The Tottenham Thread 12/13

[NipHolmes]

I would definitely take David Villa, still quality imo. The possible deals for him and Leandro Damaio are looking positive.

But isn't this what Spurs do? Their name seems to be linked to some truly top footballers, as is normally the case, then thos etop players don't materialise and Spurs end up with the next level down, or lower. You can't help but wonder whether Levy ever will sign off on the transfer fees/wages needed to get top level players.

This is exactly what Spurs (or more accurately, Levy) do. We do certainly try to sign the top level players, on occasion, but Levy has very clear ideas about what he is prepared to pay in both fees and wages and they are usually not quite enough to get us that very top level of player. Deals almost always favour us when he pulls them off (sales and purchases), but I wonder how many times we've missed opportunities by his approach to negotiating.

I like what Levy does, for the most part, and he is unquestionably passionate about Spurs and determined to bring success to the club. Unfortunately, he is somewhat risk averse and very reluctant to take that little bit of a gamble that would vastly increase our chances of actually pushing on from being not quite the complete package.

His penny pinching cost them top 4 imo. Demaio in Jan was a must do rather than the silly bastard waiting till the last day. Spurs may have had to spend an extra 2-4m on fees but they'd have go a CL windfall by doing so. Moutinho wasn't much different either.

Will enjoy watching Spurs try to sell Adebayor too, can see the guy digging his heels in for a payout, de ja vu.

 

[FrostyNRG]

But isn't this what Spurs do? Their name seems to be linked to some truly top footballers, as is normally the case, then thos etop players don't materialise and Spurs end up with the next level down, or lower. You can't help but wonder whether Levy ever will sign off on the transfer fees/wages needed to get top level players.

This is exactly what Spurs (or more accurately, Levy) do. We do certainly try to sign the top level players, on occasion, but Levy has very clear ideas about what he is prepared to pay in both fees and wages and they are usually not quite enough to get us that very top level of player. Deals almost always favour us when he pulls them off (sales and purchases), but I wonder how many times we've missed opportunities by his approach to negotiating.

I like what Levy does, for the most part, and he is unquestionably passionate about Spurs and determined to bring success to the club. Unfortunately, he is somewhat risk averse and very reluctant to take that little bit of a gamble that would vastly increase our chances of actually pushing on from being not quite the complete package.

His penny pinching cost them top 4 imo. Demaio in Jan was a must do rather than the silly bastard waiting till the last day. Spurs may have had to spend an extra 2-4m on fees but they'd have go a CL windfall by doing so. Moutinho wasn't much different either.

Will enjoy watching Spurs try to sell Adebayor too, can see the guy digging his heels in for a payout, de ja vu.

I'm inclined to agree. I really think an investment this January would have made a decisive difference, although anything could have happened of course.

With regards Adebayor, I understand we are prepared to accept a pretty low fee for him if one comes in, but also that AVB is happy to keep him around too.

 

[bluemoondays]

Problem I see with Adebayor is he seems to coast when he gets his fat contract signed. He was playing out of his socks on loan to Madrid and Spurs (not so good at Madrid).

If he doesn't play virtually every week he gets pissy even though he never seems to put in the effort required to keep his place if there is decent competition for him

He really pissed me off at City by being one of the most cowardly forwards I've ever seen when it comes to heading the ball. If it went anywhere near a defender he'd peel off praying they missed it (they very rarely did) and would never go 1-1 with defenders challenging for a high ball (IMO).

We may have sold him cheap but Adebayor was just a useless drain on the wage bill and Spurs are now seeing the Adebayor that Arsenal and later, City experienced.

It's a shame because he has a lot of natural talent and could probably be a top european forward, I just don't think he can ever be arsed to put in the effort to fulfill that talent and he'll be 30 next year so it's never going to happen now.

Spurs, if they sign a decent striker, are going to end up with a whinging forward on the bench sucking down a load of wages better used elsewhere.

 

[NipHolmes]

This is exactly what Spurs (or more accurately, Levy) do. We do certainly try to sign the top level players, on occasion, but Levy has very clear ideas about what he is prepared to pay in both fees and wages and they are usually not quite enough to get us that very top level of player. Deals almost always favour us when he pulls them off (sales and purchases), but I wonder how many times we've missed opportunities by his approach to negotiating.

I like what Levy does, for the most part, and he is unquestionably passionate about Spurs and determined to bring success to the club. Unfortunately, he is somewhat risk averse and very reluctant to take that little bit of a gamble that would vastly increase our chances of actually pushing on from being not quite the complete package.

His penny pinching cost them top 4 imo. Demaio in Jan was a must do rather than the silly bastard waiting till the last day. Spurs may have had to spend an extra 2-4m on fees but they'd have go a CL windfall by doing so. Moutinho wasn't much different either.

Will enjoy watching Spurs try to sell Adebayor too, can see the guy digging his heels in for a payout, de ja vu.

I'm inclined to agree. I really think an investment this January would have made a decisive difference, although anything could have happened of course.

With regards Adebayor, I understand we are prepared to accept a pretty low fee for him if one comes in, but also that AVB is happy to keep him around too.

I dunno so much. Adebayor said something which alarmed me, about him going to ACON and AVB not being as willing for him to go as it looked in public. AVB clearly prefers Defoe and wants a pacey forward whereas Ade is a target man. Villa and Demaio are the obvious replacements and upgrades.

I resent Arsenal for their sense of entitlement to Champions League and their 'organic business philosophy' (Emirates sponsoring the stadium is fertilizer ;)) and I can judge as neutral on this, imo Levy should be held accountable and must learn from this in the same way you did when Campbell left for free, by ensuring a repeat simply doesnt happen.

