waving he had done earlier in the match I felt little sympathy for him, but that left us to break them down and go for the win. Unfortunately we just couldn’t do it. We weren’t really at the races in all honesty. We didn’t play badly but we were found wanting in the final third.

If there was ever a game that showed how badly we need a striker who can do it all, it was yesterdays. I’ve tried to defend Peter Crouch in the past, knowing he’s got flaws but his all round game isn’t as bad as some think, and while that’s true to a certain extent we’ve just outgrown the strikers we currently have. They can all bring something different to the table but none of them bring out a fear in opposing defenders in a way Tevez, Rooney or Drogba do. Rooney and Drogba still do it even when both are having a poor season. At the moment our strikers don’t give defenders a tough enough time. Maybe once Defoe gets back into the swing of things having returned from his injury and now suspension that might be different. We need our very own talisman to lead the line. A player we know can turn a game on his own. We have that with vdV, Bale, Modric and even Lennon but we need it where it counts to get to the next level. Someone who could’ve run Vidic and Ferdinand ragged yesterday, who would’ve demanded the ball with his back to goal and made something happen.

It’s a sign of how far we’ve come. I haven’t once believed we’re in the title race but we’re really not far. While not playing anywhere near our best we finished another game against United with regret and slight disappointment, only this time we didn’t lose.

I’ve got a feeling we’ll do it next season……maybe.

In other news, the first protest against a possible move to Stratford and the Olympic Stadium took place before the game outside the main gates. Approximately 500 fans protested the boards decision to even consider the move with placards, banners and flares. All was peaceful and made the press at the time and today. While protesting the club won’t make any difference it will put more pressure on the Olympic Legacy Company, who make their preferred bidder decision later this month, to side with West Ham’s bid.

Members of WeAreN17 who have played a key role in getting that message to the press and have spoken at length with the club, government and premier league were also in attendance but chose the more serene location of the Bell and Hare pub to collect as many signatures for the online petition which will be passed to the OLC shortly. One member also risked a lengthy ban by attempting to get the message to SKY TV viewers. If you would prefer Spurs to remain in Tottenham and haven’t done so already, please sign the petition.

COYS

, , , , , , , , ,
Read More

Fergie’s Team Talk & WHL Protest

January 14th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Match Previews, New Stadium
Jan, 14 2011
2 Comments »

Why do Spurs have a habit of shooting themselves in the foot? I’m all for positive thinking and the press will always ask you questions like, “do you think you can beat United on Sunday?”, but it’s how we answer those questions that seem to help opposition managers with their team talks.

We all know Sunday is a big game and with our home record and United’s away record there’s a chance we could win. Of course, recent history of us bottling it and them raising their game every time the two teams meet would suggest otherwise but there’s definitely a chance.

We know that and they know that. What we don’t need to be doing is telling them we know that. We’ve done it countless times before, usually just before we play Arsenal by saying what a great squad we’ve got and how we can beat them only to once again let ourselves down. Just look at our recent victories over that lot and you’ll notice the one thing we didn’t do was talk ourselves up too much before the game. We let our football do the talking which is the way to go. I imagine one of the toughest things for a manager to do nowadays is motivate a team of millionaires who have gone unbeaten so far this season in the league. It shouldn’t be, but I bet it is. So what do we do? We lend Fergie a helping hand with both van der Vaart and the usually ever so shy and retiring Redknapp speaking in the press:

Rafa said: “I think we are good enough to win the title. We have the squad to do it,” said the Dutch forward. “We also have to respect the little teams, but I think we will beat United on Sunday.”

I’m presuming he’s not calling United a little team but he’s definitely saying we WILL beat them. Not we could beat them but we WILL. Although that’s nothing really compared to what Mr Redknapp had to say in his column in that filth of a paper:

“As good as they are I do not think they are good enough to go through the whole season unbeaten. Even if they win the Premier League title this season, Arsenal are the original invincible’s and their record is going to stay intact.

“Of course, I’d love it if it will be my Tottenham team that ends United’s unbeaten run on Sunday and we have a chance of doing it. It’s not as if United are Barcelona or Real Madrid who are on another planet to everyone else.

“We can bring them down to earth and for the sake of the title race I bet everyone who doesn’t support Man Utd will be hoping we do.”

If you’re Alex Ferguson, not only have a you got a side that’s unbeaten and looking to win the title but you’ve been given all you need to prepare your team for the trip. He’ll know it’ll be a tough game as will his players but when they read that they’ll be making that extra effort. Something we can do without.

Can we beat United? There’s no doubt in my mind we can. I just hope we back up our off the field chat with on the field goals. A proper match preview will follow at some point.

Moving away from the game but onto matters regarding the new stadium once again, there will be a demo outside the main gates on Bill Nic way at 1pm on Sunday before the game. This demonstration has not been organised by the group WeAreN17 but members will be in attendance. It will be a peaceful protest to let the board know our feelings on the potential move to Stratford so please feel free to join and be heard.

