Good morning.
Having a look at the deals that were actually done in the window made for interesting reading. One of the better summaries I found was on The Daily Telegraph’s site. Never has the word ‘undisclosed’ caused me to chuckle before. Yeah, I bet *****’ fee was undisclosed. Although how one could actually embarrass an individual who has been leeching a colossal wage out of us for so long is debatable. Just how does one shame the shameless?
Poor old Gomes loaned out to Hoffenheim. Let’s hope he doesn’t land at the airport in full Maxwell Q Klinger 1950′s mid west ladies apparel or we could see him back sooner than expected. I don’t to be unkind to the guy because I happen to believe that before he joined us he was absolutely one of the best goalies in Europe. I wish the old girl well and hope that he at least that this is at least the beginning of him enjoying playing football again.
Carlo Cudicini was a cool dude really. Well, until that business with the motorcycle. I never thought we played him enough and who knows, if he had joined us or indeed anyone else other than Chelsea he could have had a career that amounted to a bit more professionally. Mind you, he’s the one in LA and I’m the one sat in next to a lukewarm radiator here in Blighty.
Pritchard and Townsend out on loan. Don’t think I’ve ever seen Pritchard play. Perhaps sending him off to Peterborough is an indication he needs a soft edge taken off him. Either that or he really upset someone. What Andros Townsend might benefit from by having a spell at QPR is anyone’s guess.
We ought to get another indication after at least another appearance from the bench tomorrow, if not a full start, whether Holtby is as exciting as he looked at Norwich. Nothing would make me happier than watch him flourish. Ezekiel Fryers is an interesting one. Back up for Benny. Again, never seen him play.
What I was hoping for today were thoughts on who we did buy. To balance the lamenting that went on yesterday. Of course you are perfectly free to discuss what you want. This is after all, a blog and not a borstal.
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Where does the 4.5m come from? Holtby 1.5 and Fryers 0.9 equals 2.4 doesn’t it?
the rest is what we paid for J**** to leave………..
3mil went on Fryers. I’m guessing he’ll have a stint in the reserves ..loaned out and then we either recoup none of it back or he becomes a great over valued English player.
Was reported elsewhere as 900k which sounds much more likely given the faffing around we had to go to. Utd would never have gotten 6m at a tribunal, I’m sure they would have taken 3m last Summer.
As opposed to the 300k they got from liege
Think it was 900 up front rising to £3mill with multiple add ons including if he can put his training bib on unassisted, lace his boots and teach Dumpy how to shoot
Anyone knows of a Spurs pub in Leeds? Would love to watch games in my new home town with some fellow yids… Pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated!
The Drysalters is the away friendly pub, but I’m not convinced that particularly a Spurs bar. I can’t think of one, mate.
Hartley might have a better idea?
If you want to watch a game in a Spurs friendly pub, get as far away from Leeds as you possibly can….. The Hinchcliffe at Cragg Vale always has a few Yids in, but the telly’s been nicked….
I live in Leeds mate, there isn’t really a spurs pub, i watched the arse game in shooters and it was crawling with gooners and a couple of yids, so with that in mind lets find one and make one our own! To be fair all leeds pubs are leeds!
2.1 million paid to jeans to naff off
nothing to lament,j**** is gone, gomes is gone, all i would have asked to make it the best transfer window ever would have been for bentley to move too. dime bar for me has always been a non starter, unproven and not prolific and the sort of money being spouted was ridiculous.
If Townsend starts a league game, then it would be something new. However, that does sound unlikely with Taarabt in the team. You simply cannot start with that much headlessnes in a line up.
They’re are both on the pitch as we speak. Taarabt doing his best to show why he wasn’t good enough for Spurs.
Couple of times I’ve watched Townsend I’ve been underwhelmed, but on today’s showing he looked really good to be fair. Deserved his MOM
Voted man of the match by our favourite gooner.
Townsend likes ‘Arry!
Watched the entire game, he started superbly-drifted out for while, but worked his socks off and ended the game strongly..a really good debut
Jenas on the pitch now. Almost more ex Spurs than anything else.
I was surprised to see Andros Townsend, ideal cover for Aaron Lennon or Gareth Bale should we need it, loaned out, but he’s made his debut already and will have hopefully gained plenty of Premier League experience before his return to the Lane. Overall, I think it’s been a fairly successful window. Let fringe players leave, loaned out some future youth lads, brought in two young, hungry players who will be hoping to prove to everyone that they deserve to be here. COYS.
Townsend has had a good game for the Quares today.
Townsend is attacking left footed player who drives at players and causes problems so what do you do ?
You don’t play him then loan him out to QPR ( had a good game for them today ) if bale is injured or needs to be rested he in my opinion should of been given that position .He should of remained a squad player could of been used for Europa lge games at the least
I’m 52 and seen it all at spurs but after the last year transfer debacle I thought things couldn’t get worse but they have .
I know Holtby is also left footed but he has been more effective playing behind the strikers .
At least Holby will pick up the ball and drive us forward with some much needed pace our tempo of play has dropped during the last 2/3 matches .
Lets hope DL gets away with this mess and we finish 4th it just could of and should of been so much more
Why is it a mess? In the Prem we are undefeated in 8 or something and are 4th
Transfer wise it is either a cockup or willful negligence. No argument needed.
Loris, Dembele, Adebayor and now Holtby. What a shame it is that we just cannot sign any qualiuty players. We are all doomed. Ask HR to drop whatever he is doing and rescue us again.
What has HR got to do with anything you plum?
I gather you are suffering the wrong time with comments like that.
However, just in case you were being serious, I would explain that as usual the doom-mongers totally over-react at our failure to sign the 28 best players in the world at every transfer window.
Of course the real problem for DL and AVB, is that the people who reallly know how to run the team, are far too busy losing their tempers here, to show them how to do it properly.
I gather you are suffering the wrong time with comments like that.
Of the month do you mean?
Yes that’ll be LLL.
Fancy bumping into you again. Oh, and hello to you too, Mrs. Spurstacus if you’re reading! Or rather: สวัสดี! สามีของคุณที่ยอดเยี่ยมจริงๆเพื่อนคุณโชคดีที่ได้รับการสั่งซื้อโดยเขา
Neither of us can read those foreign words. But you have obviously got a good grasp of whatever language it is. Possible due to the number of applications for mail order brides you have made?
Ha – touche! You have swung it around on me again. Good effort, but soon you will have to get some of your own material.
It’s in Thai, and it says roughly, that you are lucky to be a Mail Order Bride.
Funnily enough, when I was in Thailand last year, I came across someone making exactly the same comments as LLL. She were call Loud Lugubrious Ladyboy.
Oy! You too! Get your own bloody material.
No, I’m just monumentally tired of half-brained retorts based on the notion that any critique of Levy’s transfer dealings by definition equates to a pining for Redknapp to return. If you can explain how you believe these two things are even remotely connected then I will take back the ‘plum’ remark.
Half-brained retorts?
You are the master.
A nutter.
But occasionally you plumb the depths.
Yes, half-brained. Although in your case, I think that’s being somewhat generous I have to admit. I estimate that you are running on approximately 25% of what the rest of us have up here. A miracle of nature.
To clarify. I think that you only need to look at the comment by ODM as to who we have signed this year, and see how many “star names” were signed by our opponents in this window and it seems bizarre that people are moaning.
So many of the posters on here do not seem to know the difference between reality and a wish list.
It should be compulsory for those who moan about the window, to make the following six points when complaining. !. Who would they sign. 2. Were they available ( and I don’t mean relying on some greedy agent’s propaganda as a source). 3. Could we have afforded the fee. 4. Could we have afforded the wages. 5. Did they want to play for us? 6. Would they have improved the squad.
If somebody cannot give the correct answers to those questions, then you are confusing conjecture with delusion.
It follows that if you suffer one delusion, you are also likely to suffer other delusions such as recalling HR.
So to explain, HR has nothing to do with it other than I do not know the entirety of your delusion.
