We need a new Plan A to go with our Plan B (cheeky bids accepted for Plans C and D)

20^th Jan. The date. Today. First month of the year heading towards it's conclusion. Not long then until the transfer window shuts again and all we’ve learnt thus far is that we don’t really have an outstanding target with regards to resolving the forward conundrum.

Has Keane gone yet? Nope. Pav is apparently a Sunderland hopeful. Crouch – well, most of you want him sold but there’s little chance of Harry ridding the squad of his Plan B. Which leaves us with JD playing up top as our main man. Defoe, a sort of Plan B+ rather than a fully fledged Plan A. 

So we’re left with the usual rehashed links (Fabiano, Suarez, Rossi) to add to the likes of Carroll and...actually I think that’s it. No other available strikers in world football currently. Just the aforementioned mob.

Which is why I’m beginning to settle back in the comfort of my sofa and ignore all the hype and stories and ITK nonsense, because from the looks it, we are in for another last minute wheeler-dealer moment of magic from the chairman, with Harry on the sidelines giving the nod and thumbs up. I’d place actual money on a new major signing if...if Keane and Pav go in the next two weeks. If it goes down to the wire, if we’re on deadline day and Jim White has his beef in his hand behind the desk at Sky Sports News, then that last minute moment of magic might wholly rely on plenty of last minute cheeky bids for the two forwards that our gaffer doesn’t fancy.

  Plan B. Good mic skills for a white man.

Keane is gone in mind. West Ham perhaps. Doubt he’ll get away with claiming them lot as his (other other) boyhood club. Pav is the key to all this. But, like I said, if it goes down to the wire and the club await the Russian to be sold before making a move then it’s going to completely depend on magic.

Or perhaps foundations have already been laid down in preparation and the last minute transfer deals are never as manic and desperate as they seem. Just chairman and managers waiting until it’s too late to do anything but take a risk.

And what of the player we’ve actually signed? Piennar?

Two things to muse about here.

I quite like the theory that the only reason Chelsea bid for him was to force us into spending some of our treasured money from the war chest (to weaken it) when the ideal (original scenario) was to bring in the player for free in the summer. Conspiracy theory anyone? Honestly, make up your own ridiculous story arc, I don’t know, maybe about one where a player rejects Chelsea to join Spurs instead. Craaaaaazy!

The other point is – it’s a good signing. It’s not the big sexy player Harry wants to aid with pushing us onto the next level, but he’s a player who will cover in key areas. Seems Niko has joined dos Santos in the forgotten lounge of...sorry, who was I talking about again? And Piennar is/was Everton’s player of the season (2010) and we all know that Everton are more work ethic than glitz and glam, so for the money paid – I’m happy with this. Gut feeling, it’s going to be one of those almost sort of under the radar unspectacular types of signings that just does what it says on the  tin with additional thanks to little expectancy or pressure from the stands.

But alas, we still await that game changer. Best transfer story of non-eventfulness has to be the one about us 'saving' Joe Cole from his Liverpool nightmare. That takes the award. Standing ovation.

Shame feeder club Real Madrid don’t have any players to throw our way this time round.



The snarling elegant beast in need of Carroll...or a ballerina

Being Spurs means you spend an awful lot of time preparing yourself for a fall. Whether it’s a game we are expected to win or the final nervous ten minutes with backs to wall, heroic and clumsy in defending. You bite your nails, chew through your hand and then munch up your arm until your mouth turns and starts eating through your face and head. You get the picture. It's brutal. I'm sure most fans of other clubs experience similar levels of impact that expectations can have on the heart, mind and soul. For us, it's been in our DNA for decades. But alas, no longer. The wonders of genetic engineering, breeding new Lilywhites with traditional flaws eliminated. Not quite perfect, research costs money and takes time. But this hybrid beast is one that does things it wasn't originally born to do in prior incarnations.

It's snarls. It bites. But can still move elegantly.

This is a new age and we are having to, every now and again, give ourselves a steady slap to our own half bitten face. A reminder that things are not quite what they use to be. And that when quirks, hiccups do occur - it's not a complete throw-back of past darkness but rather the type of blips most top tier teams and sides vying to be top tier suffer from by virtue of averages. You can't always play well. Secret is to still win when you don't. And that takes guts and focus, because you can find yourself having to do so often meaning it's easy to self-doubt and allow heads to drop despondently. But if you believe...

Belief is something that comes with winning and is the blood that pumps through the veins as you go from walking to sprinting to running. You can measure all this by how disappointed we are with our failure to beat Chelsea at home (not the best example due to the dramatics of the final ten minutes). But the point being, we win and draw far more than we lose so therefore, we fuel our progression onwards. We don't have the fear in us. And we don't drown in our own giddiness either, thanks to our focus shifting from one game onto the next.

