We've got our Tottenham back
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 8:12PM I'll get around to writing up my own opinions on the the recent 'activity' (scoff) relating to the transfer window once I've returned from my travels. Will not be around to preview/watch/report on the Blackburn game either, so when I'm back I might just ask you lot to let me know how badly we played.
What?
Ah, don't fret, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. We'll do just dandy with our strike-force, I promise.
Talking of which, I will say this about the January Transfer window; Not resolving the fabled forward conundrum will only make finishing in the Top 4 that ever so sweeter.
What?
Just work with me, nod and pretend you agree.
So, moving swiftly on, I've got another guest blog for you this evening. Having received a number of emails that consisted of people going mental over our apparent inability to target a player with genuine belief of signing him rather than appear scatter-gunned and desperate, this particular piece speaks up for the all the frustrated. We all know sometimes (considering we don't actually know what goes on behind the scenes, well, until 'arry let's us know) it's not as black and white as it looks when you're watching SSN or reading news updates. Sometimes, it's best turn up the colour and just see red.
Insert Andy Carroll joke here.
Enjoy the rant/knee-jerk. Agree, disagree, throw rotten fruit.
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Dear Mr Levy (and indeed Mr Redknapp),
On behalf of the supporters of Tottenham Hotspur FC everywhere, thank you. Thank you for giving us back our Tottenham. Thank you for bringing back to us what it is to follow Spurs. Once more we can feel like we’re used to feeling, when thoughts of that cockerel-adorned crest come to mind, so again I say thank you. Thank you for re- introducing us to those familiar experiences of disappointment, wasted opportunities, expectations of mediocrity, and that gentle whiff of embarrassment. It’s clear that you realised we were starting to forget what success felt like, so the feelings had begun to be less raw. Less intense. We needed that glimpse of the promised land to remind us what we were missing. But now you have returned our club to us.
This transfer window, you could have led us down a path that would leave us uncomfortable, nervous and twitchy. A path of hope; not a path we were familiar with, prior to the last couple of years. But you saw our confused little faces, and said ‘No - this cannot go on’.
Despite our recent comparative success, certain flaws in our team have been evident to all but the most blinkered of observer. For example, the lack of specialist cover at left-back is one area which patently needs addressing, yet due to the flexibility of players like William Gallas and Younes Kaboul this is an area that could wait until the Summer. There is, however, one area that could not wait. Not if we were to stand any chance of retaining our position among the Champions League elite next season. Not if we were to stand any chance of winning any silverware in the short-to-medium term. Not if we were to avoid a decline from which it will be very difficult to return. That area; the one of greatest importance and urgency; is in the forward line. The strikers.
Firstly, let me illustrate my point using some statistics about our strikers. The combined number of league goals that have been scored this season by the three senior strikers currently on our books totals six. That is less league goals between them than Gareth Bale has scored on his own. One third less league goals between them than Rafael Van der Vaart has scored on his own. Aaron Lennon, about whom it has often been said (incorrectly in my opinion) that he lacks a final ball, has managed half as many goals on his own as our entire strike-force. Even Alan Hutton, our full-back, has managed two league goals. All of these players have scored more league goals this season than either Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe. At the moment, Crouchy couldn't introduce a banjo to a bovine posterior if they both had name-badges and a bloke at the door announcing them like one of those Cinderella ballroom scenes.
I think this point needs even greater context. At Chelsea, the attacking line of Drogba, Anelka and Kalou have managed 20 league goals, and this is considered to be a poor return this season. They have just added to this strike-force to the tune of £50 million. At Manchester City, Tevez and Balotelli alone have 19 league goals. They too have gone to significant expense to secure a front-line striker in this window in the form of Edin Dzeko. In the red half of that city, the combination of Berbatov, Hernandez and Rooney (in a tricky season for the England striker) have managed 28 league goals. And our natural enemies from up the road have seen 21 league goals scored by Chamakh, Van Persie, Walcott and Bendtner.
