The Tottenham Thread (Merged)

[Castiel]

Now that Spurs' squad is close to matching the top clubs in terms of depth and quality, the priority has changed.

I don't think you are. Your first 11 is certainly able to, but in terms of depth, I don't think so. I think you'll run out of legs before the end. Let alone competing in the CL, PL and FA cup simultaneously which is what makes this half of the season so difficult. I think we end up with a midweek game in the CL right before City away on the weekend this year, provided we progress, which just ruins your day.

The last time we won it, United lost their precarious lead over us because of a midweek fixture against Bayern where Rooney got injured and their team noticeably worn out. For all that trouble, Bayern knocked them out as well so they basically lost both competitions in one week. Thats where depth counts and I don't think Spuds have it yet.

 

[JimB]

Now that Spurs' squad is close to matching the top clubs in terms of depth and quality, the priority has changed.

I don't think you are. Your first 11 is certainly able to, but in terms of depth, I don't think so. I think you'll run out of legs before the end. Let alone competing in the CL, PL and FA cup simultaneously which is what makes this half of the season so difficult. I think we end up with a midweek game in the CL right before City away on the weekend this year, provided we progress, which just ruins your day.

The last time we won it, United lost their precarious lead over us because of a midweek fixture against Bayern where Rooney got injured and their team noticeably worn out. For all that trouble, Bayern knocked them out as well so they basically lost both competitions in one week. Thats where depth counts and I don't think Spuds have it yet.

Probably right.

But, just for clarification, I was careful to say that Spurs are "close to matching" (rather than already matching) the top clubs in terms of depth and quality.

That said, I'm pretty happy with our cover in most positions. We've already had a lot of players injured this season and haven't done too badly.

It's a potential injury to Adebayor that scares me most. We have no other striker who can do for us what he does. I will be less than happy if Harry and Levy don't sign some sort of cover.

 

[stony]

It's a potential injury to Adebayor that scares me most. We have no other striker who can do for us what he does. I will be less than happy if Harry and Levy don't sign some sort of cover.

Does the short term nature of your team and it's current success not alarm you?

Adebayor will not be a spurs player next season, and by your own admission he will be the one who is missed most. A player of his quality will not be easy or cheap to find. There is no way your bargain bucket transfer policy will stretch to a replacement and you won't be lucky enough to get someone as good as Ade on the cheap two seasons in a row.
Your best defender is fucked needs replacing, there's no way he will play as many games next season and I doubt he will be available for much of the remainder of the current one.
Your keeper will just get fatter and slower month by month and as you well know, they are the most players to replace.
Parker is your best midfielder and he's 31 now. Another year of running his bollocks off(which tbf is his best attribute) won't do him any favours.


I won't go into the ins and outs of you needing a new manager.

Will your Primark board really splash out on the signings they need to establish themselves as challengers and a genuine top 4 team? Or will they see this year as a bonus and pocket the spare change they make from qualifying for the champs league?

 

[JimB]

It's a potential injury to Adebayor that scares me most. We have no other striker who can do for us what he does. I will be less than happy if Harry and Levy don't sign some sort of cover.

Does the short term nature of your team and it's current success not alarm you?

Adebayor will not be a spurs player next season, and by your own admission he will be the one who is missed most. A player of his quality will not be easy or cheap to find. There is no way your bargain bucket transfer policy will stretch to a replacement and you won't be lucky enough to get someone as good as Ade on the cheap two seasons in a row.
Your best defender is fucked needs replacing, there's no way he will play as many games next season and I doubt he will be available for much of the remainder of the current one.
Your keeper will just get fatter and slower month by month and as you well know, they are the most players to replace.
Parker is your best midfielder and he's 31 now. Another year of running his bollocks off(which tbf is his best attribute) won't do him any favours.


I won't go into the ins and outs of you needing a new manager.

Will your Primark board really splash out on the signings they need to establish themselves as challengers and a genuine top 4 team? Or will they see this year as a bonus and pocket the spare change they make from qualifying for the champs league?

It's a wonder that you bothered to end by asking a couple of questions about the future for Spurs........you seemed quite happy to predict it for the first three quarters of your post. Perhaps your crystal ball just went all cloudy on you before you could finish?! ;)

In response, though, I would expect more of the same from Levy / ENIC. Their strategy has always been to increase the value of the club. And, other than getting the new stadium built, they can only do that if the team continues to enjoy greater success.

So the policy will be to continue to invest the profits in buying or keeping players.

 

[Mark - TheBlue]

Season 05/06 Spent : 34 Million Sold: 16 Million
Season 06/07 Spent : 47 Million Sold: 25 Million
Season 07/08 Spent : 48 Million Sold: 15 Million
Season 08/09 Spent : 87 Million Sold: 67 Million

Some shortfalls there boys how are they covered? Hm. Daniel Levy is backed by ENIC International Ltd who is ran by this man Joe Lewis (born February 5, 1937 in East London) is an English businessman who currently lives in Lyford Cay, Bahamas.
Lewis' total wealth is estimated at $3.2 billion. Keep doing things the correct way boys all the money will wear out your soul! :(.

The "shortfalls", as you describe them, are covered by operating profits - not by Joe Lewis, as you imply.

Spurs' financial model over the past ten years has prioritised keeping wages tightly under control. The theory being that money spent on wages is money that the club will never see again. Money spent on buying players, by contrast, can realise a big profit and thus enable further investment in the squad. With wages under control, Spurs generates sufficient revenues to make an annual operating profit of £20-30 million. It is this profit which has enabled the club, year on year, to invest in better players and a deeper squad.

