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Entries in ITK community (13)

Sunday
Aug122012

Hotel ITK

Hotel California reimagined for Tottenham Hotspur. With sincere apologies to The Eagles, writers Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and producer Bill Szymczyk.

Instrumental here.

 

Hotel ITK

On a dark twitter timeline, I.T.K makes me glare
Warm smell of bullsh*t, makes me pull out my hair
Up ahead on NewsNow, I saw an enticing link
Spat out coffee, eyes popped out of my head
I had to browse and couldn't blink
There it stood between adverts;
I read the cryptics well
And I was screaming to myself,
"This could be factual or this could be fail"
Then I switched on Sky Sports, Jim White showed me the way
There were texts on my iphone,
I thought I saw them say...

Welcome to the Hotel In the Know
I want to punch their face (Want to punch their face)
Want to hurt with mace
Plenty of lies at the Hotel In the Know
Always twice a year (Always twice a year)
You will find them here

His mind is definitely twisted, he's got copy and paste
He got a lot of silly, silly blogs but not an ounce of taste
How they post with their comments, sickly sycophants
Why bother with this, he's not clairvoyant

So I called up the Phantom,
"Please who shall we sign?"
He said, "Blue yellow done and dusted he's one of a kind"
But I tell him to f**k off, I'm way out of line,
So I'm kicked off the forum by the admin
And I'm banned for life...

Welcome to the Hotel In the Know
They never get it right (They never get it right)
Make things up each night
They never commit at the Hotel In the Know
Always twice a year (Always twice a year)
I will always jeer

Luka, there's no feeling,
Hope you get head lice
Daniel Levy said "You signed a contract fool, keep you here for life"
And all our transfer targets,
Their clubs refuse to talk
Villas-Boas wants to sign Moutinho
But there's no pen we just stalk

Last prayer I remember, I cried
'Transfer deadline is here'
I had to pray for goals galore
Where is that forward Adebayor?
"Signed" said the chairman,
"Yes we've concluded a deal.
It's Jermaine Jenas on a long term contract,
you're not dreaming, it's for real"

 

Wednesday
Jun272012

Go on then, let's flirt with a very reliable source

Bale

It's too humid to think. Got just about enough energy to smile at the news Gareth Bale has signed a new contract. He will progress this season I'm sure of it, with far greater discipline tactically than he experienced last time out. Nothing wrong with switching flanks, cutting in, playing like an inside forward but has to remain effective from the wings with his crossing. With more men in the box, we'll score more goals. Football is simple. He just needs to be controlled and developed for the good of the team, because if he plays well in a team playing great he'll get better. Football really is simple.

Sorry, really obvious statements shared there that we're lost in the hyperbole of season 2012.

A win win for the club. We keep our most potent of weapons and if the CL dream fails to materialise at the end of next season then Barca/Madrid can pay up to buy out the worth of his contract. But let's not think too far ahead. Especially with thoughts of such a negative type. Bale signing a new contract will shatter some of the tabloid hacks who haven't stopped crying their eyes out and spewing spite towards us for the disgraceful sacking of Redknapp. Carry on lads. You'll have plenty to sick your teeth into in the coming months.

ITK INNIT

It's all actually very quiet at the moment aside from all the predictions and rumours of when x y and z will happen. The new manager and new players have been perpetually predicted to happen every week for weeks now. So law of averages, any day now. It's like a competition with the ITK's and club insiders. Twenty blokes all standing feet away from a dart board all wearing masks all throwing for the bullseye.

Can I play too?

I saw this posted over at the epic ITK collection thread (clicky click) at The Fighting Cock (the actual source is 'Ryan' via FTL). I feel cheap and dirty doing this. Probably should have added a question mark to the article heading.

"Some ITK news for you from a VERY reliable source:
Vertonghen WILL be a Spurs player come July 1st
Sig WILL be a Spurs player come July 1st
Loic Remy WILL be a spurs player come July 10th (delays in agreeing terms)
Modric WILL be sold to Real Madrid (?30m + Sahin) by July 9th
AVB WILL be Spurs manager on July 1st
we WILL be signing with our MAJOR sponsor/investor for naming rights on July 15th
Stadium work WILL be commencing July 27th after the signing of the final contracts.
2 x more MAJOR signings WILL be made before July 18th"

Covers practically everything being discussed currently.

My thoughts?

Vert will end up signing. Predicting something that everyone knows is 99% done is hardly ITK. The player, Ajax, everyone involved (apart from Spurs) have more or less confirmed it's happening but there are snags to do with money owed. Well, money the player believes to be owed, his current club disagreeing. I'll favour it happening because in principle, it's done. The technicality is pretty much bullied into the corner (99% v 1%) and Spurs, as quiet and professional as they are on this saga, won't allow the deal to die if we are truly serious about making him one of us.

