Redknapp

Some general musings and observations from today.

Sky Sports News constantly running the 'Luka Modric wants to leave Spurs' story then breaking the Daniel Levy statement response and then still continuing to run the original story like it was completely irrelevant that the club had shut up shop over any possible transfer.

Harry Redknapp on TalkSport. Never listen to this station (I guess only idiots do) but tend to look for relevant interviews or sound bites when told to do so and our gaffer post-Levy statement gave one of his routine interviews to the station.

Read this article for a general overview.

Do you think he makes it clear enough that it's Daniel Levy's promise that the player will not be sold?

He's relentless with it. Okay, so Levy does have the power to buy and sell but once more Harry hardly endears himself with his disassociation tactics. Seems hellbent to get the message across that if anything hits the fan it's not going to projectile from his backside. It will be Daniel in urgent need of Imodium.

But then it's no great surprise. Harry looks after Harry. He's hardly one to talk about loyalty. But clearly his agenda is to always come out smelling of roses so in case you've not quite grasped it: IF MODRIC IS SOLD, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HARRY.

@fizzyswizzle

Daniel Wynne of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust was also on TalkSport and mentioned how he believes Harry should be more positive about the club when speaking to the media. The same Harry that uses 'them' when referring to us? Disassociation tactics, invisible divide...no matter how you wish to describe it that's how he operates. At least that's how he began to operate last season when the pressure was on. Said it many times, he does great PR that will always appease his pals in the press but he can't quite master the relationship with the fans when things get a little pricky.

I agree with Wynne, Harry needs to be far more positive. But to do so he has to be consistent. I lost count of the times last season when we were in the race and out the race according to Harry. He don't half contradict. He talks like a consultant to THFC rather than our manager (to quote a nail on the head tweet). Perhaps that's all he is. Steady the shape, get us into prime condition for a younger more long term appointment post-2012.

Probably doesn't really matter what Harry says as long as he gets his message across clearly in the dressing room. He loves to have a word on camera, in a mic, so he's hardly ever going to shut up. So he'll continue to churn out the sound bites. Harry should have kept it short and sweet today.

Alas, just roll with the punches.

Love him or hate him, he's worked wonders for us. He has a chance to do so again this up and coming season.

Modric. Again.

Late last night I was drowning in delusions and denial. We all speculated and attempted to work through the Dail Mail 'exclusive' concerning several paragraphs worth of quotes directly from Luka Modric via his holiday boat, very politely informing us of his ambitious plans to leave us for another that can offer him an immediate challenge in the top tier.

As much as it pains me, deep down, we all know footballers are hardly loyal to the club they play for unless said club is giving them exactly what their heart desires. The likes of Giggs and Scholes never looked to move. But then they were products of Man Utd and have played through one of the most successful periods for a club in modern times that any player could ever wish to be a part of.

Other successful players (i.e. Ronaldo) enjoy their success then want to move on for something different for a number of reasons (lifestyle, new league, new challenge, more money).

Then you have the clubs that are not quite top tier, but wish to be. The problem is said club (us) ends up being nothing more than a stepping stone simply due to the fact that even though we might be confident to challenge again for a Champions League spot next season we'll have to wait for the season after to be involved in it. Patience is not a virtue most players possess. Perhaps they look at their peers, believe themselves to be as good if not better and question why they're sitting amongst the chasing pack rather than in the leading pack. Not an excuse, it's a harsh fact. As much as we kid ourselves that some players are different, they all want to play at the very top.

I tend to wish (dream) that they can see the bigger picture. Spurs are trying to build something, create history and perhaps become a permanent fixture in the top four. We'll be the ones forever plucking the cream of the crop from whatever team(s) fall out of their lofty positions. And that's the crux of it. We look at it from the clubs perspective as fans. Fans who will always be here. Unlike players that come and go. They tend to look at what the club can give to them from a personal perspective.

Modric has a winners mentality. He wants to win. Sadly, much like so many of his peers, he might not want to be part of a team building up to something rather just move into one that has already been completed.

You would wish for Modric to wake up and smell the rose of our reality that can allow for his destiny to be one of far greater value in terms of allowing him to gain the success he aspires to and fulfil our ambitions as supporters. If it wasn't for dropped points here and dropped points there perhaps a more clinical finish or control of the ball or the right pass instead of one a yard off...we'd have finished 4th. Or higher. There's a fine line at work.

Our failure last season is one of a collective responsibility. So I guess what with recently signing a new and improved contract (5 years left?) Luka should have perhaps looked at how the Prem played out, how close we actually were and simply worded his 'exclusive' to be more of a challenge (a throw of a gauntlet) to the chairman in terms of matching his ambitions.

'Prove to me how ambitious Tottenham are'

Instead we got a rather apologetic thanks but please please please let me go. Which I guess is better than a sulk and a strike.

Fact is the club has to now show its ambition by signing the players that will aid us with pushing onwards, to galvanise the squad further. To truly show our unity and that we are here to stay to continue to dick off the media and the clubs that enjoy looking down and bullying us every summer.

Levy's statement was powerful. It's one thing telling interested clubs sniffing around Luka to go away, it's another to inform them and the world that there is next to no chance of him being sold. For any price. Now my thinking has been that we would play a game, one that Levy is pretty much the master of. Deflect and manipulate the situation to our favour to maximise a potential transfer fee. Have the likes of Chelsea breaking British transfer records (again) to sign him.

Remember this concerning Berbatov and Keane?

"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence.