If you think that we didn’t need to sign a striker in this window then I would put away your accusations of delusion and take some time to reflect in a darkened room.
I never said that. I admitted that we do need a striker on the previous blog.
However unless you answer the six point test that I set, then it appears that you are one of those who thinks you can go into Tesco and get one off the shelf. That’s delusional.
FFS. Second only to the lameduck HR retorts are the ones where you are challenged to name the exact unknown bargain 30 goal a season invisible man.
I’ll let you into a secret. I am not a one man scouting team. I am not paid to find talented players nor broker deals for them. I don’t run a football club. I do not have 10-20m to spend on a striker. I have no contacts with agents and take little interest in the global transfer market. My opinion on who we should buy is worth only a little more than your opinion that there is nobody to buy.
But FYI the manager and the club identified the target. Damiao. And we were ‘very, very close’ to signing him. We just needed a little more time. Trust our luck, eh? Trust our luck.
That is why you come across as delusional. You accuse people of negligence, but when asked who you propose, you tell us you have no idea.
Regarding the Damaio saga, one of the stumbling blocks was the discovery that the player’s registration was not straightforward, and he was part-owned by a third party. There is also the problem that he would require a work permit. Finally, for all that, the player has yet to say that he wants to play for us.
Did you read what I wrote? It isn’t my job nor area of specialism. I would hasten to guess that it also isn’t yours, which is why you not personally knowing which striker we should have shined is a pretty hollow justification for the notion that one didn’t exist (your logic).
Also, if you hadn’t noticed, your checklist is impossible to answer. Too many variables and you have also included get out clauses where I have to rely on first hand information – not ‘agents talk’ etc. And finally I need to acquire mind-reading skills to answer number 5. and master soothsaying to answer number 6. The fact that you pose these questions as some vindication of the idea that no strikers existed that we were able to sign is one of the many reasons that you appear delusional.
Regarding Damiao – are you really that foolish that you buy into all that guff? We’ve been chasing him for how long and yet discover at the 11th hour that we needed more time and – yowza – he needs a ‘work permit’?!?! Do you not recall the same line being spin about Moutinho? Lightning doesn’t strike twice but gullibility is permanent it seems.
I’ll give you the one, most telling and only relevant ‘stumbling block’ for this deal: 13m.
Ps. With no knowledge or research or insider info: Negredo.
Everton couldn’t quite afford him. But. We have more money than them. Most paper talk had Sevilla down as negotiable. His wage demands would have been easy. We are a step up in club and league.
There you go, I played your game for you. It proves nothing and I shouldn’t bother though as it distorts the issue. But you seem to want to hear a name.
And has Negredo said that he would be interested in playing for us?
No you have not beaten me at my own game. In fact you have demonstrated that my six questions pose too many variables, and that is the reality of it all.
I am going to make it easier for you. Three questions this time! 1. What do you know for certain? 2. What do you think you know for certain. 3. Can anybody draw any certainty from your answers to the first two questions?
That is really the issue with most of the whingers, all they know for certain is that they we bought X, Y and Z. Levy must be at fault for failing to buy A,B and C, even if they were not interested in playing for us, or were not available.
???
What do I need to know? I’m a bloke who watches football, not runs it or works in it. Same as you.
My opinion: if you set a target of reaching the top 4 in the PL, you had probably ought to have a striker or three in your squad. If you don’t, it’s your failing. And your responsibility if the team fails to meet your target.
Let me ask you one simple question, Mr. Question maker:
Do you know for absolute certain that there were no strikers available in the whole wide world who would have helped us out over the next 4 months or so?
Why do you keep trying to put words in my mouth? When I did say there were no strikers available.
What I say to all those people who slate Levy every window. “Here are six questions. If you can answer them correctly, then you are right and Levy is wrong.
Nobody has ever got beyond the first question.
Why can you not accept that your posts are conjecture unsupported by any facts, and therefore, YOU MIGHT BE WRONG.
When two people argue, a wise man will say, “One of us must be wrong”. A fool will say “One of must be right”
Have you noticed how you always seem to conclude that you are right and DL is wrong?
No, I hadn’t noticed that. Because I’ve given him plenty of credit for the things hes got right. Supplying us with an adequate attack? Mm. Not so much.
why are you so attached to your stupid questions? They don’t prove anything other than I am not a member of the board or scouting team of thfc, nor am I able to read minds or tell the future. I’ve never laid claim to any of these so lets stop with the questions.
How do you fail to see the stupidity of your argument?
Before we can buy a player, those six questions have to be answered. You state that you don’t know the answer because you are not a board member etc, and yet you accuse the board of negligence when they do know the answers.
I am writing this very slowly so that I do not confuse you. Think about it
The fact that after all this discussion you still fail to register the sheer inanity of your nonsensical questions means that I am now retiring from this utterly pointless dialogue. You don’t need to talk slowly, you need to think slower still. Good luck in your quest for enlightenment.
I agree with the constant accusations of being a HR fan if you are not 100% happy with all you see is pathetic.
However 3L’s the constant foot stamping and doom mongering from fans who think we are now a wrecked and ruined club because santy clause (THFC books dont have a great deal or ready cash handy) didnt bring a 30 million striker down to the lane is pathetic, look around us.
chavs have a torresand a Ba with no nose
everton have a giant midfielder, a rubbish SPL reject (he is well off form) and anichibe who if he played for spurs would have been lambasted like *****. Arsenal have giroud and have chucked a shit aaron lennon upfront
thats the main rivals sorted out.
yes a striker would have been lovely
but a disaster, hardly. who went all out and brought loads in just QPR and Newcastle. Plenty of gambles there how much cash wasted?
Chill out and support the team. Holtby looks like someone who really wants to play and win, he also showed some good skill and some clever passes.
Hopefully that attitude will rub off in the rest of the squad and we will force the ball in the back of the net using sheer will.
My support isn’t in question, thanks. I’m also quite chilled out. Is it OK for me to have an opinion which doesn’t quite square with the most partisan Spurs PLC follower?
please read your own response
‘Is it OK for me to have an opinion which doesn’t quite square with the most partisan Spurs PLC follower’
and apply to your own comments in reverse then. At no point was you told by me that you couldnt have an opinion I just gave a counter view.
BTW wasnt the club De listed and there is only one THFC whether it is a PLC or otherwise.
Having realism does not mean one is a followier of the business which are one and the same unfortunately
Like the old Hancock line I called have been a doctor you know but I never really bothered
I don’t think it’s a mess but I do share your feelings regarding Townsend. I believe he would of been very useful.
My guess? We had to move players on, AVB wanted to keep Siggy, we bought Holtby, some-one had to make way and they chose Townsend. In light of that I can understand why we did it, AVB has huge faith in Siggy.
Levy uses the AFC model to see us in the EL.
As far as I can remember since May we’ve lost two players of significance in Moderrs and VDV and recruited Lloris, Fryers, Vertonghen, Dembele, Holtby, Gylfi and Dempsey and before anyone starts Ade was already here in my book.
It’s still too early to compare any of the newcomers with Luca and Raffa but as a squad I think one can argue that we are stronger.
Dembele and Holtby are of similar if not as good, quality as the two departees, Lloris is probably our best keeper since Clemence and Vertonghen is a seriously good central defender when he hasn’t been pissed off by something. Dempsey seems a bloody useful player to me he scores creates and is quite a tough nut (ask Mr Terry). Then there is young bright eyes aka Siggy. I think he’s a very talented boy and has been a tad unlucky not to have had more starts and a couple of goals as he seems to bring the best out of goalkeepers and the woodwork.
Siggy needs time. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that he’s only 22-23 and now playing for a bigger club with bigger expectations.
I watched the post-transfer window whatsit of AVB and he seriously believes in the guy. We should too.
I’d say we lost three players ODM as you’re forgetting King, not only a class act but a brilliant captain. If anyone goes on about his injuries, fair enough, but he still needed replacing.
