Harry's £9M gift for JD

No Income tax, no VAT

A lovely nine million pound transfer fee

Lilywhite, and never red

Peter Crouch has a funny head

We have ourselves a signing. He might not be a sexy one, but he’s accomplished in the Premiership and a team player. The type who can hold up the ball, ridiculous that such an ability is lacking from our current lot. Welcome to White Hart Lane, Mr Peter Crouch. Miss Clancy too. He aint a pretty picture (she is) but at least he has product and industry. This is not a Berbatovesque type of swaggering signing that we love down at the Lane. We are sacrificing quality of the ilk we usually expect (Modric anyone?) for someone with a very specialist purpose. The purpose to serve little Defoe who can now place aside his grievances with those pesky Essex Keystone cops and start salivating at the prospect of having the perfect foil standing tall alongside him once more.

£9M the fee. Which isn’t shabby at all. Well it is, I guess, considering we sold him for 60K many moons ago. No sell on value, how times have changed hey Daniel? Granted he won’t score as many as Bent (still Sunderland bound hopefully), but there is no irony to be lost as we all know he’ll create more and cause more havoc for opposing defenders than the apologetic Darren would ever dream of doing. A team who wishes to accommodate Bent will get the best out of him. And good luck to him wherever he ends up at. Crouch is far more of a fit for Spurs. That's compared to Bent. I guess the market is a little dry at the minute.

As for our spanking new forward, I’m making the assumption that ‘arry’s masterplan is to feed Defoe and have him as the main man (30 goals please) in front of goal. It has to be. Add 15+ from Crouch and we have plenty of goals – although it’s not quite the enterprising free-scoring flair play of the Berba/Keano partnership, is it? Bit more of that Lilywhite swagger that was.

Sigh.

Would I prefer a sexy younger player with the potential to have Man Utd looking down at us in a season or two ready for the plucking? Let’s face it, Crouchie joined us ahead of Sunderland and Fulham so it appears we are doing things a little bit differently this summer. Unlike, say, when we signed Darren Bent when he was completely unnecessary to the improvement of our squad, we’ve gone and signed a decent player (never to be world class) who will do a job for us – but nothing overly exceptional enough to take us to the next level. Arguably, signing a potentially world class player has never been a successful ploy to make it to that next level anyhow, so I guess it’s time to swallow a little pride and cross your fingers and hope Aaron doesn't ping too many balls to the head of Crouch.

I’d still have preferred us to bring sexy back. There must be someone out there, young and handsome with a little shirt-tucked-out-of-shorts flair that can hold the ball up and knock a few in? No? I guess I was right about it being a dry market.

Faith in the Redknapp masterplan I guess.

So, the brand new era currently stands as: Defoe, Crouch, Keane and Pav. The latter two are the ones that will have to prove themselves, as it’s blatantly obvious who Harry is going to opt for come the Liverpool game. Keane - as discussed - needs to wake up. Pav has to put an end to all the his tired/he's not 100%/he can't talk English excuses and start playing with intent and composure and confidence.

There is still time for more movers and shakers. I’m still hoping for Negredo personally. As for KJH - he's a little bit too Defoe-esque, is he not? Had we signed him, who would he have replaced? Keane? But anyway, enough with the speculation.

At least this weary transfer window has given us something to talk about.

Happy?

Saturday Afternoon Round-Up: Sky Andrews can do one

Hello. Muggy weather today. Muggy headlines too. The one that has probably caught your attention is the rather dramatic headlines suggesting Spurs might be docked points for shady transfer dealings. Daily Mirror and The Sun are amongst several covering the story.

The Saint Sky Andrew, the paragon of truth personified in the form of a football agent, has won a high court ruling in his favour to cite phone records for evidence to establish whether several key people (Levy, Storrie, Redknapp) were contacted at any stage in the midst of the transfer that took Defoe to Portsmouth.

For those who don’t know, Jermain had sacked Andrews and was without an agent. Mitchell Thomas (unlicensed) acted as an adviser with Stuart Peters (rep from Spurs) helping the transfer on.

Ok, someone’s going to have to explain a few things to me here because I’m a little confused. What does this have to do with Spurs potentially having points deducted?

Andrews is upset that he was cut out of the deal. Wrongly cut out. Surely this is an issue between Defoe and his former agent. If payments by either Spurs of Pompey were made to anyone (legally) then the most probable reason Andrew didn’t get a penny was because Defoe sacked him before the deal happened. Am I missing something here?

I can’t say I understand the logistics of these types of dealings between clubs, with player + ‘representatives’ in the middle. If the underlining argument here is that Thomas is unlicensed and played a bigger part than he’s legally allowed – I still don’t get why Spurs are liable. The player was leaving Spurs and signing for Portsmouth. He played for them and not us after the deal was concluded. Sorry, pointing out the obvious there, but it seems to have been ignored by the press coverage.

Only two words come to mind. Sour grapes. Andrew was cut out and thus missed out on a cut. What's wrong Sky? You spunked all the millions you made from the deal that took Campbell across to the cesspit?

If anyone understands the complexities, please share.

Elsewhere...

Blackburn have been linked to Ruud van Nistlerooy. Gone a bit quiet hasn’t it, our raid on Madrid? Our interest in Ruud has cooled, and I heard whispers a day or so ago that Klass-Jan Huntelaar is being looked at by United. At least we can now all rest easy with the news that Cisse is on his way to Panathinaikos. That alone is worthy of cracking open the champagne and hiring out an escort girl for at the very least, two hours. The news that Daniel Levy wants at least £18M for Darren Bent will spoil the party and have you rolling up your sleeve and tapping a vein.

Now I know that the transfer market has turned into a complete joke in recent times and we are just as guilty as one or two other clubs for paying out over inflated fees. We did it with Bent in the first place bringing him to the Lane for £16M. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t panic too much. Anything you read anywhere should be taken with a pinch of salt. I guess if Sunderland want £20M for Jones then Bent’s value is more near the £25M mark. In reality, £10M – £12M for Bent is more likely (he’ll score a bundle for a club that will accommodate him). Jones isn’t worth more than £6M and I pray Harry keeps well clear.

The alleged Huddlestone bids have been rejected, allegedly. I’m so glad we have clarity on that. Spurs are refusing to sell him. Using the ITK formula to create insight, this means either we are playing hard-ball and want more for him than the £8M offered or we rate him and simply won’t sell. Thank me later for setting that one straight.

Changed your mind on the yellow-flashed home shirt yet?

