Good morning where you are.
The aftermath of the latest transfer window sees fans effectively divided into two camps.
Those that are too depressed to even summon up the energy to be angry, and those that have adopted the traditional British stiff upper lip. Huddled in their Anderson shelter, humming ‘We Shall Overcome’ to themselves.
Amongst those that simply feel investing ‘faith’ in the manager and the squad is the best course of action, we find the most damaged of fans, the ones that – through endless shelling – have lost the will to approach things from a rational standpoint, and instead are clutching bibles and other assorted lucky charms, opposed to thinking.
Chancers like me have branded ‘stone throwers’. They take a view that instead of pointing out faults, why am I not pointing out solutions?!
The most snide response I could muster would be in the words of The Joker in that Batman film, ‘if you’re good at something, never do it for free’. But the truth is, running any business with significant resources is only as difficult as you want to make it.
If that business is a football club, then (amongst other things) you need to get some fundamental stuff in place. So no, Mr Levy, you score zero points for setting up a training facility. That was something you are expected to do.
When you catch a train, you like to have some sort of cover over the platform, you expect the driver to know how to drive a train and the carriages ought to at least contain seats, even if they’re all full. It’s a basic requirement. So letters of gratitude to the train company for doing what is expected.
When it comes to the team, that’s the core element that makes your money. So you do not neglect it.
If your team does poorly, or you get relegated, you earn less TV money, sell fewer tickets, less merchandise. Your world gets smaller. Like Aston Villa’s is.
Your team must have some depth to weather the quite normal storms of fatigue, loss of form, injury and the never to be underestimated element – giving your coach the old ‘Plan B’.
Of course, depth all reliant against how much you spend.
Money and football fans is a quare old business. But what is slowly seeping into the brains of supporters is that the broadcasting monies are so big now, even the so called also rans are able to spend less modestly than they once had to.
Here’s the final transfer spending table from Sporting Intelligence.
Window shut. Watford alone in 2015-16 spent more, net, than Arsenal, Spurs, Villa, Saints, Swans, Norwich COMBINED. pic.twitter.com/6JxwCG46Hm
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) February 1, 2016
Make no mistake, any chairman with his head screwed on wants to see the name of his team as low down that list as is humanly possible, but not at the cost of not winning anything. Because that defeats the entire purpose of playing!
If we look at the most successful teams on the pitch who achieved success by spending the least – like it or not, Arsenal are the stand out club.
Their net spend of just £15.7m is against a backdrop of a recent FA Cup win and an endless string of appearance in the Champions League.
Chelsea’s current season may be a car crash, but there you have another well run club.
Southampton are a bit Spurs like – as they continue to reel from having sold 7 of there best players. But all the other clubs around Spurs on that list are clubs that are in varying states of distress.
Here’s the current league table.
The title race has never been so wide open.
Manchester United have been utterly unreliable, Chelsea imploded, Liverpool are off the pace and Everton have turned into Wigan Lite™, Only City and the Arse remain, with the world and their wife wondering if the Foxes can hang on in there.
This would have been a really opportune moment to add to the squad.
After 15 years of the same mindless merry-go-round, where the only constant is the duffle bag been routinely filled, and the players routinely being wheeled out to issue ‘pushing on for top four’ piffle, we were kinda due a break.
And here it is.
But what we did, was this…
So who should we have bought?! Isn’t that a question for those paid handsomely by the club to answer? After all, their opposite numbers at other Premier League clubs didn’t demand that unaffiliated bloggers guide their businesses.
Crystal Palace needed a striker – they hope to get tune out of Adebayor – I wouldn’t put it past him to deliver …for a while.
Everton picked up Shani Tarashaj an 8 goals in 18 Swiss striker.
Newcastle bought Seydou Doumbi 5 goals in 13 from CSKA Moscow.
Norwich have loaned in Patrick Bamford a Chelsea striker who couldn’t get a game at the Bridge.
Southampton snapped up Charlie Austin, who will 100% do a job for them – he already scored on his debut.
Swansea City bought Italian Alberto Paloschi.
Watford signed Moroccan Nordin Arabat.
So there are 6 strikers that other people managed to get over the line.
Unless one of you dear readers knows something I don’t, then Spurs really ought to have better resources and better contracts to offer than any of them!
Poch was happy with what we had. Whilst it’s terribly exciting that he can predict and injury and fatigue free future for Harry Kane, it’s bloody ridiculous to go along with it.
When you go on holiday do you not take a spare shirt, spare pants and socks? Or are you always comfortable that you’ve covered most eventualities?
Nobody goes away wishing to have wine spilled on them or to drop pasta down themselves, but it’s a good idea to allow for minor mishaps.
Spurs could well be in the Champions League next season. We could even yet win the league.
If we do, it will be by having winged it and not by taking the initiative.
The Europa League fixtures begin again in 23 days time.
To have deliberately not prepared the squad adequately in order to take advantage of league situation this season, is the work of a negligent cheapskate.