King didnt play enough games to be considered a major loss and we got Vert and Caulker (Out On loan last year). we were just lucky to have had king for as long as we did and unfortunately he was shocking by the time we played Chavs in the semi final (it hurts to admit that)
Nothing to say about Fryers it’s been so well publicised since the summer that it’s a ‘wait and see’ thing. I suppose it’s similar to when we bought the 2 Kyles from Sheffield Utd.
Holtby, if we spent £8m on him there would of been more buzz but this seems to me to be one of the most prudent and shrewdest deals yet. I imagine he’s a direct replacement for Siggy’s original responsibilities. This leads me to believe that Siggy and Dempsey will be used as cover across the midfield including both wings hence Falque and Townsend moving on.
I was livid about Townsend. Still am. WE should be playing these guys when we rotate the squad. I think he’s better than people realise and I’d like to see him play more for us.
Tough one on Townsend. I would have kept him, and played him – but it’s chicken and the egg.
There is a gap between him and Lennon / Bale – and to bridge it he needs games now. He can’t get games because there is a gap and every game and every point is at stake.
Suppose we committed to working him in – say Bale was having a stinker for the 1st 60 minutes at Norwich, he then pops up and scores a wonder goal. That’s why you keep him on.
It’s one of those where it was the right decision for the player to develop – and at the cost of us having cover.
You could argue he gets as much in cover as shifting around Holtby, Sigg, and Dempsey.
Time will tell if it was the right call for us – though I think he Townsend will be a better player in August than he would getting a handful of minutes for us.
@Brizzle
I said it recently, but I’ll say it again anyway: I have seen nothing in Falque’s CV or performances to suggest any reason why we signed him? After we signed him, he played half a game in half a season for Southampton. Now he is on loan to Almeira.
This one is a complete. If he had been signed by HR at Pompey, we would have expected knowing nudges and winks.
True, I don’t know why we signed him either tbh.
Townsend though? Great player deserves more opportunities for us.
I’m really happy about the long term direction of the club. Whether we get 4th or not, each year we are moving forward – our Squad, the Stadium, and the Academy.
We are buying very well and no longer am I terrified at the thought of losing Bale or for that matter anyone else. When we sell, we do so on our terms, and we re-invest intelligently.
It’s an important distinction from the days we’d sell Carrick and get Zokora, or sell Keane (mk 1) & Berbatov and sign Bent and Pav. Our profile in Europe has helped this, as has our selections.
The next step is integrating more players from the Academy into the 1st team squad and really establishing their careers. Townsend and Carroll are both very close, whilst Pritchard looks a very exciting player once he fills out a bit.
We do this and our reputation and ability to get the best youngsters will soar, whilst allowing us to focus resources on plugging the holes (up front).
I get the point you are making, but I do have to say, I think that both Pav and Bent would have done well for us if they had been given sustained runs in the team.
Obviously, we will never know if that is right, but I could never see the sense in paying £15 mill for players that were never regular starters.
AVB on Damiao:
“Things were very, very close, almost to the point of being agreed. I think it’s a question of a little more time, probably, that would have helped. There was a third-party with Atlético, the club who own 30%; that wasn’t a problem. On the whole dealings of the whole agreement with all the parties, we needed more time. It was not specifically one party’s fault.”
FFS. I don’t know about all the happy campers out there, but I personally don’t appreciate being brazenly lied to. Do they really think we are all that stupid?
Was that quote from this window, the one before or the one before that ?
It does have a familiar ring doesn’t it? It was from his press conference yesterday I believe. This morning’s paper.
If you had not mentioned AVB, it could have been what feels like any one of the last 10 transfer windows.
So what?
Do we really need an untried, untested (in the PL) striker at £20m?
No.
It’s not that though Bruxie, it is the way we get told we are trying to buy the player 3 hours before the window closes.
To be honest, it is a bit of a joke now.
It is a joke, but he doesn’t get it. I think the joke may be on him.
Who tells you all of this crap?
The papers?
Stop buying them.
And don’t think LLL knows everything.
He needs disciples but cannot get the following.
Give him £20m and see who he buys.
That’s some top gun logic right there! Top. Gun. Logic.
And your point is?
Yeah! Exactly!
So AVB said something you get offended and spurs get relegated?
grow up get over it.
The club and AVB has to deal with the media, the average pleb now does nothing but follow everything on social media, the average football pleb expects their football club to spend someone elses millions on a players for their amusement and if it dont happen they cry like brats..
All this bidding may be true bidding or may be to appease all the kids that want want want.
If no attempt to sign a striker is made the moaning is no less so what is your point exactly. Is that that you didnt get the latest Furby?
Get over it. AVB said Blah get over it. The sky wont fall in, you lost no money or suffered injury and the world keeps spinning.
If you choose football clubs based on the verbal content of a press conference then maybe its time to look elsewhere.
You didn’t understand the thing that I wrote. Not to worry, I know that words can be tricky sometimes.
I said I don’t appreciate being fed loose bullshit by the club. Even though many are stupid – clearly – some aren’t. It’s nothing to do with ‘growing up and taking your bullshit’.
“If you choose football clubs based on the verbal content of a press conference then maybe its time to look elsewhere.”
Wtf are you on about? Are you thinking any of this gibberish through?
Tell him not to forget to bring his Clubcard. You get a lot of points in Tescp for £20 Mill.
Not that I want to get involved in what seems to be a private party, but in each of the last 3-4 windows we have been so close to signing this or that player, only for it to all fall apart at the last hour. Damaio, Moutinho, Cahill etc.
I am not relying on what LLL is saying I recall those windows. And I am surprised you do not.
As I said before it is a bit of a joke now. Let’s call the last hour of the transfer window Levy time from now on.
Bruxie etc don’t like to hear or face up to certain facts. He even seems to be insinuating that I personally managed to somehow plant false AVB quotes in the newspaper.
@David
If you look at the last three Jan windows in particular, you will see that 2011, DL was being castigated because he failed to buy Torres and or Carroll and or Suarez.
I don’t see may slagging him off now for this “negligence”.
2012 was a quiet window all around, and I doubt if there were six quality players transferred at that time.
In the last two windows,we have signed seven class internationals.
Just my opinion, and I know that that there are better players that we might have signed, but I think DL is doing a great job with the resources he has available to him.
Every window, there are those who moan at him, but when you look back 12 months llater, he usually gets it right, including the players he doesn’t buy.
I am not complaining about who we have or have not signed.In fact i am not complaining at all. I was getting a bit tired of the stories we hear at the end of every transfer window when we are told we nearly signed all sorts of players but it never quite happened, often because we ran out of time, but we hear it so often now, I think it has become a running joke.
AVB wanted A. Moutinho and B. Damiao. Levy pretended to get them for him (and us) and then the club spun some PR nonsense about being ‘really really close’ on deadline day. Which you believe.
We’ve needed to sign a quality striker for 4 years. We have moved some on and chopped and changed a little and are now down to 1.5 strikers as we try and consolidate a top 4 spot for the 3rd consecutive season. And yet you think there is no room for improvement in our transfer dealings. Hmm.
I assume your last comment was made at me. I have never said there is no room for improvement.
What I have said on numerous occasions to the whingers is to ask them to answer the six questions I set out.
Why is it that all the whingers have never been able to answer these.
It is interesting that many believe we were lied to, but nobody actually knows why the transfer failed.
So let’s speculate. Football corruption is legendary in Brazil. The team start to spread rumours that Chelsea, Spurs and others are interested in buying the player. The say they have inserted a £65 mill buy out clause into his contract. They then sell 30% to a third party for say £7.5 mill. It turns out that Chelsea were never interested, so when we offer £14 mill, Mr 30% needs an offer of £25 mill to break even and he is not going to transfer his share. The player and his agent, and Spurs all have ongoing commercial relationships with Inter and so will keep quiet, and Mr 30% will not want people to know he has been conned as this weakens his position.
All parties keep Schtuum and Spurrs pull out.