Even Liverpool, who have had a woeful first half of the season by their standards, have seen 15 league goals scored by Torres, Kuyt and Ngog. They may have subsequently lost Torres to Chelsea, but they have replaced him with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Remind me, weren’t both of those players linked with us during this transfer window? And how have we enhanced our striking options during this oh-so-important period? By getting rid of Robbie Keane and Giovanni Dos Santos.
Just for a one further reference point, in the 2007/2008 season, our four strikers managed 40 league goals. I’ll say that number again. 40. See the difference?
I don’t think I can make the point any clearer than this: without a first-class strike-force, you will not achieve anything in football. Even if your defence is water-tight (and ours has been anything but this season), it takes goals to win games. It takes wins to achieve league success. It takes league success to maintain European football. And it takes European football to maximise turnover and attract top players. Success breeds success. And it all grows from scoring goals.
And what is the core reason for our failure to secure a top class striker in January? Because we persist in playing this ridiculous game of chicken with other clubs at the transfer deadline. Quite frankly, it’s pathetic. Other fans laugh at us. The BBC Live Text used the following simple phrase to sum up our desperate last-minute scramble to secure Charlie Adam: So near. So far. So Tottenham.
Does it give you some kind of buzz to see how near to the final second you can push it? Is it the gambler in you? Is it the chance that a last minute deal can open opportunities for a bargain? Because let me clarify this for you. Rafael Van der Vaart was a one-off. It was the exception, rather than the rule. It was a freak of modern football, and was rightly lauded as such.
If you leave it too late for other clubs to find a replacement, or so late that administrative problems can scupper the deal, you are left with nothing. You are standing empty-handed; with a pile of cash burning a hole in your pocket; cash which you will be simply throwing away in May when we finish 5th in the League. Or even worse, 8th. And let’s be clear, missing out on European football next season altogether is far from out of the picture.
Congratulations. You have gambled away tens of millions of pounds of Champions League revenue for the chance of saving one or two million. Sound business sense? I think not. It’s like me heading to the bookies and putting a grand on a bet that might return a hundred, but at ridiculously bad odds.
Stop this. Stop it now. When you have an opportunity, do the deal. Secure the players we need to take us to the next level, or even maintain us at this level. Make sure of our future success, rather than throwing it away.
And just out of curiosity, what were we going to do with Charlie Adam? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong. But is he simply cover for Huddlestone? Cover that is so much better than Jenas, Palacios, Sandro, O’Hara or any of the other multitude of centre-midfielders we have, that it is worth concentrating on that deal rather than making one last push to get a forward in? And what do we do when Thudd is fit again? Consign Adam to the bench? Drop Huddlestone? Or shift to an even-more centre-heavy formation of 4-6-0? Hell, why not? The strikers aren’t delivering anyway.
According to the press, we have been linked with Dzeko, Suarez, Carroll, Aguero, Fabiano, Forlan, Llorente, Rossi, Lukaku and countless others in this transfer window. It’s clear that you thought about the problem. But this is one of those cases where it’s NOT the thought that counts. To dare is to do. We didn’t think you’d dare pass up this chance to save the season and cling onto Champions League football. But you did it.
So yeah, thanks a lot.
Regards,
Beadle
Also, catch up on Chris King's guest blog on the same subject here.
Reader Comments (111)
I agree we need a world-class striker, but that comes at a hefty price. We saw how stupid the transfer market became. Not only is it the transfer fee but also the weekly salary. Most of all it is whether or not a player wants to come. For footballers England's taxes are excessive, meaning that they'd have to be paid royally after taxes to earn what they could get in Spain or Italy who do not tax as high. Fernando Torres will cost Chelsea £100m over the course of his contract with the transfer fee included.
I am very happy that we didn't spend stupidly, I'd rather us pay their actual worth when it isn't silly season.
It is now upto Defoe, Crouch and Pavlyuchenko to step up their game and prove they deserve to lead the line. Luckily for us Van der Vaart and Bale have picked up the slack.