COYS

, , , , , , ,
Read More

Same Old Tottenham, Always Blabbing

January 11th, 2011 Posted in Articles, Transfers
Jan, 11 2011
4 Comments »

I have a pet hate when it comes to Harry Redknapp and that’s his inability to keep his mouth shut. However, I’m not stupid enough to assume everything he says are his own opinions, especially when it comes to player signings. I may be completely wrong but judging by the odd comment here and there about what he’s allowed to say and what he’s not I think it’s safe to assume someone within the club briefs him regularly. So for the purposes of this article instead of blaming Redknapp, I’m going to assume what he “leaks” to the press, and therefore us, comes from the club itself.

The whole grey and very vague rules on tapping up players have confused people for years and yet while a rule states it’s not allowed it’s common practice. In some cases it can lead to large fines like in the case of Ashley Cole, but the majority of the time nothing is done.

We as Spurs fans have lost some of our better players thanks to managers letting them know they’re interested in signing them. Alex Ferguson has always been very good at it with Carrick and Berbatov being prime examples. On both occasions while we didn’t want to sell, we had little choice once the player decided they wanted to leave. We got very good fee’s for them but that didn’t help quell the uproar within the stands at White Hart Lane. We’ve seen the same happen to Modric and continually happen with Bale over the last 12 months. As a result the club were forced to offer both players improved contracts that meant if the worse happened and they decided they wanted to leave at least they couldn’t do so at a knocked down price.

Now we’re doing exactly the same and have done for a while. I guess where you stand on this is whether you believe two wrongs make a right. If everyone else is doing it, why should we as a football club and business be any different and I can see that point of view. I would personally prefer we went about our business in a classier way as we did not so long ago. Maybe Daniel Levy had a utopian view of how to conduct himself when it came to player transfers because very little came out of the club until deals were done or completed. There weren’t conversations about a certain player we might be interested in or remarks about how any manager would be happy to have X in their team.

In recent times we’ve discussed in public players like Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker, Steven Pienaar and more recently Phil Neville. All at the time had contracts with other clubs and some were key members of those teams. It would be naive to think any player couldn’t find out very simply whether a club was interested in them, that’s what agents are for after all, but if it became public knowledge that wouldn’t be down to us. Scott Parker is a good example of this. At the time, we made an approach through the correct channels and it was their Chairman who decided to mention it to the press and bring it into the public domain, potentially unsettling their captain and star player. Once that was done, Redknapp continued to make his feelings known and if he felt Parker was right for the team then so be it.

That’s the first problem I have with giving every member of the press something to write or talk about. The second is the effect it has on the image of the team and where we see ourselves.

No disrespect to Bellamy, Pienaar, Parker, Neville or Beckham. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who believe some if not all could offer the current Spurs team / squad something. There will also be those who don’t think any of those players would benefit us. I have my own opinions on each of them but that’s not the point I want to make.

By commenting on players you start a chain of events.

  • You can unsettle another teams player, which as I’ve already said we don’t like when people do it to us so maybe we should be aware of that.
  • You get an instant fan reaction. Usually this will differ from fan to fan but will give us all something to chat about.
  • You put the club in the spotlight.
  • You let existing players know you’re looking at a player who might play in their position. This can obviously have a positive or negative result.
  • You make everyone aware, including existing players and other potential players, the calibre of signings you wish to make. I wonder what players think of the Neville link?

When you eventually sign the player you’ve been chasing all is good. However, if you don’t the end result can make the club look a little stupid. Questions are asked why that player didn’t sign, was it their decision to stay where they were or choose another club? Imagine if for some reason David Moyes was resigned to losing Neville but he turned us down? Many I’m sure would be happy with that but what would that say about Spurs?

Then there’s the type of player we’re letting the world know we’re interested in. Imagine you’re Luis Suárez (or any other player you’d like us to sign) and you’re thinking about coming to Spurs. You know we’ve got some very good players but we also need to improve in certain areas if we’re going to challenge for major honours while you’re at the club. What do you think when you see your potential new employer being linked with men coming to the end of their careers or people you’ve never heard of?

Take the Beckham circus currently playing out in front of us. I know it’s a slightly strange situation but by discussing it so openly, including comments that included this statement:

“The deal is 90 per cent down the line and I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t happen now. Hopefully it will be done over the weekend. If he’s here and he’s trained well he’ll definitely be involved against Manchester United.”

That 90% eventually led to another comment less than 24 hours later, saying it was off because of insurance purposes. Then it was back on again, or at least hopeful of happening. I’m sure these things occur during negotiations for any player. Working on them, people must go from positive to negative a few times a day but it’s all behind closed doors. As far as we see it either happens or it doesn’t.

I liked the way we used to go about our transfers, keeping deals quiet, trying to get our man without the world looking on. I like a transfer rumour and the club being open with the fans as much as the next person but some things are probably best left behind closed doors.

, , , , , , , , , ,
Read More
Older Entries