I am not saying this is what happened, but it is interesting to note that none of the other parties are accusing Spurs of lying that a deal was nearly done.
It is because there are no accusations from the other side, that i am inclined to dismiss the suggestion that the Levy and co have lied to us.
Your views are nothing more than conjecture. I am not even attempting to claim that what I suggested ever took place, but what undermines your conjecture, is that nobody is coming forward from Spurs or Inter to contradict the story Spurs have presented.
Without delving into your quite strange fantasy story, you claim that my views are conjecture. Of course, however, I’m willing to test them against probability and likelihood.
What you are claiming is more barmier still. You are claiming that you know, for an absolute fact, that no strikers exist in the universe who would have been able to help us in the next 4 months.
On the specific subject of Damiao, AVB said there was no difficulty over 3rd parties. For their part, Internacional say our bid wasn’t high enough. I’d tend to believe it was that simple. We’ve had months, years even, to mull over all the ‘complex’ stuff.
@David (6.42)
Point taken.
I can’t remember who it was that said it, but I recall seeing a post on Jan 24th saying something like “Only another seven days to the transfer window opening for Spurs”
@LLL
Read MY Lips!!!!!
I have not said that there were no strikers available?
What part of that do you not understand?
You do not win an argument by putting words in others mouths, especially when they have said nothing remotely resembling that. All you do is expose the paucity of your own thought processes.
SOID. That was probably me mate!
I think I also asked when our window opened about an hour before it actually closed and someone else replied at about 10.28 ” in 33 minutes time”.
That is what I like about this site, people up for a laugh and not taking themselves too seriously. At the end of the day it is just a blog about football and not worth going to war with people over.
Anyway let’s all hope we get the 3 points tomorrow and get a bit of breathing space over the scum.
@ David 22.01
You are not wrong. You can have a laugh on here, but I do get cheesed off at the comments that clearly habe not been thought through.
I have not criticised anyone who has said we need a striker, but when I see them saying our failure to sign a striker is purely down to Levy then I do get cheesed off.
George Bernard Shaw said, “Those who can – do. Those who can’t – teach” Some years ago I updated my own addendum to that: “Those who can do neither – criticise”.
You don’t even understand the terms of your own argument. Ok, so you now say that there may have been a striker available to us that may have been able to help us that we could have got. I think that’s what you say, its not clear. So. Why haven’t we signed him? Its a logic cul de sac of your own making I’m afraid. My advice, try reversing.
There were no strikers available who wanted to come to us that garunteed the goals we are lacking for the price we could pay (Or the terms of finance).
I would be happy to test that against likelihood and probability as you would say (not sure how they. You set up a meeting wit DL and we can ask him direct let me know the date and time
“There were no strikers available who wanted to come to us that garunteed the goals we are lacking for the price we could pay (Or the terms of finance).”
Quite a bold and far-reaching statement. Can you offer any kind of proof or justification for this notion whatsoever? I’ll save your breath if you like: no, you can’t.
Again 3L’s read your previous statement at 8:18pm which I responded to there was (no reply button to that comment) and apply your comments to it
which was my point!!!
you talk round in circles making daft statements to redicule others opinions
What will Andros gain? Well premiership action under a manger who will encourage him in a tough relegation scrap – in other words brilliant for his development. Or would you prefer he sat on the bench at Tottenham and played for the U21s. Very strange comment.
An expensive second hand car that is never quite right.
Villa beating the Toffees is a gift from the Gods. Stoke to pull a defensive mishap out of Arsenal would be quite nice.
Villa pull one back but so do the Toon. The Lord giveth and he taketh away and he giveth some more.
By which I meant to say Toffees pull one back. That’s the Lord taketh incidentally.
Cnuting Lord taketh away.
You cannot multi-task, then Lord LL?
F££K me!
Nope. Read that 3 or 4 times now…
Out loud?
Does that make it work? Ok, I’ll try…
Nope, still nothing stirring here…
My understanding of the 5;15 blog by Bruxie is as follows,You are full of shit LLL.OK
Right, thanks, I thought I could trust you to understand and translate half-wit for me. Now I get it. Shame it still isn’t very funny though.
Are you the person that wrote ‘How To Lose Friends And Alienate People’?
It never struck me that people would come here to ‘make friends’. Is this where you met Mrs. Spurstacus?
Isn’t very funny you say,I’m happy with normal funny and slightly annoying.
Sissoko for 2mil seems good biz by the Toon
Thank Alan Carr’s dad.
Sissoko was the one player I was hoping Tottenham would have snapped up.
I expect Adebayor to transform our team play as he can be so influential to our chances of finishing in the top four places.
If we ran out of time for Damiao, why didn’t we start process earlier? We have been tracking him for 2 years so its hardly a last minute thing. Levy is doing a great job overall. However, just like Moutinho, it’s a game he plays to make us think he is at least trying to sign more players. If Moutinho deal was agreed in August surely he would have signed for us on the 1st January?! We have finished badly the last 2 seasons after not investing more in January, and it may happen again as Defoe has gone off the boil and Adebayor is nowhere near the standard he set last season. Levy is a brilliant chairman in my opinion, but he should have paid whatever it took to sign a striker to greatly improve our chances of 4th, it will be Groundhog Day if we don’t and Bale will be off this summer for sure.
Moutinho and Damiao ‘deals’ are nothing but PR. Keeps the retards nodding and smiling at each other. The insulting part being that some of the fans aren’t so dimwitted.
Depends on the retard in question 3L’s some retards still moan and stamp their feet
Let me guess: you’re the nodding and smiling variety, right?
Ahh exceeded you understanding levels again I see. The sunshine club bus has arrived to take you to the park enjoy yourself
Shame the scum won but the other results were pretty good for us.
Better take our chance tomorrow.
Thanks to the Toon and Villa we have the chance to put some distance between us and Everton and move within a point of the blue turds. Big things a-coming!
Aren’t blue turds a sign of syphilis?
Only in West London
Will take your word for it, hope you are not speaking from personal experience mate.
How long til the fat waiter sings?
Actually, probably not until season’s end. Who could come in now that has the ‘name’ factor? Unless Roman wants to promote another assistant or get the likes of Curbishly, what can he do until summer.
HR could be available.
For a price.
I thought about that, but don’t you think QPR would just throw more stupid money around in order to keep Harry?
My neighbour is a hoop fan.
Cannot stand HR.
Thinks he bankrupts clubs.
He’s doing a good job of doing that at the moment.
Townsend could save him.
Roman s got the wrong end of the stick he thinks the manager of the month award is for the manager For the month
That was V.Funny (ROFPMSL)
For reasons that escape the experts on here, misguided AVB has chosen to play Obika and recall Kane rather than keep and use Townsend and Falque. I don’t see it either but he has gotten a lot out of Lennon and even out of Defoe before he was injured.
It will be interesting to see if his choices pan out.
If we squeak by WBA tomorrow we are 1 point out of 3d. Wouldn’t that be something? COYS
We are all with you.
Townsend got a game today. Got Man of the Match.
It’s working already. Keep the faith.
He wouldn’t have got a game with us tomorrow.
@ Cincin
Both Kane and Obika are strikers. Townsend and Falque are wingers. I’ve said elsewhere on this post, what Falque is doing at THFC, is beyond me. Kane and Obika have done little so far to show that they will set the world alight. I think a much more interesting prospect is Simon Dawkins who after almost quitting through injury is back with us and has yet to play for us in over eight years. He was loaned out to Villa on Thursday, and was an unused sub.
He scored 14 goals while on loan to San Jose, and I am thinking that some must see something special to have resigned him.
I’ve watched him several times and he has decent pace and directness, but he never struck me as having what it takes to succeed in the PL
Are you talking about Falque or Dawkins?
Dawkins
Thanks.
My thinking on this is that if you look at his history, somebody somewhere seems to think that he has something to offer, but then again, the same could be said about Falque.
For all that, it seems strange that Dawkins has immediately been given a place on the subs bench, but then again, Falque was a regular on our bench.