Sig is a done deal. Again, it's been shared publicly. Okay, so you might argue it's been shared by foreign websites equally as dubious as some of our English based red tops, but it all fits in quite well with one or two official feeds confirming the deal. Quite happy with this one. Young, attacking midfielder. Cracking shot, forward rather than deep and gives us options. Rotation when required is imperative this time out. We need the quality to sustain it.

Remy. Don't know. He's been linked all summer, it's probably worth a punt. Steady that hand when throwing that dart. I personally think (as per the usual template of surprise) that any further signings will come from left-field and surprise us. No, no, when I say left-field I don't mean left-footed by the way. No cryptics here. Just a gut feeling. Then again, once the manager is appointed, our targets might become far more apparent and with any luck happen far quicker than how the summer has crawled along so far. More likely Adebayor than Remy (I'm using the logic of 'he played for us last season' as my reasoning there).

Modric? Of course he's going to Madrid. Where else is he going to go? No chance Levy will let him sign for another English club. Madrid only possible club that can afford him. Levy won his battle with Chelsea and with the Croatian being at his prime to be sold on for a massive profit, the club will take that quite easily. It's a massive shame we're losing him. Honestly think retaining him + new manager and new players would galvanise us. But new beginning, the player wants his wage packet and CL football now, so selling him abroad makes it easier to swallow.

Sahin as part of the deal? Think this is probably based on the fact that Luka would push Sahin further down the pecking order and what with our 'relationship' with Madrid, 1+1 calculators are working over time. Think we need someone far more prominent and high profile as our 'new playmaker'. Very much dependent on the style of football we play next season. Do like us being Madrid's feeder side though. Better than selling our best players to Utd.

AVB on the first of July? Again, very well documented. Plenty of whispers about contractual obligations and such. The silence is deafening. Worst kept secret in football. I'll welcome him, I'm buzzing about it. As long as he scraps the side line squatting, I'll welcome him with open arms. Just make sure you're not squatting because I'm not bending down to hug you. He likes his three up top, two inside forwards with a lone striker. Holding midfielder (or two), Sandro could play a massive part this up and coming season. Some media training, a few post-match smiles and the pressure won't be half as as bad as long as the Lane sing a song or two in his name. We've got the quality, we'll consolidate it with new blood. We just need to learn to be shrewd, heartless and cut throat, killing teams off.

Sponsor/investor and stadium, would welcome it. Haven't got much to say on this other than its fairly imperative the club outline times-cales for the NDP. We know it's going to happen but it's not quite happening but it can't not happen. So here we are waiting.

Two more major signings? No sh** Sherlock. You think Levy isn't going to give AVB a war chest? I'm sure in the coming weeks we'll be linked with every other top star at Porto.

 

That was fun. I might do this again.

 

Friday
Jun082012

Luka and ITK mathematics

Luka Modric to Manchester United for £25M. That makes sense. It makes sense we were rejecting £40M bids from Chelsea last summer and would now take a hefty price cut on the valuation of the player so that we could make a divisional competitor even stronger on the cheap.

Does the player still want out? Probably. There's no denying it's about the wages more than anything, far more than Champions League itself (much like Redknapp alluded too the other day). Even if we finished 4th and got into Europe's elite competition, the player (and agent) would still look to orchestrate another attempted move. Why?

125k per week
Several million pounds for the agent via fee

That's two reasons.

Levy made his stand and his point last summer with the player and Chelsea/Dail Mail's attempts to sign him, retaining his services for the 2012 season. It's not rocket science to think he will appear to do the exact same thing this summer, but with one small detail of difference. If we do receive a bid that meets the players valuation, then we'll let him go. That's OUR valuation and not the Manchester United supporting tabloid journalist's valuation when attempting to broker the deal via back page hype, without source or quotes.

I'm not even sure what my point is now. Shouldn't really be expecting anything different from the 'news feeds', especially this time of year. What's wonderful about this particular Luka story is the matter of fact title 'Luka Modric to join Man Utd' and this gem of knowledge planted in the middle of the 'article':

The Croatian said he had no intention of quitting Spurs having signed a six-year deal in May 2010.

Had no intention? Back in 2010? What about last summer dickhead? Surely if you're going to make stuff up there's a time and place for it and stating the truth would actually fit in better with the agenda, on this particular occasion.

I can't see our chairman bending over for them, not with their past form (Carrick, Berbatov) and with the no-way stance of last summer. Okay, so we always bend over for them, but there's been so much control with our 'we won't be selling our best players' mantra over the past two seasons that...who am I kidding? Words are just words. Levy knows how to drag it out. Whatever happens will be because he wants it to happen and its conclusion will satisfy everyone.