We didn't play stupendously well over the Christmas period. Arguably you could say we've had pockets of pomp across the whole season, never outstanding one game after another. A case of one day we either play with swagger and win or we play with fragmented balance and still win. And on the odd occasion we lose. That extra bit of experience Manchester United (along with having whathisface Ferguson at the helm) sees them undefeated. Growing pains have had us on the receiving end of one or two nil points. As expected. We are still susceptible to those blips thanks mainly to some inconsistency to the backline and the lack of obvious stone cold conviction up front. But we are pushing to better ourselves. All the time. On the up, no argument there.

So having accumulated nine out of nine, what of our next trip?

Everton away, statistically, would have most predict this as a draw or less. Got to place hand on heart and say I will be gutted if we don’t win. Because statistics aside, pound for pound, we should be containing and beating them. With no disrespect meant to the Toffeemen. The way we've played in recent games has seen us display traits that personally say a lot more than a textbook Tottenham dvd performance.

We grind, we fight. Down to ten men twice,  so what? Let's pass the ball like there's twenty of us running around the pitch. And then the pockets of pure scintillating counter-attacking football reminds us all that even at 60% Spurs can produce a 95% moment of devastation that results in three points.

I hope that there is not too much tinkering in terms of squad rotation tonight. Although it's not an imperative end of days must win, it's most defiantly an opportunity to continue with the momentum, when you consider that other clubs might drop points this evening. Also, complacency. We have to respect Everton and not take it all for granted. Obvious statements. Basics.

Which brings me to the conclusion of the article (almost). As we continue to push forwards, avoiding the blips, there is no need for a massive rock of the boat. We're sailing. Just need to fit it with a powerful motor to speed things along. A basic, simple and obvious addition(s) if we want to reach our destination before others.

Running theme this season: consolidation. We have the players to deliver the bullets (Lennon, Bale, vdV, Modric). All we need is the hit-man with the gun ready to pull the trigger. Doesn't have to be anything more than what's required. For the right amount, Carroll would do. What with Dzeko gone to City. But mugging off Newcastle with a bit of money and a couple of players in a swap would probably take some supreme hypnotising from Levy.

Carroll might not exactly be the White Drogba but if you forget about his age and his lack of Prem experience and the way he looks - and close your eyes and imagine him on the pitch running down the centre giving our players a genuine target who can head and smash it in, there is hardly need for over elaboration. Does he work hard? Yes. Does he work the channel with fire in his belly? Yes. Is he a ballerina? Well no. You can't have everything.

The counter argument will obviously be one that he lacks the intelligence of a Benzema or one of the many other continental forwards like Llorente we've been linked with (I wouldn't say no to either of them by the way) and that Modric and van der Vaart and all our intricate play just outside the box would be wasted on him. Although quite how a threaded ball will confuse the big lad, I don't know.

'He's just a tall Jermain Defoe' you might say. 'He's just a more weighty Peter Crouch' you laugh. Any foreign player could always turn out to be just another Pav or Rebrov. And our current batch of forwards are hardly masterminds of movement. We all know Harry likes to keep things…simple. Of course, we also know Spurs at one point wanted (supposedly wanted) Kenwyne Jones. Who is obviously the black Andy Carroll.

We'll see. As long as the chairman and Harry sign players they want or accept wonderful wonderful opportunist gifts like the one Madrid gave us last time round. And as long as we don’t splash money on a player who is not worth the splashing when the splashing soaks you in cold water (in other words, Bent wasn't worth £16M, neither was Bentley and a thank you to Sunderland for pricing us out of Jones at £20M). To spell it out, for the money Newcastle will want, it's probably a non-starter. But it's good to talk.

And regarding Beckham, like I mentioned in a previous blog, he will do well for us for what he can do on the training pitch.

And to finally conclude, regarding Everton away, I'll take another three points. Swagger or no swagger. If it's good enough for United, it's good enough for me.

Beck to the Future

Plenty being discussed about Beckham and I’ve sat on my thoughts (amazing what you can do with a tab of acid) and pondered the various pros and cons and listened and read various opinions on why he should/shouldn’t become part of the Tottenham evolution.

No matter the countless strong arguments for and against this potential loan deal there remains one constant which for me has got stronger and stronger every time I sit and think about the logistics of signing a thirty-five year old on loan for a couple of months. The constant being exactly that. A couple of months. A loan. He’ll arrive, no doubt to the usual media hullabaloo with giddy fans outside WHL telling the Sky cameras they have no time to chat as they run towards the massive queue outside the Spurs Shop salivating at the prospect of ‘Beckham’ printed on the back of the home shirt and to also get their hands on the specially released official dvd – ‘Beckham: The Medical and Press Conference’.