Over 2000 people have signed the petition. Club don’t care, and I guess neither do I as long as we do well on the pitch. But the point being made (by myself and the 2000) is that we dislike the yellow streaks. Its feedback being offered to the club, much like when they send us surveys by e-mail about what we might think about the idea of having Tarquin seats installed at the club. We are simply having a say.

Finally, we are in pole position for Bassong. He’s the ‘player to join Spurs’ player of the week. It's the second time he's been on the rotation. Tinged with irony this one. Mainly because he is yet another ‘player of the moment’ type of signing that we do so very very well with being linked with. And £15M is the bog-standard Levy approved offer that works like magic when we desperately want someone (Bentley the key example).

Only exception to the rule has been Palacios who has looked every bit a £14M player. Modric too. And Bassong did look tasty last season, but then again, so would I at the heart of Newcastle’s defence when surrounded by so many hopeless teammates.

Spurs 1 Toon 0 - Breaking the hearts of the Geordie nation

There was no goal glut in the end. Instead we enjoyed a rather comfortable home performance, with the usual unwanted bonus of nervy late moments you associate with Spurs. But in truth, Newcastle was neither menacing nor cohesive enough to ever cause anything near sustained pressure. A spurned Nolan shot and Martins kicking high over the bar, the only moments I sighed relief. A nail in the coffin, our job done as one of their opponents in the ‘Let’s Relegate Newcastle’ campaign. The smugness of Shearer is disappearing faster than a pint of Brown Ale in a Newcastle pub.

Pre-match I was a little surprised. No Roman in the starting line-up or the bench. I’ve since heard it was due to a back complaint. So Bent got the nod again, with the undroppable-no-matter-how-quiet-he’s-been Robbie Keane partnering him up-front. King’s knees flared up in training, so Michael Dawson started and in central midfield Jenas failed to shake off the hamstring injury he picked up against West Ham which meant Tommy Huddlestone would get his chance alongside Palacios. Hutton and Defoe both on the bench. It’s nice to see so much quality in depth. Something we had at the start of the season, without the confidence that’s required to gel it all together.

Newcastle had Martins, Smith and Viduka on the bench. Owen up-front and to be honest I’d be hard-pressed to remember the rest of them.

Only took two minutes for something to happen. A Bassong tackle on Darren Bent that possibly warranted a red card. If it had happened 30 minutes into the game or at some point in the second half, then he would have got his marching orders for sure. Not to worry. We dominated possession and created chances with relative ease, resulting in a Bent goal at the second time of asking after Harper saved his initial cross-come-shot. 1-0 up and the much maligned Bent does the only thing he does…and that’s score. Do we still want rid of him? Yes, of course we do. He’s still one-dimensional. But for now, I have no problem being a hypocrite and celebrate his goals. We spent the rest of the match attempting to get the second, which in the end eluded us.

It’s actually a frustrating problem. It cost us three points at Blackburn and it might have cost us a couple against Newcastle. We have a stupendous home record this season (under Harry, not Ramos) with one defeat (against Everton), possibly one too many draws, but only 9 goals conceded overall. 13 is the ‘record’ low goals against at the Lane achieved back in the 60’s. Only Liverpool this season have conceded less goals on home turf. Fortress White Hart Lane? The flip side to this is the fact that we haven’t scored that many going forward. Boring boring Tottenham. So what exactly is the problem? Well, I’m not sure there is one. Other than maybe attempting to walk the ball into the back of the net. Couple of occasions yesterday found us on the edge of the area with the players passing the ball around like a hot potato – all afraid to have a crack. Our general play is fine, but just needs stepping up just a tad in the way of final balls and that ruthless killer instinct.

We should not have gone into the final 10 minutes biting our nails. In the end, Newcastle lacked the composure to take any of their half-chances. Lady luck doesn’t always lift her skirt up and playfully wink at you. With Alan Shearer changing formations more often than Mike Ashley likes to appoint new managers, not only are Newcastle a mish-mashed squad of players, they also appear to lack any understanding in the way of responsibility, leadership and spirit. No miraculous away day for the Toon army this time. No shock 1-4 win. It never looked like happening for them anyway. This isn’t the soft-touch Spurs of old.

Dawson and Woody were commanding at the back. BAE enjoying a relatively easy afternoon. Corluka, clumsy with his passing at times, but otherwise fine. Had to slot into the centre-back position when Dawson was stretchered off with an ankle injury that might well end his season (hope it isn’t too serious). This all meant we welcomed back Alan Hutton who was pretty a-ok on his return. One or two excellent crosses played in with pace, one to the head of Bent who was a little unlucky not to get fully behind it for what would have been a certain second.

We also got to see Jermain Defoe in cameo mode. Still a little way off from being completely match-fit, but who cares. He’s back and will almost certainly score a goal or two before the season closes. Martins had that one effort that had Shearers heart-in-mouth, Viduka…can’t remember if he did anything of note. Although both him and Martins did improve Newcastle going forward, and as they pressed late on, looked more of a team than they did in the previous 80 minutes. Alan Smith was his usual dirty self.

Only thing Newcastle bemoaned was a tackle by Woodgate on Martins. But since when is ‘winning the ball’ a clear penalty shout? Jonathon Pearce thought otherwise on Match of the Day 2. The BBC also opted to cut out the Bassong foul. In fact, the editing of the match was a complete joke. All very complimentary towards Alan Shearers side. Worth noting we had around twenty-two attempts compared to their eight. But you’d think the game was equally matched if you hadn’t seen it live (at Spurs or on Sky). Skys commentary, by all accounts, was as expected with Andy Gray co-commentating. Conspiracy I tells ya, it’s a conspiracy! Those pesky Arsenal and West Ham journos strike again! Down with this sort of thing!

And what of the enigma Huddlestone? Palacios return makes such a massive difference to the side I have to once more call on Harry to look for a young(er) understudy so that we don’t miss him too much when he’s out, suspended or otherwise. He gave Tom time to show-off his sublime passing range. Although to be fair, even I would have time on the ball against Newcastle United. It’s the type of game where you find yourself thinking maybe, just maybe, Tom does have a future as a first-team player. But the reality is, it wasn’t a top performance against top side opposition. It was a good performance against poor opposition. Add pace to an opposing midfield, and he’ll struggle. It’s worth mentioning he was in hospital this past week with a swollen neck (glands?) so well done regardless of the usual question marks we like to throw his way.