So if they want our prize commodity (which will mean we have to change the way we play-make and shape up in midfield) then they need to compensate us for the detrimental impact it will have on us and the bitter reality that they will become stronger off the back of it.

I guess my point, the crux of it, is that these tabloid stories are always about appeasing the club attempting/chasing the signing rather than perhaps seeing a headline that states:

"Spurs tell Utd: £40M or forget about it"

 

Elsewhere?

I've layed off from ITK bashing for a while now as there is hardly any difference between them and the tabloids. I don't for a second think there are no people with connections (some strong, some tenuous) that might be privy to information. That never means said information can be trusted as there is only one certainty in football and that is the lies and game-playing agents/football clubs/players swim around in to get what they want. If you have info, share it if you wish to share it. Do so with transparency if you can (or not to protect yourself or the source). Sadly with Spurs we appear to have around 40 or so people that claim to have inside knowledge of what is going on and they all seem to hang around online, cryptically teasing us with non-events of tittle tattle in closed off membership forums.

Possibly the best thing I've seen that sums it all up is an ITK answering questions relating to whether we are interested in signing anyone to replace Luka if/when Luka is sold. His response:

Replacement(s)

Yes. We might have a replacement or more than one replacement lined up. But can't tell you anything more than that because I'd be giving it all away so I'll add an 's' in brackets to the back end of the word 'replacement' to leave it all ambiguous and mysterious, like I know something that you don't but I'll remain non-committal about it.

Do one.

Nobody is interested in whether you know something you can't share. If you can't share it don't go telling us you can't share it. It has no relevance in the public domain. You're better off making something up, which is what most people do 99% of the time.

I'm on my period, deal with it.

I miss the days of Teletext and Monday mornings at school where everyone would discuss the weekends football. I remember following Gascoigne's transfer to Spurs via the very same maligned tabloid back pages. You knew the player signed when the player actually signed. I miss those innocent days of the late 80s. That and skipping past white dog poo in the street.

 

 

Friday
Jan202012

Schrödinger's cat, done and dusted, don't shoot the messenger

Soz, sick. Hence lack of exuberant blogging this past week. Trying to ease my way to a Spurs v City preview.

 

Wolves

Looking back at this game, the fact we had to dig deep to equalise and almost went on to win the game...it should not be discounted. I know its still easy to claim its two points dropped but let's wait and see if that's still the case at the end of the season. You'd rather win on Sunday after a draw than beat Wolves then lose at Eastlands, right? Three points is just the three points no matter the opposition, but three points away to City would be worth so much more. The Wolves point might end up being the difference when it's all done and dusted. You know you've been in a war when you can look back at the hard fought battles. A point isn't quite a victory but its hardly the flag of surrender.

Them lot down the road

Avoided the glamour of trolling and attempted to debate the North London state of mind over at the White Hart Pain blog that looked at the trainstion of power (shift) from red to white. Comments section included this from a gooner:

Calm down mate, its January. For a “power Shift” to come about, you would need to finish above Arsenal for many seasons, not just. Next year normal service will be resumed.

I responded with this:

Er…no we don’t. All we need to do is finish about Arsenal the once. The problem you chaps down the road have is you’re not letting go of this fallacy that you’re still a great club. You’ve stagnated badly. Okay, so badly is pretty much defined as still being able to qualify for the CL every season but is that going to be your legacy, your gloat? 15 times on the trot?

Let go of it. Then you might be able to start a new era and move on rather than continue to drown in superlatives that are no longer relevant.

Wenger, came to Arsenal (a blank canvas) and pretty much created a club from his vision. Wenger is pretty much Arsenal. Much like Arsenal fans (most of them) seem to echo the delusions of the manager and part and parcel the same happens with the players.

You once had full rights to be arrogant pricks about it, but take a look around. This is no longer the Prem dominated by the Sky Sports Top four. No matter how much it hurts, its all changed. For the best. You think any club stood a chance during that period of time? Spurs included, we could hardly mount a challenge. Now we can. And its not just because everybody else has dropped off the pace, its because we’ve organically grown and evolved. Stick RvP into the Spurs side and we’d probably win the league (okay, City would still probably edge us out) but Christ…when in the last 10 years has anyone been able to speak about Spurs like this?

The foundations are set. Up to us to push on with it. To be honest, sadly, many gooners would not sit down and debate this. Because many refuse to accept weakness and doubt. They once cited the presence whereas all they do now is remind us of the past when the reality is, the future is there to be made.

But hey, I guess we haven’t got Frimpong denching it across Twitter so we’ve still got a fair amount of ground to cover before we turn into twats.