I think you have a stellar manager, he just needs backing and patience. If you sell Bale he must get ALL the money to reinvest.

 

[FrostyNRG]

His penny pinching cost them top 4 imo. Demaio in Jan was a must do rather than the silly bastard waiting till the last day. Spurs may have had to spend an extra 2-4m on fees but they'd have go a CL windfall by doing so. Moutinho wasn't much different either.

Will enjoy watching Spurs try to sell Adebayor too, can see the guy digging his heels in for a payout, de ja vu.

I'm inclined to agree. I really think an investment this January would have made a decisive difference, although anything could have happened of course.

With regards Adebayor, I understand we are prepared to accept a pretty low fee for him if one comes in, but also that AVB is happy to keep him around too.

I dunno so much. Adebayor said something which alarmed me, about him going to ACON and AVB not being as willing for him to go as it looked in public. AVB clearly prefers Defoe and wants a pacey forward whereas Ade is a target man. Villa and Demaio are the obvious replacements and upgrades.

I resent Arsenal for their sense of entitlement to Champions League and their 'organic business philosophy' (Emirates sponsoring the stadium is fertilizer ;)) and I can judge as neutral on this, imo Levy should be held accountable and must learn from this in the same way you did when Campbell left for free, by ensuring a repeat simply doesnt happen.

I think you have a stellar manager, he just needs backing and patience. If you sell Bale he must get ALL the money to reinvest.

AVB certainly wants at least one upgrade striker wise, and preferably two. I'm reasonably confident we'll sign one strike, less confident it will be the level we want. Villa and Damaio would certainly do for me (even though there is a bit of a risk with Villa), but I'm far from convinced either will happen.

Levy has proved he can learn from mistakes, but he just is not going to take a "gamble". His preference is very much to sign players with sell-on potential, hence we often buy players that show promise rather than buying the finished article. That can work out of course (Bale being the prime example), but if we want to compete we're going to have to buy at least a couple of top class players at some point.

I've certainly got a lot more faith in AVB than I thought I would, and he will get time. It has been stated to me that he would need a truly disastrous period or a prolonged and consistent lack of progress for his job to be under threat in any way. Whether he gets the backing he wants (and needs really) is another matter. If Bale is sold after next season (it won't be this season), then I expect a big chunk of the fee will be ring fenced for the stadium redevelopment unfortunately.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Wouldn't Damiao have a sell on value if he does well here?

I think you should go for a Benteke or the like, if he steps up with you guys then you again can sell him on. Maybe a Soldado or Negredo, over 20 league goals each this season and both clubs not strong financially. Maybe Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar, think you need to set aside £15-25m on a striker if you really want to challenge as a top 4 outfit next season. Levy needs to stop being a tight arse and help AVB out, you'd have the likes of Moutinho now if he hadn't been so stingy.

 

[THFC6061]

Wouldn't Damiao have a sell on value if he does well here?

I think you should go for a Benteke or the like, if he steps up with you guys then you again can sell him on. Maybe a Soldado or Negredo, over 20 league goals each this season and both clubs not strong financially. Maybe Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar, think you need to set aside £15-25m on a striker if you really want to challenge as a top 4 outfit next season. Levy needs to stop being a tight arse and help AVB out, you'd have the likes of Moutinho now if he hadn't been so stingy.

Last summer our bid for Moutinho was accepted but arrived to late to be registered.

Nothing to do with Levy being "stingy", the deal only fell through because of the complexities of third part rights.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Wouldn't Damiao have a sell on value if he does well here?

I think you should go for a Benteke or the like, if he steps up with you guys then you again can sell him on. Maybe a Soldado or Negredo, over 20 league goals each this season and both clubs not strong financially. Maybe Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar, think you need to set aside £15-25m on a striker if you really want to challenge as a top 4 outfit next season. Levy needs to stop being a tight arse and help AVB out, you'd have the likes of Moutinho now if he hadn't been so stingy.

Last summer our bid for Moutinho was accepted but arrived to late to be registered.

Nothing to do with Levy being "stingy", the deal only fell through because of the complexities of third part rights.

you had all summer to just pay up.

 

[GHoddle]

I would definitely take David Villa, still quality imo. The possible deals for him and Leandro Damaio are looking positive.

But isn't this what Spurs do? Their name seems to be linked to some truly top footballers, as is normally the case, then thos etop players don't materialise and Spurs end up with the next level down, or lower. You can't help but wonder whether Levy ever will sign off on the transfer fees/wages needed to get top level players.

Yes unfortunately it feels familiar. I'd still be pretty surprised if we bought David Villa, I can't see Levy forking out the money he would want for wages as well as increasing Bale's wages, but I think we may actually get Leandro this summer finally.

 

[stony]

Wouldn't Damiao have a sell on value if he does well here?

I think you should go for a Benteke or the like, if he steps up with you guys then you again can sell him on. Maybe a Soldado or Negredo, over 20 league goals each this season and both clubs not strong financially. Maybe Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar, think you need to set aside £15-25m on a striker if you really want to challenge as a top 4 outfit next season. Levy needs to stop being a tight arse and help AVB out, you'd have the likes of Moutinho now if he hadn't been so stingy.

Last summer our bid for Moutinho was accepted but arrived to late to be registered.

Nothing to do with Levy being "stingy", the deal only fell through because of the complexities of third part rights.

You had all summer to buy him, or did Levy try to get him on the cheap at the last minute to save a few weeks wages.