Robbie Keane was once more on the quiet side. Run around, waved his arms. But not too much of anything else. Hopefully his game will pick up again with JD back. He does appear to look a little too comfortable in the starting line-up. Lennon did well in-front of Fabio, but there’s no doubt he needs another step up in the way of all-round play. It will come.

So, after all the hype and the banter, we have possibly ended Newcastle United. Their three remaining home games take on monumental importance. They cannot afford to lose any of them. It’s not quite end of days for the Geordie nation just yet. I’m just glad it’s them down there and not us.

Talking of which, we are now left with two winnable home games (WBA, Man City) but away trips to Man Utd, Everton and Liverpool. Plenty of minutes for Harry to continue the rejuvenation of the team.

Those relegation worries seem a million miles away now. You remember…two points from eight games, innit.

Musings on WAGS, Defoe and a public apology to Alan

Everyone's banging Danielle Lloyd. Sorry, I meant banging on about her. And why not? Bit of leg and cleavage thrown in with a slice of football is always acceptable. It's the foundation for most tabloid picture exclusives. They love a WAG. Makes me wonder whether I would if I was a pro-footballer. Where would I socialise? What type of girl would I attempt to pull? And what club would I be escorted out of at 4am in the morning? Fat Frank apparently left with two girls the other night after an evenings boozing in celebration of his teams Champions League win. Not one, but two. His beautiful ex was out with John Terry and his wife for something a little more traditional. But not Fwank. Two birds? Two lush looking birds? That usually costs me £120. £160 with extras.

I guess earning thousands per week and being famous equates to easy pick-ups.

'Yes, yes, it's me off the telly...What's that? Of course I'll let you prostitute yourself for some alone time with me....by alone, I mean you, me and your fit mate'.

Who would have thought it. But this type of lark happens at every pay level, not just with the rich and famous. Men are men and women are women. There are simply different class levels of acceptance from one person to the next, depending on your own standards and social standing. You wouldn't catch Danielle Lloyd in your local Wetherspoons pub giving the eye to Terry the plumber. Although they would probably be a match made in heaven. Fact is, when the shops close and the credit card is placed back in the wallet, in the end you still get your end away. You still have to do the boring bit that goes in-between of all the glam and gloss and superficial stuff. You know, the actual relationship part of it. Yawn. Ronaldo has the right idea. He doesn't even opt for high class escort girls. Any type will do. No need to stand there and smile and mutter 'Yes babe, those Choos look fierce, get another pair if you want'.'Pick the phone up, make a booking. Job done. Even invite your mates rounds. You can even share.

Hmm. Maybe I got this all wrong. Apart from the shopping there is no difference.

If I was a footballer, I'm not sure I'd be asked with all the flash photography and textbook 'look at me leaving a nightclub I'm flushed' Heat magazine bollocks. I'd prefer to just flush my money down the toilet and take a trip through the Channel Tunnel. Reckon that's more or less the same experience as dating Miss Lloyd.

JD is back in training. I'm excited. Just what we need for the run-in to help consolidate a top half finish. Probably won't figure in Sundays clash with Newcastle. Which is acceptable considering he's only just returned to full training. Might not be match-fit (for a 90 minute appearance) but could come off the bench and zip around with purpose and some of that much missed blistering fox in the box movement. The press and Harry suggest he won't play, but that might be kidology in play. Not that its a do or die game for us in the same way it is for Shearer's lot. Talking of which, Mark Viduka is back for them. Ominous stuff.

More ominous are the stats that show Newcastle victorious in the previous six (league) games against us. 2005 was the last time we tasted the sweet taste of success. Maybe I was a little to hasty and arrogant with the 'Let's Relegate Newcastle' article last week.

I've had a conversation with Max Clifford. Hasn't everybody? Talking of which, 'Nicky' the anti-capitalist, who was assaulted by the copper hires PR to charge for interviews so she can make money out of it. Maybe she had the sense of irony slapped out of her? I guess the blatant hypocrisy has made me re-think things, so, here goes...


APOLOGY

I am writing about my recent blog article 'Let's Relegate Newcastle' and the proposal I put forward to end Newcastle and see them relegated from the Premiership based on my misconceived assumption that Alan Shearer epitomises supreme smugness.

I am assuring you all that this was in no way meant to offend and as the only person involved I had full knowledge of involvement in this attempt to fish for reactions that still remain the subject of current discussion, and I have already taken responsibility for acting on this - first by accepting my own resignation from my blog and by making it clear to all concerned that such actions have no part to play in the realm of football banter. I have also written personally to Alan Shearer and those who were subject to these unsubstantiated claims that Newcastle deserve to drop down a league based on my wanting to avoid Alan's return to tv on Match of the Day next season as a genuine 'messiah' and a Mike Ashley masterstroke having saved them from the drop. On reflection I will simply not watch Match of the Day when it returns for the 2010 season when Alan is scheduled to appear.

I'm apologising and I'm doing so unreservedly. WBA, Stoke and Hull are more deserving of relegation and now hope that no matter the score on Sunday, United do not go down. But it is also important to make sure such behaviour does not happen again. Any activity such as this that affects the reputation of blogs is a matter of great importance to me and I am ready to take whatever action is necessary to improve relations with the Georide nation. I propose I stand in the away end on Sunday in a Sunderland shirt.

Like the overwhelming majority of writers who hide behind an IP address across the world wide web, I entered the field of blogging because of a sense of duty to my ego and to improve the lives and opportunities of those less fortunate than me that prefer to worship at the church of Sky Sports News. My undivided focus as an online persona is acting to make sure any future blog articles are fairer, safer and more prosperous and, in particular, on guiding the Tottenham fans through the current rivalry difficulties and concentrating on our own problems and not the problems of others. The footballing public would expect no less and would also expect the highest possible standards from all their bloggers - regardless of club supported - and those who follow them.

Yours Sincerely,

Spooky

Defoe, Hutton, Pav and Silver: Some random thoughts

I was complaining earlier that there is currently a lull in newsworthy items to comment on. I was wrong. Found another three. Just like the buses, eh? Actually, make it four. Just thought of another one.

Defoe is on his way back to regaining full fitness, which will prove to be interesting with regards to how he'll fit into the team with Robbie Keane (captain) reclaiming his place as darling of the Lane. JD is exactly what we need in the run-in. He'll be hungry and determined to pick up where he left off. But does he partner Robbie up front? Can he partner Robbie? Does Keane go wide and Defoe partner Pav up front? Can anyone say 'here we go again'?

