Our thanks to Jack Adams!
Everyone knows that the January transfer window is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. There are bargains and deals to be had, but they are few and so to get something decent into a squad you need to act fast, act professionally and be decisive. Such efficiencies are the visible mark of the quality of management at any club.
When Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Man United want a player, they go out and get a player. If a Japanese centre-back is £20 million, a club puts the money down on the table and walks away with the player. If they need a striker, they go and get a striker. They don’t widen their pitch so they can add more midfielders to the starting line-up. Professional clubs of serious intent are decisive.
There is a lot to question about Manchester United, but they always go out and buy players. The management may be questionable but at Old Trafford, they know they have to produce a football team. That is why, even with a ship shot full of holes and a squad that looks mismatched, you still can’t write off the Red Devils. Loathe them as much as you like, no please, fill your boots and loathe them, they are always a football team, they are always a threat, and they attract true talent.
Being a professional football club, becoming a successful football team, and playing a game that thrills and entertains is the hallmark of good ownership. Outside the top four, and yes, I believe we should get away from this idea of a top-six, some very interesting clubs are emerging as serious.
Aston Villa immediately springs to mind. They decisively obtained Stephen Gerrard, a man who won the Champions League on his own, in order to put a serial winner at the helm. They are buying players and gathering together a serious-looking squad. Players look at Villa as a place to go, they can see a club that is going to be playing good football and scratching their way up the table battle by battle.
West Ham, god help all of us, appear to be getting it right. You could be forgiven for thinking that Sullivan and Gold are a comedy act duo from the Victorian music hall tradition but they have managed to knock the Irons into some sort of credible shape.
Leicester appears to have owners who love their club, want to do everything possible to make the team competitive. As the benchmark for minnow status, Leicester is a club that hasn’t just punched above its weight but hammered its way onto the top table. They even snatched a league title from the grasp of a much less serious club.
Of course, we can also look at Wolves and hold our breath to see what transpires at Newcastle over the coming seasons, but there is only one club in the whole league where there is no uncertainty. Daniel Levy’s record has been consistent, his approach to transfer windows has been reliably predictable, nobody gets over-excited because everyone knows nothing is going to happen.
Even if something does happen, nine times out of ten the decision-making process behind it turns out to be dreadfully poor. Yes, Daniel has a 99% success rate at standing still and not making any moves that could disturb the thick atmosphere of choking fog around THFC.
The only serious intent at our club lies with the fans, and they do not have the power to turn intention into fact. All we can achieve is to dare and are impotent in the field of actually doing. Every transfer window highlights that THFC is not a serious football club. Every season confirms that Spurs are not a threat to anyone and nothing to be concerned about.
The likes of Liverpool, City, Utd, and Chelsea have always planned the season with the understanding that Ferguson was right, “It’s only Tottenham.”
We all hate that incisive analysis of our dreams. We hate it all the more because in our hearts we know that it is right. Every transfer window tells us that even if we shut our eyes and hold our hands over our ears, we know we are not a serious football club.
It’s not that we fans don’t have serious intent, it’s just that the owners don’t even know what that term means in relation to managing a football club.