Regardless of whether you believe in ‘the circus’ that follows him around, cameras always on him before anyone else, if he does accept the invitation and if LA Galaxy give their approval – it’s as short term as it can possibly get. Hello, how you doing, goodbye. That’s about six hundred flicks of the hair, two thousand moody stares from the bench and at least six and half thousand smiles. Or in relative terms, two months or so, a few cameos, the odd start, a free-kick or two and hours upon hours of hard training and chats and hugs with the squad.

It’s that constant again. Two months.

I don’t see the point in dissecting this in any great detail. We know Beckham is past his prime. We know (if played often) he’d be far more effective in Italy where the football caters for the older generation of footballers or the MLS where the football caters for the.'.yadda yadda yadda.

We know Tottenham play counter-attacking football, at speed, and that his role at Spurs will probably be more about his presence on the training ground and as a very astute deflection of attention away from the players who might start finding the pressure pressing down on them in the coming weeks.

We also know that he will play a part at some point, otherwise - for the sake of commercial reasons and coaching (tips and hints etc) it’s hardly worth all the effort if Harry doesn’t have reason to use Becks out on the battlefield. As reinforcement. Perhaps as a calming influence in the latter stages of a game.

So that’s it really. No need for dramatics. It’s a loan. For two months. As long as we do sign players we actually need as part of the Harry/Levy blueprint for the now and future (i.e. world class forward, another midfielder) then having David Beckham at the club is hardly going to be detrimental. If people actually believe we'll drop Lennon and change the whole system to accommodate him, you need your head checking.

We should all know in under 48 hours. Probably.

As for transfer news – Graham Hunter has been at it with some ITK suggesting Llorente was a target but no longer one (due to price), Pienaar has signed on a pre-contract and we are also looking at Cazorla. Tip of the iceberg, there are plenty more stories doing the rounds. Doesn't matter too much, does it? We sign who we sign, how we get there is just process.

Welcome to January.

Hold onto your hats.



Have we come out of January stronger or weaker?

The incomings and outgoings:

IN

Gudjohnsen (on loan)

Kaboul

Walker (recalled from loan)

Out

Gio (on loan)

O'Hara (on loan)

Hutton (on loan)

Naughton (on loan)

Keane (on loan)

For all the players linked to our club over this transfer window and the summer one, we've seemed to done pretty much nothing in the way of filling the (alleged) gaps that need filling. From my perspective, and possibly from yours too. It's been a dull non-event of a window and granted, you don't always do the best deals in the month of January and it's best not to panic buy. Although arguably, if we've had targets since the start of the season, all the ground work should have been done in the months between the first window and this one. Seems for all the talk about lacking depth in the CM positions and allowing for the possibility of certain players being sold (Bentley, Pav) - nothing has actually happened of much significance. Well, nothing other than quite possibly failing to consolidate 4th spot.

Best chance of finishing 4th, theoretically that is if we injected something extra into the squad to aid us chasing City who will probably win their games in hand.

So what have we done exactly? Are we stronger or weaker for it? Depends on your perspective.

Good Stuff

One for one

Keane is gone. He's been a shadow of the player he once was and there's no doubt that regardless of the obvious personality he brings to the dressing room, he seems devoid of it out on the pitch. Rumours (as ever) suggest that he wasn't displaying the right attitude having been handed back the captains armband on his return from boyhood club number I. He's never been the same player after that particular shambolic adventure. And him on his way (to boyhood club number II) is in no way detrimental to the side because we've signed Gudjohnsen, who might not be as prolific as Keane once was - but he'll link the midfield with attack as good as anyone meaning he can play alongside Defoe or Pav. With Crouch back to being Plan B.

Keane might come back refreshed in the summer, or score enough up in Scotland to aid a permanent move. Either way, problem solved.

Cover for two positions

Kaboul. The utility player. He'll cover CM, DM and RB if required. One player, three positions and no prolonged Brazilian style negotiations (Sandro) or ridiculous transfer fee demands (Sissoko). He's improved, matured and will quite possibly blossom in our decent side (rather than struggle like he did first time round). And Kyle Walker is back to cover the fullback position. Must have impressed at Sheff Utd.

Squad consistency retained

Could have done with a goal keeper just in case Gomes does get crocked. But we tried, it seems, on three different fronts to sign one. But otherwise, we've got rid of the deadwood and players who simply wont be getting near the first team and therefore are better spent playing elsewhere.

WTF?

Upfront

We've got 4 forwards. One blows hot and cold. The other hardly scores consistently. The other one hardly ever plays. The new one isn't match fit yet. Letting Keane go, regardless of his lack of oomph, is hardly the best thing doing when you consider we are about to enter a proper ding dong battle to keep our noses that point or two ahead of the teams chasing the same thing we are. He's worth a bundle regardless of his tainted mojo, so sending him out on loan to a Scottish team seems to imply trouble at the mill. Plenty of pressure on EG then.