That really is the problem. When you look at a question, sometimes it is easy to over-analyze, and invariably when that happens, you out-guess yourselk.
That would be great Cincinnati – let’s hope we seize the opportunity.
*Comment relating to Nazis and people of Jewish faith removed*
Your comment relating to Nazis and people of Jewish faith has been passed on to the relevant bodies including your service provider who I see are:
IP: 82.40.237.251
Decimal: 1378414075
Hostname: cpc14-dals17-2-0-cust250.hari.cable.virginmedia.com
ISP: Virgin Media
Organization: Virgin Media
Always surprises me when idiots like that can actually operate a computer.
It wasn’t very nice. And I’ve seen some relatively unpleasant stuff…
Not surprised with the amount of people with fetishes for dogs arses that this place seems to attract.
Woof Woof!
bebarsis@yahoo.co.uk
Operate?………i’m surprised these dumb fucks even know how to switch them on!
bebarsis@yahoo.co.uk
I am not a fan of censorship and I cannot claim to have seen his earlier deleted comment, but looking at the comments preceding this, it is clear that in order for “Yid” to qualify as a “class act” he would have to be in a room with Ed Gein and Bodil Joensen, and even then I am not sure the other two would be less attractive.
So we have a squad of 23 for the rest of the way:
Hugo Lloris, Brad Friedel; Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Younes Kaboul, Jan Vertonghen; Scott Parker, Sandro Cordeiro, Jake Livermore, Mousa Dembele, Tom Huddlestone; Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, David Bentley, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lewis Holtby; Clint Dempsey, Jermain Defoe, Emmanuel Adebayor and Jon Obika.
Subtract Sandro for the rest of the way. Add in youngsters like Caulker and Kane.
It’s what we have, so let’s get it done.
its ok now curse of the manager of the month has worn off. its now feb. not much damage done. i predict at least 30 points of the next 45 and a comfortable 3rd place.
Lights out at Craven Cottage.
Thanks for the picture up top HH, God bless Ossie Ardiles!
Hey BC, was the Chelsea Physio used today ?
Did you have a bet on it or sumat
Todays Quad went tits up
Blackburn 11/10
Derby 1/1
Colchester 6/5
Chelsea 1/1
I know, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
The quad i’m on tonight is ;
Breda currently 1-0
Waragem currently 0-0
St Etienne currently 1-0
Lorkoren currently 1-0
Breda (45m) the rest are 30 mins in.
1 up in a treble today,tonight’s treble fairing better so far
St Etienne
Bordeaux
Nice
all 1=0 up at HT
YAHOO
Paddy Power are doing a money back deal if one team lets you down in a five result acca for the month of Feb,over here anyway,have you got the same deal in England as sometimes you don’t get all the goodies over there.
Same deal all over, has been on for a while, prob is by adding a team to a Quad you reduce your chances by 2/3, it’s just a ploy to get more losers, give it a wide berth, hard enough picking 3.
They want you to add 4/9, 1/3 , 4/11 shots but the prob is Draws are killing a lot of bets, even short odds.
Congrats on ur Treble !
As I am sure you will know, you need to beware of the Paddy Power offers.
Some time ago, they were offering 150/1 to the best acca. It was possible, and it happened that some people picked 200/1 plus accas and lost their money, because somebody else picked a 202/1 winner. The result was that the those who had picked winners still lost because they had not picked the biggest winner. And the biggest winner still lost because if he had backed an ordinary acca, he would have been paid 202/1 instead of 150/1
I find that really hard to believe,who would place a bet under those terms?
No disrespect, but there are a multitude of “mug bets” out there, the most obvious being football correct scores.
In the Grand National, the bookie will have 39 horses running for him to your 1, and he will still have the book over-rounded by at least 40%. In correct scores, he has infinite number of runners. In the PL, a 5-5 score happens about once every four years, which is once in 1500 games, and the bokies will gladly lay you 100/1
Ireland has some of the most tight-fisted bookies in the world. The average greyhound race, the over-round is 170% and the average horse race, it is about 135%
I used to work in a bookmakers (actually, I’ve pretty much worked for all of them in my time) and bets such as trixies and yankees were generally regarded as bookies benefits. In the case of a yankee, for example, one loss takes out almost three-quarters of your bet. Sure, if you win you have the potential to win big, but such instances are few and far between. The only punters the bookies are scared of are the ones who bet big on short-priced singles.
Yes. Not many people understand that the more you try to win, the more you put the odds in favour of the bookies.
As an example, if the average “over round” is 13%, it is 28% for a double 44% for a treble and 63% and upwards for accas.
The lucky 15 ain’t a bad bet,if you have 1 winner all the bookies triple the odds,(in Ireland)I would normally get my money back at least.
Used?
but not abused
Nope, she was doing her hair and it took too much time so they sent on a sub
If that’s our squad of 23 named players why is Ezekiel Fryers not included? Is he one of the under-aged players ? Apparently he cost either 3.0M or 0.9M depending on who you’re talking to. Are THFC still trying to underplay he’s signing – in case old red nose complains?
Can Lewis Hotby play out wide as Andros Townsend and Danny Rose’s loans seem to have left us without cover again – unless Bentley’s going to be given another go.
Best of luck (and no disrespect to) to Harry Kane and John Obika but we should have signed a striker.
“Buy low, sell high.” That is the only transfer policy we have. It works up to a point, but it involves fibbing to us about big signings: Damaio, Moutinho. They were never on. It may cost us this season.
Fryer is 20, so he can play without being named to the PL squad. Same with Kane, Caulker and any U-21 players
The Transfer Tavern,Reckon Bently deal was agreed with QPR until Bently told them his wage demands..50 grand a week,probably made up,surely he ain’t that deluded.
The actual source is the Ealing Gazette mate.
http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/sport/qpr-ealing/2013/02/01/82029-32729476/?
Who probably made the figure up. Or didn’t. I just loathe false attribution.
Have you got any idea what he’s on with us?
Yes. To a good thing.
80 k a week
I listened to an interview on RTE (Irish Radio) with HR, in which he said he was surprised to discover that some of the players at QPR, were on higher money than Spurs players. When you consider that Remy never seemed in the least bit interested in signing for us when we were challenging for a CL place, but jumped at the chance to join relegation threatened QPR, it does not seem quite so far fetched that Bentley was asking £50K per week.
Of course even more amazing, is that J**** and Bentley are two players whose careers HR helped to sink, and he wants to sign them both for QPR! YCMIU
I went right off QPR when they sacked,I can’t think of his name,the Leeds manager.A shitty little club I’d enjoy seeing go down and being left with Trouty chops follies
Or Newcastle, work tf=hat one out Dub-but according to LLL he was the man! or is he?
Huh?
The fact that Odemwinge was prepared to leave Europa-chasing WBA for bottom-of-the-league QPR tells you everything you need to know about the latter’s wage policy.
I really want to get benteke when Villa is relegated.
I wouldnt be sad to see that either, but the foot stampers wont be happy unless we pay 20 mill plus for him
It would seem that for the last couple of days our Logic Lacking Lout has been winding a few on the blog up, why rise to the bait ? Just don’t reply, he is venting his frustration by posting crap in the hope of starting an argument, it’s clear he is a lonley old tosser with too much time on his hands and the brain cells are becoming severley depleated. Just an observation. COYS.
Am I confusing you with spmeone else Raz, or did you use to fall out with a lot of people on here at one stage ?
If it was you, I must say you are a lot calmer these days.
You are confused.
What! you are not confused. But you are right Raz has returned a much calmer, cuddlier version of himself.
Cheers mate, I thought he was a reformed character.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance…………Confucious.
Is he that Brazilian we tried to sign ?
And man who goes to sleep with itchy bottom wake up with smelly finger.
Comrade: I have just looked at the amount of effort I have put into trying to show Loud Lugubrious Ladyboy, the irrationality of his assertions and decided I don’t get out enough.