As for normal service? Is that what Arsenal are these days? Just the rivals of Tottenham Hotspur? It's like we're back in the 1980s again.

I welcome our 'neighbours' to better themselves because it would mean so much more to finish above them when they claim to be superior and at their best.

ITK and the transfer window

There was a time when I would spend the entirety of January trolling the ITK community and mocking the ones that worshipped along with the ones that claimed to have inside information. After almost five years of revelling in this traditional internet dance, I think I've entered a state of semi-retirement. I can't be alone in thinking this window is more so overwhelming than prior ones. Firstly, we don't tend to do that much business and the only type of business that can be embraced as exciting is the opportunistic dealings that Levy is (in)famous for (i.e. van der Vaart).

I don't really want to hear dressed up BS about why the Samba deal is stalling. We all know he's a prospective transfer target. Whoop-de-do. Other targets are taken from the small pool of players we're likely to be interested in based on the fact that we need a centre-back/midfield or winger/forward. If there are say twenty players out there that fit the bill, it's hardly rocket science to work out the potentials. Then we move ever closer to the last day of the window with everyone panicking that no new players will surely spell the end of our season. It's like being a kid and going to a toy store expecting to buy something and you end up coming away with either nothing or a crap toy you didn't really want but just had to get to make the visit worth while. Then you get home and look at the toys you already have and realise you're spoilt rotten.

As for the ITK's themselves, I've been following this thread (for larfs) but hardly paying that much attention to it. Schrödinger's cat would frown. There's can't be twenty or so separate claims of having contact with someone involved in the club. Similarly, we can't be involved in so many prospective dealings at once. It all remains reactive any ways these days. Where's Harry? He's in France. Cue player(s) he is scouting with additional info on likelihood of happening. Yawn. If there are only a few players then the twenty seperate 'leaks' seems to have their own perspective on what's happening. And if nothing is happening then we're blessed with a variety of information on the clubs transfer policy.

ITK's = the internet version of the backpage of The Sun

I've never shared this, but someone (who reads this blog) worked in the business. He's publicised that himself. Hey, he could be telling fibs for all I know (insert smiley here) but the info he did share was always of interest although not always Spurs related. You're more likely to get said info from football agents and the clubs looking to sell/off-load. The wonderful irony is that there are so many political plays and bluffing that it remains difficult to truly know what is happening until it happens. And surely that's all that matters; Player, outside The Lodge, holding up the shirt. I found this to be the case with the info shared. Genuine information...is it still genuine if it's ambiguous? I guess that's why I refuse to get all angry about the ITK's. Wouldn't go as far as offering them an olive branch though. More so the idiots that protect them like some melting pot of a cult.

Oh look. I've gone and repeated myself with all this when I promised myself I wouldn't. Slow news day. In the mean time, 1001 other football websites will boost their click-thru average and earn some pennies for the meter but sharing the same old churned out stories that seem to never go away. We'll have to wait and see if Levy aims to please us or retains a calm composed pragmatical approach (which would equally be pleasing if we improve squad depth).

Do think we need to shift players out first. Perhaps the chairman needs to drop the valuations down a little to do that. Surely we need to be paying someone to take Gio off our hands? Can Faces not sign him as the 'Face of Faces'? I'm sure Ledley wouldn't mind.

 

 

Thursday
Jan052012

Special speculation

Five days into the January transfer window and it's started. Rumours, whispers, suggestions. The WBA game and the hectic Xmas and NY period proved more or less the importance of rotation and resting players. We have to be in a position to do that without detrimental effects on the team.

My personal mantra remains the same:

We need to bring in couple of players, ideally though that cover should be competition for the players in the squad already. So we should look to sign quality players that are long term and not just short term. If one of them happens to fit the 'special' bill, then that does me just fine and it will elevate us further forwards. But in terms of reality, that 'special' big name signing doesn't quite fit into the sides dynamics if you consider our current first team if all fit and well.

Midfield wise, we've got star quality. Signing a major player for a key midfield role, it's hardly pragmatic. Although the more astute might point out that Levy did just that with Rafa van der Vaart when he was not the type of player we actually needed at the time. That was supremely opportunistic and it was a risk, one that worked at the time and one that did shift us up a level performance wise.

Up front we have Adebayor. On loan. So if we do sign a striker for plenty of £££ then I'd expect our loanee to return to Eastlands in the summer. Any new signing in this position that is not a young hungry player willing to play second fiddle, will want more game time and although Adebayor is in need or a rest we can't keep him + two other forwards content (not forgetting Pav).