I'd like to see Robbie and JD play together, at least once or twice so we can find out once and for all if its workable. If by some miraculous miracle they'll connect on a different level to the limp ineffective Hobbitesque attempt of yesteryear - then happy days. Don't quite see how it will and also doubt Keane drifting from the wings would work either. As for the idea being laughed about concerning Keane taking a role in midfield and replacing Modric......behave yourselves.

Then there's Pav. He's stated that he's happy at Spurs and doesn't want to move. It's all dependent really on what Harry decides in the summer, but I guess Roman is reacting to one of the daily churned out quoteless made up stories which always seemed to be based on very little of anything. Personally believe we should stick with him. Hasn't scored a lot in the Prem (4 in about 22 I think) which is disappointing, but then it's not like he has been swaggering in a team of swaggering players. Berbatov took a while to adjust. Pav is not of the same quality as the Bulgarian but to dismiss him after a debut season is criminal. It's not like he's struggling ala Rebrov.

I say judge him based on next season. He's a team player, not the strongest or fastest on current assessment, but his movement is good and his finishing in front of goal more than decent. His finishing from further out and some of his decision making (lack of composure too) is where the concern begins to creep in. £14M, Russian International.....surely these qualities should be more apparent? Can I refer to the textbook response of 'he's tired/played 5 months in Russian league before joining us/can't speak the language/still adapting to English culture' etc etc? Which is why we need to be patient and see how he performs next term.

Now some of you are probably picking up a shitty stick and poking me with it along with accompanying eerie chanting:

"Darren Bent...Darren Bent...Darren Bent..."

Yes, yes. Top scorer. But of all the forward players we have, it's practically a certainty he will be the one to leave the club in the summer. Unless we start playing like Charlton, he won't be a success here - even with his decent goal ratio. We saw it, a very simplistic example, against Boro. Pav went off, Bent came on, Spurs struggled with their forward play. The flow disappeared. He doesn't fit in. Scoring goals apologetically is in no way a foundation to build on. Because if there has to be a plan B, he has no way of fitting into it. One dimensional football to appease his selection might produce a tasty goal ratio across several games, but stats aside - it doesn't breed quality team football.

Alan Hutton is also not far off from his return from a long injury lay off. He has a foot injury. Prefer not to dwell on any whispers being made to suggest otherwise. And when he is fit and able (and hopefully not as nervy as he was when he played in the Arsenal away game way back) it will mean we have him, Chimbonda and Gunter for the right back positions. And Corulka. Gunter is out on loan. Corluka works well on the right hand side with Lennon. Pascal has yet to reclaim any decent past form for us and was always a little suspect defensively - but is more than decent offensively. Although you could argue that when he does wonder forward he does so with little regard for the player who is then meant to cover him. Both Shimbo and Charlie can also play central along with King, Woodgate, Dawson. Hutton can only play right-back, the lazy git. You following this so far?

We have substantial cover at the back. There is no doubting that. Over on the left hand side BAE has been very consistent for us and Gareth Bale will hopefully find his way back onto the ladder of progress soon enough and begin to climb it with the hoodoo laying flat on its face at the bottom as the Welsh kid looks down from the top all smiles. Ideally then we could have a back four of:

Hutton - Woody - King - BAE

Or

Hutton - Dawson - Corluka - BAE

Or

Chimbonda - Woody - King - Bale

Or

Corluka - Woody - King - BAE

Or

Hutton - Woody - Corluka - Gunter

I can be doing this musical chairs routine all day long. Best way to just summarise it:

- Chimbonda can not play left-back and should either start at RB or cover a centre-back position if we are desperate

- Corluka is a right-back, but might be the answer in slotting into CB when King is unavailable

- A flying Hutton is a better option than Chimbonda out the right side IMO

- Woody will always start as long as he is 100%

- Gunter is one for the 'future' and will get his chance because Pascal will be due a transfer request a year from now

- BAE is not world-class but has acquired an edge to his game (also don't you just love the way he turns to go one way then turns and runs in the opposite direction? Its the most telegraphed move in football yet works every bleeding time!), and until Bale re-discovers his bite he does a more than decent job for us

Hold up. Oh Christ. I've forgotten to include you know who.

Hutton. Chimbonda. Corluka. Gunter......and Zokora. Add another one to the list. Didier is a better RB than he is a midfielder. Unless someone can define what type of midfielder Zoko actually is, I'll stand by my word. So that makes '5' players who can slot into the spoilt position of the right hand corner of our defence. Insane depth for a bread and butter team position. Seems that every part of the team has either far too much of one thing or too little of the other. I'll get to our midfield issues in another blog article.

Finally, let's finish with Dan Silver. Works for the Daily Mirror. Read this. Insightful stuff. I thought some of my work lacked substance but I do this for free so the standard of content varies depending on alcohol levels. Shame on you Mr Silver. Shame on your editor. Out of interest, who do you support? Let me guess...

What does Darren Bent do exactly? Part II

Darren Bent. So what does he do exactly again?

14 goals
9 in Prem
4 in UEFA Cup
1 in CC

Quite a bit apparently. If you've not read part one, click here. I'm following up that article with, well to be honest, more of the same.

One of the main arguments put forward in favour of Darren has been related to stats. He scores goals, so what else do we want from him? The counter-argument is that because of his lack of team-play quality (he doesn't hold up the ball well, support team mates, create or assist, not great at heading, woeful positioning) we only benefit from his goal-poaching when we play a certain type of formation or when away from home.

He's therefore one dimensional according to those who believe he doesn't bring anything else of value to the side. He just feeds off the scraps. Instinctively, but not as busy as a Greaves or Lineker who both, arguably goal-hanged, although both were very much capable of scoring goals out of nothing. But even though Greaves could go 85 minutes without doing much, then bang in a couple of goals, comparing Bent to Jimmy is borderline ridiculous. Is it not?

If one dimensional gets you a better goal ratio than a player who possesses more tricks in his locker, should we simply be playing to his 'strengths'? If your answer is yes, then what formation/team structure would we need to play? Perhaps kick random balls into the box and hope Bent gets on the end of some of them? Tottenham's play will have to be basic to cater for Bent upfront. Basic in the sense that nine outfield players link-up and get involved in build up play, with Bent waiting in the shadows alone for a ball to roll within proximity to his feet.

Harsh.

