Mike Verweij is a journalist The Boy Hotspur has used as a credible source before, on many occasions. He’s a man with trustworthy sources, opposed to some child being fed on a limited diet by a press officer.
This De Telegraaf journalist tells us that the first bid for Steven Bergwijn has been placed by Ajax, and that Tottenham Hotspur is seeking an improved bid.
Working upon the basis that this is correct information, it would surely be unforgivable if the player was still in North London, come February, no?
Bergwjin was another ENIC Brand purchase, as confirmed by José Mourinho when he made public that the Dutch boy wasn’t his pick.
I take a view that surely Levy has to have learned something over the last 20-years about how football clubs work. You install a strong manager and you back him. Brian Howard Clough, Bill Nicholson, Bill Shankly, Sir Alex Ferguson… don’t worry about ‘time’, successful principles rarely change.
Well here we are approaching the middle of the month. Lots of chatter from the club once again about being “interested” “ looking at” “ considering an offer” “ in talks with” “ keen on “ “ I have heard” or PR spin from the usual sources at the club but not action. If the situation with Conte was any different from those previous managerial souls who have drunk from the poison chalice of ENIC and Levy it would not be unreasonable to assume that a meeting to discuss transfers for January would have taken place in December and Levy would have popped across to speak with Uncle Joe then so that come the beginning of the New Year we could have shown real ambition and purpose to build on the momentum of the work Conte had been doing. Especially knowing full well that we would be facing Chelsea three times and Arsenal once at home during that period. Yet here we are yet again with the wheels coming off , Conte beginning to look and sound like those gone before, Levy conveniently away with Uncle Joe, Paratici doing what exactly? The likelihood that we will be dumped out of the League Cup semi final on Wednesday, more than likely beaten by Chelsea and Arsenal yet again in the league to take the steam out of any CL spot aspirations and once again giving the bragging rights to our local rivals and their supporters while conceding yet another defeat at the billion dollar multi event complex. I have said all along that the January transfer window will give a good indication of the ambition of the club under Conte and it is not looking promising at the moment.
Levy knows exactly what he is doing. After 20 years this should be obvious to all. Expecting or hoping for a change is pointless unless there is a catalyst. No coincidence Conte , our only marquee signing I can recall occurred as ‘levy out” rang round the ground and was heard worldwide on tv.
And therein the rot lies. Here’s how it goes: Levy spends weeks and weeks and weeks…. haggling over small margins for good players – like Denis and his wife Cynthia on BargIn Hunt – he walks away from the Clarice Cliff teapot for £50 instead of just paying the 55. Denis and Cynthia are left with 3 minutes to go, and so in a desperate panic they buy an umbrella stand for a hundred quid, and can’t make a tenner for it at the auction.
Welcome to team ENIC.
Spurs in Billy Nick’s days were shopping at Harrods not the Co-Op.
Dream on ……..
I hope……..
Assuming Paratici was approached by Levy, about working for Spurs, during the period when he stopped funding Poch 3.5 years ago, up until Poch was sacked two years ago, I reckon Paratici will have been tapping up our targets for the last 2-3 years. If that is the case then the players we sign will be free or very cheap due to being in the last few months of their current contracts which they have been running down.
This may also explain the delay in Conte deciding to steer the ship. He may have had prior knowledge of when the party is actually going to start.
Yeah, with him well and I agree that it’s been hard for most players to settle with such turmoil. However, he just doesn’t improve us at all, pointless signing.
Precisely.
I think we paid about 30m but probably including all the add ons, so probably haven’t paid that, so perhaps 15m means we almost break even?
You’re assuming of course that a strategy actually exists! 😂
I suggest one simple change to our transfer policy. It will be more expensive.
That is, we buy players who can help us in the here and now. Not in three years or two years or next season. Now. This week, today.
You can still buy young players to develop but that development has to happen at some other club on loan.
We don’t need players learning their basic trade at Tottenham like Tanganga. We can’t afford that, this is the toughest League in the world.
That doesn’t mean players can’t learn or improve their game in the first team but we can’t have players who can’t pass, tackle or defend or strike the ball properly.
Mind you, Lamela, Aurier and Bergwijn out (it looks like), I think there are others I’d rather of seen gone first…
It’s pretty obvious that our transfer strategy has to change. Traore does not even get into Wolves team every game. If we were going to buy any player at Wolves, it should probably be Neves. We should adopt the following policy as one of the richest clubs in the world with our “world class facilities”. We should only buy the sort of players that a top four side would look to recruit. We should be looking at Kessie who will probably not join us, Vlahovic who will also probably not join us although we have been linked with him for months, more hot air from Donna Cullen’s knickers and a list of others who are available due to the economic travails of other clubs. Apart from the two aforementioned players, De Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Ousamene Dembele, are the sort of players that we should be looking to recruit but will never do. Therefore, we are trapped in an era of mediocrity with little chance of escaping this unless Levy goes. It is quite simple, whilst Levy continues as CEO, we will underperform our competitors.
15m seems a bit on the low side, it wasnt that long ago he was playing for Holland.
I know we want the duds out, but doesnt mean we have to give them away! Bergy is not the worst of the lot by a long stretch.
about time!
Sell Bergwjin and bring in Traore. Six of one and half a dozen of thr other.
Its not just this post, it was others too. Anyway it’s H’s site he can do as he wants.
He’ll be fine in the Dutch league. Not good enough for the PL.
Wish Bergwijn well. I hope he regains his form and confidence. He signed for Spurs at a bad time, under a defensive coach, and under different circumstances could have done well. He has been unlucky at Spurs. Would not be surprised to see his career take off from here.
He is one of the only players in the squad who has retained some credibility and value during this period. Clearly being sold so Spurs can bring in one of Conte’s targets. I doubt he was top of Conte’s list of players to jog on. We just couldn’t give those players away.
Good luck Stevie B.
The moral to the story is that the afore mentioned managers would have lasted a maximum of six months working for Levy. Men of principle don’t like being lied to. Levy will never change, so neither will Spurs until he has gone.
Bye-bye, Leonard
Jose said a lot of things, including “ask the players, me and my staff are second to none.we gave them a game plan”. In others failure is never my fault. Suffice to say we are still wait on Stevie B to actual play some ball. I think his problem is “Stevie B” aka, hard to live up to being a superstar when you are actually not.