Then there's centre-backs. I've ever so slightly changed my opinion on this. Signing one will give us more than ample cover at the back (with Dawson, Gallas, Kaboul) what with King and his cameos. If any of the aforementioned three pick up knocks (Gallas already has) then its too much of a risk to ignore not signing someone. It will also allow us to play Kaboul at right-back to cover Walker (if Corluka goes or is simply no longer fancied). Not ideal having him deputise at RB, but its an option. It does look congested with that extra CB. So again, it has to be a long term signing if it happens and not simply 'cover'.

edit: not forgetting Bassong. Or forgetting him if you so wish.

I guess, what with our position in the league, we can't hope we muddle through Jan/Feb without any further knocks. Hence the importance of getting in players that will improve the squad in key positions and inspire competition. Again (repeating myself now) its dependent on how much money Daniel Levy is willing to spend this window.

The right-wing can do with some injection of new blood. A three-tier player will do. That's an attacking midfielder that can play wide and either just behind the main forward (van der Vaart role) or further forward. To find such quality though, it's a big ask. Which is why we're being continually linked with Junior Hoilett. But again, Harry might be okay to simply push Rafa out there (which is never a good thing), much like pushing Luka to the right.

Huddlestone has stated he's back 'running' in the next week or so. Sandro is out with a calf injury. Parker is injured (not too seriously) and was in a dire need of a rest prior to that. I feel Harry will stick with Livermore to cover the midfield unless there's a better quality player who can be signed. Rodwell is being linked. It would have to be someone similar. Young, willing to be patient. Because once Parker is 100% and Sandro is fit, then its the midfield's turn to be congested.

I'm not even going to consider the consequences of losing Luka to injury. Or Bale.

Perhaps that special player will do after all.

 

 

 

Check out the monster ITK thread over on the forum. I prefer to stay clear of it, but you might want to keep track of all the tittle tattle.

 

Listen out for the latest episode of The Fighting Cock podcast where we discuss the Jan transfer window. Available on Friday via itunes and on the FC website.


 

Monday
Jan022012

The window is open. Can you not feel the draft?

So it’s already started. The rumours and whispers  and the regurgitated transfer ramblings. The window is open. If only we could all jump out of it. Doesn’t quite work like that though and as I sit here ever so slightly on the edge of hypocrisy ,as much as I enjoy laughing at the media/Harry Redknapp and the ITK community, I obviously (deep down) don’t mind it as it tends to elevate an otherwise distracting month of irreverent chit chat. We all live in hope Jim White’s head WILL explode. One day, soon.

Mathematicians will obviously point to the fact that there is only a small group of high profile players that we’d potentially be able to sign. The unknown quantity are scouted players completely under the radar which usually don’t get highlighted by those privy to inside info because they don’t truly have access to said info. It’s far easier to suggest signing someone ‘famous’ especially someone who has been linked before. You know how it works. It’s the same formula the back page tabloids enjoy printing.

Once in a while, sure, someone does get it right. Mostly when the deal has practically been concluded and Levy and co can’t stop info from being leaked and hardly care at that point in time. Usually know, no one has a clue until the club tells us. So we populate the time with all the fun and games, the playa hating and the name calling.

I won’t be copying and pasting info this time. It’s out there, it’s easy to find and considering how disparaging I can be towards all the worshipping and the God complex that’s synonymous with it I’m hardly going to share cheap headlines just for the traffic when the info is pretty much irrelevant until said player is paraded in Lilywhite.

So instead I’m going to make logical predictions (will leave the names blank for you lot to discuss) based on nothing more than hope.

We’ve been obsessed with centre-backs. Cahill could have signed for us in the last window. Samba is always a popular and obvious player that gets linked. But then when you note the return of Dawson and add Kaboul, Gallas and the part-time King to the list you start considering the possibility that no new defensive rock will join this window. Perhaps in the next one when Gallas (probably) departs and question marks remain with Ledley’s longevity. Then there’s Caulker, the one for the future that might be part of the first team next season depending on who the manager is at the start of 2013.

It’s more likely that defenders will leave, although we half expected that last time out and it didn’t happen. Bassong probably needs to escape for his own sanity. Corluka? We have to hold onto to cover the right-back position otherwise if Walker is out for x amount of time then Kaboul will have to deputise there and depending on our centre-back situation it could get messy.

The philosophy here ideally should be think long term because long term will aid the short term. Economically (finances and squad size) I’m unclear how Levy plans to work this what with Redknapp’s future uncertain depending on how much you read into outside of Spurs distractions. Hopefully the chairman will appreciate we’re in a position where we need to consolidate and leave nothing to risk, what with the opportunity we find presented to us (top 3, game in hand, potential to push on further).