When it gets to the stage that regardless of the evidence, they still refuse to consider the facts, you have to suspect that to paraphrased Jeremy Beadle, “You’ve been trolled”
While I was writing this, I looked at Beadle’s Wiki page and came across this: Beadle did not enjoy school and was frequently in trouble. He was eventually expelled from his secondary school, Orpington County Secondary Boys’ School.[2][3] A teacher remarked, “Beadle, you waffle like a champion but know nothing.”
Could have been written for Ludicrously Little Learning
Evidence and facts? Must have missed those parts of your complete and utter nonsense.
Logic? Pwahaha. Please someone explain where mine is lacking.Trying to talk logic with a bunch of unthinking irrational and superstitious zealots is challenging and yes, ultimately futile but it is taking the biscuit to confuse the blind faith displayed proudly here as ‘logic’. I’ve witnessed some of the most logically inept ‘points’ I think I’ve ever seen the past couple of days.
This is a quote from a post made by Laughably Lambasted Loser at 11.16 pm yesterday:
“The fact that after all this discussion you still fail to register the sheer inanity of your nonsensical questions means that I am now retiring from this utterly pointless dialogue. You don’t need to talk slowly, you need to think slower still. Good luck in your quest for enlightenment”.
As you can see from his messages 95 and 98 minutes later, he was only saying that to try to cheer us up.
Seriously, what?
You use logic when it suits and then just stir when your client list is short or you run out of ping pongs.
your logic over the doom of not buying a striker is flawed but despite many attempts at pointing it out you try to be clever to deflect and consfuse.
If you are confused, it’s not my fault, I can guarantee that.
What is illogical about saying we should have strengthened the forward line either in January, last Summer or last January when we sold Pav? Where is the flaw in my logic when Defoe hobbles off the field leaving us with no senior striker in the squad?
I’ve kept it very simple for you so you don’t get confused. I’m interested in hearing the flawed logic you think you’ve discovered.
That is a simplistic statement which suits you. this whole blog and other topics on this board and others has input from those that have pointed out that yes the squad needs striker but there are many other factors influencing the outcome of getting one.
re-read all of the above and old posts its all there you just choose not to see.
the second element is that even without a striker doom is not a certainty as there are external factors that will infuence the outcome such as our rivals for a CL space how did they do what is the state of their squad.
thereofere your logic is flawed because you ignore the multitude of other factors influencing the potential outcome defoe hobbled off and we won Ade is returning we have a senior striker it clearly isnt as simpkle as you think or need
other factors we are now within 1 point of chavs who lost and everton drew so we puled away from
i cant be bothered to repeat what many have already pointed out but it brings into doubt your logic
Levy should have signed Sissoko he looks even more of a bargain than Michu at 1.8 million.
Harry’s just said that Samba is only 40% fit and hasn’t played since November, makes his Transfer and Salary look even more crazy than we first thought. Great team Harry & Tony. Tony provides the cash and Harry squanders it, a match made in Heaven.
Sky Sports and BBC apps (not MOTD) both have us in 6th place, with Arsenal 4th and Everton 5th. How can both be wrong in exactly the same way? Who’s copying who?
I don’t mind if we did not have the money to buy a striker or a striker that we really wanted in this window. What I do mind is loaning out our back up wingers Townsend and Falque. I also mind that we could not do something cheap to increase striking options like a loan..even if it was just to have an extra body. We are one injury away from 7th.
So after my session with Lamentably Lacking Lucidity I am reminded of those deluded Manure fans who thought that when Rooney was banned for swearing into a Live TV Camera. Somehow or other, they could not distinguish the difference between “swearing” and “swearing into a live camera”.
It seems like LLL is an escapee from Republik Of Mancunia where they only see those parts of the argument that favour them. Speaking of Rep Of Man, I can recall a time when I was trolling them (lets face it they do deserve it) when one of them outed me as a Liverpool fan. When I asked him how he had worked that out, he said my username gave it away. Perplexed, I asked him what he meant to which he wrote “spurREDonindublin”.
Obviously no fooling him. Now why do I have the feeling that he has been mentoring LLL?
Hey dude, I’m still here. While I am touched by the tributes, you can address me and exactly where you think my logic is faulty directly if you feel like it. X
Now I know you are a troll. It is no use asking me to repeat myself, if you couldn’t get it the first six times when I explained, call me back when your brain cell has a companion.
I got it. You are the question master and everyone must answer your bullshit 6 questions that don’t mean anything to enable them to have an opinion. I think i indulged that nugget of fecal matter about as far as was possible but you didn’t let go of it. Like I say, if you have spotted any flaws in my logic, spell them out. Logically. Yours, Mr.Logic x
Sorry to be more boring than usual but I’ll repeat it one more time.
AVB is the polar opposite of most managers and particularly HR. He shops for exactly the type of players he wants not just the best of what’s available. So unless say Negredo (who Sevilla have wildly overpriced anyway) meets the same criteria as Leandro we would not be going after him. We are no longer buying the Bentleys and the Bents just cos they are available. And had we bought Damaio there is no guarantee that he would have scored 10 goals between now and the end of the season.
Regarding the timing football transfers are business deals and the most significant bargaining in most transactions occurs at the eleventh hour. It’s a bit like selling a house when the purchaser finds a reason to reduce the price on the day you are due to exchange.
Not boring at all. I think you made the two best posts of the day (@3.12) with this.
But how does it feel to know that in spite of such perspicacity, people like LLL and TMWNN will still blame Daniel Levy, and therefore by implication, you do not have a clue what you are talking about?
Before I hit the send button, in case you are in any doubt, I stand by my first sentence.
I am 99% with you and respect your opinion but one there’s just one flaw in your argument… Dempsey…
Is he really exactly what AVB wanted? If so, what exactly were his requirements: jack of all trades, master of none?
Sorry, I know he puts himself about a bit and has found the net a few times, but his shortcomings as a footballer have left me pretty exasperated at times… he’s been giving the ball away too much for my liking… hopefully, Holtby will be a kick up the arse for him…
It’s taken me a while to appreciate Dempsey and I agree at first glance you wonder what is all the fuss but he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing and somehow his flicks and chips turn in to assists and goals.
He is an AVB type of player because he can easily adapt to different positions depending on what’s required at the time
Thanks mate.
I find the attacks on Levy nonsensical as since he’s been in charge we’ve kept improving and had our most successful period ever in the Prem and still managed to stay out of debt.
How are you judging success exactly? I don’t disagree that Levy has generally been positive for us but in terms of trophys hes our least successful chairman in generations, more or less.
Well if your criteria is winning League cups you are right. However, in terms of our ultimate aims The Prem, The FA cup and maybe a European trophy I think we are far closer to those than we have been for about 20 years.
4 or 5 years ago our average Prem position was about 10th now it’s about 5th surely that suggests we’ve improved ?
I think there has been an upward trend, certainly in profile and resources, and yes, recently, league placings. As a business we are more successful, but like I say, surely success for us as fans means something a bit different. Are we closer to a league title? In as much as I genuinely don’t believe I will see one under this regime, I’d say no. Are we closer to an FA Cup? After last weeks shambles and indeed last season’s shambles you’d have to say it doesn’t look good. A European cup? Most people around here don’t seem to want us to play in the Europa at all and we are a solar system away from winning the CL. Not saying that I believe we should be winning this stuff. I know our place. We are a team which used to have a cup pedigree which we no longer have. We seem to be a ‘nearly’ team nowadays. Solvent, attractive but rarely challenging.
your lack of logic is amazing.
we were in an average of 10th place 5 years ago since then we have 2 4th and a couple of 5ths and I think a 6th. we are closer to winning the league because (Please read slowly)
the team that wins the league is that which gets the most points over 38 games. we are now consistantly getting closer to the higher points totals which is why we finish higher up the league. we have improved and hopefully it will continue.