This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively" - Daniel Levy

Difference? I guess two things. Contract length and the fact that today isn't yesterday. Where we currently in terms of position as a squad means that if we don't fight to retain the spine of our team then the message to the squad and everyone else is that if you want to push us over go ahead. We'll stumble and fall and pick ourselves up. Then you can wait. Then push us over again.

I know it's dangerous committing yourself to words that never speak louder than actions, but when you read the statement from the chairman it's abundantly clear to me that Daniel Levy has supreme confidence that there is utterly not a chance in hell the player will be sold or bother to continue to engineer a fruitless move away. It's worth repeating.

Which means this is end game. Final boss defeated. No lives lost.

So what now? I said yesterday that what happens post-Daily Mail article would be important to how things shape up for THFC and the player. Levy has done his bit. It's now over to Luka Modric. We still don't know how the events leading up to yesterdays bombshell came about. Perhaps it was as simple as agent/player using the media to pressure the club into accepting talks with Chelsea. Someone pointed out to me the timing of the statement. Why had Levy waited to inform us about rejecting the bid post-bombshell? I guess I would have done that. Makes you look even more kick-ass, standing in the face of adversity and sticking up two fingers.

Rooney was practically done and dusted at Utd before he signed a new contract there. Some took a while to forgive him. Seems like a ploy in hindsight, a stupid one, to earn more money. Modric was ill advised and naive to do what he did. It's happened but I'm not going to allow any part of my heart to darken over it. He's just a player that plays for my team. This has always been about intent to finally buck the trend. Modric on the pitch in Lilywhite epitomises what is so great about supporting Spurs at this moment in time. We can't allow a key player to leave.

I will just have to readjust my expectations of footballers and remember they are not Tottenham Hotspur. We are, the fans. If we happen to balls up next season, then next summer will be grim. But we're not going to balls it up and this summer will be looked back on as the turning point.

So Luka. Man up and send Daniel a box of chocolates and a card. Because he's the daddy.

My name is Luka

I'm probably being fuelled by delusion and denial (and large quantities of rum), but something stinks. Something other than the perspiration soaking my t-shirt.

Either I'm not quite grasping the tactics at hand between the interested parties for Luka Modric aided by the media's onslaught to continuously link him away from White Hart Lane and his football agent or we're knee-jerking because of the completely transparent and hardly ambiguous direct quotes the Daily Mail have shared with us. Which doesn't actually make it a knee-jerk. Just a nightmare.

This (Daily Mail) is a publication that is usually avoided by most of us because of their lack of substance on any given day. But behold, a day after Modric's agent tells the Guardian that there is no attempt to engineer a move and that the player is happy and would not seek to leave unless the club accepted an offer - we are to believe that someone phoned Luka on his boat, and pretty much got the perfect response that the likes of Chelsea and probably Man Utd have been waiting for. That's a massive turnaround of direction from one newspaper to another that is just about passable as a 'newspaper'. Not that I trust football agents.

I guess if you're going to engineer a move, you don't select the more esteemed outlet. If this is playing out as a genuine ploy of forced departure, then someone (guess who) is holding the hand of Luka's agent allowing for a  damaging response to the initial rejection of the ridiculous £22M bid.

I can see a hefty penalty payment transferred to the Tottenham Foundation coming up in the near future.

I'm basically conflicted because Luka and his agent have been pretty straight up thus far. We've all been saying how a Berbatov scenario would not be birthed because our little Croatian is simply not of that ilk. But here we are. Naivety on my part?

He wants out. We're not ambitious. We're a stepping stone. He's not asking for a transfer but has made his position unattainable and as a result will push us back into that re-building transitional period that allows the survivors of Sky Sports monopoly to continue to stay that one step ahead. The suggestion from the narrative of the Mail's article is, go and agree a deal and let me go. On paper, it's pretty clear cut because you fancy even the Mail wouldn't print and then credit the person without them not believing it to be true. Would they? Bit naughty if they have.

Although if you re-read the article, it's nothing new - he's said most of it before - until the last couple of quotes. Reading it within the context of how the article is shaped up, it sounds fairly final. But it might not be.

Man, I'm hanging on for dear life.

Regardless of any of the above, it's what happens next. A Harry sound-bite, a Levy statement and a show of strength or perhaps a follow-up from either agent or Luka himself.

He has a lengthy contract and we can only pull a 'Cesc' and keep him hostage here if we remain strong to our word. If the player's heart is not in our Hart then it's a case of tagging him with a price (say £45M) and then it's up to Chelsea to prove how ambitious they are. Although if you're going to leave Spurs, you'd think you'd just wait for our parent club to make a bid first.

For now, I'm embracing my delusions (and polishing off the rum), and will blindly hold the hand of hope as I fall asleep and dream that come September 1st, Luka Modric will still be a Spurs player.

Relegated by Christmas

Blatantly, the FA Premier League have implemented advanced code in their fixture list computer software to conspire once more against the mighty Tottenham Hotspur's push towards reclaiming a Champions League spot.

The season explodes with a Category A orgy. Let's hope we remember to bring some protection. I don't mind the opening game of the season being at the Lane against beatable opposition, but the following two appear to be of the ilk of mockery. Utd then City. September will be fine, with Liverpool at home sandwiched between Wolves and Wigan away (so that's D, W, D). Which then brings us onto the North London Derby, unceremoniously early for my liking on October 1st. The games from that point onwards up until we face Chelsea on the 20th December, I fancy with chest beating confidence.

