Daniel Levy, stripped bare and naked

Club AGM. Questions asked and answered. Four topics of discussion.

Bale.
Redknapp and England.
Stratford and N17.
The January Transfer Window.

With boy wonder Gareth, Levy has basically said he's not for sale which means he won't be sold, citing the examples of Carrick and Berba as not quite the same thing because both players wanted to leave (with 2 years left on their contract). And because they wanted out the club sold them off. You can look at that in two differing ways. One way, the romantic notion of loyalty embraced, is that if a player doesn't want to wear the shirt he should not be deemed worthy of remaining at the club for a second longer it takes to kick him out. The alternative is to let the player sulk around the place, defecating on the badge and placing a gun to your head whilst holding you down, repeatedly calling you his little b****.

Player power, no matter the years on the contract, if they want to leave they can usually quite comfortably navigate and negotiate their way out. And let's be honest, it's the club that matters as a complete entity so if you have a malignant part of it, you want to see it removed. Players are commodities in that no matter how depressed/sad/angry you are when they leave controversially - they are always replaceable.

In the case of Gareth Bale, he appears not to be tainted with the ego virus. Not yet. All players are born with it, just a case of whether it ever manifests. He's level headed, feet on ground, leaving full-backs and transfer stories behind.

He's on a long contract and for the moment all is good. We don't need the money. Bale doesn't need to be playing his football anywhere else. I don't think for a second anybody actually believes some of the rubbish printed on paper and online about this that and the other being interested in the player. Even Fergie won't be bothering with a tap dance this new year.

No shocker with this answered question from Mr Chairman. Just confirmation of the obvious.

Harry and England? Levy points to another long term contract. Side-step by Daniel in that how exactly is he meant to answer it other than say it will be dealt with if it happens? And by deal with it, he means 'get compensation' from the FA. Because Harry would crawl over broken glass with Pompey and West Ham fans making sure said broken glass was aplenty at all times during the crawl.

Everybody knows Harry looks after number one. If England came calling he'd go. But that wouldn't be a disaster. Spurs are stable. Which was the whole point of bringing him to the Lane back in the days of two points eight games. The next appointment would have to be…ah, let's discuss this when we actually have to.

Again, no massive confirmation of anything we didn't know or could guess.

A proper side-step with questions around moving to the site of the Olympic Stadium. Levy is aware of the mood of the fans. Which would mean he knows the fans are fragmented with some of us not wanting to move and others happy. Mr Chairman states that he's a fan and he has friends who are fans and he interacts with them every day. And that he doesn't need a survey because he has a 'pretty good feel' as to what the mood is. Which is fragmented. Unless all his mates love East London. Which in that case, wipe that tear away and kiss Bill Nicholson Way goodbye for ever.

So pretty much nothing in the way of headline making news again.

And finally, the Jan transfer window. Take note 'In the Know' communities. You need to base your inside info around Daniel's comments about how he expects it to be a 'quiet transfer window'. So lay off linking us with 473 players in the next three weeks.

In all seriousness, soz, but nothing to read into again because we have another side-step from Levz. And why not? It's not like we want him to tell us we have X amount in the Consolidation War Chest and we're be paying £25M for young up and coming midfield engine room Scottie Parker.

What he does confirm is probably the only telling piece of information. We need to rationalise our squad (largest in the Prem league). In other words, goodbye to the likes of Robert Keane. Sell on, cut down on wages etc. And stating we do not anticipate a busy transfer window does sort of contradict this in that you'd expect us to sell more than one player which could be deemed as busy. And obviously sign a player. Or two. Although we do have one new arrival (from Africa) already due to arrive. So that would also fall under the 'busy' banner.

Okay then, hands up, I admit it. That wasn't actually a very telling piece of info was it? Much ado about narda.

Daniel Levy. Not quite stripped bare and naked with teasing finger in mouth. Rather fully clothed with a thick winter coat on, scarf & gloves and Ugg boots with additional darkened glasses moving slowly and strategically away, quietly repeating whatever it is you're saying.

"You ain't seen me, right?"

How much does a Bentley cost?

