The Robbie Keane debate continues...
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:40PM Harry has re-visited prior sound-bites relating to Robert Keane and his future. It's just a repeat of what has been outlined before. Keane plays well, he'll have a job to do but if Keane is unhappy then perhaps a move away is for the best. Harry never says anything close to 'Keane is imperative to Spurs'.
Now I know it's been done to death and people have opinions based on what the player has achieved for us in the past. And that he could, if focused, repeat past glory. Whilst others are not so forgiving (i.e. his move to Anfield) and simply do not see the player as anything more than a spent force. Had his time, its now time to move on.
The crux is - if he stays, would you consider the following strike-force good enough to compete in the EPL and the CL (yes, yes, we still need to qualify):
Keane. Defoe. Crouch. Pav.
I'd say no. Too much of a risk IMO.
We finally make it into the top 4, we have to consolidate our position by strengthening the squad. Considering the riches spent (wasted) in the past on players pre-season, we can't not be looking to improve key positions - and the forward position is key.
Has he played well in our tour of the US? Well, sort of okay. Looked decent against Sporting, if you go on the fact he scored and assisted. But after the Ramos pre-season that resulted in 2 points 8 games, I've decided to completely discount form and results until the season starts. So I guess the answer is floating around in Harry's head. He must know for certain who or what he wants for us. And at the moment, it seems to me like he'd be happy to keep Robbie as a squad player - but if Robbie starts sulking - then it's goodbye.
It just doesn't sound like the player is being backed 100%, so anything less than that fuels reason to believe that Harry will have to be content if we somehow manage to fail in signing a top drawer striker. I don't even get the impression Keane believes in staying at the Lane.
We sent him out on loan last season. I can't quite figure out how perception has changed based on pretty much nothing.
Reader Comments (45)
Please can we sort this Keno situation out, quickly, personally id like Arry to bring in Huntelaar and send Keane packing
He was awful against Lisbon, simply not good enough!
Perception has changed based on hope and blind optimism! Keane would be a good squad player for us, but it doesn't seem to be something he will happy with. There's a lack of serious targets though. I mean Raul...c'mon! Fabiano would be a bad move too. If we can get a season of top form out of Pav, it will make a massive difference as we haven't seen his full potential.
Why should Arry back him 100%- Keano has wrong attitude- you can only regularly play if you show yourself an effective front man. Last season he was poor & also he's not been able to connect well with others in the team on the pitch- which has been most alarming problem. The team is better without him- he is at best a squad player & worst a player to go out on loan.
Yeah, maybe Huntelaar would be the best option.
Keane offers way more than Crouch and works way harder than Defoe. His failing has been adapting to the 09/10 gameplan, his loss of finishing confidence and the fact that 'Arry has a hard on for his favourites. The Crouch Defoe partnership brings a predictability that a well organised Sunday League team could stop. Defoe is far more lethal in the box, but the ball has to be in the box for him to be lethal with it. If it's not the guy goes missing.
I think Spurs need a few players this transfer window including another striker but Keane isn't the one I would be offloading. As an aside Liverpool are HIS boyhood club, EVERY Irish guy dreams of Celtic - the 2 things are not the same.
Keane and Pav to stay, Crouch and Defoe to move on or remain as squad players only.
I agree with Deadly, the targets that we've been linked to have all been the wrong side of 29. Do we really need another striker in the twilight of their career?
Why aren't we being linked with younger (and, in wages terms, cheaper) players?
Keane. Defoe. Crouch. Pav. No
Fabiano. Defoe. Crouch. Pav?
Keane. Defoe. Crouch. Fabiano?
Fabiano. Keane. Defoe. Crouch?
Gudjohnsen. Defoe. Crouch. Pav.
Gudjohnsen. Defoe. Crouch. Fabiano?
Gudjohnsen. Defoe. Crouch. Huntelaar?
Gudjohnsen. Defoe. Pav. Huntelaar?
Fabiano. Defoe. Pav. Huntelaar?
What is the code to crack this safe?
Is Gudjohnsen back on our books then?
on the radar or at least screen blur.
Huntelaar Defoe Gudjohnsen Keane
The Milner situation will determine everything.
If he goes to City, suddenly Villa are a midfielder down and £25m richer. Villa need a striker, different to what they have at the moment and I think Keane would fit in really well there. They would also need a midfielder so someone like JJ or Bentley might also be on thier shopping list.
With thoses guys moved on, we will look to replace with our trio of targets.
