Transfer shenanigans

Sabastien Bassong to Spurs. Medical passed. Only a matter of time. £8M for a relegated defender. Look away now if stats scare you. Newcastle were better off without him in the side as they lost more and conceded more when he played. Add to it his record at Metz before signing for the Toon (22 games, Metz lost 14, drew 7and won 1 – two of those draws were achieve whilst Bassong went off injured due to injury). But we all know stats are misleading. Look at Darren Bent, great scoring ratio, but you won’t find a player more maligned. Bassong stood out in a very poor team, that mostly failed to match his determination. But at the same time, an inanimate carbon rod would have looked good playing for Newcastle last season.

We need a centre-back desperately. Woody is going to be out for a fair bit of time and Daws won’t be available for several weeks. However Bassong will miss the opening game of the season due to a red card offence from last term, so let’s pray King is fit for the big kick-off. Not sure where he fits in once everyone is fit and able to play. He must have been given some assurances over selection, so will be interesting to see what we do with Dawson once he’s available. May well be the case that Woody is out long term and with King’s troubles, there will be plenty of games available for the three of them to get along just fine.

Still, £8M? Wondering how good a prospect Beevers is at Sheffield Wednesday – who wouldn’t cost too much in comparison. Bassong may well prove to be a great signing for us. The stats I quoted above (and the ones SSN are displaying every half and hour) can be ignored. We all know that if you are a decent player surrounded by utter shit, you’re bound to suffer a little, mainly because your team-mates are not on the same level and can't offer support, so you end up having to do more than you should be doing.

£15M Rod bid rejected

We’ve had some defenders here at Spurs go through the same type of thing. King survived it. Gardner didn’t. Still, as discussed several times on this blog and currently cited in one or two message board threads – why does our scouting system not pick up players that would cost a fraction of the £8M? There must be plenty of undiscovered talents out there. We seem to do well picking up academy players and youth players – but when we want to fill a gap in the first team squad, we always go for the obvious.

Still, welcome to the Lane Sabastien. Good luck lad.

-

Darren’s a Sunderland player now and he looks rather happy, and as expect he fired a very subtle dig at Spurs (I’ve seen his interview and he isn’t resentful in an obvious way and good luck to him). His dig concerned what goes on behind closed doors:

'There is a lot of politics at Tottenham, but that's Tottenham as a club’

Basically, Bent never believed he would start the next game even if he scored in the previous one. My guess? Probably has to do with Robbie ‘undroppable’ Keane. Rumours of the Irish windmill having a little clause in his contract. I'm sure this myth will be dis-spelled cometh the new season. Unless that's the reason Robbie isn't too happy at the moment. I'll stop now before I drown myself in ITK whispers.

-

Talkng of which, a lovely piece of ITK information for you, this concerning Pascal Chimbonda (from rocknroll11 over at GG.co.uk):

Just wanted to put to bed all the random theories that are going round as to why we resigned Chimbo and what a pointless signing it is...

Sunderland never ever paid a penny for Chimbo, they were scheduled to pay after the first season. 6 months in he's obviously unhappy, missing the team bus, pissing off Keane etc... and 6 months in Harry's here thinking we lack a bit of steel and have a very small squad. Levy suggested we could get back Chimbo for nothing... so we went to Sunderland and said if you give him back we'll cancel the outstanding payment you own...

and that's what happened.

Lack of a bit of steel? Really? Still, it’s almost believable, although if true – I’m not sure anyone would have made any money out of the ‘transfer’ back to Spurs which is hard to believe considering the people involved.

-

And finally, the dream is over. Klass-Jan Huntelaar is off to AC Milan. Negredo is being linked with a move to Roma. Then again, so is Pav. And it’s all gone quiet on Sissoko. Perhaps having aided Madrid in creating interest for Huntelaar, they’re let us talk to a couple of their players.

Madhamadou Diarra anyone? Gosh, I’m dreaming again.

For the record, he’s not on Madrid’s transfer list. Neither is Gago (who some of you don't rate) but he's a far more likely target if we do plan to look that way.

We could still do with a midfielder. Don't think we're quite finished yet.