It's the period after the new year that doesn't look very appealing. January is home town glory, punctured by an away game at the Eastlands which is never daunting (just saying we know how to play up there on their patch). February on the other hand is like buying a packet of Revels and finding every one you pick out to eat is coffee. March is equally tricky thanks to Man Utd and Chelsea, but points to be had at home I would guess. April is a good month. In fact, so is May.

Hold up, let's try this again.

It's the period after the new year that doesn't look very appealing that has me thinking we'll find our stride towards the leagues conclusion, with perhaps one or two hiccups but no chokes.

Let's face it, no matter how the fixtures are lined up, it's hardly relevant. Last season we had runs of games that were supposedly easy on paper and we faltered. The season before, the fixture list was nigh impossible and we trounced it.

In short: Remain difficult to beat at home and improve our win ratio compared to draws in comparison to the 2011 season. Away from home, no slip ups reminiscent to the Blackpool game.

Other than that, COYS. Fixture list today, world class forward tomorrow.

A lot of effort went into this one then

Viral? Leaked completley by accident? Or just a plain shirt used for pre-launch to allow the tech guys to build the product page? You can find it here (until it gets pulled down). If real, then the suggestion is that Puma have sent out images of the shirts to online retail shops ready for post-launch. Someone too eager has published live, rather than on test. Possibly.

Regardless, what of the shirt?

Clean, crisp...just white. No yellow streaks or unnecessary complications. Just white. With collars.

I thought it (the above image) was photo-shopped when I first saw it, probably just an instinctive reaction to seeing something so simplistic in design. On closer inspection, you can zoom into the image on the above linked page, so appears to be fairly geninue. Which still remains my only concern (what with being paranoid and cynical that this has 'gone live' and remained so without anyone pulling it off the site, thus creating hype/chat across blogs and Twitter and football message boards. Because what would be the point of that?)

Oh yeah.

Nice one Puma. You had as fooled with 'Guess the Kit' and all those zany designs.

Here's a mock up with a sponsor, via Glenroyid:

Spurs - any chance we can get rid of the red dot? Moon on a stick.

If this is the shirt, then well done to all involved in it's design. Although I'm thinking all they did was listen to what many of us have been demanding for so long and avoid re-inventing the wheel.

Although I'm wondering if I'd prefer it without the collars...

Modric

If it's true, if a bid has been made (debatable - if they truly have bid, they don't appear to be very serious about it), Levy needs to show some true grit here. Laugh it off. Tell Luka Modric he's going nowhere. He's got a job to do. Make a statement of intent.

Simply put - if he's sold, we'll never shift out of this perpetual state of flux. Two steps forward, one back, one forward, one back. No one player is bigger or more important than the team. But the reattainment of our best players is vital. We're not mid-table Spurs pushing for top 5. We're top 5 Spurs pushing for top 3. We have to believe that, starting with the players. If you sell and the power is for you to retain, then you're more or less giving up and starting over. I don't want to hear about the fiscal aspects of profit. Retain your top players, cement and consolidate a top four position...then you'll have all the money in the world. We've also got enough deadwood to start a fire that will burn for centuries.

We're not a selling club, right? So says our chairman.

Anyways, Sky Sports News understands usually translates to one of their in-house producers reading something on a message board or Twitter then gleefully running the yellow ticker. £22M? Arrogance and cheek. Has Roman lost his wallet and is only bidding with the loose change in his back pocket? Their bid is better suited as a donation to the Tottenham Foundation. You can get a Henderson for £20M.

"Tottenham Hotspur gave me my chance in the Premier League and I want to go on to achieve great success here with them. Yes, there have been enquiries from other big clubs, but I have no interest in going anywhere. Last season's Top 4 finish was an indication of where we are as a Club and I feel I can continue to improve and go on to achieve everything I want to at Spurs"

- Luka Modric, May 2010, 6 year contract signed

Don't want to be overly dramatic, but we'd only sell the player if we gave into it. Would be soul destroying. This is not a Berbatov saga. The lad is not attempting to engineer a move away, neither is his agent.

How about this for a slice of ITK. My heart says, no chance. The club has to rise above it. The media and one or two 'interested parties' will continue to do their best to destabilise and unsettle. Wouldn't put it past someone else (go on guess) starting this rumour for their own agenda and benefit to drive a bidding war. It's a dirty game. They want everyone talking about it, they want Luka thinking about it. The irony, not lost on any of us because we're all doing the same thing. I'm writing it, you're reading it.

Stand strong Tottenham. It's going to be a long hot summer with the possibility of a brooding storm or two.

Which newspapers are ITK?

Found this over on Glory Glory. If anyone knows the source of this information, please share so I can credit (and also confirm audit time frame).

Pretty certain other 'transfer' websites that fall outside the category of tabloids/broadsheets have equally low accuracy percentages. Not that we'd expect anyone to have high prediction rates. It's not a case of pointing out how wrong they are most of the time rather the quantity of articles and transfer stories produced for the sake of hype. If the media only published fact on potential transfers they'd never print anything. You have to accept a hit consisting of insider scoured gossip, agent talk and destabilising conjecture.

The below simply illustrates just how far certain publications will go and how little even our friends in the media know. Proving that in most cases, you only know of a transfer as it progresses through the stage of contract talks and medicals...because the club/agent/player has allowed said info to be released into the wild.

Average number of articles posted per day:

The top 10 most rumoured clubs for transfers (what a shocker):

1. Tottenham
2. Arsenal
3. Birmingham
4. Man Utd
5. West Ham
6. Udinese
7. Man City
8. Barcelona
9. Lille
10. Villa

Top of the league.

