Sooner rather than later

Still no denial statements from Mr Chairman regarding our two forwards. Longer this goes on the more tricky it becomes for us to plan for the season ahead. Although at the moment I'd say that having no true world-class (or somewhere near to it) DM will cost us. Unless our Prem form and tactics come to fruition with immediate impact come Boro away, I can't see how things will drastically change compared to last season.

OOh, negativity rains supreme. I'm being realistic. Modric to Bent might save the day, but Modric to Berbatov and Keane will do wonders. But other areas still need development and improvement and all this want-away transfer talk is nothing more than a distraction.

Do Spurs want to keep Keane? If so, then please end the speculation. Otherwise, sell and be done with it.

Is Berbatov really subject to a transfer bid? If so, price him up at £30M and bit their fucking hands off.

I won't cry. I'll just expect more quality to come in as replacements. The real pressure is on actually achieving something within two years otherwise whoever does come in will soon be on their way again.

Be gone

It’s all gone quiet on the Keano front, mainly due to the tabloids turning their attention to Berbatov. Apparently he could move to Utd by this Wednesday – though I can’t believe Levy wouldn’t wait to see where Arsenals want-away striker ends up at so that we can then create an auction for our sulky Bulgarian with potentially Milan or Barcelona bidding + £20M.

Pricing him out of the market and forcing him to stay would be testicular fortitude that our chairman is simply incapable of. Would be worth it mind, just to see Berbatov flap his hands and shout at everyone around him while we defend the Carling Cup away to Doncaster, whilst Utd play Champs League.

Sadly, football is only cruel for the fans, not the players.

Defeated

Without a single word of denial from Spurs, and the rumourwhores of Liverpool salivating at the prospect of yet another forward joining Rafa's eternal revolution - it's time to say goodbye to Robbie Keane. There, I said it. Unless this is the mother of all smokescreens, I can't see Robbie in anything other than a red shirt next season, cartwheeling in front of an ecstatic Kop.

Are we a selling a club? Technically, yes....and no. We don't sell players because we have to, we sell them because we have no choice. Probably one and the same thing, but what I mean is - Keane wouldn't be shifted in any other circumstances. As loyal and settled as he is at WHL, the second he realises there's a chance of instant Champs League football he (any player) will move on. Worked for Carrick. Liverpool is possibly the highest level in the Prem Keano can play for.

I can only hope that Spurs bring in a player that's as good or better than him, because he's gonna leave a hole the size of N17 when he departs.

Robbie Keane and the mystery transfer request

No official word from the club or the player. Nothing from Liverpool either. Out of the blue, we are meant to believe that Robbie Keane, committed loyal Robbie Keane will up and leave having just signed a 5 year contract at the only club he’s settled at. With Berbatov also looking to shift across to a Champions League club, the only conceivable possibility that there is any truth in this media propaganda is that Ramos wants to sell Keane and that Spurs already have someone lined-up. Or maybe Robbie knows this is his last chance to move onto something new at the peak of his career.

Keane is a proven goal-scorer. His record is simply superb. One of the few players we have that possesses a war-cry. However, if a player wants to up and go - and if that's the case - then let him go. No point in doing anything other than bidding him goodbye and good luck. He's had the best six years of his career at Spurs. And although I always expected him to leave for Celtic if there's truth in this and he wants a big money move to Liverpool then that's exactly what he will get. But we can discuss this if it happens.

For now, I’ll change my opinion (on the actual news stories) the moment someone shows me an actual quote.

The fact that its all quiet on all fronts is a tad worrying.

edit:

Or maybe its not worrying. Having had time to think about this, I feel a bit cheap for allowing the football agents, Rafa and the media almost best me. A member over at the GG.net boiling pot summed it up perfectly (thanks WWWlf).

Before he went on honeymoon he says he wants to stay and is looking forward to the new season.

He's on honeymoon and I cant believe his new wife would be happy with him turning their world upside down in the middle of it.