No DM

Go back to the summer window and remind yourself of when it closed and Harry admitting that letting O'Hara go to Pompey had left us without any true cover in the middle. And yet, here we are, after the closure of the winter window and once more - no cover. If Sandro is genuinely the target and we have to wait until June/July that doesn't change the fact that if Wilson gets injured we're in a spot of bother. We've been crying out for an understudy for an age. Massive risk by Harry and Levy IMO.  Looks like Kaboul is our DM cover for the time being. I'm scared.

CB looking good

With Woody MIA and attempting to find some way back from injury and King playing part-time, signing Kaboul has fixed our CB cover out for now. Dawson, Bassong, Kaboul, Corluka. It's all good. Except that Kaboul once upon a time made an awful Daws look good as he's the type of player that manages to make massive mistakes in games that are costly. Corluka never really does it for me at CB and if either Daws or Bass get a knock, we're once more biting nails.

No RB cover

We've gone from having 37 right-backs to one. Kaboul looks like he's in for a busy return shift. Hutton and his cameos are no more with his loan out to Sunderland. If Charlie gets injured...well, you know the drill. It's Kaboul Time. Again. Unless the young lad Walker is going to play a proper part in the squad rather than watch from the sidelines much like Naughton has done.

So, good stuff of wtf?

Is there a lack of quality out there at the moment that has left us having to look for a bargain rather than a newly discovered gem? The Keane situation is a mess. I did laugh reading Harry's comments about Robbie being a Celtic man and how this is a dream move for him. Plenty of blag in his words, it's obvious he's building him up and hopefully Keane can have a positive spell up in the SPL - but no matter the great times he's had for us down South, he's tainted his legacy with the whole Liverpool episode. But I guess given a once in a life time opportunity - which is how Keane perceived it - he took it. Shame he didn't stop to think what he had and the rather obvious fact that Rafa wasn't really interested in him to start with.

One of my favourite Spurs players of recent years. When he was on form he was excellent. His partnership with Berbatov in that first season was ridiculous. Scored a bundle for us.

I guess these things happen. The fact he was only ever re-signed because Defoe got injured sums it all up. One booze trip too many in the end.

Conclusion

Simply this.

We have the players to finish 4th. If people think Liverpool do then there's no reason we can't. The problem is, so do Man City and Villa. All our hopes are on the players - the ones we're left with - pulling together and believing. Enough with these points being dropped. If they don't step up together, then the dream is over and we should all agree that we don't have the right balance of players who can give the right level of application when it matters.

You'd think considering City will spend around £200M next summer we could have done with some of that consolidation right now.

But it's not all grim, is it? We're enjoying one of our best (if not the best) points accumulation in a Prem season we've ever had and the problems we are having are ones that are fixable. If Harry has the right amount of cello-tape to go around.  Game for game, pound for pound, we're not doing too badly at all. It's just frustrating that we could have been 5-8 pts better off. I guess one or two other clubs would say the same thing about their predicament.

Onwards, upwards.

COYS

Deadline Transfer Day Special

Sang to the melody of My Way (original lyrics by Paul Anka and sang by the legend that is Frank Sinatra). You'll have to do with your own voice in this instance as Ol' Blue Eyes is otherwise engaged.

In celebration of transfer deadline day. Its been a quiet under-stated January. There's not that much to sing about.

And now the end is near
And so we face the final ticker
Sky Sports will say it's clear
They'll state he's signed to which they're certain

But no, he never signed
They made it up it's jack-a-nory
And more, much more than this
Sky Sports News is just pony

Keano, he's had a few
Not least Liverpool, but let's not mention
He did what he had to do
And we saw him flop with out-right distinction

He went to his boyhood club
Rafa showed no love he was no Stevie Heighway
He's ruined, much more than that
He's gone to Celtic

Yes there were times, I'm sure you read
When the ITK community bit off more than they fed
He's on his way, oh no he's not,
He's having a medical, or perhaps he's not
And they all made it up...as per usual

I've sighed, I've cried and cried
I've cried my fill, it's like Chimbonda
And now as tears fail to subside
I don’t find it at all convincing

To think we wanted more
And may I say a f*cking lot more
But no, oh no, my God
We've re-signed Younes Kaboul...

For what is a Spurs fan what has he got
If not a DVD then he has not
To see Sandro or Ruud Van Nist
And not some ex-Chelsea from the French Riv
The official website shows the tabloids blow
In the Knows are just pony...

Yes, In the Knows are just pony…

Happy Deadline Transfer Day people. Enjoy your evening. Don't stay up too late.