Update on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 2:57PM by spooky

Found the source: FootballTransferLeague co.uk.

Interesting footnote:

Figures are based on all rumours we have that have been resolved (player has transfered or signed a new contract). FTL rumour data goes back to the start of summer 2006 transfer window.

Six reasons why the Parker pen has no ink in it

I’m struggling at the moment to think of anything relevant to write up for the blog. Not even inspired to go to town with a satirical spin on...whatever. See? I can’t even think of a target to aim at. I’ve landed so many body blows to the In the Know community, it’s almost become borderline obsessive. Such is my boredom I’ve began to study strange activity relating to people I follow on Twitter, fighting off random fits of paranoia. I’ll start worrying once the voices in my head subside. Or am I not meant to have voices in my head? I forget.

If we sign Scott Parker as back-up or as a replacement for Luka Modric I will kill myself. How’s that for a dramatic and a wholly unnecessary twist on attempting to light-up that missing fire in my blogging belly? By ‘kill myself’ I mean metaphorically speaking. I haven’t quite figured out the logistics yet. I was pretty much emotionless when I read the story at breakfast concerning how the Football Writers player of the year is holding out for a transfer to Tottenham. I spent the rest of the morning trying to hold in my breakfast.

Without access to Andy Gray’s interactive touch-screen technology (it’s probably sitting boxed up next to the Lost Ark of the Covenant in a warehouse) let me simplify it:

Modric. Sandro. Bale. van der Vaart. Huddlestone. Lennon.

That’s excluding bench warmers; Piennar, Kranjcar, Jenas, Palacios – amongst others.

Might as well elaborate.

So that’s six ‘first teamers’ that need to fit into either a four or five man midfield (depending on the main forward we have playing upfront with vdV just behind him if we opt for a 4-5-1 that actually works without glitches).

We’ve got a ton of games on the horizon. Rotation will play a part for sure (Rose and Walker cannot be loaned out and both can cover flank positions) and injuries will happen – it’s the hard unavoidable fact of life. We just have to hope it’s not to key players, but then when you have a side that is practically glistening with players you could tag as being vital and one or two that are beyond vital (they’ve got a skeleton key around their neck such is their importance of unlocking the opposition in offensive and closing the door shut back in defence) losing anyone will hurt.

However, Harry being Harry, you always get the feeling he quite can’t make up his mind. He spent a lot of time adjusting and changing last year where we lacked cohesiveness that meant fragmented consistency with the balance of the side. If you throw in another name, it’s going to lead to further tinkering.

That’s Parker or any other midfielder we’ve been linked with. How does one delegate priority if we signed him or Adam (Liverpool bound thank God) or <insert average player name here>?

Look at what we have.

Modric – Makes us tick, dinks and crafts and creates. Keeps the ball moving, recycles it with a touch of a Catalan.

Sandro/Huddlestone – One is better at defensive duties, breaking down play and chasing the ball with timely interceptions added for good measure. The other allows for another dimension to our play with disguised passes and cross-field fright for the opposing defenders. Both are swappable dependent on the opposition and the tactic for the game at hand.

Bale – Every so often we hear the quote ‘his future is at left-back’. Basically, the premise is that with a clever left-winger in front of him to allow for the over-lap, Bale is better suited in defence rampaging forward on said over-lap. I’d agree if Gareth was a better defender than he is a left-winger, which he isn’t. Which means sacrificing him to make way for some convoluted midfield selection is a no-go for me. BAE with Danny Rose covering left-back is the future. Three’s a crowd and all that.

Lennon – Is probably due another good clean and crisp season without the dips and lulls. Perhaps Kyle Walker will deputise as a RM on occasions to aid with progression in his development that will allow him to ‘do a Bale’ unless it’s already decided he’s ‘the future’ at right back meaning he covers Corluka (and we work out where best to play Kaboul – note how we have plenty of quality at the back but can’t seem to work out the best line-up). Regardless, Lennon is our outlet on the right. But is probably the one that would be sacrificed in that theoretical convoluted middle (with the chap directly below replacing him on the flank to make way in the middle).

vdV – If he loses the extra pounds he was carrying across the entirety of last season and also focus without distraction at leading from just behind the front and just ahead of the midfield (rather than losing himself in the depths just ahead of the backline) then his galvanising force will be even more telling. As long as the player just ahead of him is as good as he is. Unless of course a fully fit 90 minute version of Rafa is a fallacy.

Add a new one into the above fold, one that expects to be first choice, and you’ll have a congested bloated feast that will leave you holding your gut in agonising pain.

In a world of complexities and elaboration, I’ll go back to simplifying it. Any midfielder we sign has to be a replacement for one that currently warms the bench because we will not be selling any of our key players. Scott Parker might have endearing battle cry qualities (debatable in terms of when these qualities are applied successfully - does it count when it's at West Ham?) but at Spurs, is he a viable option simply because of circumstance? And if so, at what cost*?

*See all of the above.

If he's happy to sit the bench, I won't complain.

Guess I’m not struggling after all. I gone and wrote me a blog article.

Harry Redknapp loses his voice

I'm staring out the window at the moment. The evening sky where I am is an assortment of angry dark greys, all brooding and moody looking. If the clouds happened to be in a bar enjoying drinks, one of them is about to bump into another and spill a pint and it's all going to kick off. A downpour and a thunderclap. Any minute now. Here it comes.

That other window, the one most of us have our eyes on even when we sleep, is equally damp. What has today brought us? Just more suggestive journalism and soundbites. Very little dancing in the rain. Early days though, right? Reading too much into it, yeah? Might be sunny tomorrow, you just never know.