The midfield is key. Outside of transfers, Harry has to make sure he doesn’t burn out the likes of Parker. We’ve had to adapt and mix it up with the formation in recent games. With Kranjcar out in the cold and Lennon injured (on way back) either we start using Niko (even as an impact sub) or we look to bring in someone young, hungry and happy to play patiently as cover for the flanks. That’s either going to be someone in the Prem from a mid-table to bottom side that’s impressed thus far this season or a player from the continent that perhaps will escape the newsfeeds until it actually happens. Can you think of any high profile players you’d want? Considering high-profile might equate to Lennon ending up as the cover.

Pienaar doesn’t appear to be fancied much (where does he play exactly?). How Giovani remains perpetually linked to a move away without every appearing to make that move possible, irks me. Townsend has gone to Leeds on loan, so you hope there’s more than a suggestion that the club are not going to ‘wing it’ where this is concerned and cross their fingers. We can all see the detrimental impact of not having Lennon available to us. Although it’s allowed us to re-shape and work towards a tangible plan b.

The forward conundrum is far more complex because of the Adebayor loan deal. If we’re going to sign him permanently then money has to be placed aside. I doubt anything will happen in Jan. I hope it doesn’t mainly because it will force the player to continue to work hard (and avoid comfort). Although I’ve been impressed with his words as much as his work ethic (less so for his first touch). Again, politics might mean he doesn’t sign at all and returns to City (then onwards to Italy) in the summer. If Harry is no longer with us, the next man in charge might look elsewhere. Meaning that’s where the big money will be spent.

Pretty much irrelevant from my perspective as a fan though. Harry is the manager, he’s still the manager and we need to be decisive and completely confident in the squad we have post-Jan.

And so begins the second guessing. If the right player *is* available now and that player has the world class about him then regardless of the future, if its right for Spurs he should be signed.

Fact is, we have three forwards. Only one of them gets to play consistently. Pavlyuchenko is the one that needs to leave as he remains surplus and mostly unimpressive. Frustrating, as he’s technically a great finisher but usually a lazy unintelligent individual who doesn’t quite fit in when it matters. Cameos are not enough to retain his services. So based on that, we should be looking for someone to come in. If Levy isn’t willing to spend the masses of millions then much like the flank cover, we’ll look to be shrewd but sign someone with experience (rather than a young player who would be too great a risk, especially if Adebayor got injured).

Knock yourselves out guessing who that player might be. There are several touted ‘big name’ players who fit the bill. One or two less glamorous ones already plying their trade in England. Interestingly we’ve (ITK’s, the media and more importantly the fans) have moved on from waiting for a fully fledged La Liga superstar to sign. We are hardly going to sign someone that will demand to play ahead of Adebayor. Would make little sense.

Those that chose to be critical of Adebayor need to also appreciate he too was a shrewd signing. Experienced Prem player with something to prove. No big fee paid, percentage of wage the only damage. Roman’s ‘departure’ is key here. If he doesn’t leave then can’t see us signing anyone up front. Don’t see how manager and chairman could validate such a move (although it’s more than obvious Harry wants rid of the Russian).

The gaffer cites that ‘special player’. No doubting a goal-scorer would be the ideal special player he’d like to make part of the squad. But then trying to decipher whether this is another deflection sound-bite or Harry letting us know subtly nothing will happen is again...anyone’s guess.

I’ll be made up with a midfielder. Perhaps one that can play wide but also do a job where Rafa plays behind Adebayor – meaning we cover two positions. I’ll be made up if we make it a double signing with a forward to retain a cutting edge if others pick up knocks.

One thing is for certain. Regardless of the necessity we all seem to share in wanting to know what player the club are working towards signing (if any) if it happens it makes no difference if you knew about it before the official announcement.

In an ideal world, we won’t be asking the above questions on the final day of the window because we’ll have concluded our business some time before. We are much more likely to see Sky Sports News reporters interviewing Harry (through his car window) every twenty minutes as he drives in and out of the Lodge car park to get as much air time as possible.

 

Wednesday
Jul132011

Exclusive interview with 'The Phantom of the Lane'

The person with his finger on the pulse of inside information and knowledge of club ethics, politics and transfers...ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a reconstruction of a conversation with the pinnacle of the ITK (In the know) community, the multi badge of honour wearing; The Phantom of the Lane*.

*So deep throat, he's deeper than Linda Lovelace sitting at the bottom of a disused well.

 

 

The Phantom of the Lane on Twitter: @ThePOTL

 

related articles:

In the Know: Tottenham Transfer Exclusive

100% done and dusted

100% done and dusted redux

How many ITK's does it take to change a light-bulb

 

Wednesday
Jun152011

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.

 

 

Tuesday
May172011

Summer is almost upon us...

...so brace yourselves for the opening of the transfer window and the army of a thousand 'in the knows' that will bloody their sword in battle.