All the reports have factual errors in them (existing contract etc) suggesting poor/lazy journalism.

Where are the quotes from Rafa or Gerrard saying how much they would like him in the team (as they both did with Gareth Barry). They don't seem to mind publicly unsettling a player if they want to, but there's been no comment.

The rumour that all this is just Liverpool-produced, leaked from inside the club, for the benefit of forcing Villa to part for Barry (as Liverpool wont have the cash to splash on him and Keane) makes more sense.

I think someone is getting merked.

Back to the whorage

I love the rags. Back pages telling us Defoe was set to be Harry Redknapp's first signing for Newcastle. Yes. The same Harry who this morning told everyone he isn't leaving Pompey. Still, he may yet sign JD. Although gossip suggests Villa will be in for him (matches up with the news item about him looking to buy a house in the Midlands for himself and his bit of skirt).

Another player who's future is in doubt is Robbo. Again the press suggesting he handed in a transfer request. If this was true, then see you later Mr Robinson. Bit fucking immature. However, Jeff Stelling on Soccer Saturday stated he knew (ooh ITK) that this was untrue. Still, Poyet didn't offer anything either way today stating:

"I would say no comment because I don't know. There is nothing wrong with Paul. He was part of the team and squad today".

Cerny did OK in goal. He got beaten from distance. Which I'm sure is something I've seen before, somewhere.

Late last night I got a text telling me deals for the following were on the cards, with some of them practically done (yeah right):

Diarra
Jarque
Fred
Downing

Diarra and Jarque are not new 'interests' in the transfer market. Fred is. I pray that the only reason we are looking at yet another striker is because Defoe is on his way. So, get rid of inconsistent JD and bring in the inconsistent Fred. A player rumoured to want a return to Brazil where his goal-scoring ratio was fantastic. Hasn't set France alight. Perfect for Spurs then.

Downing. Christ. £12M? We do like to burn our money don't we? Though in actuality (I hope) Spurs would fork out something like £2M-£2.5M a year for 3 years and then pay out more depending on appearances/goals/CL (lol).

Downing is not £12M player. He isn't a bad player. Harsh to call him average, but he isn't world class and he isn't all that better than what we have at the minute. Yeah, lovely left peg as they say. One of the best crossers of the ball in the Prem, but can he beat a player? Can he devastate like a Petrov? Nope. Is he a Ramos player? Does Ramos know who he even is?

I wouldn't be aggrieved with him joining, just not for a ton of cash. The fact is, the player is the crown jewel of Boro, so they will not want to let him go for cheap. It's more to do with him being their prized asset rather than a player worth every penny of a multi-million pound transfer fee.

And if we layed 12 big ones, do the math with the money spent on Bent. That's our sodding case overspent on players who are not in the 'fucking ace' category. But then, the team isn't in the category either. But then we did pluck Berbatov out of the continent. So, how about doing the same again.

Ramos is improving the team, from top to bottom. And he knows that his ideal tactics and style of play won't happen with the current bunch. Some need to be culled. The remaining need to be complimented. If Ramos believes Downing can restore balance on the left, so be it. I'm guessing Steed will move into central midfield. When Bale returns, that left side (along with Gunter) won't be too shabby.

But a Ramos 'team' needs one box-2-box midfielder and one defensive midfielder. Those are truly the key positions. Defenders are always wanted at the Lane. But at least things will be easier now the King is back.

UPDATE:

£10M for Downing, with Tainio thrown in as part of the deal. Not sure who's getting the worse of it.

Transfer News

Right. Let’s do a roundup of the past weeks tabloid whorage.

Woodgate and Taylor

Apparently, rejected on both counts. If this is true, then it makes you wonder who else Comolli has written down in his hit list of prospective signings. Woodgate? Has he managed to play more than 3 successive games in his whole career? Taylor is decent enough but considering Newcastle’s problems it’s nigh impossible for them to consider selling him unless he wants to leave. Which is unlikely.