Gago and Negredo will do

I see Robben is once more rejecting us publicly to make everyone aware he’d be interested to leave Madrid for another Champions League club. But nobody cares about this regurgitated non-starter. The (hopefully) next piece of action to storm out of the WHL HQ will not concern our never-ending should we or shouldn’t we sign a left-winger conundrum. Harry wants a CM. And Harry might just get one, although I hope that Levy has already done the work in preparation ‘just in case’ the target(s) in question become available. And they’ve probably just have. And Levy has allegedly spent some time chatting with Madrid this summer, so we can only hope.

The big news that might have a desired effect is that Alonso is signing for Real Madrid. No player swaps. Which means that Liverpool (if you go with the whispers from La Liga and one or two other sources) rejected the chance of signing Argentine midfielder Gago and forward Negredo, who was heavily linked a while back with us (the rumour being that Spurs had in principle agreed a deal). The Anfield club preferring straight-up cash could be a blessing.

And with Toulouse pricing out Sissoko (they want a ridiculous amount for him having apparently rejected a £10M bid)  the player has come and said he’s content with life in France. Could be loyalty from the Sissoko to help get the best deal for his club possible or might be a the normal brick-wall.

Whether either of the two Diarra’s are available or not, Gago is obviousl surplus to requirements with Alonso signing, having been initally offered. And Negredo, possibly stalled with a move to Spurs a month or so ago, because Madrid held back to wait and see what Liverpool wanted for their midfield maestro. Which is understandable as the Spanish giant’s priority was completing their Galactico puzzle with the final piece. And now it's done, both Negredo and Gago are up for grabs. Hopefully.

In the meantime, we are continued to be linked with Klass Jan-Huntelaar. Speculation continues that the problem isn’t the price but the wage packet the player wishes to command. Negredo is my preferred choice. He offers something different to KJH who is arguably a more silky Dutch version of young Defoe. Negredo would, I guess, be a substantial upgrade on Robbie Keane.

I guess I’m adding up on my transfer calculator, 2+2, and getting 5. But reading between the lines is all we have to go on.

But I do think, as far as the long running Madrid targets are concerned, Alonso signing today may just prove to be the catalyst.

Hopefully, benefiting us.

Spurs transfer news 'updates'

So basically Leeds United have accepted a bid from Aston Villa for the highly-rated Fabian Delph and have placed on record (via their website) their appreciation for the honourable manner in which the Midlands club have conducted themselves in courting both club and player. Pesky Leeds have resisted approaches from 'other' clubs (the other being us and City no doubt). Would love to know what Ken Bates quantifies as 'honourable' so next time we go in for a Leeds youngster we don't get rejected. We've put quite a bit of wedge their way in recent years. Maybe we've taken things for granted this time and go burnt for it. Probably offered them a cheeky fish tank for the player. But don't fret lads. Bostock is better than Delph.

-

Patrick Vieira has been dropped from France squad. The message from coach Raymond Domenech is simply: Sort out your future. Please do Patrick and head straight for the swamp. Still praying he signs for them lot so I can laugh my arse off. Bad news is that Moussa Sissoko has been drafted in as his replacement. No doubt his value will have risen off the back of this and possibly altered one or two other clubs to take a look at the talented youngster. Can we outsource the negotiations and get Comolli on the case? I still reckon Harry and Wenger are playing mind-games (or maybe one of them is) and are trying to out-fox each other into forcing the other one to sign Old Man Pat. Harry forcing Wenger to protect Vieira's scum legacy, Wenger trying to increase the players profile by suggesting he can still do a job in the Prem and make us believe he's worthy of a punt. It's the most stupid transfer 'saga' of the summer.

-

Chelsea have come out and publicly stated they are not selling Joe Cole to anyone. More or less confirms genuine interest from us if they're rejecting any potential advancements on the player by stating on their website it's a no-go. Can put this one to bed I reckon. Doubt they would undermine Ancelotti if he's saying the player is staying (which I think he's said in interviews). So for now, Modric remains on the left. Gio by the way (who some of you would like to see given another chance) probably won't get one because (allegedly) the lad has a time-keeping issue and hardly ever turns up for training when he's meant to. ITK that.

-

The Darren Bent to Sunderland transfer is now close to completion. It's been close for the past 15 hours or so. Thought I'd let you know because there's not a lot of coverage at the moment on this story about just how close he is to signing. Longest medical ever. It's being prolonged longer than a tantric night in with Sting.