City are also key because they keep buying and almost rendering half of their existing squad surpluss to requirements.....Ireland, Bellamy, Cruz, Bridge, SWP. They will have a lot of players to off load as the 25 squad limit will mean they have to get rid. Redknapp seems to be banking on this, holding out for a super cheap deal or loan deal for a quality player who doesn't fit into their squad of 25.
So again, Harry is wheeling & dealing and although this maybe the way to get the best bargains, it means that new players miss out on th chance to gell with the squad....although having said that, our squad is, for once, very sound and we can afford to give some new talent a bit of time to settle in.
MO'N is meeting Milner today, apparently, so all will become clear over the next couple weeks.
Crouch. Pav. Keane. Defoe. Fabiano.
Doesn't sound so bad to me gents.
My previous comment should crack the code Trembly.
Harry has just told skysports he isn't interested in milner, young or jagielka. Personally I think Jagielka would be a decent target (although expensive) considering our defensive injuries. But back on topic, my heart wants keane to stay and prove himself, but my head thinks we need a younger, taller, stronger striker who is more clinical and can play up top on his own. Mind you though, I have just described the perfect striker and I don't see too many of them on the market right now. I think the problem at the moment is that there aren't too many top draw strikers looking to move on at the moment (that we can afford) and the ones that are, aren't quite what we need, but they are options none the less. I think our best bet is fabiano, if he can make up his mind. The things that worry me are his attitude and the fact he is unproven in the prem, but few of our options are. This springs true for huntelaar too, but he'd be my second priority should we miss out on fabiano. I think we should be more worried about the RB/CB situation too though, because it looks as if woody is finished and as good as he is we can't sustain king if we are fighting on 4 different fronts and only have a 25 man first team (over 21) squad.
He's quoted on SSN saying he is not going fro MIlner/Young or Jagielka.
Robbie Would be good to have around the squad if he is prepared to accept a squad role. He works his socks and can be a threat both creatively and in front of goal (albeit he should score more). If we get a Mark viduka/berbatov shaped striker in then I believe Keane could absolutley re find his pre liverpool form.
Unfortunately for me as an Irish spur I don't believe he would be happy with that situation and Redknapp will look to cash in with Villa the most likely destination.
I hope I am wrong.
Thanks and so long Robbie
Harry keeps changing his tune every couple of days and its pissing me off - although to be fair, he is probably being misquoted a lot of the time.
One day he says we can compete for the league with three signings, the next its that a couple of loan deals is all we can hope for. He keeps commenting on everyone else's players which seems odd if he has no intention to try and buy them. He also says trhat every decent player is out of our league financially.
Not sure if he's just trying to pressurise Levy into spending some dosh or has verbal diarrhoea.
Meanwhile we are playing Bale all the time (surely there is a risk of injury/burnout), two of our four strikers dont know if theyre coming or going (but neither feel loved), Gudjohnsen is in limbo and we appear to have a centre back crisis on our hands.
I think we will struggle to compete in the league and CL without some fresh blood.
I'm sure there is a cunning plan somewhere and we will all realise Harry was just teasing us when a couple of big signings are revealed (even though I'm sure I read somewhere that we wanted to get our business done early and not leave it too late, like some previous years).
Anyway, in Harry and Levy we trust, dont we??
Interesting stuff from Devonshirespur and Sheffspur. Really don't think Fabiano is our man though. Crouch, Keane and Defoe are all very good players on their day, but I don't think they can quite make the step up to the top level and none of them can be a "main man". I agree that it would be fantastic to have a player who could play up top on his own when required. Can Pav do this job for us? We haven't seen the best of him, i'm sure. Can Huntelaar do this job for us? One of the best things Spurs are doing IMO is creating a nucleus of English players. Wouldn't it be marvelous if there was an English option out there?
By the way, at the back end of last season, I couldn't believe how many times I said "well done Kaboul" when watching matches when he was covering at right back.
If he goes to Villa then he's not a definite starter there either.
Lets not forget we could have been down without him coming back. I also thought he had a good start to last season and only dipped after the Ireland Henry situation. All of a sudden he didnt play for a few games and Harry shipped him out.
Lets get behind him. Stop asking questions and over analyzing everything.
I think like Jenas they are more accepting to fight for their places now.
COYS
Anyone seen this bbc article taking a pop at premier league clubs, but Spurs in particular......
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8848630.stm
I seem to remember arry was in for santa cruz before he went to city...what with the never-ending influx of players now at city, would it be a shock if we went back in for him? He has champions league experience and a decent goal rate in the prem. Not sure he would be for me but an interesting thought none the less.
Raul says England or Germany but deal not done.