As for transfers, I was hoping we got Fernando Llorente and Lassana Diarra. I'm still hoping we can get them in the summer. I am happy we rid ourselves of players who were just collecting a weekly wage, those that were never going to play.
Lastly, Andy Carroll is not worth anything close to the money Liverpool paid for him. He had one great season in a lower league and start quickly this season. Have you seen the rest of their strikers? This however in no way means he is worth £36 million. Have you not seen the list of the highest transfer fees paid? It reads as a who's who of some of the best of this generation; award winners, champions, those that proved their worth to warrant a high transfer. Carroll isn't to blame, Liverpool are the fools who spent stupidly. Spurs bid £25m, which was too much, but Liverpool got drunk and went nuts with the cheque book.
Our only way out of this is to believe. That's the only way I can think about this otherwise I feel depressed. We have to believe, because we are Tottenham, and hope that our boys will surprise us like they did throughout 2010. Remember, we got to fourth with the same strikers last season, and our team is undoubtedly stronger this year. What we need mainly is for Harry to stop tinkering stupidly with the formation. The Fulham game formation was pathetic... sometimes I just don't understanding what he is thinking, and moments like Sunday show the gap in intelligence between him and the others at the top.
As for counting how many goals the strikers have scored, I think in fairness we should count VdV's goals too, since we play only one up front of him. Our assumptions and comparisons are based on 2 strikers, which is not the case when he is playing (i.e. we don't have crouch, defoe AND VdV usually together). It's still not enough, but we've changed the system and if he brought in the top striker that we were all hoping for, then he would most likely play him with VdV. Anyway, just trying to find consolation somewhere. I'm more concerned about our defenders. Bassong is not good enough and Dawson, well, he's not a natural in the way Gallas or Kaboul are.
We have to win tomorrow... COYS!
Its a shame we did not get a qaulity striker and with it I believe we will miss out on 4th spotAs has been mentioned with our curent lot just not performing at present..that said there is still room for optimism as we have Excellent mid-dielders who hopefully will still get us a place in europe.We can then look to thye summer to strengthen up in area's where needed and off load some of the those who are not up to performing on a consistent basis.The said I Personally would not have let Bentley or O'Hara go out on loan,with our present injury worries.Dos Santos and Keane one can understand,especally Keane,who looks well ,past his use bye date.(I hope that comment does not come back to haunt me)
Wow, lot of nastiness in these posts. All caps, obscenity laced, 500 words with no paragraphs and precious little punctuation, accusations of closet Goonerdom, etc. Don't understand why folks who hate reading opinions that differ from their own bother to come to this blog. Seem to have attracted the attention of the internet equivalent of hard core hooligans. It's not about the football, it's all about the anger.
Thought the blog was bang on myself. Breathtakingly obvious, someone commented. Which is why we should be questioning the competence of management at this point, since they appear incapable of dealing with the fact that our fullbacks score more than our strikers. All three of them. Remember what happened the last time we were down to 3 strikers after a transfer window? 2 points from 8 games, that's what. But I suppose pointing that out means some will accuse me of not being a true supporter.
With Modric out for the next 2 games, I think we'll revert back to 442 with Palacios and vdV in the middle, and hopefully, Pav and Defoe upfront.
spursLA perhaps you should support another team as you clearly do not have a clue about tottenham, you keep calling Levy and bemoan his skills would you rather someone like the glazers or hicks bought the club ?
The bids were real they just get in the way of the point you are failing to make it is very much a case of be careful what you wish for
ziegemonster it has nothing to do with being a "true supporter" is about knocking the people that got us to this level and IMHO its a disgrace to have a pop at Levy or Harry.
These same moaners will be out in force either way, we go onto the CL final and they will be out singing Levy and co praises get knocked out and it will be "see told you"
I should go support another team coz I stated the fact that we don't pay high wages? Well do we? I'm actually glad like most we didn't pay stupid money for Carroll but as the article says Levy's transfer policy doesn't work. Call it as it is. Also ziegemonster this a football blog and not a composition or grammar class chum, the same applies to the gentleman that doesnt like the word cunt.