So what about those pesky statistics then? Here's a quick glance at the club stats from this season (thanks to CAS over at GG for the numbers which I've blatantly copy and pasted):

• Bent has played 1995 minutes for us so far this season which equates to 22.17 full games and in those games he has scored 14 goals
• Pav has played 1752 minutes for us which is 19.47 games and scored 12 goals
• Defoe has played 2414 minutes or 26.82 games and scored 12 goals (Pompey and Spurs)
• Keane has played 1860 minutes or 20.67 games and scored 7 goals (Liverpool and Spurs)

So the goal ratios stand us follows:

• Bent 1 goal every 1.58 games
• Pav 1 goal every 1.62 games
• Defoe 1 goal every 2.23 games
• Keane 1 goal every 2.95 games

And here's a run-down of when Bent's goals were notched up:

• 1 (A) PREM Chelsea 1-1 D Bent equaliser
• 2 (H) PREM Aston Villa 1-2 L Bent consolation
• 3 (H) UEFA Wisla Krakow 2-1 W Bent winner
• 4 (A) PREM Stoke City 2-1 L Bent consolation
• 5 (H) PREM Bolton 2-0 W Bent penalty
• 6 (A) PREM Arsenal 4-4 D Bent scores our second goal
• 9 (H) UEFA Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 W Bent hat-trick
• 11 (A) PREM Man City 2-1 W Bent brace
• 12 (A) CC Watford 2-1 W Bent winner
• 14 (A) PREM Bolton 3-2 L Bent brace

How many of the above were scraps/rebounds/plain lucky? How many were created after a sweeping move or out of absolutely nothing? How many saw Bent link-up with the midfield before sweeping forward to complete the move and bury the ball in the back of the net?

He's no Sandra Redknapp

Does it matter, as long as the end result is 'the ball hitting the back of the net'?

He's scoring so that's surely enough, no? If Robbie Keane scores less goals than Darren Bent per games played, does that make him any less of a player? Of course not. So who would you prefer to have in your starting line-up? Bent's ratio is possibly even better than what Berbatov managed with us - but would you pick Bent over the departed Bulgarian if he was still here? Silly question, right? You wouldn't.

So should you be asking 'why'?

It's OK to refer to the statistics and ratios and state this as evidence enough for his inclusion, but a stat worth looking at perhaps is how many assists come from the feet of Defoe/Pav/Keane etc compared to those of Darren Bent.

Note also that Cudicini has a habit of rolling the ball out to fullbacks when Pav isn't on the pitch, as Bent doesn't win headers. Personally, he should always roll the ball out. Prefer it when we play from the back, keeping the ball on the ground.

At this moment in time - should we not be concerned with anything other than hitting the back of the net, no matter how? Where Bent fails to achieve the link-up work of a Keane or a Pav (who both assist the team into functioning cohesively) he produces the final goods - goals. And in our predicament, surely any scrapes or rebounds will do. Surely goal celebrations are more imperative to a sweeping move involving 5 or 6 players resulting with a forward waving his arms in the air screaming at the ref?

Perhaps that's a simplistic way of looking at it. Bent is not a better footballer than Defoe or Keane. He won't get involved as much as either of them. He won't assist or create. We need to win games, no matter who does the scoring. And having a cohesive hard working Spurs team out on the pitch every week, players working for each other, will make a far greater impact than having a fragmented side with players who don't quite fit in.

(Although some might say, dropping back to link-up is the reason why Robbie's goal ratio isn't as good as Darren's)

In a relegation scrap, we can't afford to miss any opportunity that presents itself in front of goal. Bent still has a part to play in the season. He' still important for certain scenarios. But he's not going to be here come the end of the summer time. Where Spurs will be by the start of August is also up to 11 players rather than just one.

I guess, as ever, all we can do is support the players out on the pitch. Including Darren Bent. And I'll be celebrating one of his goals with the same loopy celebration that would accompany a Keane or Pav goal. If Darren continues to score goals in his limited appearances we won't be complaining.

Did the transfer window make you smile?

I was snowed in yesterday and worked from home. I did take a moment to venture outside. I like the crunchy sound snow makes when you walk around in it. I built a snowman. It stood proud in the garden for all of ten minutes before Harry Redknapp and Daniel Levy drove past and offered me £15M for my creation. I accepted. Apparently he's a perfect replacement for Jermaine Jenas in midfield because he won't melt as fast when the spot light is on him.

Aaaaaaaaaand, I thank you.

Robbie Keane is back, making a mockery of Liverpool, Tottenham’s transfer policy and Keane himself. Yes, I know. We never wanted to sell him in the first place. It’s not been a pretty transfer window, has it? Or has it?

Re-signing someone we sold has been the general trend that Levy and Redknapp have adhered to this month. Financially we’ve written off a lot of debt (and the £8M more we spent to bring back Jermain Defoe cancels out the £8M we got from Liverpool for our Irish loan deal star). The whole sorry state of the Keane affair rests with the politics at Anfield between Rick Parry and Rafa Benitez.

“You want Gareth Barry? He’ll cost us £18M. I'm not bidding £18M for Barry. Let’s sign Robbie Keane instead for £20M. What’s that? You don’t want Robbie Keane? Tough. He’ll have to do”

You can't blame Keane too much. Boyhood dreams are hard to ignore. The obvious downside is that we’ve not had him for the past six months and his form and confidence is shot. Although if we had of kept him in the summer, re-signing Jermain Defoe from Pompey might not have happened. Then again we probably would have signed Defoe regardless. Even though both players don’t exactly have the best working relationship on the pitch, it’s doubtful Harry would have ignored the opportunity even if it doesn't make logical sense. He'll have to work out this particular conundrum in 10 weeks from now.

Defoe picking up a nasty injury (which did not apparently exist prior to him signing for us and occurred during an indoor training session) has more or less forced us into re-signing Keane.

10 weeks without JD means we could not afford to place all hopes on just Pav and Bent. And that Utd kid. Whatshisface. Fact is, as ridiculous as this whole back and forth transfer merry-go-round is and the added risk that Keane might not be the same player he was when teamed up with Berbatov there was no better option out there for us. Better the devil you know. He's scored over 100 goals for us. He has that urgency we need and he’ll hit the ground running, probably with the aim to appease the Spurs fans that are uncertain about his return and more so Liverpool and Benitez for letting him go so soon.

He’s still eligible for a winners medal (under PL Rule 22c) so he won’t be able to play in the game up at Anfield on the final day of the season if Liverpool are still in with a chance to grab the title. Major conflict of interest. But it’s far more likely he will play as Utd will have been crowned champions long before that game. Let’s hope we don’t have to win there to stay up.