-

Klaas Jan-Huntelaar is apparently available on the cheap. £11M-£12M the price being touted. Bad news is AC Milan are apparently back in for him. It was a while back that Levy was apparently talking to Madrid and it seems like a lifetime ago when we were linked to RVN and others, but in that time you'd think there was some form of communication relating to the proflic Dutch star. We must have been interested in one of their players at the very least (I don't quite buy Harry's persistent 'if he's available we're interested comments' relating to Klaas as it's quite obvious the kid is available and has been all summer long). So you'd think we've inquired about the player or possibly even spoken to his representatives, and maybe failed to agree a monthly wage. Unless this is another epically long negotiation where Levy is biding his time. Let's hope there's a moneyshot at the end of it rather than limp embarrassment.

Hands up if you’re ‘in the know’?

All this Klaas-Jan Huntelaar business...

Do you think that Harry is doing Madrid a favour by continually linking us with the player so that other business is drummed up in the way of interest for the Dutch striker? Yes, this is the latest piece of ITK jelly wobbling its way around the underbelly of the interweb. Question is, if we are doing Madrid a favour, what do we get for lending them a helping hand? Do they have any available centre-backs we can take off their hands?

And elsewhere Darren Bent’s Twitter account has been deleted which means we are all back to square one with knowing how his transfer away from the Lane is progressing. I’m looking forward to the official club statement confirming that the matter is being dealt with internally with a probable forced apology from the player while Levy does his utmost to sell him to Hull. Talking of which, to answer your question Darren (“Do I wanna go to Hull?”), I don’t think anyone chooses to go to Hull. Not if they can help it.

If you follow the ITK community and have been paying attention you’ll have noticed that it’s been rather special this summer. Special in the way of a Ghost Town. No one has been upfront with news other than something I read a day before Crouch signed, but otherwise, all we've been given in the way of inside information is cryptic nonsense and reactive commentary based on what the tabloids have already written about. It soon becomes apparent that nobody knows anything, churning out the same whispers time and time again.

We all know how it works, especially in the papers. Agents, clubs, journalists...they are all entwined together orchestrating with the aim (or at least attempting) to help aid their agenda(s). But with insider info, especially with the way it’s shared online, its altogether a completely different kind of beast. One that quietly whispers a secret and then disappears back into the shadows. Only to reappear at a later date and whisper something similar.

"The sun will rise in the morning"

We’ve been here before haven’t we? I do love talking about ITK’s as the whole culture of its obsession fascinates me. There’s no doubt that there are people who work for Tottenham or football agents who have friends who support the club. So it’s not unlikely they will share info with them and these people are the ones who post about them on message boards. But how many people genuinely know what the club is planning behind the scenes? Can’t be many, because if it was leaked, then the culprits will be known to the chairman. That’s why you find that usually, ITK info that hits the nail on the head comes about when the club have already agreed a deal with a player and far more people are likely to have clocked on by then (mainly because the player arrives for a medical).

What we’ve seen this summer more than anything is people claiming that a deal is in progress but won’t happen for a while. Which is a nice way of making sure your ITK info has a decent sell-by-date. I know we (as a club) take our bloody time, but reading about something that the tabloids are covering and Harry has commented about makes me and many other suspicious. It’s easy to ‘guess’ what might happen. Throw enough shit at the wall and some of it will stick. And if it does...you’ll be crowned a legend.

This is not to say there are not people out there who do know something. There are. It’s a minority though. 3% I’d say. And as much as love a bit of inside info (ooh, hypocrite) I think it should only ever be shared at the point of when the club has agreed the transfer – rather than any time before it, because as we’ve learnt time and time again – if something genuine gets leaked it could be detrimental to the club.

I’m still waiting for a truly definitive piece of ITK info. If you manage to find one, please feel free to share. The irony is never lost on me. I do get it. Why slate them? If they are so inconsequential, why even cite them in the first place? Well I guess it’s much like the tabloid papers. You can’t actually ignore it can you if everywhere you look, it’s staring right back at you. It's the necessity to know something before its made public. The anticipation requires a tease. And deep down you hope somewhere in the haystack is a needle.

For the current list (if you want to study the evidence), visit the GG.co.uk forum and this thread that covers off all ITK tittle-tattle for this sun-less summer.

Happy reading.

And for the record - the best ITK information is the type that gets uncovered AFTER an event. So for example, when Levy sacked Jol or when Kemsley and co went after Ramos or the issues with the DoF structure. That's far more relevant IMO.