Who's the Pompey mystery man?

From the Beeb:

BBC South understands that the deal to sell Begovic has been done without the support of either Storrie or executive director Mark Jacob, the lawyer of owner Ali Al Faraj.

Which means that Ali Al Faraj is also not involved, I guess. You'd think. Unless he's personally dealing with the transfers. Without the aid of his lawyer. Hmm.

So who exactly is speaking to Daniel Levy over the transfers of Kaboul and Begovic?

The annoying twat with the cowbell? One of the groundsmen? Red Rum?

My money's on Ian Beale. Innocent of killing Archie Mitchell but shrewd enough to mastermind the take over of Pompey whilst behind bars in order to fund his next venture. Ian Beale action figures with removalable goatees. Actually, that makes no sense at all. Pompey are debt ridden, so he has no chance of making any money out of it to aid the manufacture of the figures in secret sweat shops housed in deepest Walford.

Spooky Understands its Ali Al Faraj, as owner, doing what he wants to do because he owns the club and things are beyond desperate. If he's not talking to his manager and his chief executive, that's an internal issue with Portsmouth. His lawyer, being a lawyer, is unlikely to assist or admit nothing to BBC South anyway.

It's basically none of our business either way and if the players are available, and we want them, then our chairman will no doubt speak to the person/s at Pompey who are tasked with negotiating transfers.

The original news article from the BBC is simply based on conjecture from the mouth of Storrie, so believe what you want.

£6M for the both of them is the reported combined price tag. We do love a bargain.

But seriously...KABOUL? Really?

You wait ages for one and then three…

You have to feel for Pompey. Savaged financially, Judas suing them, reliant on Jamie O'Hara's hand-outs and now us, plucking more of their players as they stand there, disillusioned and depressed.

Kaboul it appears is the next one. The Beast with no Brain is set for a return. Portsmouth still owe as a couple of million quid on the deal apparently, so yet another 'bargain' in the making, hey? He hardly got a chance first time round at the Lane and I'm certain I remember Comolli banging on about him being 'one for the future'. So much wrong with that.

A) You don’t spend £8M odd quid on a player for the future when at the time we needed players for the present
B)  You don't then throw him into the team in desperation and decimate his confidence (this happens a lot at Spurs)
C) And player 'for the future' usually show signs of the player they will one day turn into. Which J-K failed to do

Actually, what am I saying? He did get a chance. It was because of his chances that we sold him. Strong, determined but prone to massive mistakes. I know what you're thinking. Dawson. We kept with the latter and he's not doing too badly. Good enough in fact for a 5 year contract.

If you're wondering, Begovic is the other target (although he has played for two clubs already in a footballing year).

I liked Kaboul initially. He looked like the type of 110% player we lacked at the time. However not so refined in other areas. We sign the wrong player for an over-inflated price, say we're not going to use him, use him, he has a major high (4-4 v Villa) and then is tagged as a minor scapegoat following mediocre performances and several shag-ups. Then he's gone. And now he's on the verge of returning. For  less than we signed him for.

It's all just a bundle of barmy.

Is this the midfield cover then? Or do we dare to play him at centre-back? Shudder. Spurs, signing back players who were not that good in the first place.

Is Chimbonda available? Cheeky £2M bid?

Gudjohnsen

So apparently we've signed Gudjohnsen. On loan. He's definitely not a defensive midfielder (sigh) nor a prolific striker. He's a link man. Superb player at Chelsea, but not sure exactly how he's progressed since - other than the odd cameo during his time at Barcelona. No problems, it would seem, in getting him to sign on the dotted line as there was no competition for his signature.

Pause.

Nah, just kidding. West Ham apparently offered him a contract and the player had a medical there too. We then offered the same contract (wage wise according to honest Harry) and he's chosen us. Not sure why the claret and blues are in melt-down over it. He had two choices, he made a decision, end of story. Why do chairman/owners always try to re-invent the wheel in the hard-done by stakes? It's not like this type of thing is rare in football.

Sullivan spouting about karma just adds fuel to the perpetuated obsession that is directed towards us and thus by mentioning it our obsession with them…it's complex stuff this rivalry business.

Birmingham recently stole a player from the clutches of Wolves, so perhaps that's the karma Sullivan is referencing. Otherwise, let me remind you about a certain French player we spoke to who then got into a cab we paid for, drove to the cesspit and signed for the enemy. Karma? We've had plenty of it rammed down our throats with excessive dollops of lasagna to last us a life time.

Still, I'm not stripping down to my y-fronts and moon walking across my office desk just yet. Perhaps it’s the collection of forwards we now possess that has me wondering where they will all fit in from one game to the next. Although plenty of time for one of them (at a stretch two) to be sold on between now and the 1st of Feb.