Liverpool fan at work was positively beaming this morning, telling me to ‘…have your crap back’. That's £8M worth of crap, thank you very much.

As for the fans that are banging on about how we should have signed Arshavin in the summer. Well yes, possibly but Zenit are an atrocious excuse for a football club when it comes to dealing with payments. And AA along with his agent have managed to whore themselves across Europe waving their knickers and flashing anyone who dares to look in such a shameless and embarrassing way that the positive hype has been drained out of the whole affair.

Arsenal have completed the longest drawn out panic buy in Premiership history. The player is joining the only club that showed an interest in him, he’s that desperate for a big money move. Not that Arsenal are a bad choice if playing in England is 'his dream' for the week. If he reignites their push for 4th spot he’ll be just as happy as Wenger who will be hailed a genius for such an intelligent purchase. Where he fits in once they have all their players back is anyone’s guess, but here’s hoping he flops and Arsenal finish 5th. You know, for a laugh.

The BBC get their knickers in a twist

Class player, complete mercenary. Not convinced he would have been right for us considering we have Modric in the side. It’s bad enough that Pav had 5 months of Russian football behind him when he signed for us and is still not 100% match fit IMO. Arshavin is a player that would need to be bedded in softly softly. Maybe if he was signed in the summer it would have worked out ok. Still, he’s meant to be shit hot right? How many clubs lined up for him? I’ll shut up now. If he plays on Sunday, he’ll probably dick us.

Elsewhere, we tried to offload our £4.5M teenager dos Santos to Portsmouth for £7M (the logic here being a ‘healthy profit’ too good to turn down). The deal fell through due to the fact that dos Santos is not match fit and Adams requires players he can use from the off. I’ve spoken about this before. We have a culture at Spurs of dismissing young players without any respect for patience and development. He can’t be that bad, surely? Does Harry not rate him at all? Is Levy prepared to put this down as another dud buy from our departed friend Comolli? In fact, was he bought as ‘one for the future’? Considering he’s been out injured for a while and thus not match fit, why are we looking to offload him with such casual dismissiveness?

dos Santos was exceptional during his days in the Mexican U17 and U21 teams. He showed promise at Barcelona but in his final season was very hot and cold. They sacrificed him because of the wealth of young talent they have there (Bojan is outstanding and a far better prospect). Or did they know he flattered to deceive? A one-footed forward with no extra dimensions to his game. Maybe Harry simply doesn’t think he is cut out for the fight we have ahead of us. Confidence wise, it can’t be good for the young lad. Another ‘one for the future’ Tomas Pekhart has joined Slavia Prague on loan. And Gunter has gone to Preston for a month. I’m hoping our academy team (that continue to impress in all the world-wide tournaments they compete in) don’t disappear into obscurity when they all turn nineteen.

So. Defoe, Chimbonda, Cudicini, Keane, Palacios. Does Harry now have the proper players he requires to help balance the team and add depth to the squad? Appiah is still with us, and has another month of getting fit and proving his worth before we have to make a decision about offering him a contract. Even though we were meant to give him a decision a week back.

So was this January a success?

• We needed a quality number two to cover and compete with Gomes. Done.

• We needed a central midfielder. Preferably a holding or defensive midfielder. Combative is what we ended up with signing Palacios who has a bit of everything. Done, sort of (and it does mean that we might well have to rely on Zokora stepping up in that holding position).

• We needed defensive cover. Chimbonda. Love him or hate him, we can now play Corluka as centre-back if need be. Pascal can play across the back four if called upon. Done.

• We needed a striker. We re-signed Defoe. Done, but fate had other ideas.

• We needed another striker due to DJ's injury. We re-signed Keane. We don’t have to concern ourselves just yet with how we plan to fit JD and RK in a starting line-up. I guess any striker signed would have had to be in the same mould as a Keane and Defoe, so we would have had the same dilemma regardless. So done.
  

But are we now defensively intelligent in midfield? Is Palacios the answer? What now for Jenas? Is the team (best starting eleven) now balanced from the back to the front? Can a team without a true left-winger work? Do we need a true left-winger? If Zokora is a Harry fav, then are we planning on sticking with the 5 in midfield and one upfront? Should we have signed a Crouchesque type of player (like we did with Kenwyne Jones)? Have we really improved the squad buying the player we need or have we opted for another round of scatter-gun bullet buys? Will Harry stop referring to the ‘we only had 2 points when I got here’ sound-bites?

Compared to some of the other clubs, and regardless of the fact we have re-signed players, we haven't done that badly in terms of bringing in quality. It's whether it all works out, second time around. Will the jigsaw pieces fit alongside the ones already slotted into the puzzle?

So many questions. All could be answered in 90 minutes this Sunday. Selection, formation, tactics, application. Harry takes 50% responsibility. The other 50% is down to the players.

I'm smiling. Nervously.

'These boots have bagged some goals'

But are no longer required. Not for a while at the very least.

I guess this constitutes great timing from the webmaster of the official Tottenham site.

Click on this link and try not to shake your head despondently at the irony.

Raficulous

Rafa Benetiz is angry. Apparently Harry Redknapp and Spurs are tapping up Robbie Keane. Tell you what Rafa, how about we return the 'donation' your club made to the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and we'll take back the player and you can quietly admit to yourself that you haven't got a clue what it is you're doing at the moment.

(Arguably, neither do we.....)

It's now a trend that no manager is permitted to make any positive comment about a player who doesn't play for their club as this now constitutes 'tapping up'. I know Harry is a bit norty at times, but directly answering a question from a journalist about a player isn't exactly underhanded tactics is it? If we wanted to tap him up, we'd get Jamie Redknapp to make a massive phone call to Robbie and invite him round for some Mario Kart action and tell him that Spurs will have him back, embarrassing boyhood dream blotch included.

What Liverpool did in the summer WAS underhanded, which is why we got our little donation to the charity. What Liverpool are doing now is probably their way of making it look like Robbie Keane has been unsettled so that it's easier on them when they let him go. It's all Tottenham's fault, innit?

News in this evening that Defoe is out for several games (probably 3 weeks) even though the initial rumours suggested he had broken his foot and was out for the rest of the season. I've had 6 text messages already from suicidal Spurs fans. Still waiting on the official word, but I don't expect Spurs to say much until after Mondays transfer deadline. The more desperate we are to bring in a player, the more an opposing club will demand we pay. Keane or otherwise.