Dont compare Defoe to Keane. The former wants the ball at his feet ( like Les Ferdinand) and would not make an effort to win back a "lost " ball. You would find Keane at defensive positions on many occasions - a perfect athlete.
Defoe enjoys capitalising on other players hard efforts just to muck things up because he goes for glory & rarely passes to the one in an advantaged position. Take heed of this blatent comment Harry - I don't normally resort to this behaviour.
Harry also said on SSN that one player he is intersted in is on a free. Raul????
Snap up Connor Wickham and throw him in the deep end - would be good to move in ahead of the scum to land his signature and see how he gets along in top flight football.
For some it's been a foregone conclusion that Keane along with Jenas and Hutton were on there way out hopefully to be replaced with more talented players...no pb with this assuming we do get more talented players.Having failed to get a near certainty in Joe Cole (ok he wanted 90k a week but given he was on a free surely some allowance could have ben made....?) we have to ask whether Mr Levy is prepared to put up the cash required...Wheeler dealer Harry has been talking of loan signings( Gudjohnson, Bellamy...) but relying on free lunches doesn't seem a great idea to compete in the Champions League....He also said no foreign players without premier league experience so there go Huntleaar etc...
Keano of course blotted his copybook by going to Liverpoll but in fact it worked out as good business...I know he was pretty crap with us last season but people tend to forget that he did ok when he forst returned and helped us climb the table to 8th when Defoe was injured+ I thought he did ok in the friendlies so far. I've never seen Keane as really top drawer but unntil we get someone demonstably better...?
Keane will be sold - Bellamy the bellend will replace him.
Anyone else getting mildly cheesed off with Harry's Megaphone Media Madness?" we can compete with anybody financially."."we can't afford to bring those kinds of players in"."we need to make two or three big signings."."there are a couple of great bargains out there."."Fabiano is a player I'm interested in."."he's probably on mega wages.". It's all code for "Levy, give me the wonga.", I tell you.
It's what Harry does best. It's all distraction and mis information, some lies some truths buried deep inside. He loves being the centre of attention and it's all fairly harmless, annoying but harmless.
Look, its simple, we want CL quality, but we simply can't afford it. I'm not talking about Transfer fees I'm talking wages. We have a rule and max that we can spend on wages and when you go after players that want the big money move, well they want big money!
To me it seems like it all comes down to our wage structure, which we cant change unless we give all our players huge raises
I'm willing to take the good with the badly annoying when it comes to Harry, I suppose.. still, I wish he wouldn't make us sound like a schizophrenic Del Boy.
The Huntelaar Debate Continues...
It's the wages and using the "we can't pay player X more than player Y otherwise they will all want the same" is code for "we aren't going to increase our wage bill, even if we get rid of some of the free-loading dross".
So, what that means is we can expect no real quality players to come to the Lane, and an opportunity wasted on the altar of so-called responsible financial management. If Levy is really so responsible then he should get his priorities right....unload the deadwood (and there is plenty of it, including Keane), shelve the new stadium and use the savings to pay top dollar for top players, and do not worry about the existing contracts this season.
Assuming that the top players will generate success in the Pl and maybe a run in the CL, cementing our place in the top 4 will generate funds and attract better players. At that point, worry about the new Supermarket. To build the new ground without a successful team is a waste of money. But then, this isn't about football, it's about business.
I think we will be left with the same squad as last season, plus maybe a few new deadbeats that are cheap, and will once again be gracing the mid-table. Harry will leave, and Levy once again will be looking for someone to turn the pig's ear into a silk purse without spending any money. It makes me laugh when City fans talk about the money Spurs have spent....have a look at the NET spend and you will see the difference between us and them.
RIP the dream. PL Champions? More like Chumpionions.
Our net spend in the past two windows has been very little and I don't think people are taking that dose of reality into account as a guide for this window. Keane I expect will drag on to deadline day as will a few of our other players up for sale because I doubt anyone will match our asking price before then.
So another quiet window is my prediction but that is just in the real world. In the media there will be a constant stream of potential outcomes and gossip and intrigue to gloss over the boredom of it all.
We all remember before that Darren Bent played well in preseason too, but that did't mean he was a good fit either. I think Harry is just slyly keeping his options open. We need a hungry striker and at least another Centre Half. I hope Levy is allowing Harry to spend what it takes on those positions right now. If keane stays and sits on the bench, oh well, but we can't rely on what we have now with out at least one additional solid proscpect upfront.
Great post DaveK,
We'll probably sell average players and buy more average players.
Pay peanuts (relatively), get monkeys.
