Transfer Window lock-down - a review
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 9:48AM I'm not sure what I enjoyed most about transfer deadline day. Sky Sports News ridiculous coverage which greeted every piece of non-event news item with delirium, including Andy Burton checking his vibrating mobile phone for inside information 'live on air' whilst the other presenters did their very best not to spontaneously combust.
Or the various Tottenham message board 'ITK's who failed miserably to guess the days transfers, desperately attempted to predict what would unfold in the final hours left till the window closed.
Ironically, not a lot was actually happening in the real world. The last day of the transfer window always feels like an anti-climax if nothing overwhelmingly spectacular doesn't occur. Even though we've had the entirety of the summer months to sign a player, we all assume that a last minute deal is likely, when in fact the odds are stacked against it.
We knew Niko Kranjčar would happen and it did. Quite possibly the deal of this window and any window, as Levy somehow managed to get Portsmouth to fork out £1.5M + the Croatian midfielder for the signature of Kevin Prince Boateng. Amazing.
He'll cover Modric over on the left hand side and might stay there with Moddle playing centre when he returns. Gives us options. Gives us a little more depth. Still no true left-winger at the Lane, but we don't appear to need one. Niko may have gone stale at Pompey and has not got anywhere near the type of quality he can produce and produce consistently, but you just know Harry will get the best out of him. And much like we've seen many times before, a move can rejuvenate a player. It's a good solid signing, one without the overexuberant price tag and hype that we usually make the mistake of making.
Elsewhere, strong rumours linking Bentley with a move to City and Petrov with a move to Spurs. This morphed between transfers to loan deals as the day progressed, suggesting we would swap wingers until seasons end. Neither deal happened. Harry saying that David leaving wasn't going to happen. Petrov's agent saying that the player wanted to sign for Spurs and was in London but Mark Hughes pulled the plug.
As the clocked ticked and we got closer to 5pm, Sky Sports News presenters began to melt on screen like the scene from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"Don't look at it. Shut your eyes. Don't look at it, no matter what happens!"
And yet we couldn't look away. And in reply we were entertained as we listened to stories about how Alan Hutton and Anton Ferdinand were going to swap teams in a loan deal that would have left us with one first team right-back (having had 103 at the start of the season). Had we signed Ferdinand I would have spent the rest of the year doing porridge. He's absolute pony and I would have happily broken into Levy's home and explained this to him as he awoke in bed next to Mrs Levy.
David James to Spurs was tabloid fantasy. We did however inquire about Matthew Upson but it 'never really got close'. And that was it. The only missing piece from the jigsaw was a central midfielder. One that could either:
- Cover Wilson Palacios
- Compliment Wilson Palacios
- Play a little too
Not asking for much then.
It's been the one constant through-out the summer, our search for another robust enforcer. If Wilson picked up a Modricesque injury, who would slot into his position to aid us in his absence? Should have known nothing would happen on the final day. If nothing has happened all summer, then what chances of a deal being struck in the final 24 hours unless talks have been ongoing for a week or so?
At the start of the summer we bid for Gareth Barry but stood no chance of offering him the riches that City could. Not sure what the Vieira story was all about, as he's not even half the player he was 5 years ago. Slow, no bite and quite simply a shadow of his former self - he would have been an unmitigated disaster in Lilywhite. Not even his former club looked his way with a serious inclination to sign him (it was more a case of PR so that his Arsenal ties were not damaged with talk about joining Spurs). I still think Redknapp used this as some form of mis-direction, but if he did, nothing was forthcoming in the way of a CM signing.
Sissoko, we bid for. Apparently a while back. And found ourselves walking away slowly thanks to the price tag. Appiah was on trial for us months ago, and the ITK's (desperate towards the end of yesterday) suggested he was about to be signed ( the transfer deadline wouldn't even be relevant here anyway). Muntari was also a favourite of many but again this appeared to be nothing more than paper talk, much like Jenas to Inter was.
Sandro, the Internacional midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Spurs, until it was revealed that the real reason Levy was in Brazil was to complete a partnership deal with his club which will allow for their players to join us loan. The alleged £16M bid for him was probably nothing more than ye olde mis-direction. However, I wouldn't discount this completely, and he may yet sign for us (on loan or otherwise) in the next window. Just a hunch. And considering the deal we have with Internacional, it won't come as a surprise.
So with the window closed, we have a decent squad of players + 1. Would have preferred O'Hara to have remained with us, but if he plays for Pompey between now and Jan, then he'll come back a better player. We hope.
Disappointed that there is no brand spanking new CM? Was it realistic to expect a player of similar ilk to Palacios to sign, and if a player of such quality did he'd have to play alongside him rather than on the bench. Signing someone as cover when we have O'Hara (be it out on loan for the moment) was obviously not a priority.