I still believe that another DM is a necessity if we are to consolidate and take that 4th spot. This is a massive chance to claim CL football because next season the likes of Man City will have spent another £200M or so in a single summer and Liverpool will probably rediscover their form - leaving us scratching our heads and wondering about 'what ifs', and in addition relentlessly trying to hold onto Lennon and Modric, before accepting a donation to the Tottenham Foundation and accepting defeat.

Good luck Eidur. Once upon a time, it was Keane who spent the game linking the midfield with the forward line. Hopefully Harry has a plan about how this will work, but considering the issues we have currently with unlocking defences and thus making a meal out of it, we might have just got ourselves a rather worthy key.

Jan transfer window shenanigans

Day 19 of the month of January and we've had plenty of nothingness thus far. The Sandro 'deal' appears to be nothing more than an amalgamation of possibilities, twisted and scrunched up presenting to us a story that is neither here or there. He's close to signing one minute, no chance the next. Other hack inspired stories tells us that we are after an experienced right-back...because, you know, because we're always short of this rare breed of a footballer.

Victor Moses is likely to sign for Arsenal rather than us where he will no doubt develop a God complex within the first three months of wearing their colours. Have we been linked to anyone else that we could perhaps pencil in as a serious target (rather than fantasy birthed from the Imaginarium of Doctor Murdoch)?

Ben Foster. We bid for him. Utd rejected the bid. We then denied any knowledge of any bid being made in the first place.

My oh my the excitement is almost at epic bed-wetting proportions. I'm positively glowing.

Pav is STILL at the club. He is, honestly, I read it in the papers. Apparently Zenit are no longer interested. But Roman should be content regardless. His wife is hot. Cue countless well at least he's scoring in bed jokes.

And on the subject of strikers, RVN has been re-linked. Again. Apparently we are 'in talks' with the great man. This is perhaps one whisper that I wouldn't shrug about if we managed to pull it off. So no doubt, it won't be happening. Right?

/scratches head

Odds on us signing zilch? I'd say pretty good at the minute. We are nearing nail biting territory. Last minute panic buy blatantly on the cards. Welcome back Raziak!

Unless we can draft Comolli back in for some last minute transfer shenanigans I think Harry might be content with the squad we have. I just hope we are strong enough to last the distance.

I also hope I'm proved wrong, and we do sign someone. Just make sure it ain't a bleeding right-back please Mr Levy.

Spurs drop out of top 4, Harry out...

Afternoon. Sorry for the lack of blogs in recent days. I've been busy today standing outside WHL demonstrating against the club over our sudden demise and drop from 4th to 5th in the table. One point behind City who are today considered 'title contenders' after their demolition of the football purists Blackburn Rovers as we sat around doing nothing. Rome wasn't built in a day but it took that long to burn down. Harry out. Europa League just ain't good enough.

*cough*

There's a lull at the minute and I'm sleeping in it. As you can tell by the inane introduction above. Not much going on, I guess all eyes on Hull this weekend and (please please please) a tasty three points to once more return us to our rightful place up in the Gods. In all seriousness, mathematically, you could argue that a title shot is not out of the question.

/silence

/more silence

/tumbleweed

Nah, just fucking witha ya. Of course there was nothing serious in that statement, although how on earth the tabloids churn out the same old knee-jerk every time about the other clubs around us, I do not know. Well I do know, it’s the usual hype machine spitting out bullshit, but tbh, I'd happy to see them building someone else up whilst we quietly go about our business. Call me sceptical, but until Mancini suffers a blip and works around it, I'm not going to sigh in despair. Half way through the season and we've never lost touch with the so called Elite. Do the same from here on in and we'll be proud at the end of it. Obviously ecstatic is a far better emotion than just being proud (which in football often translates to 'good effort you losers'). So still we await for some strengthening of the squad and that ever so important consolidation.

Nothing to report on elsewhere, transfer rumours wise. Joe Cole apparently some say (again). If contract talks break down with Chelsea apparently Harry will go in for him. I guess to offer him the £130K or so Chelsea wont give him. Riiight. Gotcha. Makes perfect sense there.

Did someone say Saviola? He's not even any good in Football Manager anymore. And if people are going to whore players to Spurs can you please be more original and choose a player who isn't a midget. Keane, Defoe, Lennon. It's like the Fellowship of the Yids. Spurs and their fetish for vertically challenged footballers.

Plenty of discussion on Jamie O'Hara in one or two forums. To some he's a good backup player thanks to his heart and effort. Others cry out that he is simply not good enough. One crazy loon today stated he's a future Spurs captain and that he's still young and should be developed.

One weekend without Tottenham and people are losing their minds.