We've got as far as we can doing it on the cheap. It's time for the owners to decide if they want to try to win the title or just make money. If it's the latter, I suggest they sell up.
Rather conflicted here...I find myself agreeing with elements of posts while violently disagreeing with other statements in the same posts.
Well, yeah, I thought we all knew Levy was in it to make money ahead of football. See the sale of Carrick and Berbatov with on the cheap "replacements". As to selling up, you know ENIC is and has been gagging to sell (for big big bucks though) asap and that was before Joe Lewis lost half his net worth when his investment bank blew up. Wasn't that the reason for dumping Jol for Ramos? Champions League right now rather than the five year plan they had originally laid out for Jol?
But, and this is a really big but, "let's blow the wage structure, kiss the new stadium goodbye and bet it all on red 11" approach to buying our way into the riches of the champions league sounds way too much like what Leeds tried to do and we all remember what happened to Leeds, yes? And that was before we had the likes of Chelsea and now Man City with bottomless checking accounts. Unless you think the club is lying about the size of the waiting list for season tickets, a "successful team" isn't necessary to fill the new stadium.
I also remember being roundly rebuffed here for criticizing Harry's role in Portsmouth's financial demise. "No, it's up to the club owners to decide how much money to spend on players. Harry had nothing to do with it." But now you're saying Levy should just give Harry a bunch of blank checks and let him spend whatever he wants both on purchase and wages? Because that worked so well at Portsmouth? One FA Cup, followed by insolvency in the Championship. No, thank you.
I posted earlier that I was worried about the lack of transfer activity, given how early our season is starting, what with the lay-down-a-marker start against City and the CL qualifier later that week, so the conflicting Harry quotes are driving me nuts. I agree, this is Harry vs. Levy gamesmanship and yes, it is part of Harry's character but no, it's not cute or amusing. It's fucking unprofessional. You may enjoy playing the media whore, Harry, but that's not what Spurs are paying you to do. Step away from the cameras and get the first team sorted out.
Some of you idiots dont have a bloody clue and would have us bankrupt and insolvent for the sake of it. Dont you read the news?? In 3 bloody years ALL the SUPER wages will be over and gone for players because ALL teams will HAVE to work within their means ie spend what or less than they earn and win. NO more fuckin' sugar daddy arabs or russians. We are one of the few clubs that could actually achieve this NOW. Citeh have this length of time to establish themselves in the EPL and CL as regualr serious contenders or they will basically be fucked. Same goes for Chelsea, except they are already established. This is the only way clubs can get some sort of control back over players ridiculous wages and its the clubs themselves that agreed this 1. as stated to try to get control of players wages which are crippling, 2. to control the ridiculous amount of money that goes to bloody agents and 3. because Platini and Blatter are making clubs be more responsible with our money. This WILL go through and clubs that do not conform will be replaced from European competitions with the next club in that league. League teams that do not conform will be docked points. This is going to happen and about bloody time too. Once it does, we will actually be one of the leading wage payers in england. So to scrap our wage structure would be suicide and Levy wont do it so stop whining on about it. Our current squad btw is more than capable of maintaining our 4th position and of challenging even higher. This is a dead transfer window (citeh apart) and it is a sign of things to come because as we actually knew the players wage demands have become unsustainable. Thats a fact.
Legends, interesting point. I had heard about the live within your means plan, but didn't realize it was quite so imminent. That certainly would explain why, with the exception of City, there has been very little activity.
It's what the game needs and would def. benefit Spurs. But has this been plan been formally approved? I just had the impression that it wasn't quite there yet...
Not heard a thing about this. Please share the info - links, FIFA/UEFA articles etc etc
http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/170469/uefa-premier-league-new-financial-rules
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/27/uefa-michel-platini-club-financial-regulations
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=790800&cc=5739
See links above sorry guys I thought everyone was aware. This is going to happen, there will be some setbacks and things need sorting no doubt but it will happen and in 3 years
hmmm why did they not come out as actualy links? all this new fangled technology lol anyway cut n paste your way through :))
Oh and please excuse the liberal use of the "F" word but my missus has been twittering in my shell like about painting the stairs & landing. Im on holiday I says, best time to do it she says No I says Im on holiday which is the worst time to do anything work related or related to work, so anyways after winning my argument and just finishing the first coat I finally managed to get on here to find out whats been happening at my beloved spurs in the last 12ish hours, not a lot it seems except for some silly sods spouting off about bringing in the latest kick-a-balls for stupid money, just one or two we could pay over forgetting all the others that will want their wallets tickled to the tune of 100k+ a week too daft beggars, anyway no F word this time :))