It's been decided, time for Levy and Redknapp to move on and let more capable management take over.
"Levy's transfer policy doesn't work" thats why you should support another team because you clearly do not think the like of Modders/VDV etc are any good after all Levy did bring them in.
Read the article and the responses , you are in the minority.just because you like a team doesn't mean you have to like everything about it. Criticism is good. Don't close your eyes and ears and bend over. By the way how old are you?
Morning everyone.
Looks like I've created a bit of aggro then. Ho hum. Ah well, at least we all care. But to everyone suggesting I should go forth and copulate (and trust me, I would if I could but.... you know.... marriage does that to a sex-life) I probably need to clarify where I was aiming with the post.
1) I haven't (and wouldn't have) suggested that either Harry or Big Dan are not fit for purpose. I think we've missed an opportunity here, and I'm frustrated about the way we've gone about things but I'll get to that later. But I'm very grateful to what both of them have done for the club, and hope it continues (albeit with the odd bit of better decision-making).
2) Nor do I think any of our current strikers are poor players. The problem is more based around the fact that they don't fit the system we're playing these days (1 up-front) to accomodate what is quite frankly a plethora of world-class midfielders. Defoe plays better when he's got a partner alongside him, because his strengths are spinning off the last defender and using pace and guile to get into a scoring position, not holding the ball up for the midfield to join the attack. Crouch can hold the ball up, but has never been prolific (only twice has he ever got into double figures in the Premiership, and even then only just) and his lack of pace means that if that the opposition defend high up the pitch, safe in the knowledge that he won't outpace them, they can also keep the midfield out of range and neutralise us as an attacking force. Pav's style is best suited of the three, but he's.... well, Pav, isn't he? Great sometimes, and a vacuum at others.
3) I have also not suggested we pay the sort of money that Chelsea, Liverpool or City have for a striker. That's ridiculous, and we shouldn't be looking to go down that route. But the point is that we shouldn't have to. If we actually planned purchases, we could be working out the details in advance of the window opening, and have a month to negotiate something acceptable to both parties for a striker that fits the mould. The persistence with playing Transfer Deadline Chicken means we never give ourselves that opportunity. We end up throwing out big-money bids at the last minute in a seemingly desperate attempt to get someone, ANYONE. Remember, this isn't a problem that suddenly appeared in January. It's been obvious for a long time. We should have been planning.
4) I have no problem in getting rid of Gio and Keane. I do have a problem in doing it while doing nothing else and effectively just reducing our options, limited though those options may have been in the first place.
Maybe I should have made all this clearer in the original post, but I figured it was long enough already. Also, it was heat of the moment stuff, and as Spooky said at the top, "Sometimes, it's best turn up the colour and just see red."
Question for all of you. You are a spurs player, Aaron Lennon or kula modric for instance, and you know that you are playing in a good side that plays good football but aren't scoring enough goals up front. You are in 80k a week. And you want to win trophies or at least get back into the CL next year. Would you really give a shit if the club brought someone in on 30k a week more Than you if you thought it would help your chances of achievingthose goals? If you think the answer would be yes, then any player
with that attitude can fuck off out of the club.
I am all for a wage structure but sometimes you need to push the boat out a bit. I'm pretty certain the players would soon forget about that extra money their team mate is on as they hold the champions league trophy aloft ( and no doubt collect a massive bonus)
Northspur , i believe Harry has done a good job but with the quality of players available top 6 was to be expected and top 4 was a good achievement. other managers would probably have done the same thing , but that's just what i believe (no way to prove it). Levy has also brought in good players so well done to him for that (although one might argue that with the budget we have he is supposed to bring in good players). As mentioned before Spurs are the only club in the top 20 of richest clubs without the silverware to go along with the money (and fanbase). For me as long as we play offensive stylish football all is well ... success is great but not a necessity. Mediocricity however , i have more problems with
We are on a turning point here , we want to compete with clubs that seem to have a lot more money then us , or have been very consistent over the years or have a team filled with talented youngsters (because of good scouting). We are neither absurdly rich, nor consistent and obviously do not posess the scouting team or policy to bring in the youngsters.