UPDATE:

Read this piece of ITK for an example of what makes far better reading than the usual drivel. Even though it might still be drivel. It has a lot more substance than the norm.

Who's gonna be our next signing?

So having signed Crouch, we are back again sitting in the cushioned seat of patience as we await the next decision from Levy and Redknapp in this rather understated transfer market, where everything moves around in slo-mo. But unlike The Matrix, it lacks any real explosive punch. At least at the minute it does.

Negredo (remember that one?) is now being linked with a move to Liverpool as part of the possible (probable) transfer of Alonso to the White Storm. But don’t fret, because Harry is spewing out his favourite sound-bite of the moment (if he’s available we’re interested) relating to one of our other perpetual summer transfer targets, the prolific Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.  He won’t be moving to Germany but considering how long we’ve allegedly spent flirting with this player via the tabloid pages, you sort of half expect Arsenal to glide in and stick if up our Arshavin, much like they did with Zenit’s gem last time out. Although we had washed our hands of that little annoyance long before the scum showed interest and up until this morning we thought the same about KJH – that his wage demands stopped any potential deal from happening.

Bent may as well have gone to China, because he is no nearer joining anyone at the moment. Brilliant strategy from Levy by the way. No, I’m not being sarcastic. He knows we spent £16M on the player and he knows there are several clubs that need a proven Prem scorer (something Bent is, if not something we need as accommodating his weaknesses is detrimental to the way we play). But other clubs will probably aim to play to his strengths, and he’ll score a bundle for them in doing so. Sunderland, Hull and I think even Stoke are sniffing around. Sunderland in particular have had their nose snorting all over Bent for the best part of the summer. And Levy simply won’t accept anything below what he wants, which is possibly around £15M. Which is why Sunderland are still snorting, inviting others to inquire. Brilliant. As long as we actually accept a bid at some point soon. Otherwise my sarcasm will drown the streets of N17, leaving Daniel with only the head of Chirpy to keep afloat above the turbulent sea of disgust.

Bent is off no matter what, but the fact we are looking at KJH suggests either Keane or Pav could be sold on if the right offer is made. Pav is once more linked to Roma. And Keane is being linked to nobody in particular. At a stretch, Aston Villa might look our way. You never know what might happen, even if Harry talks up the current ‘four’ (Defoe, Crouch, Pav, Keane) as being more than enough for him - he'll always look to mix things up. If it's right for the team.

As for Mr Vieira, make what you will of Henry shaking his head and saying no when cornered by Harry and Jamie the other day at Wembley. Apparently he has since come out to state he would never tell Vieira to sign for us. Sounds like he’s more pro-Spurs than he’d like to believe. Thanks for looking after us. In the past few days the stories in the press now suggest that it’s Arsenal who want him to return on a pay-as-you-play deal. Cue some Spurs fans, no doubt, suggesting ‘if he’s good enough to go there, then he’s good enough for us’.

Don't try to justify it.

It’s a desperate move for all involved. Let’s please look elsewhere.

And we can start by looking for cover for Woodgate/King/Dawson. Possibly a young player with potential (do they exist?) who can not only cover but one day replace the mighty King. I know, it’s unlikely we’ll sign someone anywhere near potentially as good as Ledley, but with him still only able to play a game per week and with Woody and Daws out injured – we can do with a CB. Turner at Hull wouldn’t be too bad a deal for us. Bassong is another target that returns into the transfer rota every month, and once more he’s been linked - thanks to our scout being spotted at the Newcastle v Leeds game last night. A game where a certain Leeds youngster (Delp) starred.

One area that has gone back into its state of hibernation is the left-wing conundrum. For now, it would appear that Modric will remain out on the left, drifting in. Thanks largely to the fact that Downing was the last available left-winger on the face of the planet.

I’m gonna stick £5 on Delp being the next Spurs signing. Beyond that, I haven’t a jiffy.

Spurs set to sign Abbey Clancy

I’m back from the melting pot of Southern Turkey where I enjoyed temperatures in the mid-forties, plenty of alcoholic beverages and God forsaken no internet access. Bliss. I’m tanned, refreshed and completely relaxed, even though the stormy weather over Gatwick meant my flight back was delayed for several hours. However, returning to England meant I was about to drown in an abundance of missed Spurs news relating to players signed and sold.

I should have stayed away for another seven days.