Do we know enough about the likes of Sandro and Sissoko to expect them with any assured certainty to be able to play side-by-side Wilson? What would happen to Jenas and Huddlestone, the latter developing and improving with each game? A massive £15M midfield signing would actual cause a problem or two with squad harmony. Nice problem to have, but almost certain to bring the end of either JJ or Hudd come the new year.
I've not changed my tune on this. Still reckon we need another CM. But finding one for the right price and one that can spend time on the bench and still be good enough to play alongside Palacios…that's not as easy as I wish it could be.
If Levy does have something lined up with Internacional, then signing another midfielder now would not be an option even if we are crying out for one from the message boards. In fact, maybe Harry doesn't think we need one. No last minute activity yesterday would suggest so, as I can't find a single quote from him to suggest we were looking in desperation to plug this particular hole.
So that's that. Four months to go before the window re-opens. Who we sign then will depend on how well we are doing. If we are in a 5th spot within touching distance of 4th, then perhaps the money saved yesterday will be spent to lift us up tomorrow.
Fact is, we continue to sign players who improve the team balance/structure. No textbook superfluous signings. Times have officially changed at the Lane. And now the real work begins.
Hold onto your bagels.
Reader Comments (24)
well written
Summed up perfectly.
Now is the time for Huddlestone and/or Jenas to realise their 'potential'.
Good write-up Spooks. With a bedding in period, I think Sissoko or Sandro might have been a good deal, but at £15M a pop for either one, either Levy doesn't want to spend so much money or Harry doesn't want to cause unnecessary ripples. If we are 4th at Xmas, then we will need to sign a player or two to push us forward. Other clubs are not a strong position financially so it's not hard to see us dominating the Jan window (outside of Manchester).
What happened to all the Real Madrid targets then? I have to stop believing agent/SSN/tabloid speculation. Still think players like Pav and Bentley have a lot to prove between now and January otherwise we will see major changes in 2010. Bentley has to take every single opportunity, even if it means playing well just for Mark Hughes to bid for him next year.
Lets just hope we dont make a mistake like Villa did last xmas signing Heskey whilst sitting pretty......its important to make good signings but its also imprtant to not upset the applecart!
cant see why we would need another CM as we have JJ to come back and also Huddlestone is now better than I've ever seen him his passing is now as good as any CM I've seen i think he is better than that glory hunter carrick
and boy can he shoot from range well when he gets it right i also think Bentley can play CM as well if we need a cover for CM why would we have sold zokora think about it
why would we spend shit loads of money on yet another player that's just not need Harry has done really well
and has done what i hoped we would do years ago and stop messing around with the team and just get the players we do have to play together i think all the transfers over the past 4 season's is what fc.uked us up over the past 2 seasons and the last thing we need is a bunch of new players to come in on the final day that haven't trained with us pre Sassoon to come in and mess the hole balance up
Thank God for Harry!
Good transfer window this. We look good, better than Everton and Villa. Just need to keep believing and not lose discipline or get swept away with the hype.
Agree with all that. It was asking a lot to find that CM, but then again that's what I was asking for. Now's your moment, JJ. Step up and do the job that you did well alongside WP for a few games last season.
Hang on, didn't Bentley play well in CM for Blackburn on a few occasions? Worth a try.
It feels good to have a squad as strong as this. Onwards and upwards.
Bentley is struggling with his natural position on the right, sticking him the middle would kill him. Can't see him working hard, tracking back and getting his foot in.
Good transfer window IMO, we signed well, didnt get to many changes which is great for stability, spooky you said it well. Happy that the prince has gone and replaced by Krancjar, with him and modders up the left when back it will be quite a scary sight for any right back.
Whats the status with Gomes, is he nearly back from his injury as we have let all of our other keepers now go out on loan?
Great article, very well written. I have one comment, as much to comments I see around as to the article:
I too would like us to sign a quality CM/DM. However, looking at our first four games I'm a bit surprised to see that most people still does not seem to think of Huddlestone as a potential starter (all season). Ok, so he's been a "talent" for years that hasn't been able to deliver consistently. In the past. Because something have changed. He's way fitter than he's ever been and, more importantly, he's defensive ability is as good as any (predominantly) offensive minded midfielder I've seen. And perhaps most importantly, him and Wilson, who I rate as more important to the team (and any team) than the great little Croatian, seem to supplement each other and work well together (except in a 15 min. spell against Birmingham).
If people agree to the above we actually have a very capable CM compared to the teams we . One who's simply one of the top 5 CM's in the league (together with Essien, Fabregas, Gerrard - if he's selected to play CM) and one who's one of the best passers, if not the best passer in the league, and also very capable and seemingly committed defensively.