Does that mean we just have to accept mid table football when top 4 is so very close , does this mean that we can not be dissapointed that no new striker has been bought (and i am not even talking about the World Class 180 k a week type of striker) and that we have to settle for Crouch up front?
I'd like to believe that we can be dissapointed and ventilate our opinions here without being treated as cunts, twats, traitors, gooners in disguise or supporters from around the globe that never come to games (a f*ck you to brez from the bottom of my heart for that quote 'mate').
We are all fans , we have our opinions and in the end we just want Spurs to be great.
Well 4th spot has gone already so we can forget CL next season. If we don't get a grip then we could end up midtable. LIverpool are picking up and Sunderland are right on our heels. AC are going to embarrass the second eleven we will have to put out. Never mind - business as usual eh! We can get back to doing what we do best - moaning.
And now we lose Modric for at least 10 days as he's had his appendix removed!
That said, Harry should take the opportunity to switch to 442, not that he will.
Midfield of Lennon, VdV, Palacios & Pienaar. Maybe even go 532/352 if we can find 3 fit enough centre-backs.
352 would allow us to leave Hutton out and let Lennon loose.
But no....... it'll be the usual 4-5-1 and there won't be anyone in there who can tackle.
Beadle, points 2 and 3 contradict point 1.
The system we are playing is Redknapp's. Tactically, he is not fit for purpose.
Levy, according to Redknapp, did try to pay 'ridiculous' amounts of money for a player, and if trying to shut down THFC and open up Spurs 'lite' in Stratford doesn't make Levy unfit for purpose, I don't what will.
*I don't know what will.
A few things
1. 'Spend within you means' begins on 1/6/2011 - it would appear that this is the reason why Chelsea spunked 72mil on 2 players, liverpool 50 odd on 2 players and why toon managed to get 36mil for Carroll. This is also why we bid the sums we did for the players mentioned.
2. A transfer window like that will never happen again....sure there will be big transfers but not as much as that.
3. Abandoning the reserve league was probably the biggest mistake the club made.....now we cant dip into relatively match fit players. Potentially good players that would do a job if called upon are on loan deals with probably no clause to recall before the end of the season. Andros played a blinder against Charlton and was immediately loaned to Watford. He'd be something diferent for Blackburn to contend with tonight.
4. Whats done (or not) is done....Adam would have been a good signing for the rest of the season at the very least seeing as Thud is out for basically 2 more months and at 7mil was a relative bargain would have replaced JJ in the squad for next season.
5. Lets get behind the lads...all this negativity will get to them sooner rather than later or at the very least leave the moaning here on weblogs bring positivity to the ground and sign like motherfuckers...like Sunday.
6. I reckon, and this is not rocket science, 4th is the best we can hope for, but more realistically 6th is where we'll end up...especially if the 3 remaining strikers dont start delivering now. Chelsea I think are still dodgy but liverpool could be about to make a run if Suarez is as good as people reckon he is (doubtful) then we could be in trouble... 15th May away to Liverpool...will decide 5th
Onwards ladies and gentlemen....the fun's about to start!
If the transfer-window policy were a night-club, our plan for 'getting the girl' would be to wait until closure and attempt to pair off with anyone desperate enough to have us.
Desperation, on either side, is not an attractive characteristic or a good basis for a relationship.
Exactly a year ago there were calls for the manager to be sacked and the possibility of 4th looked remote. Our sole deals in the transfer market were Younes Kaboul and Eidur Gudjohnsen on loan.
“If I thought he [Woodgate] was fit I would play him over most people,” said the manager. “I wouldn’t see myself wanting to play Charlie [Corluka] and Bassong.
“I don’t know if you saw the game at West Ham this year [when we lost 1-0], but I decided after that game that I’d better not play them together again if I could help it"
Man management. Watch the pro's at work.
ps. Liverpool arent actually stronger are they. For the forseable future they are without Carroll which means they are exactly the same but with Suarez upfront instead of Torres.