Abel 'goal machine' Hernandez bid rejected

In summary:

Uruguay international.
20 years of age.
Plays for Palermo, Italy.
£8.9M bid.
Maurizio Zamparini (president) rejected it.
£18M the valuation and alleged acceptable offer.

I don't know too much about the player but was told the quoted '2 goals from 22 games' is not quite factual. It's 3 goals from 12 starts and 10 appearances as a substitute. So statistically (not much of a difference), it's hardly the world class forward signing we need. But then if we did bid for the lad, considering it was a bid under the £10M mark you'd think this signing would not be the marquee statement we are eating away at our fingers for. Rather 'one for the future' who could still make an impact as our second striker in rotation. 

I've had the following pointed out to me (not disputing it, but if anyone has anything more to add, please do):

He's had heart surgery.
Recovered from an injury.
Is highly rated by the press and by other Serie A clubs.
He's expected to truly take the league by storm next season.
Cavani, in his first season in Italy, only scored 5 in 33.
Palermo are known for their good youth work with young South American players.

It's down to the person who scouted the player and fedback to chairman and manager on how best he could fit into the team. If they want more it probably wont happen because we are obviously working to a budget and can't over spend on players we don't value as highly as the potential selling club. Can't complain. We'd laugh off £20M for Modric if someone has the nerve to write a cheque for that amount.

Phil Jones. Nearly.

Harry Redknapp is always at hand to compliment others, never a bad word to say and always looking to make sure everyone knows he/we were somehow involved in the big story of the day. Phil Jones signs for Manchester United and guess what...we tried to sign him. He's obviously a lad with great potential, so I don't disagree with Harry on that. I'd expect us along with one or two others to be interested in the player. Why would you not be if you harbour ambitions to progress, push on and polish up on your squad by signing a young talented player? What I don't need to hear is a post-mortem on how we missed out, pinned to our chest like a badge of honour. Whether we inquired or actually lodged a bid or even spoke to Jones, I'm not sure. Harry has retained the details perhaps to reveal more in another interview. I guess the point is, why do we need to make public every single target or attempted signing? Why can't we just get on with it, and if it doesn't happen move on without comment? Why?

What? Oh yeah. Harry Redknapp.

Crouching Peter Hidden Somewhere

Here is the quote (apparently from Harry on a golf course, the bloke can multi-task with the best of 'em) in response to Peter Crouch being sold:

"I doubt it. Crouchy is a good player. I like him. He is a great lad and I love him as a fella. He is not one I'm looking to shift. We are looking to bring a striker in but he is not one of those that we are looking to sell if we can help it"

You take the Phil Jones soundbites as face value (perhaps with permission from the chairman to share the info, hinting at activity behind the scenes) but how to take the above? Personally, it's akin to the Bible code. A cryptic message can be found if you look carefully at the text, if you study it with time and patience. Here, take another look:

"I doubt it. Crouchy is a good player. I like him. He is a great lad and I love him as a fella. He is not one I'm looking to shift BUT HE'S BLATANTLY AVAILABLE YOU JUST NEED TO ATTRACT OUR ATTENTION WITH A BID THAT ISN'T ON THE CHEAP SIDE. We are looking to bring a striker in but he is not one of those that we are looking to sell WE'RE LOOKING TO SELL ALL OF THEM IF WE CAN REPLACE THEM WITH BETTER PLAYER if we can help it"

See anything yet?

Kyle Walker

Is Walker back at QPR on loan? Bit miffed if he is. Yes he's a right back and we have a neat collection of them in the first team squad currently, but I have this fantasy that he breaks into the first team and doubles up as a right winger (ala Bale's journey on the opposite flank) as back up for Lennon. He's a talent and unless I'm mistaken we've got the Prem, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup to contend with next season. Always feels like we loan players out until they're good enough to be sold for a tidy profit. Hutton will be sold (I've been pinning needles into a voodoo doll since the end of the season) so we need some enthusiastic fearless yoof in the side for rotation and cover. Walker back to QPR? Apparently just red top gossip at the moment. Phew.

Redknappology

Once again (and as a conclusion to the running theme pillaging its way through the above) we find ourselves asking what is the internal directive concerning the manner in which we update the media on our every move? There is nothing to be gained (other than informing all of our scatter-gun desperation and the apologetic nearly men theme) to continuously comment on any failed bid or interest of an unattainable player. Once upon a time (be it a short space of time) it was all hush hush then suddenly bang bang...here's a new player for ya. Currently we have a living breathing RSS feed relaying conflicting information via a twitchy somewhat unreliable server updating us on all our transfer movements. Unless of course Levy let's Harry get away with it all because it serves him as an means to an end. Look at plucky THFC, doing it's best for a third successive window.

Harry loves a camera and can't help himself so it's more than likely that he uses the countless occasions to do himself some good and get the word out on players we might be looking to offload or sign or make people believe we want to sign. Levy in the shadows, lurking...allows it to play out because it won't make a blind bit of difference to the work he's doing. Remember the van der Vaart signing? Harry couldn't wait to let us know how the deal came about and underplayed it a little too. I think he's opportunistic with the soundbites. I just hope Levy isn't so opportunistic this time round with the signings. Three fantastic signings is what Redknapp wants the chairman to bring to the club. If that's the case can we stop with all this persistent Parker, Cole, that bloke from Fulham linkage? What's that? Rio Ferdinand? Murked.

Someone define fantastic (not to say a fit Rio wouldn't do a job for us, but seriously...define fantastic).