So apparently, Daniel Levy does not envisage the club being very active cometh the Jan transfer window, although he suggests that if opportunities arise we'll take note - but shouldn't expect any net spending. And to dizzy up the quotes further he's reassured Harry that there will be no disruption to the core team. To quote Mr Chairman:

"Having a settled squad gives us the best chance for consistency. We are striving for top-level displays, including the ability to take on and beat the so-called top four teams."

I'm thankful we have proven top 4 players like Robbie Keane in the squad. And Gerrardesque midfielders such as Jenas box to boxing their way up and down the pitch, when he's not sitting on the bench watching Huddlestone do the same thing. Well, not do the same thing pound-for-pound. Hudd has no need for speed. He lets the ball do all the running. Mobility is for people with no footballing brain. But midfield semantics aside, we're good to go. We've got a back four unit, robust and sturdy, a mixture of youth and experience. Mostly youth at the moment. And we have cover for our midfield enforcer. He's at Pompey, but should be back with us in no time. We've got no true cover for our little wing wizard, but that's fine, because he won't get injured. And as for our forward line-up (did I mention Robbie Keane?) we've got the master of scoring goals in bursts and breaking the offside trap (Defoe) and the perfect foil (Crouch) when our players forget tactics and resort to hoofing the ball. And let's not be forgetting the soon-to-be-back-in-Lilywhite, Luka Modric. Who I guess in essence will be akin to a brand spanking new signing. Maybe we could have a press conference and pretend we've just signed him to make up for the despondency that there will not be a £15M transfer splurge on new blood when 2010 tick tocks into our lives.

Consistency equates to beating the so-called top four teams. Who are so-called top four because they finish in the top four positions. I made that connection all on my own. And we've had consistency this season, be it with missing players (due to injuries) and an ever-changing back-four line-up and erratic forwards which has given us a consistent set of results. 3-1, 3-0, 3-0. Zero points. Against three of the top four. The other one doesn't count because everyone is beating them.

So enjoy your Christmas presents because we wont be unwrapping too much in the way of surprises when the window reopens. Other than Sandro. Because Harry mentioned we're interested and the chairman is working towards a deal. Oh, and we're going to need to add a little in the way of depth when replacing Roman Pavlyuchenko and David Bentley. They're not core players. We hardly ever play them. And they're not very good. And for the sake of avoiding egg on face (or perhaps managing to wipe away the egg currently on face) the club will need to recover something from their self-pitying stays in N17. And we all know Bentley is a certainty to go after his show-boating antics in a Spurs friendly game that infuriated Harry. You'll have seen it doing the rounds today. A few days after the story was posted and shared in various message boards. You know the one. The one where Harry tells David he's going to get rid of him. DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM-DA-DADUM.

Let's hope we get a good price for a cluttered Bentley with a dodgy engine and hanging fuzzy dice.

I can't keep this up anymore.

There is no story here. We've obviously not got bundles of cash to spunk wastefully on players. Mainly because we've already spunked it. On wasteful players. We're letting people know indirectly (directly) we have no intention of over-spending (breaking a habit of a life-time here).

The main backbone of the side is good enough to sustain some sort of challenge. As good a challenge that a club like Spurs (non-Champions League and non-Sheik owned)  can prepare for. It's the meat around the bones that needs beefing up. And it's guaranteed that anybody who is deemed malignant will be removed with swift and necessary surgery.

The money will be there to spend once we streamline the squad, we just don't need to be mentalists about it. A defensive midfielder is needed (Sandro the obvious target). A centre-back (long-term solution to the Ledley King conundrum) should also be discussed in-house. Unless you think a back four of BAE - Bassong - Dawson - Corluka will work without a commanding, leading presence to guide them (Daws is 26 years old, but lacks sustained experience). Perhaps a goalkeeper too. For cover, nothing more. Other solutions will involve development rather than throwing money at it to make it work (i.e. Bale - is he a left-back or a left-midfielder and can he cover BAE's absence when he leaves for the African Nations Cup?).

The backbone of the side will suffer no major trauma (which means key players - yes, Robbie Keane is a key player) will stay put. So it's not exactly breaking news that selling to buy is going to be the tactic here. And that there is no need for massive massive signings.

If you think back to 2006, what we failed to do is bulk up in Jan (didn’t we sign Ghaly?) and had we, we might well have wrapped up 4th spot long before the saboteur broke into the hotel and coughed germs all over the players soon to be eaten dinner. Levy knows already (thanks to Harry's complaints a while back about the lack of midfield depth) that we need consolidation in that area. Ignoring Robbie Keane's shout-out about how strong our bench is, we all know the reality is rather different. We don’t have enough in reserve.