Ok for tonight Modric out,Bale out ,so Gomes,Charlie,Gallas,Bassong,Assou,Wilson,Pienaar,Lennon,Niko,Defoe,Pava.If things are going wrong then we switch to the super devasting pair of VDV and 3MP but we have to give Defoe and Pava a run at them but i guess it will be the other way round with 3MP and VDV starting.If sgt gets tired he must bring on Sandro .Over to you Arry.
I think a few of us have lost sight of the fact that we are finally playing in the Champions League (albeit it will be a struggle to get top 4 this season). There is so much being said about Levy and Redknapp, about forwards and formations its ridiculous. Sit back and enjoy the ride! We play AC Milan in the knockout stages and I for one thought that was a distant, unachieveable, dream not so long ago.
Facts - Crouch got us the goals in the past (away at Man City, hat-trick against Young Boys). He is awkward but not a terrible player and has assisted VDV for most of his goals. Defoe is greedy and strays off side too often but will score goals....he has barely played this season.
4-4-2, 4-3-3. 4-5-1 it really doesn't matter if we start games like we did against Fulham, Inter, Young Boys. That isn't harry's fault that is players making basic errors, not tracking runners and not switching on!
Do not believe all the hype abouit players signing. Aguero - new contract...funny that.
Yes we always want to strengthen our side but the squad we have is the best we have had for many many years. So much so that Krankjaer doesn't get a sniff!!
Sadly the run of games we have coming up are exactly the sort of games we struggle in when confidence is low. Blackburn away, Bolton and then Sunderland away. Get behind the boys, and keep the faith!! COYS
Belgian Spur: "For me as long as we play offensive stylish football all is well ... success is great but not a necessity. Mediocricity however , i have more problems with."
Precisely, very well put. In fact, agreed with your entire post.
Spurs LA, I was having a pop at those who come on here to rant against other supporters' views or even the fact that other supporters have views. Those posts generally have the "composition or grammar class" failings I listed. With the exception of Davspurs, the I-don't-need-no-stinking-grammar posts are also usually the ones sorely lacking in rational thought.
Completely agreed with your post "just because you like a team doesn't mean you have to like everything about it. Criticism is good. Don't close your eyes and ears and bend over. " Which echoes the point I was making.
Fox Muldar, agreed with you as well. Being pissed off that we are down to three of our four underperforming strikers does not mean we wanted to pay 35 million for Carroll or bring in someone on 120k a week. It means we expected the people at the club who are paid very good money indeed (I'm looking at you, harry, with your extended and improved contract) to do their jobs and bring in one or two players to strengthen the areas where we are weak(er).
Ouji: your post made me snort coffee. Very good.
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, off to the firewalled work computer I go. Can't even get the Wall Street Journals blogs on it, never mind this delightful location!
@belgian spur. Well said. Thanks.
I actually would have accepted signing Kevin Davies and Rodallega. I'm sure they would'nt have cost a lot but are better than Harry's Crouch-ie any day. I don't understand why Tottenham Hotspur should be the team that such a poor player gets favoured at.
If he was playing on merit I probably would have no issues with him. But having followed Harry from Southampton to Portsmouth to Tottenham, it seems he doesn't need to do anything good at all to play all the time. And that at the expense of our Top4 ambitions and happiness (enjoying another super-Pav strike).
Keane also got favors from Harry when he started to be poor. It did'nt make him better, instead it made him arrogant and complacent. Harry isn't doing his Crouch-ie any favors by giving him consistent matches when he is horrible. He gives him no incentive to improve.
Read a couple of these and not one bit of sense you mindless wankers.
The team we have now got us 4th so fuck off and let them get on with it
SpursLA i may be in the minority but maybe us minority have better sense than to act on a knee jerk. Criticism is good however calling for the Levy and Harry to go is not "Criticism "
As a matter of interst those who want Levy and Harry to go who do you think would buy Spurs and do a better job and what manager do you think will come to us ?