Harry Redknapp loses his voice? We live in hope. Even if it did happen he'd probably turn up on Sky Sports News dressed as Marcel Marceau.

It's stopped raining now. More of the same forecasted for tomorrow. Much of the same in the news columns too I'd expect.

Back from Berlin

Guten Tag. Berlin was superb. If this was a travel blog I'd chit chat about their impeccable transport system of trams and buses, wide roads and the cycling lanes that cater for the exceptionally fit females and the exceptionally lucky males.

Graffiti on the East Side, Oranienburger Straße Playboy bunny streetwalkers (I only bantered with them, honestly), fantastic quantities of beer, beautiful local women, hidden day time canal bars, clubs and drinking till 5am. Not forgetting Currywurst. And 30 degree heat.

Did I mention how exceptionally fit local women in Berlin are?

On arrival back in Blighty I've had to quickly scan the various hotbeds of discussion (mainly Twitter and Glory Glory) to find out what I've missed during the days spent fleeing various seedy establishments that were meant to be lap dancing clubs that turned out to be brothels controlled by the Russian Mafia.

I've probably missed countless references by ITK community members citing 'We might be interested' and 'it's 50% going to happen' but I'll just day dream and make up soundbites of information in my head and I'm sure I'll have all their shared insider knowledge covered off in seconds.

As for the news that hit the mainstream and worthy of a word or two...

Joe Cole

The legendary 'calculator of probability' has been dusted off once more whilst the cheap headline hugging journos and enthusiasts perpetuate ITK nonsense that we're interested in the player for a cool £3M. I say nonsense because from our perspective, it's deep in the realm of unnecessary. Another central midfielder who can play out on the flank, sort of. Ta, but no thanks. We got us a collection. The club have dismissed it, which is strange because that sort of adds weight to the probability of it being discussed internally then rejected. Otherwise, why not just release a statement on every slice of nonsense that's published?

I say nonsense (again) because, well, tbh there is no requirement for the calculator of probability to be used when Joe Cole's name is mentioned. If he's available, by default, no matter the variables - Harry Redknapp's name will always form the basis of the formula. It's a 'textbook' Harry signing on paper. If this was any other club it would probably happen even if there was no point to it. If it did happen and he signed for us; riots.


Jamie O'Hara to Wolves

Talk of it being official but won't be until either Wolves or Spurs say so (that's the only ITK that matters). Yes, Jamie has a big heart and he gives it 100% with his energy and desire and the constant running around. But that's hardly reason enough to retain him, aided by his various dips of loyalty when out on loan. For back up, for squad depth...we need something better than what he can offer. He'll do well at Wolves. Players who are tagged with 'big hearts' (and nothing more) tend to be players that perhaps lack other vital ingredients to be more than just cover for a first teamer.

Martin Jol

Welcome back. Good to have the big man in the Prem again. Less pressure than previous jobs, no disrespect to Fulham. Their fans will adore him. But let's end this fallacy about his ability. Sure, Comolli undermined him, the Berbatov saga didn't help either. But BMJ struggled a little when it mattered most. We'll never know how it could have panned out had he been supported by chairman and DoF. All we know is that in Germany and Holland he's not made gigantic leaps forward in management progression. You might want to hug him more than you'd want to hug Harry, but he might not offer much more than the statistically better Redknapp. Shame Harry doesn't have the personality Martin does. If he had, well, you work it out.

Old man Brad Friedel

Not much to say about this one. We let our loan keeper go. We need a third man with gloves, so we sign one. I still think Gomes will retain his place in goal. With CC and Friedel looking to impress in training, the
pressure is on for a better more consistent standard to be produced by the Brazilian. Unless I have it completely wrong and Brad has been offered the number one jersey, CC is number two and a young keeper is set to be promoted or signed for extra extra cover. Answer will present itself at some point in the next two months if the erratic Heurelho is sacrificed and sold.

Leandro Damiao

If I've learnt anything from You Tube videos it's this: don't take it for granted that what you see is what you end up getting. Had that been the case, then Rebrov (pre-you tube but movie files did the rounds at the time) would have decimated the Prem with his trickery and outlandish finishing, Kuyt was a rampaging goal-machine and Berbatov only scored tap-ins. You'll have seen the linked goal video before. A collection of deft finishes with some daft sitters to balance it all out. Honest footage, if anything. Excites then leaves you scratching your head.

Lazy linkage (i.e. Diarra)

Over at Real Madrid Lassana Diarra has handed in a transfer request and wants to return to England. I'm going to refer back to the calculator of probability and the Harry Redknapp formula for this one. Ex-Redknapp signing, ex-Spurs target therefore we must be interested in him. This will blatantly lead the way for Sandro to be sold to his rightful La Liga home. Either that or we're all set for a 0-10-0 formation next season.

Modric

Spurs player.

Latest Harry quote

“It’s been busy – I’ve been busy doing nothing really, we haven’t got anywhere. There’s been lots of phone calls, lots of talk in the newspapers but we’re really at the moment not close to making any signings and certainly not looking to sell any of our better players.”

Who needs the 'In the Know' latest via message boards when we get it delivered out in the open without the cryptic messages by the gaffer? You would hope it's nothing more than disinformation (apart from the bit about not selling). You would hope the directive from Levy to Harry is to keep it all hush hush and say alot but actually say nothing. Which is what he's done here.

Unless he's telling the truth. If he is, imma buy me a crack pipe.