Quater final of the CL under this regime its better than before because we had never qualified its and improvement
Semi Final of thedomestic cups on more than 1 occassion.
then their is the squad being better than it has been with better player.
investing in youth for the future of the Club (Academy) = Improvement
Progress on the NPD for the future strengthening of the clubs future = improvement
all this is simple logic
your response is we aint wn nothing and wont win the league (How many clubs have won the EPL then minus those that didnt buy it using someone elses millions)
This illogical under reasoned response is the response of a glory hunter or a lady boy who lost her ping pong balls.
I hate glory hunters so I will choose to believe the other (no logic involved in that choice
We have improved our average league placings, I didn’t deny this. Please read slower still.
Are we ‘closer’ to a league title? By rule of maths, yes. But the gap between 10th and 5th is a much easier one to gulf than that between 5th and 1st. For evidence of that, please see the massive variation of teams finishing 10th-5th over the last 10 years as opposed to the more or less consistent 4 teams in the top 4 placings over that period.
“This illogical under reasoned response is the response of a glory hunter or a lady boy who lost her ping pong balls.”
No, it’s a response to the claim that Levy is our most successful chairman in ages. I concede that in financial profile terms, that’s probably true – though it has taken him a while to get there. I simply made the point that you can measure success in different ways. As football fans, I’d hope we are all ‘glory hunters’ in the traditional sense. Do we follow football clubs so that we can see clean balance sheets at the end of the year?
Please refrain from the juvenile insults. Believe me, I’ve refrained from the temptation to put you in your place with some insults directed squarely back at you. But it would be too easy, and too lazy and online slanging matches are unseemly.
Ok I accept the need to refrain from insults, I should rise above the frustrations you try to prompt from people you disagree with or who disagree with you, you have insulted others intelligence on many occassions.
you ask me to read slower while ignoring half of what other posters say to suit your negative response
Finance is only one part of my response to you. It does however enable the financing of the youth academy, playing staff, scouting network and fan facilities so it is a relevant consideration for a chairman.
We follow football clubs because we love our chosen team, i was brought up on spurs and will die supporting them, I dont cheer the finances nor do I stop supporting them when we dont get silverware which every fan wishes can be achieved.
Reality however is that only 4 trophjies are available every year (3 if not in europe) of those 3 or 4 teams are likely to win 3 of those and the euro trophy is difficult for any team to win despite its low status. With this in mind 17 of the EPL clubs need some other way to gauge success on a year on year basis, Arseols do this bu finishing in a CL place
It is ironic that you take the moral high ground with insults but i will accept your point on that and refrain.
All I ask in return is that when offering your counter views or questioning of the views of others show some respect as well. All views with regards the club are welcome and if well put can change or modify opinions. you have just managed to rile me afetr an afternoon in the pub yesterday
You need luck to wins cups and we are never gonna win the league without a bigger stadium meaning more income, or a wealthy owner for whom money is no object. Levy has been successful in planning a new stadium, building the best possible training centre, ensuring we are financially healthy with a sensible wage structure, and finally making sure we have a squad that can challenge for 4th place. We are punching above our weight when it comes to our league position against money spent. That’s because we have bought the right young players. Levy has left us short though in this window and we may pay for it. Not rocket science as its happened 2 years running. How many of our main rivals have only got 21 out of 25 senior players? Sandro is injured and I’m not counting Obika, he is there to make up the numbers for the sake of it!
Shock horror. I’m with LLL and TMWNN on this one. We can all admire Levy’s business acumen but surely he’s been missing the point recently. Last season the Goons, Chavski, and the Poo were all in disarray; the same applies to a certain extent this season. It was the time to grasp the moment, when our rivals were weak, the time to spend in the right places, ahem, principally a str*ker. Isn’t that what good business is? Eventually those 3 clubs will sort themselves out.
I await your abuse.
I don’t see why you should be abused merely because you hold a different view. It’s when you hold a different view and you make totally nonsensical arguments in support of this that earns the abuse. Everybody knows that we needed a striker, but when you say that the failure to buy one amounts to “willful negligence”, I am interested to hear the reason for that statement. For example, was DL drunk in some brothel when he should have been obtaining the “next” Jimmy Greaves’ signature?
It is when they make stupid statements like that and then when asked to explain, their argument falls apart, but they then suggest that you are the stupid one for pointing out the stupidity and flaws in their agrument.
I said the exact same thing as lecoqhardi in only moderately different terms, I said it was a cockup – an accident, or negligence. I think when you make phantom nearly signings to appease the fans as Levy appears to have done then that would signify some form of identification of the problem and lack of intent to address it. In other words a wilful inaction. Or else, it was a cockup. You were obviously confused by the wording, perhaps still are. However that reflects more on your own powers of thought and rationality, or lack of them, than a weakness in mu argument or logic.
I don’t see why lecoqhardi, LLL, TMWNN or anyone else should be abused for questioning AVB or Levy’s brilliance either, but the fact remains that they are. In this case various posters have criticised Levy for not addressing the very long-standing striker problem, and the facts speak for themselves; we have a striker in Defoe whose career has followed the same wholly predictable pattern since we first signed him, namely short bursts of goals (usually against weak opposition) followed by long barren spells, hence Jol and Redknapp benching him, and his elevation to main striker at the age of 30 says everything about Adebayor’s dismal form, the ‘second season’ syndrome expected by everyone apart from Levy and his acolytes having well and truly come to pass. No one has accused Levy of being drunk in a knocking shop (typical hyperbole so popular with the AVB/Levy lovers) but he’s certainly failed to address the problem yet again because the choice isn’t between Van Persie on one hand and Rasiak on the other; there were strikers who could have done a job, but our Dan decides to go for a PR stunt with Damaio instead. Abuse now, if you can be bothered.
Yet again, I don’t believe that you have said anything that merits abuse.
All I would say, is that we do not know the reason the Damaio deal failed to materialise. Looking for clues, it may (or may not) be significant that there is now the mention that a third party owns part of his registration in a region where skullduggery is plentiful with regard to players registrations.
It would be just our luck to finish third in the PL and stick two fingers up to Arse in fifth, only to suffer points deductions and Arse taking our place in the CL.
Notwithstanding the fact that Brazilian superstars have often flopped once they have got to Europe, am I the only person who thinks that the reason the deal failed to materialise might be because something is not quite “kosher”. It was being regularly reported that there was a £40 mill buy out clause in his contract, and yet we are supposed to have come close to signing him for about £14 mill.
For those who think we have been lied to, wouldn’t it have been so much easier for the team to say, “They wanted too much money”.
Just my opinion, but I think there are clues here that there is a lot more to this than meets the eye.
AVB said there were no third party issues, just alluded vaguely to running out of time. Firstly, running out of time on a transfer saga which has already had near 2 years would appear to be the feeblest if excuses and in my opinion an insult to intelligence. Secondly, Internacional were fairly clear that they received a bid and it was too low. Why you would rather look for hidden clues as to why the transfer broke down when the answer appears to be staring you and everyone else in the face is frankly beyond my understanding.
Feel free to pile on some more abuse, call in some likeminded devotees to gang up if you will, I can handle it, I’m not here to make friends.
Apologies, all our rivals have the same or less. Everton only have 19 and like us are heavily reliant on one striker. Lets all pray for a return to the goals for Defoe today, Holtby will definitely create chances for him. When Levy took over the first striker he signed was to bring back Teddy from united, I still think Berbatov would been worth signing if there had been a chance! Judging by Berbatov’s frustration at Fulham he probably feels the same!
I was very impressed with Holtby in his short spell at Norwich. He looked like he was born to wear “the shirt”.
As a player, I am a great fan of Berbatov, but I recall the total disrespect he showed when he wanted to go to Manure and for that reason, I rate him slightly higher than Judas in my affections.
We should also not forget the experience we had when we redeemed his partner in crime from obscurity on the Mersey.
Arsenal buy a left back Everton buy a Barnsley player. Our rivals haven’t improved whereas we have and our league position says we are better then them. What lamenting? Oh you mean the fools.
Tell em Corporal Jones.