Get a little perspective guys. People have literally gone in insane.
Yes we do need a striker! Does anyone actually believe that HR and DL do not know this. Does anyone actually believe DL did not try his hardest to get someone. The fact that these players do not want to come is not always about money......and if it was, i personally do not want a marquee signing coming in and getting paid £50-100,000 more than anyone else in the squad. The teams togetherness would be torn to shreds. This is the January window. Typically, no one moves in january, especially not from abroad.... City and liverpool are the exception this time round but it is still a hard time of year to bring someone in from outside the UK. i cant see why everyone was so dead certain we would be picking someone up. I think a little more perspective and a HUGE amount of time less spent on SC ITK page is needed.
What Harry says, is what Harry says. In public what on earth does he have to gain by not bigging up our players. He is a man manager and (apart from darren bent) would do whatever he can to keep players confidence in check. We will NEVER know what he says behind closed doors. But lets be honest, if he was really happy with the 3 weve got he would not be willing to spend 35+ million on another player.
Rossi and Forlan were NOT the kind of striker we need. Not saying i wouldnt want them at my club but thwey are not the Biog target man we all know our team is crying out for. Admittedly we could do with a carroll type signing but for £35million, no thanks. And he would have chosen Pool over us ANY DAY of the week so the whoe Carroll thing is mute.
People are also forgetting the tiny amount of on the field time Defoe and VDV have had together. If and its a big, IF they start to click, who knows what will happen. Its EXACTLY the same kind of if Liverpool are faced with.....suarez hasnt kicked a ball in vain in the UK yet and honestly, the first time we played Newcastle at WHL this year, Kaboul Marked Carroll out of the game.....does that mean Kaboul is worth £35 million also? I think not.
I still believe in this team. We have our bad halves of football and it is very true to say that we dont have a champions mentality yet. But apart from United.... name me a team that has not capitulated this season. Chelsea vs sunderland Arsenal vs US, Man City vs Arsenal, Liverpool vs MOST teams. And of those team, only the CHAMPIONS have really strengthened. No other team bar Chelsea has a stronger back 4 now.
Im not saying we are 100% going qualify for CL again, but all this doom and gloom based on each and every one of you getting your OWN hopes up by reading and believing far too many tabloid articles is laughable. Suddenly, because we lost a game to Fulham and didnt spend 35million on an overpriced northerner we are doomed for failure.
Have a little pride.
As Ziegemonster said:
"the I-don't-need-no-stinking-grammar posts are also usually the ones sorely lacking in rational thought".
Thanks for the contributionthere, dessyspur.
We didn't get that new forward that I was hoping for, but for the love of it...
C'mon you Coys!
I can see good points and (many) bad above, I too am disappointed at not signing a striker in Jan but I think I'm disappointed for reasons other than some of those mentioned above...
If we genuinely had 35M to spend, why didn't we look to spend it earlier. Ok this was mentioned above, however, I wouldn't have sniffed at paying 27M for Dzeko. Man City got this right I reckon, especially when you compare it to the madness on deadline day, but we'll see how it pans out for them. Playing deadline day chicken, as someone mentioned, was stupid.
Why didn't we have a less expensive plan B? That's pretty much what Pav was when we bought him and for all his troubles his contributions have still been important. We were linked with a few less-glamourous players but nothing happened with them. A bid for someone like Rodallaga perhaps or anyone who could fill the gap for the short term, especially with Keane and GDS going should have been made. Yes we need a prolific proven goal-getter, but in the absence of that person something different could have made, all the er, difference.
We all knew throughout January who our targets were and with Aguero, Forlan, Rossi etc they were all pretty high profile and mostly playing in Spain. So my problem here is with our scouting. Surely, SURELY we had other less glam options around who could have helped. Even late bids for these types of players would probably have been accepted.
Also, a cheeky bid of 30M for Hulk would have been worth it too, no? Ahh I'm dreaming again there....