I adore the fact that so many people claim to have contacts/deep throats (or know someone who is connected in some wishy washy way) within the recently reinforced walls of White Hart Lane (if you believe the ITK that suggested Levy has tightened security of transfer shenanigans to a need-to-know basis).

All the information passed on from said insider(s) is then shared with the online community without hesitation. Although considering Harry Redknapp tells everybody via press conference who we're looking at it's hardly ground breaking stuff when something from within is then leaked into the public domain and is duplicated in half a dozen news streams. Guillem Balague also busy with the La Liga connections today (Osvaldo anyone?).

When the ITK's do let us know what's happening at the club, the information differs (in some cases vastly) from one to the next. So that's basically 40-50 people involved at the club at varying levels of employment who are privy to conflicting information (if notes were compared) and are all willing to share with people outside of the club that either use message boards or pass on the info to someone who does, resulting with rich ambiguity and canny cryptics of the transfer deal at hand. Yet rarely can any one ITK nail it beyond absolute doubt with definitive clarity. Then again, perhaps that's the point. Grapevine, whispers and misinformation.

Strangely, I can never force myself to look away. Probably because I need the material to work my way through the months before pre-season begins.

I've been privy to some information in the past (hasn't everybody?) although I know not a single person working for the club. The information was agent/player related and to be honest heavily dosed in salt. I've also been privy to other pointless whispers. But hardly any of it relevant to the necessity to know something before it happens even though if it happens you'll know about it regardless. Better left to the professionals.

Considering the variables at play and the limited scenarios that can potentially play out, if you throw enough **** at the wall, some of it will stick.

This summer the aim is to simply find the gem in amongst the rehashed echos of the prognosticative and the bleeding obvious and crown it as the definitive example, absolute clarity that Daniel Levy's Lilywhite walls have been penetrated and the juicy secret has oozed out into the wild.

I'm drowning in hypocrisy but I don't care. Follow the updates here:

ITK thread 2011/12

 

 

 

Saturday
Mar262011

Back in the day? It isn't half as good as it is now

Many years back, I sat with a mate chatting about random stuff and another mutual friend joined us looking rather suspicious and paranoid as he sat down.

"You won't believe this", he whispered.

He then proceed to tell us a story that had been reported in the newspapers. However the version he described was somewhat different to the one that was covered by the tabloids. The finer details supplied contained greater clarity and ironically a far more sensationalist pull than how the red tops presented it. In hindsight, you can understand that if you wished to read between the lines, the story in the papers hinted very subtly at the underlying truth behind the headline. Our paranoid friend was not quite constrained by legalities. In the know. Face to face. No hiding behind an avatar or badge. Old skool style.

How I miss those old days, before the Internet. When all your football discussion was done in the stands and pubs pre and post match and then in college/uni/work on the Monday morning. Rumours and stories concerning footballers would eventually find their way to someone you knew who would then share with you by virtue of a far slower cruder network, a grapevine of Chinese whispers, which some what distorted the original version by the time you got to place your ears up close to listen.

Football transfer stories would play out on the back pages. In fact (I could be distorting the past myself here) I'm fairly sure at the time the tabloids were never far off the mark with their stories. I remember following the Paul Gascoigne transfer via The Sun and the Daily Mirror. It played out with every twist and turn pretty much as reported on. Even with the papers claiming (as Paul himself promised) that he was going to join Utd. And then he joined Spurs.

Everything was far less complicated. Sure, agents existed at the time but footballers were only beginning to transcend to the path of vanity and pampered ego. They were still infants. Football had yet to explode (implode). The money yet to hit astronomical levels.

In modern times everything is pushed and harassed under the microscope, probed and then dissected. We can discuss, debate, argue and rant long after we return home from the game - in message boards, on blogs and with social networking. In fact we can do all of it at the game if we so wished via our smart phones. During the game. In fact, we can even commentate on the game thanks to Twitter. We are completely immersed and every thought and opinion can now be snapshot and shared and forwarded onto others and left behind for all to read weeks, months and years later.

It's not just what we see, it's what everybody can see. There are cameras, microphones, twenty-four hour news feeds on tv and the radio. There is so much coverage that it's an impossibility for you to not know what is going on. Everybody is a reporter. Everybody is a critic.

But that isn't a bad thing.

We have the ability to communicate and share opinion with fans from our own club and other clubs - from within the UK and from anywhere on the planet. The football fan isn't just that mouthy bloke in the stand shouting abuse at the ref. We've got writers, illustrators, animators. We have tactical analysts and fanatical statisticians. We no longer have to wait for that bloke in the pub or a mate of a mate to pass on something he heard from his uncle that has a cousin who has a girlfriend that has a brother that works with someone who knows someone who works in the club you support and they heard *snip*. Now we get told the juicy info, off the cuff, from a tree, with only a simple caveat stating 'don't shoot the messenger'. To the point. No messing. No need to wait a month to find it out the details.

