We all know that international breaks can be very boring and they’re even worse if you can’t actually watch the game in question on a television set.
Such periods are hard enough for the average fan to endure, but spare a thought for the newspaper editors. Their column inches are normally crammed full with news of the Premier League, so when it takes a break, they have to become a bit creative.
International breaks are a time when the hard bitten journo has to dust down some of his old rumours to fill his allocated copy. Tottenham were linked with two names over the weekend, who we were rumoured to sign during the summer.
The first rumoured January signing was David James and there’s every reason to believe that there might be a bit of truth in it. With Gomes warming the bench and Cudicini hardly inspiring confidence with his current form, it’s pretty obvious that Harry would prefer his old mate James if it were possible. The Portsmouth keeper would cost around £1m and I suppose we would then try to flog Gomes to raise some extra transfer funds.
I don’t think there’s that much to choose between Gomes, Cudicini and James and think they’re all flawed in their own way. Of the three I suppose I would prefer James between the Tottenham posts, but given his age, he’d be a very temporary solution to the problem.
The second rumour of the weekend concerned a possible swap deal involving Pavlyuchenko and Huntelaar. I may be wrong, but this smacks of journalism at it’s laziest. It’s obvious that Pavlyuchenko will be looking for a move come January and we were very interested in Huntelaar during the summer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that 2+2 =4.
Huntelaar is having a shocking time at Milan and may be sold in January, but it’s just as likely that their coach Leonardo will get the bullet before January and then who knows who his replacement will want to bring in.
Would we really still want him anyway? We haven’t been able to keep four strikers happy thus far this season and this would be even more difficult if we brought in Huntelaar. If we do get rid of Pav in January, I’d favour us bringing in a young striker who wouldn’t mind some time on the bench. Someone like Crystal Palace’s Victor Moses, who can also play on the left wing would be perfect.
So I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if Old Man Jamo was playing for Tottenham come January, but I wouldn’t expect Huntelaar to be joining anytime soon. Still, with the next international break scheduled for mid-November, you can guarantee that his name will be mentioned alongside ours again before January.
What exactly is it you don’t like about Gomes? He’s come on tremendously since his mistakes at the beginning of last season (which was totally uncharacteristic – and even so, don’t forget he was our man of the match for about half of the ‘8 games 2 points’ nightmare). We know he’s a fantastic shot-stopper, he improved his form coming for crosses no end and was generally in excellent form up until his injury. Personally I can’t see why Harry’s persisting with Cudicini who has been disappointing recently. Gomes is an excellent keeper and we would be downtrading significantly if we go for James in my opinion.
I would much rather have Gomes playing than Cudicini, but neither fill me with total confidence.
Gomes is a great shot stopper and he’s certainly displayed better form in 2009, but I still suffer palpitations when he goes for a cross. Perhaps if he got back into the team and continued his better form, then those nightmares would fade with time. I’ve got a feeling though that Gomes won’t be given the chance.
Gomes has knee problems still doesn’t he? Think he’ll be back between the sticks once he’s fully fit.
Got no interest in David James to be honest.