Naughton and Walker signed from Sheffield United. Which is nice. Two new kids to destroy. Gareth Bale, you are no longer alone son.

Adel Taarabt has joined QPR on loan for the season. I don’t mind saying that I’m quite happy with this, in that the alternative was him leaving the club altogether. Jury still out on the showboating midfield starlet having a career at the Lane, so all eyes on how he manages to handle a full term in the Championship where hopefully his composure and decision making will progress in the right direction. You have to wonder if it will. If he was that full of potential would we not want to look after him closer to home? Or at least loan him out to a Prem club? I guess if you ignore Adel’s constant whinging and self-hype, there is little (at the moment) to suggest he is half as good as he thinks he is. Feet do the talking time.

No news on Negredo. Last bit of info I had from my Madrid ‘contact’ was an echo of what most of their fans seem to be in agreement about:

He is in his final hours as a Real Madrid player and will be leaving the club's base in Ireland very soon. This deal will probably be announced officially in the next week. I suppose Spurs went after him once they realised they couldn't get Huntelaar.

After making a perfect start to his presidency, Florentino has now made his first big mistake. I really hope it’s his last. Even with the buyback option, i don't think the club should have released such a promising young talent so easily, especially when there are other crappy players in the squad that need to be sold.

That was from the 17^th July. Nothing since. As for Huntelaar, I’m expecting him to turn up in red and white while we end up with Peter Crouch. Who, as a replacement for Bent, isn’t too shabby an option. But that’s a little bit like deciding that to get to where you want to be in a hurry you decide to skip instead of walk.

Crouch (bless his robotic bones) is not exactly a massive upgrade on what we have at the moment. What we have at the moment is a mish-mash of forwards who appear to have arrived at White Hart Lane like elephants walking towards the great graveyard. Apart from Defoe – Bent, Pav and Keane are now stuck firmly in the much-maligned category as we all struggle to understand what Harry is aiming for with regards to his forward line-up.

So what will Crouchie offer us other than a wonderfully gorgeous girlfriend sitting up in the stands? He’s shit in the air and he isn’t exactly prolific. But at least he does offer more than say Darren Bent, especially as a foil to Defoe. Yet still, what of Bent and Pav and Keano?

Even though Pompey have accepted our offer, Harry (interviewed on Sky Sports today) claims Levy is deep in talks and there is no deal currently or no fee agreed. So are Pompey playing silly buggers with their claims or after more money from another interested club?

Elsewhere, Hutton is apparently off to Everton although he appears to be playing for us against Celtic at Wembley today. More tabloid pish? Maybe, maybe not. Hutton isn’t the greatest defender but he attacks well. Just ask his dad. Moyes might get more out of him and we do have a ridiculous amount of full-backs, so if his off the field antics and his injury prone record are reasons to cash in and move on, then so be it.

And that’s it. No major mouth-watering signings in my absence. Patrick Vieira is still ‘making up his mind’ with regards to a move to Spurs. The ITK’s reckon he won’t be a constant first-team starter and Harry has been publicly speaking about him, almost like he is allowing us time to mentally prepare when he’s paraded wearing a Lilywhite shirt and holding up a Spurs scarf. As for the Harry comment relating to Sol Campbell (‘It will even it out...’) erm...no it won’t mate. Hush now. Let’s hope he doesn’t bring an awful amount of falling over shadows because unlike them lot over there, we don’t like fantastic cheats. Not that Vieira is anywhere near fantastic.

Hands up if you're bored of this transfer window

I’m about to disappear for a week and hope that all our transfer dealings take place when I’m away so that I have something substantial to write about when I get back. News Now has been littered with stories and rumours and suggestions in this past week, with no end in sight. And I’ve grown a little weary of summing up the latest rotten ITK info falling from the grapevine. However, at the time of writing, this is the latest hack news:

Young to Spurs. Or Chelsea.

Bent to Villa. Bentley to City.

KJH is still a target.

Vieira practically signed.

Robben still being flitered with.

Negredo a done deal for £13M.

Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker allegedly doneth and dustedeth.

Medical for Young today apparently, yet that appears to have been quashed by Martin O’Neill who has stated he is not going anywhere. Bent and Bentley have been eternally linked with moves away yet other than Sunderland (who are now looking at Crouch) there is no other movement for the two unloved stars. Robben won’t happen. If it does I’ll happily eat humble pie, but I just can’t see it. His ego, his wage demands, his dad. Nope, won’t happen. As for Vieira, that’s cooled a little mainly because everyone is talking about Negredo being a done deal and Klass-Jan Huntelaar apparently taking time-out to decide between us and Stuttgart.