Spurs 3 Stoke 1: Just like watching Barcelona

I had to rub my eyes a couple of times yesterday evening to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. There’s been nothing sexy about our football for a while now and although yesterday wasn’t quite Agent Provocateur the performance had plenty of rampant rabbits making plenty of noise in forward positions. There was titillating balls and penetration, as White Hart Lane vibrated. I’m so glad I come. Came. Went. I’m so glad I went to the game. Went.

One cold shower later..........Yes it was only Stoke City. But let’s place things into perspective. We haven’t been playing well all season. We hardly score any goals at White Hart Lane. We’ve lacked any kind of confidence and swagger for a fair while. It was important we won, more than anything, but winning with a little bit of style and slickness means we can finally have something to smile about. Simply put, Spurs showed their Premiership pedigree against a newly promoted side. Something we have failed to do against most of the opposition we have faced.

Modric was sublime in midfield, orchestrating the tempo and playing clever balls. Showed an abundance of skill on the ball, and once Palacios slots in alongside him you get the feeling he will continue to improve to life in the Prem. Zokora was busy, getting stuck in, and was lucky to escape without a yellow card. Still lacks that footballing brain to make him a quality defensive midfielder. You can never fault his effort or athleticism, but that’s not enough to claim a place in the starting line-up. Lack of competition, so looking forward to Wilson’s debut and hopefully Zokora raising his game to fight for his place. Hopefully Palacios won’t give too many free-kicks away in dangerous positions. Something of a triat for our Didier.

Lennon started the first half mini-goal spree with a great dinking run and shot. Defoe showing vision to play in Lennon who darted towards goal and scored with his left-foot. Kodjak moment. Lennon continues to impress this season, rediscovering form I thought had been lost. If he can get more power behind his shots, then he’ll score plenty more. But I won’t lose sleep if he continues to place them the way he did yesterday.

Back on track. Six more points please.

Pavlyuchenko and Defoe then showed us a glimpse of what we hope is the start of a very beautiful relationship. We got to see Pav’s all-round game in technocolor, including a wonderful highlight for goal number two. Without looking, he sent a ball into the path of Defoe. Great vision from the Russian. It's the simple things in life, no? Who cares if he can’t speak English as long as he can speak the language of football?

Cough.

Defoe hammered the ball into the back of the net rather than attempting to score across the keeper (which is what I would have tried had I found myself in a similar position on the Hackney Marshes, before looking up at the sky and cursing the Gods for the divot). That’s confidence. JD has an aura of maturity about him nowadays, with his game improving in abundance (he was only away for a year – maybe we can loan out players more often). He doesn’t get caught offside that often nowadays, which is worth a few pints in celebration alone. Pav, who usually plays ok and still scores - played very well, but didn’t score. Not that I care too much. He was a livewire.

Modric crossed with his left peg for Dawson to nod it in (great header) to make it 3-0. Party time. I laughed out loud when Dawson followed up his goal celebration with yet another one, running towards the Park Lane with what looked like a disorganised guard of honour when his team mates huddled around him. I love the big lump. The unbridled joy displayed was felt all around the stadium, apart from that bit in the corner.

Spurs? 3-0 up at the Lane? Are you mad?

Quite.

All four players buzzed around with the type of swagger we haven’t seen all season. Swagger with end-product, which is the only type of swagger that matters. Tottenham clicked. Could have had a few more in the first 45 minutes. It was Charlie and the Chocolate factory stuff.

And relax. Feet firmly back on the ground.

Second half didn’t go according to plan. It probably would have been more of the same, but a mistake from Dawson allowed Stoke to break and score, with James Beattie (does he ever NOT score against us?) getting one back. That gave Stoke a bit more belief but it was never enough to trouble us. Yes, as a Spurs fan, even 3-1 up at home is enough to make the experience uncomfortable. I joked we should bring on Bale to end his hoodoo, but only if we go 6-1 up and only in the 91st minute.

Stoke, in the first half, had three good opportunities. Did we ride our luck? Yes. But don’t all teams? They missed another very decent chance in the second half too. In the end, we got the points we deserved and players can take the confidence up to Bolton where we could do with ending that particular hoodoo.

So, in conclusion. We kept the ball very well, played it around the park with a little bit of a spark, passed it across the middle with urgency and precision and even got the fullbacks involved. There was hunger, pace. Bit of spirit and passion. And most importantly belief. Wasn't perfect by a long-shot. Would have been nice to take control of the ball (win it back) and dictate more when the impetus was momentarily lost with the Stoke goal. We need to boss it for two halves, not just one. One step at a time I guess.

Barcelona? More like Brazil, innit?

Bent can't Bale us out

Spurs 1 Pompey 1

It’s going to the wire.

We now sit in 16th, on 21 points – along with five other clubs. Zany. Three points from 12th and six points from 9th. Welcome to the Premier League where the bottom 12 clubs are basically rubbish. The 5 teams above the 12 are only there because of a decent run of form. The way this season is going, don’t be surprised if the table from 8th down to 20th looks completely different a month from now.

Part of me is happy that we created more chances today in 90 minutes than we have in the previous 270. Granted, half of them were Lennon scoffed shots, but there was some positivity in our play. It’s still all rather ominous though. We don’t look like a team with any belief or urgency from the offset. We sort of fall into a position of confidence after we snatch an equaliser. How about starting the game with the pretence we are already a goal down? Arguably, we are with Bale in the side.

Ok, cheap shot. I apologise. But how gutted and depressed must he feel to see us score moments after being subbed? Regardless of the voodoo, I think it’s unfair to be too harsh on the team today. They gave it a go. 15 shots on target, 11 off. James saved wonderfully from Defoe and Lennon (on one occasion when he actually put some direction and power behind the ball). Bent's miss will haunt me all the up to the next Prem game. Serves me right for laughing at Zaki’s embarrassment yesterday when he also missed an open goal when it was seemingly impossible to do so.

The fact we created so much but didn’t punish a Pompey side who weren’t too shy of goal either, highlights the desperate need for Redknapp to sign a player who will partner Defoe to (near enough) perfection.