Jamie O'Hara - Yes or no?

Anyways, until something interesting happens, I'll leave you with the story of the day. Backlash? More like end of days.

Keep 'em or get rid of 'em?

Hola. Easy reading and thinking to accompany your lunch break browsing. Blatantly stolen from a thread over at GG this. I like the simplicity, mainly because of the difference in opinions it ends up invoking. Us Spurs fans are fragmented when it comes to favouritism and view points over who is worthy of retaining a Lilywhite shirt.

So, the question of the day is - Keep 'em or get rid of 'em?

List the squad players. Then tag them. Like so. Add additional comments if you feel like it:


1. Gomes - Keep

2. Hutton - Get rid (Not sure why he was signed in the first place, but he's not quite fitted in since arriving from Scotland. Good on the offensive, not so good defending)

3. Bale - Keep (Much like Hutton better going forward than staying back, but he's 20 years old and this investment should be the one that goes some way in proving whether our coaches know how to develop a young player. We've made a mess of it thus far thanks to initially throwing him into the first team way too quickly)

5. Bentley - Get rid (It's just not working out and even if it was we'd have to sell Lennon to Chelsea before he gets a look in)

6. Hudd - Keep (He's 23 years old. Let's not give up on him just yet)

7. Lennon - Keep (VITAL)

8. Jenas - Get rid (Can we afford to keep him as a back up? Would he want to sit around on the bench? He rates himself, managers rate him, everyone apart from the vast majority of fans. Not sure keeping a 5 games per season footballer is worth the hassle of sitting around waiting for those rare performances to unfold in front of us)

9. Pav - Get rid (Infamy infamy they’ve all got it in for me)

10. Keane - Get rid (Hands up if you think Robbie has lost his mojo?)

12. Palacios - Keep (VITAL)

13. Walker (the old man goal keeper) - Get rid (replace with a young keeper, one that is of genuine promise as oppose to another Alnwick type of signing. The other Walker should remain out on loan)

14. Modric - Keep (VITAL)

15. Crouch - Keep

16. Naughton - Keep (send out on loan)

17. GDS - Get rid (sorry, but unless I'm underestimating the injury issues at hand, I don’t see the hype with this one)

18. Defoe - Keep

19. Bassong - Keep

20. Dawson - Keep

21. Kranjcar - Keep

22. Corluka - Keep

23. Cudicini - Keep (It's the right thing to do)

24. O'Hara - Get rid (not good enough, bless his heart and effort, but he is no different to Zokora in this way)

25. Rose - Keep

26. King - Keep (After his knee finally defeats him he should be offered a coaching role at the club)

27. Alnwick - Get rid (Doesn't appear to be any good)

29. Livermore - Keep

30. Dervitte - Get rid (Was he U-18's captain? Not sure if our scouting sucks or we simply are not the right club for certain types of yoof players. Mainly because we don’t appear to give them a chance to break into the first team. Either our priorities are with establish bought older players or these 'kids' are not half as good as we thought they'd be)

32. BAE - Keep

39. Woodgate - Keep

Actually, giving that list a second glance leaves me wondering if us (Spurs fans) are going to be fragmented at all with this. I think it's more than obvious who the deadwood is. Although one or two on the GG thread are making suggesting like 'Sell Crouch' and there is also a minority who still think players like Roman and David (Bentley) have a future in N17.

Obviously, getting rid of certain players is dependant on whether new ones come in as replacements/better revisions. For example, selling Jenas would mean we would need to make sure depth is kept in the central mid positions by plugging the gap with a brand new quality player. One with end product.

The young lads (Livermore, Rose and also Bostock who wasn't mentioned above) have to be developed with us much care as I hope Bale gets from the coaching staff. At some point, they either need to play a part in the first team or be sold on. The lack of promotions from the academy side means either the players stagnate or they're over-hyped (Johnnie Jackson anyone?). If they have the talent, use them. Otherwise, loan them to sides where we can truly tell how good they are in preparation for Prem football. I guess its an internal policy too. If we are always willing to splash out £15M on big name signings, then the yoof will not get a chance.

Keane. Controversial. Again, can't see us selling him unless we line someone up to replace him. And to be fair I don't think this is likely to happen this season. What we can't do is remove too many players and lose consistency re: squad selection. The summer is probably going to be more key to departures and arrivals than this window. Which Harry is suggesting will be a quiet one.

The truth will out.

So. Knock yourselves out. Discuss away.

Richards. Veloso. Moses. Sandro. Parker. Lewis. Keane.