Have we signed Corporal Klinger?
Suddenly Benteke is amazing, we should have bought him, Sicscosso scores 2 and he would have been the answer to our prayers, isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing !
We all know what we need on the field to improve our prospects but many on the blog would have us Dump half our players and bring in new ones spending £50m plus and wages in 6 figs per player. If you had your way this club would be bankrupt in 3 years. What makes you think that you know the market and finances better than Levy ? Three seasons of Player Manager with promotion and Cups does not make you an expert, everyone has achieved that level and discarded Multi Million Pound players in the process, we are talking about real life, a real Football Club, Hard Finance and Tough Decisions.
Let the Winter Window pass, get behind the Squad we have, support them in every way and leave the Whinging and Whining to Chelsea, Liverpool and especially Arsenal because at the moment their fans are Laughing at YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are quite right about “hindsight”. It’s amazing when you see our fans saying, “Why didn’t we sign Michu”?
Manure have probably got one of the best scout networks in the world, yet they gave us an £18 mill profit on Carrick, and a £20 mill profit on the Vulgar Bulgar. Fergie also lamented that he had not bought Lucre and Bale.
We bought Thud, Lennon and Daws for £8 mill combined and at their best they are worth that each.
Holtby looks like he has the potential to be the PL signing of the season for about £1.5 mill,
Then you get a team like Swansea who don’t have fortunes to squader, and they take a chance on £1 mill for Michu. who has not done anything spectacular to date, and the gamble pays off. But unlike Bale, Michu is no susperstar, and might still turn out to be a nine day wonder.
When you look at some of the comments that are made, it is easy to recall the saying, “When I am right, nobody remembers. When I am wrong, nobody forgets”
“You are quite right about “hindsight”. It’s amazing when you see our fans saying, “Why didn’t we sign Michu”?”
But isn’t that a fair question to some extent? Isn’t it fair to ponder how Swansea got Michu in to replace Sigurdsson and how Newcastle got Demba Ba while we are still persisting with Defoe with little back up after all these years? Does it not make you wonder?
“Manure have probably got one of the best scout networks in the world, yet they gave us an £18 mill profit on Carrick, and a £20 mill profit on the Vulgar Bulgar. Fergie also lamented that he had not bought Lucre and Bale.”
That’s because clubs such as ourselves are the scouting networks for Utd. They rarely buy unproven players with potential. They wait for them to pass their auditions at other clubs and then go in with a large bid for the finished article to go straight into their team. We don’t have their resources so we have to find value at the less proven end of the scale. I’d argue that the squad we have is pretty decent, and the job they’ve done is mostly adequate. Except for the striker department, where as Cheshuntboy has commented – the facts would appear to speak for themselves.
How many failures are there that negate the Michu (Cisse, Ba). If we had taken that gamble all the moaning would still be continuing until such time as the risk pays off or the dissenters moan we didnt buy Falcao.
Damiao is as big a risk as Michu would have been in my opinion.
I agree that our network does appear to be lacking or maybe its that its not lacking its just not at the level of those particular scouts at Swansea and Toon. Maybe we should be looking to secure the scouts services (Maybe we are)
I agree as well that the clubs with money above us do use the other clubs as a scouting network.
Part of the problem is we are on the cusp between everton and the regular top 4. Gambles are harder to take both in terms of the squad and financially.
everyone makes mistakes and Levy and Co have made theirs but on the whole I beleive we have had one of the best boardrooms in terms of performing within their means. Its no use moaning that Big Joe dont pump money in thats his call and his cash.
So look a the facts as they are (that we are aware of) and by all means state what went wrong in your opinion but you dont know all the answers or the all the facts or the context in which those facts exist
The striking department is an obvious point to make that all our rivals can lament to as well. Lets look at the fact of that.
does that mean that a true quality striker is hard to find? how have chavs done. They have spent more than most PL squads cost on strikers to replace Drogba and anelka, How did that turn out.
Facts rarely speak for themselves as they are rarely given in context and in the presence of all facts. Use that logic you keep going on about
Michu at 2m a risk? Don’t get that one.
Our rivals have a striker crisis too? You could only legitimately try and argue that about Everton. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all have more strikers than we do.
Using Chelsea’s transfer policy as a guide of comparison to anything we do is irrelevant because they can do what they want and make as many mistakes along the way as they like.
Defoe’s latest lay-off is the most blatant ‘fact’ I require to prove that not strengthening the forward line either last Summer on January (or last January after selling Pav come to that) is a big shot in the foot from the board and leaves AVB with more problems than he deserves and a battle to cling on to our promising position. If you can’t see the logic in that then I doubt you’ll see it anywhere.
The Michu risk was only a risk that he may not have been any good not financially,
Liverpool have Suarez who is not a out and out striker and sturridge
Torres and Ba are the only recognised strikers at the chavs
Giroud is the only recognised striker at the scum they also have walcot who is a recent converted winger and podolski who is on the left.
Thats my logic (Yes chealsea have a few billion quids worth of attacking mids and arsenal have only had RVP over trhe last 3 years anyway so it does not mean they are in crises)
yes I have not once said we dont need a striker I have merely questioned how deep the crisis is bhut you turn it round into a criticism if someone does agree there is a crises
I think Daniel and his team are certainly taking us in the right direction.
We have a firm financial footing, new ground being built and the squad is certainly growing in depth.
The January transfer window is rarely the time when the best deals are done, but I believe getting Holtby earlier was a great result!
I must agree though that the “did not have enough time” quotes are wearing a little thin!
Either get the bid together early and pay the January window price, or we stick with what we have until the summer when the best deals are done. By just saying that we did not have enough time just doe’s not stack up IMHO.
All things considered, we are splitting hairs and I hope we all get behind the current squad and AVB and push on!
WBA will be tough today, but after yesterdays results a win is a must!
I am totally behind the current squad and the manager.
I am unhappy with some of our transfer policy.
The two things are not mutually exclusive.
If you can’t let the perceived shortcomings of the Jan Window go then your resentment will dilute the support you should be giving, at the first sign of a blip you will resort to whinging and whining giving the other Clubs Supporters plenty to laugh about. Pity you can’t see the bigger picture.
You are basically arguing that you shouldn’t think or have an opinion of your own, just follow the mass and ‘get behind the cause’. We are all behind the cause. I think its you who isn’t seeing the whole picture. But that’s just my opinion. Pity you and others don’t seem gracious enough to allow space for other people’s opinions.
You keep saying this but then come across the same yourself hence my frustrations yesterday.
Hear Hear lecoqhardi. The only thing I advocate is balance. Blind loyalty in the face of the facts is the preserve of the religiously devoted. I’m an atheist. No man is beyond criticism and dogged partisanship is not for me.
The situation is frustrating because collectively this is probably group of players we’ve had in a long time. However, this group only extends uptp 16 or 17 players. We have unproven players that may or may not cut the mustard and other players who simply need to be moved on. Quality clearly needs to be added and Damaio would have done that, but not at the sacrifice of surgery on the squad as a whole.
It’s good to see other teams crumbling.
And I can see a few surprises coming up this season with the likes of Chelsea showing how much they love their interim manager and dumping him to appease the fans.
Chelsea boy next door thinks they are imploding and that there is worse to come.
I suggested that the russian might walk if the fans didn’t get behind the team and the manager. He didn’t think that that was an impossibility…and suggested that I might like that.
You bet.
There is a real threat that he’ll take his money elsewhere. Particularly as the media are starting to ask the question on a regular basis.
There is a vacuum starting to develop for the top four and any team with patience, good business sense and a decent squad will be in prime position for a power shift.
If Arse and Chelsea don’t qualify for UCL there will be ructions.
If we start a run now…today…we will put the pressure on the fanbases of both of our main rivals.
They will be the people who determine the short term future of Wenger, Abramovitch and inevitably, Spurs.
Let the fans do the moaning and do our job for us.
But remember – the same applies to us.
Defoe injured. Didn’t need hindsight for that!