Pav, as much as I want him to do well, isn’t the right player for the current predicament. He still looks a little lost, and although I prefer not to believe that his interpreter runs up and down the sidelines during training, translating phrases like ‘flick it on’ and ‘run into space’, I think he will benefit a team that’s balanced and winning. I suddenly see the appeal of Jones (Sunderland), although the asking price is ridiculous. Is he as accomplished a top flight goal scorer as let’s say, Darren Bent was, before we signed him? No. And look at how average that particular £15M turned out to be. The goals scored by Bent at Charlton, a team who worked hard on the counter, was never really suited for Spurs. You don't buy a particular style of player before you need him. We bought him when we already had 3 top class players. He was bought on the back of the goals scored and the hype surrounding him. No margin of error this time round. When I said near enough to perfection, I meant it. Defoe needs the perfect foil (or vice-versa).

If Villa bid £8M for bent, then we should add a bit of salt and pepper, a dollop of ketchup, and then bite their appetising hand off. Our Russian lad should play from the bench and spend the rest of the season working hard to settle in England and learn the language. As much as we cry out for a quality DM, we are just as desperate for a quality striker.

Add to that a centre-back. King went off injured. His replacement, Dawson, was very good in his place. But we need to start looking hard at bringing someone to partner Woodgate on a more permanent basis. King, we love him, but the team as a whole is more important than one individual player. The defence has to be strong and his cameos are not enough for us to be able to drive through some consistency at the back.

Back to Bale. Remember why we signed him? He’s a talent. Fantastic going forward, not brilliant defensively, but a wonderful young player. He has not lost those abilities. He is simply a wonderful player that is in rotten rotten form. When you miss Ekotto at left-back, then you know things are bad. Gareth's confidence is shot to pieces, and our much publicised lack of depth is apparent here when we have to select a player that is struggling. I hope Spurs keep the faith in the long run with Bale. We have a habit of buying young players with tons of potential for massive fees (we basically pay what the player would be worth if he turned out to be good four years from now) and then sell them if they don’t have a great start. Kaboul anyone? £8M for that gem.

So back to the game. We need to be winning these home matches. I know we missed out on the giddy heights of 12th spot, but it’s not relevant thanks to everyone practically being equal down at the bottom. The Prem won’t begin to shape up down there for another 5 or games. Might even take more. Not worth the risk in waiting and re-evaluating week to week. We need to start collating the points with that much needed urgency.

Winning today would also mean nothing if we don’t beat Stoke in our next match. It seems we are forced into re-evaluating the mathematics from week to week. That luxury will soon be gone as we move closer to game 38. Don't know about you, but going to Liverpool needing to win to stay-up on the final day of the season isn't something that I want to experience. Even if they had a dodgy lasagne, I still wouldn't fancy our chances.

By the end of Jan, we’ll hopefully have several new recruits. You would hope we'd be a far more stronger outfit come Feb, and we'd need to be to beat the top table sides (as we can't appear to beat anyone below mid-table). Points have to start rolling in.

Imagine having Berba and Keane upfront today. How many do you reckon we would have scored based on chances created? Add to it the creativity and space created by a winning partnership as our two departed players shared, and we’d be laughing. Throw in a DM and if you want to be cheeky, a left-winger and the doom and gloom will be non-existent.

What we got instead was a little bit of the old anti-luck (that Bent miss and an early Defoe chance which should have been on target). Good luck is something you get when you will yourself forwards, it smiles on you not when you are down in the dumps but when you strive to get to a higher place. Far too many of our players are feeling sorry for themselves.

Lennon played well, and is arguably our best player this season. He’s even learnt to plant a cross on a forwards head. O’Hara was busy, but is always prone to one error, which can usually lead to disaster. He got away with it today. Modric, oh Modric. I really do hope Appiah is signed by us (as I doubt Palacios is going to bother with City throwing money his way) because Luka needs a strong centre-pairing to allow him the freedom to create. He played well second half, but his back-turning moment to a tackle which saw David Nugent almost (should have) scored is not the type of thing you want to see in a dogfight. Zokora was Zokora. His first touch is Sutcliffesque, and his another player who struggles with the simple things.

Bentley wasn’t too shabby when he came on. Apart from one or two set-pieces. He created that chance for Bent. Would have been a perfect assist that. He definitely has the look of a player feeling sorry for himself. But his performance was encouraging.

Defoe took his goal very well (glad to have him back), through the legs of Sol Campbell. Nice touch. And how refreshing was it not to spend the whole game singing silly songs about this ex-player? Although when the Park Lane hummed the controversial re-worked Lord of the Dance song, I even saw a copper smile.

Altogether now.....

Sol Sol
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la

Overall, decent game, decent performance – and on another day, we could have won it (but on the flip side, Pompey could have scored one or two more themselves....and Nugent scored, so that sums that up). David James played his part, as he usually does when he faces us.

Stoke at home MUST BE, HAS TO BE three points for us. Much like today was, but the Prem, as I said, allows for this re-evaluation. For now.

Redknapp did well today considering the players who got injured (Pav shouldn’t be out for too long, but King is ‘long term'). And Gomes, Corluka and Lennon all played on with slight knocks. Harry could only make the one tactical substitution today.

Bit more application required, urgency too and whoever we bring in should see to it. I hope. It’s a broken record, but formations and tactics will work better if the right players are in the right positions.

It’s crazy that around 9 months ago, White Hart Lane was the goal-scoring capital of the world. Blink, and you’d miss one. 4-4’s all the range, yet today, although defensively we have one of the best records at home, offensively it’s the worst in all of the leagues.

Obviously, we need to be running around a lot more and sticking it in the net.

Has Defoe signed yet?

Can't Spurs ever just sign a player, straight-forward transfer, parading him only after the ink has dried? Nah. Not fucking likely. No official word yet, so the tabloids are stirring it up with rumours about no fee agreed and legal issues with Spurs re-signing Defoe so soon after selling him.

Personally, find this a little more interesting, and far more likely:

Tottenham also inserted a sell-on clause when they sold Defoe, which entitled them to a percentage of any future transfer fee. Given the sums involved, that would have amounted to £4m. But Portsmouth negotiated that figure into the final package while the monies that they already owed to Tottenham in instalments on previous transfers were factored in as well.

Portsmouth were due this month to pay the balance on Defoe's transfer to them, a figure of £4.5m, while they also owed £5m on the switch that Younes Kaboul made last summer and £2m on Pedro Mendes' transfer in January 2006.

Little money has actually changed hands on Defoe's return to White Hart Lane but Portsmouth sources are satisfied they have made a £6m profit on him in just under a year. They also received £5m from Tottenham in compensation when Redknapp traded places.

Spurs are stupid, but not stupid enough to parade him before a game. And Pompey are broke and need the cash. It's done.