Hype. Sometimes talking something up is far more exiting and interesting than the reality of how it turns out in the end. Take for example the weather. London was meant to be hit hard last night, instead we got a curve ball of snow that seem to travel from Buckinghamshire down and around towards the Gatwick area and then further around and then up towards Colchester, catching most areas - some worse than others - leaving the rest shrugging and asking 'Was that it?' Where I am (outside the M25) there was snow, nothing disruptive. Just enough to hear it crunch under my feet when walking to the station this morning. Sure, the tube journey into London was slow and the line has since been part suspended. Still low key stuff. Nothing as dramatic as having the line completely suspended and working from home. Anti-climax when you hear stories about Liverpool running out of grit and their roads icing over, with public travel and schools out of bounds.

Seems things closer to home are proving to be nothing out of the ordinary. Which brings me onto the not so exciting and not so interesting transfer gossip currently doing the rounds. It's not quite picked up yet. You'll have no doubt seen the Micah Richards stories, most stating that the lad has commented on how Tottenham would be his preferred choice, even though there are no direct quotes (understandably). Micah is a right-back that plays centre-back, but doesn't seem to do so with much acclaimed conviction. At least not when I've seen him play. I do like him though. Has potential if he's developed properly, but see no point of signing him if he's going to be used at right-back. Unless the plan is to sell Hutton to Sunderland and then have two right-backs in Corluka and Richards who can both (attempt to) play at CB too for cover. Not sure where that particular scenario would leave the likes of Naughton (he's a right back, right? Or is that Walker? I forget, considering one is out on loan and the other nowhere near the first team).

Veloso is once more linked. And various ITK forum dwellers are informing us that we're looking at this very closely. Might happen. Blah blah blah. Apparently the Sandro deal is proving to be too complex so we're looking elsewhere for a DM. I'll take a calculated risk here and say this one (Veloso) is a non-starter. Old story, resurfacing due to lack of creativity from both message boards and tabloid hacks. Personally, Veloso strikes me as a player in love with himself. He's the anti-Wilson. Rather look elsewhere. The young lad at Pompey, O'Hara, looks a bit tasty.

Nah, just pulling your plonker. Seriously wondering if Harry is even going to bother to plug the hole in midfield. Last transfer window he told the press we lacked numbers there. But we've all learnt to take Harry with a pinch of salt.

Moses has been tagged with a £5M price by desperate Palace. If we get rid of Pav (to Fulham on loan perhaps - according to a Spurs Odyssey ITK) then we have room for a young and hungry forward who won't complain too much about sitting on the bench. Although that might well stagnate his progress. Perhaps we can sign him and leave him at Palace (something we could have done with Bostock perhaps). Is he any good? He's showing promise. Big strapping lad, physical, bit of skill. Palace fan at work can't stop banging on about him. But then he would considering that the only thing they have going for them are their young players. But this type of hype is reminiscent to the type we endured with Giles Barnes and one or two others who were proclaimed 'the next big thing'. It's not going to be a signing for the present if it does happen.

As mentioned earlier, no movement on the Sandro deal. But then nobody really knows what is happening if anything is actually happening. Once more I refer you back to the near legendary Diego saga. Remember the badly translated Brazilian news articles covering Pleats exploits out in South America, talking to both Santos and Diego's father (who owned a percentage of his image rights)? Biggest regret is that we failed to sign 'The Sock'. But it's not for the want of trying. With Sandro, a lot of it is based on comments made by his current club. Harry's comments suggest that we might be interested and range from not knowing what's going on to claiming the chairman is looking into it. Don't be shocked if this runs into next summer.

And the less said about Scott Parker the better. Injury prone and has twice allegedly rejected us already. He makes no hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The next DM to be signed by us should be understudy material. Not West Ham trash on his last legs. Yes yes, he impresses every now and again - but that's the problem with Parker. It's every now and again.

There's also the Joe Lewis phenomenon. He's the decent Posh keeper that impressed in our FA Cup win last weekend, enough to have some Spurs fans, tongue firmly in cheek, singing his name. We do love a flirt. Much like Moses, would be one for the future. Barry Fry also with tongue in cheek sharing a joke with Harry over the kids availability (we can have first option).

And that's it. There's one or two examples of formulaic guess work going on where people claiming to have inside info create very subtle and ambiguous statements that don't hold up as anything more than a safety net for their ego. My personal favourite concerns how Robbie Keane has asked permission to be allowed to find a new club. Not a transfer request, just a gentleman's agreement. It's textbook. Everyone knows Keane is half the player he was, disinterested and generally struggling. So you've got a 50/50 chance if you say 'he's staying' or 'he's going' but in order to retain some form of credibility, you simply make the suggestion that he might be going. And if it happens, you can refer back to it. Genius.

The search for a definitive breakthrough story, before it actual breaks through continues.

Feel free to share the wealth if you have any. My guess is, you don't. Because the walls built around Daniel Levy's office are completely and utterly sound-proof.