It’s all very muddled. Defoe is obviously going nowhere. Bent must be. Pav is an uncertainty. And Keane also remains a mystery. If we do sign two strikers then that can only spell the end of the three mentioned above, with Jermain remaining a Lilywhite. Do you see why I’m weary? Theorising over the much criticised ITK leaked info and tabloid exclusives is a redundant idea considering there is no real way of knowing who it is we are aiming to sign until said player has been signed. Practically all of the ITK whispers have been reactive to what you may have read already. The papers mention Robben, suddenly there are several pieces of leaked info relating to ‘talks’ with the player. All signed off with the usual textbook, don’t shoot the messenger get out clause.

As for the Sheffield United pair, apparently we've stolen them from the grasp of Everton for a peachy £8M. If this has happened, there's a fair chance both players will remain at United for another season. If they joined us and did not return to Sheffield on loan, then what that means for Gunter and Hutton and Chimbonda is another wonderful conundrum, as our right-back collection grows and grows. Some fetish.

Damn it, I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Summarising.

I’ll be following the latest by browsing the back pages of the English newspapers whilst I sun it and hope that my consistent record of being abroad when Spurs open the transfer floodgates continues.

Only other thing I want to mention before signing off is our 3-0 win against Exeter last night. Defoe, Modric, Lennon and Huddlestone all looked sharp. Pav and Bent were solid and Dervitte (our young French centre-back) wasn’t too shabby alongside Corluka. Bentley also did well and The Prince lined up impressively with Palacios in the second half. At least in his head he did. He looks the part, but just don’t think he plays the part. Pre-season should allow Harry to decide whether he is adequate cover for the central midfield.

Danny Rose played ok. I expect the young lad to play some part in the season ahead, a cameo here a cameo there. Shame there was no Adel. Not sure whether this is due to injury, but that’s wishful thinking.

Gio not present, but that might have to do with International duty. Keane wasn’t all there. Still looking a little broken after his Liverpool mis-adventure.

But let’s chill out, it was Exeter and it was our first pre-season game. It’s going to be interesting to see who plays a part as the week’s progress. I guess we can start talking about breaking the Top 4 after we thrash Barca 5-0 at Wembley.

Anyways, see you on the other side. By the end of next week here’s to an England Ashes victory and one or two brand spanking new players unveiled at the Lane.

COYS.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar 'linked' to Spurs

Here we go again. Well, it was bound to happen.

Apparently Levy is flying out to Madrid to negotiate the transfer of the Dutch striker, who Real spent £20M for last season.

Linkage to the story here.

Obviously I'm not dancing a jig of joy for two reasons. This may well be just some continental tabloid guess-work much like the work of the English red tops we laugh at every morning. With Madrid building a new version of the Galacticos there will be plenty of goings to help balance in the comings (ooh). Also, just how good is Klaas? He has hardly been given a chance and has only scored 8 goals in 20 apperances. With Villa on his way from Valencia, he may pushed further out of the running for a starting spot. Is he cut out for the EPL?

Interestingly, this has broken out in the press first rather than the seedy underbelly of a private membership Spurs message board, so lets see how long it takes for our pesky club insiders to update us with the latest on this particular piece of whorage. So no word just yet from the ITK grapevine yet, although many of them still believe Ruud is on his way to the Lane although the suggestions in the tabloids are we are unwilling to fork out 70K + per week. Snag hit there.

Huntelaar will be cheaper wage wise, although the fee will no doubt be steep. He cost Madrid a cool £20M.

Believable factor? I'd say about 70% we are interested or poking around with questions about his availability.

But wasn't he a player targeted by the likes of Manchester United prior to his move to La Liga? Linked to Utd, signs for Madrid, ends up at Tottenham.

Hmm. Believable factor dropping down into the sixties.

I have a 'man' out in Spain who supports the White Storm so have asked him if he knows anything about this and if there are any whispers out in Madrid about the players availability. Will update this blog post after I've spoken to him with any relevant update.

Loving these slow-news days, right? Makes a change to reading yet another 'Cisse to Spurs' headline I guess.