England

Crap transport system, crap national side. I know as a supporter I'm meant to support but I'm without the desire to do so at the moment and I've been soulless with the international set-up for some time. Hope we do well, hope we qualify. Just not a fan of some of the players or the football and it's politics. I hope there's some rejuvenation at some point in the future. Crazy to think at one point in the past England was as important to me as Spurs.


I think that covers it. Did I miss anything?

Berlin women: High percentage of 8/9 out of 10s.

Tottenham's Got Talent and the Daniel Levy connection

For reasons which will become obvious, I can't reveal my full identity.  But let me just say that, I am involved with Tottenham Hotspur and have many years experience within the football industry, at clubs and for sporting agencies.   My work involves close liaison with Daniel Levy’s ENIC (that’s the English National Investment Company) and, as a result, I have seen what goes on from the inside and this has left me increasingly uncomfortable about the integrity of Tottenham and particularly the workings of their chairman.

It's long been known that there is quite a degree of "wheeling and dealing" at White Hart Lane (You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5fwFba59lQ )  But press reports on "wheeling and dealing" are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to  ENIC’s manipulation of, not only potential transfer targets and the fans expectations, but also the media and hopefully, in this email, I can shine some light on the smoke and mirrors trickery of Levy.

Take the last transfer window as an example. Shambolic you’d think? No. It was expertly planned right down to the finest detail, nothing was opportunistic or desperate, everything was staged. Spurs purposely waited until the last hour to bid for Charlie Adam because they knew it would fail but at least the endeavour would gain press coverage, allowing Redknapp to perpetuate a ‘hard nights work’.

In the previous one, they were always going to sign van der Vaart. The player did not become available last second. Levy know a forward would propel Spurs into the top four, so avoided this and signed a midfielder which would generate excitement but also limit the team and confuse tactics.

It's no big secret amongst the fans that Spurs have been looking for a centre forward who could crack the top four push again, particularly in and around the penalty box.  At least that’s the illusion Levy has created to appease the hungry Tottenham faithful. The reality is, there were no true targets, just frivolous bidding and political statements where everyone pretended Spurs were busy trailblazing across La Liga bidding for anyone with two legs and an eye for goal when in reality Spanish club presidents gained kudos for rejecting bids for their star players. It was all pre-planned and agreed. A gentleman’s agreement.

So far in the history of Levy and Harry Redknapp, no one has ever signed who has not been a "buy then sell at profit" signing, and it does sadden me that, all those thousands of linked players, lining up via message board ITK threads, often behind a members only error message, are basically wasting their time. 

The directors at Spurs are not looking for the talented players, they already have those. The reality is that the producers are hunting out oddities, freaks and, I'm ashamed to say, mentally ill people, to act as amusing fillers on News Now. They are nothing more than made up transfer targets and they don't even qualify for medicals and work permits! 

It's quite disgusting and shameful really, how the board and Levy operate.  People come from all over the country, often at great personal expense, standing outside the Lodge waiting to see a major signing because they think Tottenham is a talented team missing one or two key signings that would stand them a chance of realising their dreams. 

I can tell you from the inside that Spurs is no more a "contender", than I am an astronaut.  Nothing is left to chance at Spurs, everything is micro-managed, choreographed, manipulated and planned down to the last detail including, the chaotic deadline day transfer madness and average obvious signings that can sometimes prove disruptive or warrant scratching of the head. Recent South African signings for example are simply there to aid the clubs promotion and awareness in Africa.

The ability to manipulate Sky Sports News opinion is vital if you are to control fees and indeed get the required transfer value for a player and an agreeable donation to the Tottenham Foundation. Levy sees this as essential to the success of the club and are very open about fact; signing and selling players of quality is impossible for an investment company if it purely looks to retain them and not sell them on for profit the moment their value doubles. if it was purely left to the fans, as Harry recently said  "They’re idiots".  Everything at Spurs is geared towards telling you who you we should be signing with misinformation and planted sound-bites with the media and sports writers, particularly via Harry Redknapp who acts as the protagonist for the chess game Levy is playing.  It's an art really, which they have honed to perfection and Spurs are now world leaders at.

The micro-management of Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer was incredible.  I was really quite shocked at how the club let him go up to talk to City when he was always going to be picked up at the airport by Utd.  From a starting point of wanting Berba sold, Levy had totally screwed Fergie in the process to the tune of £30M. But it looked like it was Utd and Berba controlling the destiny of the Bulgarian. Levy looks like he put up a gallant fight and looks better for it when he lets us know the money the club have received for the player. But what did we get in return? Frazier Campbell. Levy hardly interested in plugging the hole that was left. Money earned, job done.

In the present, as a footballer on the flanks, Gareth Bale has a relatively short shelf-life.   Levy knew he was going to have to hit the ground running to maximise Bale’s transfer potential, particularly if they go ahead with a planned sale to La Liga or Italy.

If you think Bale was bad during that run of games when Spurs failed to win with him in the side, you haven't got a clue.  With an "anything goes" attitude all morals have long since gone out of the window.  There  was no allowance for Bale’s age and he was expected to perform before he got injured which he did, rising hopes for his return. When he did, they then strategically played him in games that Spurs would possibly fail to win in order to generate negative hype around the player being jinxed, building up a body of disgruntlement. Then they pretended to offer him out on loan to other clubs, waiting patiently for BAE to get injured and then start Bale, first at left-back then left-wing. They always knew he would be a star, and this way it was rags to riches with an impact that has left the Welshman with a £30M+ valuation. The story its self, worth its weight in gold.

And if he gets exhausted, there's always some other youthful player in the Championship to pluck from a team right under their nose. I've seen it a million times.