Prefer to file these under ‘disinformation’.

Hutton
So, we bid for him. It got accepted. He declined the chance to come down South. His agent then stated the player wants 2/3 days to think about it. He then apparently rejects us again. We wait a few days and then offer him a better wage packet. He turns it down again. How all this managed to be leaked to the press astounds me. Behind closed doors is a concept football agents are incapable of grasping. £8M for a player from Scotland is about £5M too much.

Berbatov

Oozing class on the pitch at the moment. His agent is insisting that Dimitar’s future lies elsewhere. And that it’s all down to Spurs to take responsibility and settle the matter, suggesting that Spurs may have had bids for the player or attempting to suggest that Spurs want to sell the player against his will. A bit of arsehole is this Dantchev.

Ronaldinho

LOL’ing yet? Back in November an article from Spanish ‘tabloid’ stated a rumour that Ron was on his way to White Hart Lane. This was then dismissed by the journalist who made it up, claiming that his intent was to show how easy it is to start an Internet rumour – and have the newspapers latch onto it. Obviously, nobody credible printed the ridiculous story other than the equivalent to the Daily Star. He should have aimed a bit lower if he wanted to go nationwide with the ruse.

Then, some idiot decided to revise this with an alleged ITK piece which would have us believe that a boardroom conversation was subject to a wire tap (I mean, ffs). Levy allegedly stating that he would pay £30M for the Brazilian. The ITK piece originated from the COYS forum.

Here’s the wire tap:

"Hard to believe Danny’s prepared to shell out that kind of money."
"Saw it with my own eyes; offer on the table for 30 very big ones!"
"Will they take it?"
"Hard to say?"
"He beat both Lumps and Henry didn't he?"
"Yup."
"Would he come here?"
"Even harder to say."
"Tottenham might be a bit of a shock to him."
"It'd be a long way from Port Happy all right" "We can dream. "

Pathetic. The author has since admitted it was a joke. In this day and age, it’s likely to get picked up by a lazy hack and printed (not the wire tap, the ‘Spurs want Ron’ angle). Some minor minor Internet sites have already run the story. LOL’ing now?

Ustari

Apparently Ramos is keeping tabs on 21 year old Oscar Ustari. He’s an Argie and plays for Gatafe. Meant to be pretty decent. Not sure if this one has made it into the Spurs forums yet. Guessing probably has, considering that the press will link anyone considered decent to Ramos due to his Spanish connection.

Shimbonba

Just fuck off.

Defoe

From The Sun:

“The manager has said I can leave if I want — but I want to prove him wrong. I want to stay here.

“He called me into his office and told me.

At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought he was going to say I would be starting against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, which was why he didn’t give me a game against Reading at the weekend.

“But he just said ‘You can leave if you want to’. Yet I have no intentions of leaving this club because I love it here.

“I would love to sign a new contract — and I know people at the top of the club want me to stay.

“But no one can expect me to sign a new deal if I can’t get a game.”

I can't help but laugh. If it's true, then Ramos and the club are actually doing the right thing here. Defoe is looking for the Bosman, plain and simple. And the club don't want to lose out on several million quid. Why should they? It happened with that Judas c*nt, and having to listen to more 'I love it here' soundbites grates me.

The reason he doesn't start more games is because he's not in the same class as Robbie Keane, let alone Berbatov. He has no footballing brain and blows hot and cold far too often to be anywhere near consistent. Fact is, he is dispensable. The club won't be fooled again. He's claiming that this is Ramos telling him he can leave, rather than DL or DC. Believing word for word anything that the papers print is always foolish, so at the moment I don't see this as anything else but a rehash.

If you wanted to look beyond the sensationalism, the story may be as simplistic as Ramos telling the player if he wants to leave he can leave and Defoe stating he wants to be top of the pecking order at the club. Defoe will take the option to leave for the reason given earlier.