Sure, the tabloids no longer control the transfer tittle-tattle. Agents, club insiders, paid off journalists, players - they're all in on it. Along with club managers. Everyone with their own agenda, everyone trying to influence and tap up. Mostly driven by the greed for more money and success. You'll find many staking a claim in a story they copied from someone who copied it from someone else who heard it from someone who probably made it up. But nobody stands tall to be accountable for the mess, because it's part and parcel of how things now work. And if questioned, they claim they're protecting their 'insider'. A license to lie. Much like the existence of God you can't prove it, you can't disprove it. Unless it's written in cryptic English (if it is - then it's a lie).

And sure, players are hardly likeable these days compared to the good old days. Arrogant, smug, horrible self-centred people. Not all of them. Most of them. Especially the really really successful ones. England captains and the like. You obviously get arrogant, smug, horrible self-centred people following the game too, be it in the stands or via blogs.

Especially via the blogs. Crowning themselves the peoples champion when the reality is that they hardly have much to say and there are far more articulate and funny football fans who don't go anywhere near a computer, but you'll find them at the match where perhaps you have to be standing next to them to enjoy and smile at a quick-witted joke or astute observation. Unless they've been escorted out for not sitting down.

And then you have the clubs that treat fans like consumers not football fans, patronising them what with revenue taking precedence over the emotive stuff, because emotion wont help bluster the transfer budget.

Hold on a second. Screw this. I think I need to go back and re-think the title to this article.

 

 

This was part 3 of the International Break Diary II

#2 The Spurs Madrid El Clásico

#1 Hands up if you want to stand up at football matches

 


Wednesday
Sep012010

Transfer deadline flatlines for the ITK's

Not a good transfer window for the ITK community. Scoring a weak (but average) 2.7/10 for perception skills and actual credible inside information revealed - only commenting on transfer rumours after they broke into the wild. Personal favourite was the bloke who claimed that he couldn't get on-line to tell everyone about the VdV deal before the story broke on SSN. And we were also treated to the classic 'it's going to happen but it might not' explanation. Covering all corners there. Loving how they roll.

Solid stuff. Heads up chaps. Not long now till January.

 

Posted on GG, ten minutes before the official announcement of VdV was made via the Spurs website. I was ten minutes out. They posted it earlier than I expected. ITK, yeah?


Before this blog post gets copied and pasted/linked (infidel!) and people claim I'm biting the hand that feeds me, I'm just jesting. Actually, no I'm not. There are people privy to info. And they share their information with some. And it's without excess and ambiguity. Few and far between, is this rare ilk of ITK. If someone truly knows something, they probably wouldn't share it until they knew it was okay to do so without harming their source or the deal itself. We all know how quickly the vultures of the media latch onto these things.

I'm sighing in the direction of the other lot. The ones who lust for attention and adoration. Who won't shut up and seem to be connected with absolutely every single potential possible transfer, incoming and outgoing and also it would seem to be completely in tune with the clubs policy on signing players and the club (and chairman's) ideology.

Pish.

Talking of which, hey, look, it's that video about ITK's and I'm re-posting it again because I'm desperate for attention and adoration.

 



(love letters and wet panties acceptable)


Facebook group
You Tube channel


 

Sunday
Aug012010

In the know: Tottenham Transfer Exclusive

The tumbleweeds still dominate the THFC landscape this summer transfer window. You only have to look across the barren desert to note that there is simply nothing out there. Other than perhaps a mirage or two. Yes, we have Sandro on his merry way to N17. dos Santos and perhaps one or two others (Adel? O'Hara?) might yet find redemption and a new lease of life in Lilywhite.

But when the Scott Parker non-event seems to be the main talking point along with updated speculation concerning Bellamy - you know that patience is being stretched. Yes, we want the moon on a stick. And yes, we want the club to build on the statement made last season, with 4th, by showing equal measures of ambition; Re-enforcement. But the waiting is killing us. And the headaches caused by those crazy last minute deals will no doubt cause plenty of facepalming and nail biting.

We don't really have a clue what's going on behind the scenes. Whether we have a definitive list of players we want and all the Harry sound-bites are simply mis-direction. Are we waiting to qualify for the CL group stages before we dip into the transfer kitty? Perhaps, perhaps not. One thing is for certain...

Levy isn't about to tell us a thing. So I guess, it's up to the I.T.K. community to once more, rescue us from this abyss of nothingness...

Next video coming soonish...Spurs v Man City: A Class War

Click here if you missed the 'What does Jermaine Jenas do exactly?' vid.