Expect a post-Christmas cracker. We'll sign what we need, nothing more, nothing less and then it's all down to the manager and the players to believe and work hard. Qualities that might prove to be priceless in the long run.

AGM

AGM big news was about the new stadium with the designers unveiling their first 'artistic impressions' of what the ground and surrounding area will look like. Firstly, thanks to the numerous people who were present at the AGM who have reported back on Spurs message boards about what was discussed.

Here's a brief run down of what was spoken about during the meeting, which also included a cameo from Harry Redknapp.

- The Tottenham 16. Spurs will be speaking to the FA and Hampshire police about this in more detail. Donna Cullen stated that the FA meet-up is planned for January. The club have raised concerns with Crimestoppers and the whole 'racist' element believing (and rightly so) that fans have been misinterpreted. No shock that the only reason action has been taken is because Judas made a complaint.

- Harry made a cameo, pulling no punches, and probably got up Levy's nose in the process with his assessment. Which is music to my ears. He said the squad is not good enough for Top 4 ambitions. Thank the lord for the reality check. I guess that makes the fact that we apparently don't plan to spend big in Jan a bit worrying, but then, we've never made the top 4 with all the money we've spent, so maybe it doesn't matter that much. If we start signing players of quality (that don't cost tens of millions) we might see some progress with less of the superfluous. We're not as good as Villa according to Harry. Don't disagree with that. He also said he almost joined Newcastle. Phew. He also touched on the basis of his managerial wizardry (telling players when they play well and when they don't) and also had a special mention for Ledley (makes all the different when he plays). Scored high with the classic 'I use to watch Spurs as a kid' stories. Of course you did 'arry.

- No option to waive dividends to shareholders (4p a share). "Don't cash the cheque" is the advice from Levy if you don't want it. Hardcore.

- Regarding the stadium, there will be a second consultation in January. What pleases me at this point is that the pitch will be 4-5 metres closer to the stands that at other comparable stadiums (like the pikey one for example). Capacity will be between 55,000 and 60,000. The theme and concept of the stadium is based on 'flowing lines' which is based on Tottenham's flowing football. Riiiiiight. Well thank God we've picked up a little on the pitch, because designing a stadium to look like a sack of potatoes (based on form earlier in the season) would have failed to ignite the imagination. There is currently no date for completion, and the planning application will be submitted next year.

Some images:

Looks pretty much like most modern-styled bowl stadia. But it's what's inside that counts most.

- The club is receiving a "six figure" sum for being involved in the motor sport sponsorship deal. More money under the bed for Daniel there.

- Apparently we are not a big enough club for our own television channel. Other clubs have media partners on board or are "heavily subsidised". Thank God for that. Last thing I want to see is an excuse for David Bentley to star-jump his way through more TV time.

- We have (according to the presentation), 100 scouts worldwide. Yes. 100 scouts. A frigging army, with notepads and pencils. Scouting what exactly, I don't know. If these chaps reported into Comolli when he was still knocking about, then I suggest we get rid of all of them and start from scratch.

Inside the new Spurs stadium. Old skool ground for the purists.

- Oh hold up, that might actually happen. Apparently this summer an overhaul of the scouting network will be begin. Begone Comolli Agents! It's going be like that scene in the Matrix when Neo fights hundreds of Mr Smiths. Except there won't be any sunglasses and kung-fu fighting as such, just phone calls and P45's. And Levy as a bald 'Neo'? I can taste my own vomit.

- No right to buy clause on-loan Campbell from Man Utd, and he looks set to return in January. Which is fine by me, because it means we will HAVE to bring in someone for sure.

- Usual mix of random questions about prices, European travel, the Berbatov transfer saga, lack of 28/30 kids shirt size availability.......I'm sure Levy was sweating. There were also some feeble attempts to justify the farcical way in which tickets are allocated for European games and booking fee hikes were also brushed off.

So, same as usual. Some positives. Some spin. And no real hard hitting questions asked. I've been banned from these AGM's for a number of years now, after I throw my shoe at Levy. Bloody infidel.