Now we're left with no NEW options, less than before even, and that's what's so frustrating. We tried, just not hard enough.
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Finally to the guy that mentioned about being on the terraces in the UK to be a fan. Have you perhaps thought that some of those you berate have already spent their times on the terraces (like myself) before deserting the shitehole that is London? Thanks to the magic of TV I haven't missed one game all season. Twat.
A question for you all which requires an honest answer. Not a wish or hope answer a what you think will happen answer. With the players we have available do you think we will beat Blackburn and Bolton? (And as an aside do you think you will be happy with 'Arry's team selection!!) If I was (god forbid) talking to Utd or Chelsea fans I'm sure the answer would be yes and that would be because they are used to things working out for them. It's taken years for them to get there and I hope that one day we will have made that transition. But in the meantime there has been some great football to enjoy. The frustration is that I think things could be quite a bit better even with the squad we have,'Arry has done so much for us but I don't think team selection is his strongest suit and some of his favourites and dislikes are counterproductive.
Where is my triple signing the ITK's promised?
Harry please, please, start Corluka. Do it for me.
COYS
And for me big sky (at RB not CB)
Canada, terraces guy was in the late 60s and 1970s, that was exactly his point, just because be doesn't live there now he can't have an opinion as some moron said.Take back the twat you cunt
NEW SPURS MOTTO
IF ITS BROKE DON'T FIX IT!
NEW SPURS MOTTO
WE ARE IN THE CL
CROUCHALDINHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Peter why did you have to score some posters on this blog are now choking on thier own words !!!!
good open game suiting our counter attacking, can see defoe getting one on the break.
we look a bit open when charlie goes forward as VDV not covering back.
Bit of a heart pounder so far. We are leaky in the back. Lennon is cutting in well from the left but seems to run out of options from there. Need that last bit of creativity in the box.
NORTHSPUR (Oh look, a full cap name, what a surprise!)
No one here has said they don't want our forwards to score. Quite the opposite. We are saying they do not score enough. I hope that is simple enough for you to understand.
That goal, which I was very happy to see, nevertheless is only the second goal Crouch has scored in the league all season. He still hasn't scored more goals than fullback Alan Hutton. On what planet is two goals two thirds of the way into the season an acceptable performance from a striker?
Commentator said Blackburn is the only team in the league who has not yet recovered to win a match once they went behind and I hope and pray that continues tonight. COYS. Three points any way you can.
GOMES.
"I hope that is simple enough for you to understand" yes i fully understand thanks always have just hope its simple enough for you to understand SUPPORT YOUR TEAM (Oh look, caps what a surprise!).
So to recap we have just won away at a very hard ground with a very "bare bones" team with a manager who many have wrote off shame
Yes, Gomes was massive for us today. And Jenas had a good game as well. On the other hand, by the time he was subbed, I'd actually forgotten that Defore was on the pitch. Hmmmm.
Big Sky, where does BAE's doo fall on the full 'fro versus cornrow scale today. Looked quite a hybrid to me, rows against the head and kind of a poof at the back. Still, he had a good game and we (gasp) kept a clean sheet.
we've got our Tottenham back.
Spurs fans fickle? Shurley Shome Mishtake? Good result tonight and Citeh dropped points. COYS
Let me get this straight, NORTHSPUR. If I observe that 2 goals with two thirds of the season gone is a poor performance from a striker, then I am not supporting the team? And if I note that Defoe, who Harry almost always starts, hasn't had a single goal in the league this season, then clearly I must be an Arsenal mole sent to corrupt the lily white faithful.
What, then, is an acceptable post? Slagging other posters, like you do? Saying we're in the champions league? Yes, I think everyone is already aware of that. Say that I lover Spurs? Well, yeah, whatever our views, we all love Tottenham, that's why we spend time on sites like this. Insist "in Harry/Levy we trust"? Sorry, can't go along with that one personally, but even if I could, how many times can you post that?
This is a discussion board. We're here to exchange differing opinions. Not to accuse the people who disagree with us of not "supporting" the team.