Of course, once Bale’s pace goes, it's game-over and he will be commercially redundant for a few years until he re-signs for Spurs as a player in his mid-30s.  By the time he gets through that, the world will have moved on and his  fan-base will have moved onto the next big thing.  Will he make a successful comeback?  In my experience I'd say probably not. Because before Bale’s pace goes, he’ll have been sold to Man Utd or City. His return to Spurs will be nothing more than a sham, a player on his last legs earning a few more dollars.

I've also met Luka Modric privately a few times over the past couple of years.  He's a really nice bloke with a generous, warm personality and the most wonderfully cute, girlie-giggle.  There's nothing to not like about Luka.  He's a really sensitive soul and this comes across as him being a bit effeminate.  But in a world of thuggish chavs, Luka’s a real breath of fresh air really and a real delight to chat to.  Do I think Luka is gay?  No, is the short answer to that. Levy and Redknapp have got a lot to answer for in their initial styling and image for Luka

Like many Spurs midfielders,  Luka may have issues in coming to terms with sometimes having to play alongside Jermaine Jenas but in a year or so he’ll also be sold to Man Utd.  But right now, he's just a great midfielder...a bit different, I admit with the hair and the dainty baby elf type frame ...but a great lad just the same.

I hope Luka and Bale are not damaged by Redknapp’s tactical and formational shuffles geared to keep Spurs from a permanent spot in the top four, fortunately, history warns otherwise...but whatever, the genie is already out of the bottle and come this summer or next, their lives will change  forever.  Whether it's a good or bad experience being a superb player at Spurs in this day and age, only time will tell.  But as an football insider I have serious reservations about what is  about to happen at White Hart Lane and I doubt the home fans are ready for what's coming.

Thanks to my friends on Twitter and Facebook for getting this email out.  Without you my voice would be silent.

** If you want to help expose the lie which is Tottenham Hotspur FC and ENIC, please feel free to republish this article or post a link to it**

Anon
THFC

Summertime High Jinxs

In an ideal world you'd be Barcalona. Enriched with a beautiful (the passing not the diving) footballing philosophy from academy to first team. We (over in N17) don't quite have the foundations in place to implement such a template. It's hardly a task you can set into place over night. The right manager (and perhaps dare I say a sporting director?) has to be at the forefront re-structuring from top to bottom the development of youth players and an evident style of play meaning when the club does go out and sign someone, it's not a scatter-gun approach or one tailored specifically for opportunistic signings and wheeler dealer bargains. Only a certain ilk of player would fit in. Everybody involved at the club clearly understanding how the game should be played and the aforementioned youth players, promoted successfully into the first team, completely and unequivocally Tottenham at heart.

In short, it's fantasy football at this moment in time.

For a clubs traditions to be the main driving force behind such an ethos, it will only happen when it's meant to. If we've had anything of an ethos at Spurs, it's always been to attack and play attractive sweeping football. We've gone about doing so in the past by just signing flair players and 'players of the moment', sometimes without any pragmatic approach on how they would all fit together. 

Throw enough paint at the canvas and you just might end up with a masterpiece <- it doesn't quite work.

Our academy always appears to produce players of promise, but we're still waiting for something to blossom.

We've got stability, but there's no point in discussing a Tottenham blueprint just yet. What does need to be discussed is the opening of the transfer window and the work that is about to transpire with hopefully players arriving and leaving. For the moment, it's the short term that requires attention in order for there to be more thought provoking frameworks in the long term.

Someone recently mentioned to me that he believed the vast majority of clubs favour a scatter gun approach when looking to sign someone. They fancy one player, they bid, it's rejected, they move on. The ones that single out a target or two and simply work towards them are always more successful. You would be, if you're focused on one person in particular or a specific type of player that only a handful of targets fit into.

You can categorise most forwards (for example) by way of style so you're left with deciding on age, experience and availability/price after working out if you're after a Drogba or a Defoe. You draw up a list with your preferred choices and work through it, unless you sign the one first on the list.

It will always look chaotic from the sidelines. Why? Well mainly because we are impatient, excited and also heavily reliant on whispers and news coverage. You don't really know what is going on until it actually happens (or when Harry turns up in front of a Sky Sports News camera to update us).

In 2006 we did not bolster our squad during the January window. We should have consolidated. We paid the price. These past two windows we apparently endeavoured to sign a forward and failed. I don't quite believe most of the supposed bids for La Liga stars actually happened. Perhaps Forlan and Rossi were subjected to our interest.

What was disconcerting was the manner in which we bid for Charlie Adam during the final hour or so.  Opportunistic and desperate...also so illogical, Spock would have died of an aneurysm had he been subjected to the madness.

Just because someone becomes available last minute, doesn't mean we have an obligation to bid, and yet that's how it appears to have played out.

"Adam is available, would you like me to bid?"
"Sure. Got 45 minutes left but if we can order a pizza in that time we can surely sign a player"
"You certain you want him? Where would he play?"
"Let's worry about that after we've paid £10M"

It's pretty clear we need to have decisive plan of action and a list of targets along with a heavily strained fax machine sending out 'come and get'em' pleas for the likes of Bentley and the rest of the fringe players.

We simply can not afford to dither and leave it all until that final week.

I'm not going to apologise for stating the bleeding obvious. It's just that the bleeding obvious has taken a leave of absence recently. So let's hope he doesn't spend the summer by a pool topping up his tan.

'Seasons End' articles:

The Progression of Harry Redknapp's Tottenham

Tinpots

Forward Failure

Midfield Majesty

In our defence