I’m not a member of the anti-Levy brigade. I can live with Spurs not actually spending any real money on transfers year after year, because I can see it’s for the greater good.
We’ll soon have a brand new stadium and it’s an expensive business. We saw how Arsenal struggled to pay for their’s and they had a lot of natural advantages over Tottenham in terms of how they were able to raise finance.
Yet though I generally support the way ENIC run the club and feel that they have largely done a good job, there are of course massive frustrations. Their tendency to sack the manager every couple of years has been one, while another is their infuriating tactic of leaving things too late in the transfer market.
With just a few days before the season starts Spurs are in the familiar position of being desperate to sign a new striker. At least these days we’re not looking for a ‘world class’ one. The emergence of Harry Kane ensures that a young up and coming one, or an older player willing to spend plenty of time on the bench, would be perfectly adequate.
We haven’t bought one because we’ve wanted to sell two strikers before we made a move. In theory this makes sense when you’re running on a tight budget. Work out how much you’ve got to spend before you start dishing out on new recruits.
The trouble is both Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado are very difficult players to shift. Both the wrong side of 30 and on varying levels of high wages, Adebayor has a reputation as a troublemaker, while Soldado commands a relatively big fee as Tottenham look to recoup some of the fortune they paid for him.
Unsurprisingly neither deal has yet been done, though both are said to be imminent. Meanwhile, Spurs are in Germany on an ill-judged pre-season tournament just days before the season opener, with only one striker available.
In fairness, the early start to the season has contributed to this problem and our opening opponents Manchester United have a similar problem, with Wayne Rooney currently their only real option up front.
That said, the schedule comes as a surprise to no one. What Tottenham needed to do was to buy a striker a few weeks ago and take a leap of faith that they could shift Adebayor and Soldado. Of course that would put them in a weaker bargaining position when selling, but the same will now be true when we look to buy a forward and clubs know that we only have Harry Kane.
The difference is negligible. This insistence of getting the best deal for every player bought and sold makes negotiating a lengthy process which interferes with the manager’s preparations.
Considering that Spurs generally miss out on a Champions League place by a margin of a couple of dropped results, is it really worth it? With better prepared squads, the chances are we would have qualified at least once more than we have.
It’s a gamble worth taking but Levy doesn’t do gambles, at least not with transfers. Instead he’d rather gamble with Tottenham’s season, when he should really be chancing his arm on a striker.
Really does wind me up. Every season is the same, we are incapable of doing our business early. Common sense says that you must be in a position to replace the deadwood that we’ve managed to remove before actually removing it, but no, not Spurs. Four days away from the 1st game, one young striker, no recognised DM ‘bullying’ player, resorting to playing a centre back in midfield ( may get away with it in Lge one), and no pace at all ( except for Yedlin who is sunbathing). Lennon, whilst not everyones fav, at least offers width, defensive cover and a presence, and certainly did Everton a turn, but he’s banished to the stiffs like a naughty schoolboy. Yet when we’re offered VDV back, a player who openly admitted a mistake in leaving, who scores goals for fun, is Premiership wise, has the experience to guide the younger players , particularly Kane, on the picture which is clearly something lacking in this team and would cost next to nothing, we say no. Strange. Why are we so determined to keep buying the younger player and not the marquee, top notch player ? Is the manager of the opinion that he can develop the younger player when in truth it is easier to handle them than a well known ‘star turn’. Is that why we have absolutely nothing that is going to put the fear into any opposing team ? I do fear for this season, and with the new ground coming along, many seasons to come.
…’on the picture !!!! Meant pitch !!
Heard it was the same old lack of penetration up front despite possession in the MLS game and what with conceding 2 goals as well, Poch needs to do something different fast before we end up mid-table where we should have finished last season but for Kane and Lloris.
Very very lucky that they’re both Spurs players so far but wouldn’t blame them for leaving unless we get CL.
SPOT ON
The trouble is that everyone knows what we need and it wont come cheap. To “Do” is to dare but no “dare” here at all.
This is ONE time when Lewis should actually buy something other than loan firms and actually invest in the club rather than the pathetic loans that he has so far. Sure Levy is the parsimonious chairman but Lewis controls the purse strings and he makes Shylock look like benevolent old man by comparison.
This is a marriage and I feel certain that the average THFC supporter although he appreciates the pennywise housewife, he would like a season with a silicon full, bursting cleavage type risk taker with flamboyance and panache: a younger VdV plus someone who can take the load off Kane. They are out there but if the do not come it will be top 6 again and goodbye Kane and Lloris.
We need 2 forward coz if Keane injured how’s gonna play
At front?
We need lorente or berahino
Its hard to be positive about the season , considering the players we now rely on to entertain us fans. This is my least favourite squad in 30 years as a fan. I genuinly dont have a player who i call my favourite player at the moment. We so blatantly need a flying wide forward who is direct and has end product. Neither lamela nor Townsend offer this and neither does chadli in my opinion. We so obviously need a CM who can really play , Mason is not that man . And FFS if kane gets a knock who comes in for him who will actually have an impact on the game?
I cant understand going into a united away game with a weakened squad before we’ve even kicked a ball. These players should have been identified months ago.
As it stands we are relying on the energetic legs of 4 or 5 key players to perform every time they play and praying that at some stage lamela, chadli, townsend , mason , dembele et al actually develop into really good footballers. Its so frutsrating being a spurs fan.
You don’t think Chadli is improving? You don’t think he contributed a pretty damned good amount (in terms of goals/assists) last season? Especially seen as he had to go away and bury his father mid-season!
We are undoubtedly lining things up so we aren’t left with one striker and everyone knowing we are desperate and inflating the price. There is a month left of the transfer window.
As far as this myth of not giving managers time: Harry Redknapp was given nearly four years. If he signed the contract when it was offered him and concentrated on his job he would have got longer. Instead, at his age, having been supported through heart surgery and a court case, he lost focus and cost us because he thought he had the England job. He also wouldn’t follow the party line regarding media and transfer policy, but instead acted as a constant rentagob to his media buddies. And after refusing the new contract offered him because he thought he had the England job and damaging our season by losing focus, he imagined he could get the same contract in the summer, failing to appreciate that the situation had changed. On top of which, he hired an abrasive and aggressive new agent who was so tactless as to phone Levy to pursue this contract, that had already gone, while the poor bugger was burying his mother.
If it wasn’t for this, instead of saying Rekdnapp got four years (which, in itself refutes this media-myth that Levy won’t give his managers time) we may have been talking about him getting five, six or even more seasons.
Thanks to his amazing debut season in the premier league, Harry Kane has quickly become regarded as one of the top strikers in England. He has a distinct way about how he plays, and can do everything- dribble, pass, shoot, but with some close analysis of his style of play, defenders of the opposing team can be taught how to nullify his threat. The Manchester United centre backs displayed this, and one of them (Chris Smalling), even won Man of the Match. This isn’t because he is a good defender, it’s simply down to him knowing what Harry Kane was likely to do. This almost completely took Kane out of the game, and that was when spurs’ need for a striker was highlighted. Daniel Levy needs to splash the cash quick, or Tottenham are going to have a tough time scoring against the top teams in the league.