We still don't have sufficient cover for Wilson but, as pointed out in the article, considering Wilson's quality and, provided the above is true, the fact that we now have a very capable CM, sufficient cover is very difficult and perhaps almost impossible to get at an acceptable price. Put it another way: who does Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd have as cover for their best CM? Ok, Chelsea's got plenty but the others don't (don't even know who's the better player at Utd). And that's not because they don't want an equal player as cover for their best CM.
Keep up the good writing.
L
Spooks...good piece as always. Agree with you re CM. Yes we need a "stand-in" for Wilson but at £15m+ we would have to play him. Bale as a LM? A question we all ask but as yet have seen no concrete evidence to answer YES. Kranky-car is a right steal at virtually nothing so all in all i think that a big well done to all at THFC. We are now moving from transition to producing the goods. A squad with depth and balance with all bar a couple of players proven at Premiership Level and higher....dare i say it but the good times may just be around the corner.
COYS
A good window in my opinion. I also spoke to a mate who is a presenter on Talk Sport and they had spoke to Harry yesterday. Apparently Bentley was never going anywhere, this was press rubbish. We did make a genuine enquiry about Petrov, BUT only as backup if Kranjcar did not happen. It did and that was all arry wanted in the end!
Anyone know what happened to Chavez, Wilson's recommendation? or did Harry not rate him. with current injuries I assume no CB will be fit to return against utd would the guy not have been able to cover as Corluka did not look comfortable at CB and would hate that Bulgarian to score against us
I'm sure I read that we had decided not to take on Chavez. Might be wrong.
Wiki claims he's at Norwich.
its really easy to work out if you think about it bentley on the right, lennon on the left job done
i dont think we even needed Niko but hay now we got him even better
RM Lennon, JJ, Bentley and Niko
CM Hudd, Wilson, Niko, Bentley, JJ and Modric
LM Modric Lennon and Niko
CM is well coverd the left side is were i think we may have a prob
"It's a good solid signing, one without the overexuberant price tag and hype that we usually make the mistake of making."
Make the mistake of making? I agree with the sentiment though.
Another good article mate. I think the most important thing come the January transfer window won't be neccesarily to buy anyone new, but to fend of the interest of Man Utd and others in players like Modric and Palacios. Its seemed to me one of the reasons Ferguson signed both Carrick and Berbatov wasn't merely to stregthen his own hand, but to also weaken ours. Which he did.
Swiss (and others) you seem to be (like Harry?) forgetting Giovanni (or Dos Santos) or whatever name he wants to be known by. I think he might be a terrific option on the left and maybe if he can make his mark in the Carling Cup, he can be added to the mid-field alternatives.
Compared to this time last year I am very happy with Spurs business this transfer window. We are actually buying players to improve the first team and how we managed to get 1.5m plus Krancar for the Price is ridiculous.
We really need our youngsters to kick on as if we can get Rose, Bostock, Livermore, Naughton closer to first team contention it will create a lot more options for HR.
I think Bentley, Gio, Pav, JJ & Hutton have it all to prove or they maybe moved on to raise the funds required to buy the two world class players that we need to take us onto the next level (IMO a CB and CM).
Apparently we inquired about James.
Harry telling fibs.
Harry did want another CM imo. Whether Levy wouldn't pay up well have to wait and see what unfolds come January.
First I must say I think this is a great blog! Really enjoy reading your comments, they are insightful plus they crack me up. As for the transfer window I agree with most of you, think Niko was a great buy and the price is just crazy. Also think bringing in a big money signing would just have disturbed the balance in the team. Not so sure bringing in one of the dutchmen from Madrid would benefit the team. For them going from Real to Spurs would feel a step back in their careers and you wouldn't want another bastard like the bulgarian whose name I can't write nor speak, sulking and fcuk up the dressingroom. If I remember correctly Van der Vaart turned us down some years ago and then made some comments that weren't very flattering about our beloved Spurs.
I think we now have a good balance in the team. Lennon seems to pick up where he ended last season, Modric have turned it up a notch and showing elements of world class I think. In the next transfer windows we'll have the woolves at the door, so good thing Charlie and Niko are with us. My biggest joy so far has been watching the Hudd play and really getting in to central midfield in a way we haven't seen before. My only concern here is if Wilson get injured or banned. Think the Hudds great play is much thanks to this partnership.
Looking forward to the rest of the season, if we can survive the next to games who knows what will happen. Don't think we'll finish top three, but we'll enjoy the ride and see where it ends in may. regardless Spurs now look sharper than in many, many years. Thank God for sending us Harry when we needed him. COYS.