Now that Spurs' squad is close to matching the top clubs in terms of squad depth and quality, the priority has changed. It is now more a case of tweaking, rather than wholesale changes every transfer window. Consequently, Spurs have spent comparatively little on new players over the past two years. However, on the flip side, the wage bill has risen. That's because the priority now is to keep the players that we have. And that means regularly offering improved contracts.

That said, wages will continue to be a tricky issue for Spurs until we become a regular Champions League qualifier and / or until we have built the new stadium.

Operating Profit.

2006. -9.4 million Shortfall 22 Million. ?

 

[stony]

It's a potential injury to Adebayor that scares me most. We have no other striker who can do for us what he does. I will be less than happy if Harry and Levy don't sign some sort of cover.

Does the short term nature of your team and it's current success not alarm you?

Adebayor will not be a spurs player next season, and by your own admission he will be the one who is missed most. A player of his quality will not be easy or cheap to find. There is no way your bargain bucket transfer policy will stretch to a replacement and you won't be lucky enough to get someone as good as Ade on the cheap two seasons in a row.
Your best defender is fucked needs replacing, there's no way he will play as many games next season and I doubt he will be available for much of the remainder of the current one.
Your keeper will just get fatter and slower month by month and as you well know, they are the most players to replace.
Parker is your best midfielder and he's 31 now. Another year of running his bollocks off(which tbf is his best attribute) won't do him any favours.


I won't go into the ins and outs of you needing a new manager.

Will your Primark board really splash out on the signings they need to establish themselves as challengers and a genuine top 4 team? Or will they see this year as a bonus and pocket the spare change they make from qualifying for the champs league?

It's a wonder that you bothered to end by asking a couple of questions about the future for Spurs........you seemed quite happy to predict it for the first three quarters of your post. Perhaps your crystal ball just went all cloudy on you before you could finish?! ;)

In response, though, I would expect more of the same from Levy / ENIC. Their strategy has always been to increase the value of the club. And, other than getting the new stadium built, they can only do that if the team continues to enjoy greater success.

So the policy will be to continue to invest the profits in buying or keeping players.

Congratulations you managed to have a dig at my post without actually answering the question.
In case you missed it, it was in the first line of my post, and the bolded part of your reply doesn't really answer the question I was asking.

 

[JimB]

Season 05/06 Spent : 34 Million Sold: 16 Million
Season 06/07 Spent : 47 Million Sold: 25 Million
Season 07/08 Spent : 48 Million Sold: 15 Million
Season 08/09 Spent : 87 Million Sold: 67 Million

Some shortfalls there boys how are they covered? Hm. Daniel Levy is backed by ENIC International Ltd who is ran by this man Joe Lewis (born February 5, 1937 in East London) is an English businessman who currently lives in Lyford Cay, Bahamas.
Lewis' total wealth is estimated at $3.2 billion. Keep doing things the correct way boys all the money will wear out your soul! :(.

The "shortfalls", as you describe them, are covered by operating profits - not by Joe Lewis, as you imply.

Spurs' financial model over the past ten years has prioritised keeping wages tightly under control. The theory being that money spent on wages is money that the club will never see again. Money spent on buying players, by contrast, can realise a big profit and thus enable further investment in the squad. With wages under control, Spurs generates sufficient revenues to make an annual operating profit of £20-30 million. It is this profit which has enabled the club, year on year, to invest in better players and a deeper squad.

Now that Spurs' squad is close to matching the top clubs in terms of squad depth and quality, the priority has changed. It is now more a case of tweaking, rather than wholesale changes every transfer window. Consequently, Spurs have spent comparatively little on new players over the past two years. However, on the flip side, the wage bill has risen. That's because the priority now is to keep the players that we have. And that means regularly offering improved contracts.

That said, wages will continue to be a tricky issue for Spurs until we become a regular Champions League qualifier and / or until we have built the new stadium.

Operating Profit.

2006. -9.4 million Shortfall 22 Million. ?

Ah........the figure you quote (£9.4 million "loss") is before including the "profit on disposal of intangible fixed assets" (that's player sales to you and me). After all football trading, profit on ordinary activities before interest and taxation was £2.9 million.

Is the £22 million figure you quote what you've calculated to be the difference in cost between player purchases and player sales that year? If so, it's a red herring. That's not how player costs are calculated. If a club signs a player for £10 million on a five year contract, it doesn't appear as a £10 million cost in that year's accounts. It is amortised over the duration of the contract. In other words, at the end of the first year of his contract, the club is considered to have incurred a £2 million cost (one fifth of £10 million). And a further £2 million cost in the second year of the contract. And so on.

 

[JimB]

Does the short term nature of your team and it's current success not alarm you?

Adebayor will not be a spurs player next season, and by your own admission he will be the one who is missed most. A player of his quality will not be easy or cheap to find. There is no way your bargain bucket transfer policy will stretch to a replacement and you won't be lucky enough to get someone as good as Ade on the cheap two seasons in a row.
Your best defender is fucked needs replacing, there's no way he will play as many games next season and I doubt he will be available for much of the remainder of the current one.
Your keeper will just get fatter and slower month by month and as you well know, they are the most players to replace.
Parker is your best midfielder and he's 31 now. Another year of running his bollocks off(which tbf is his best attribute) won't do him any favours.


I won't go into the ins and outs of you needing a new manager.

Will your Primark board really splash out on the signings they need to establish themselves as challengers and a genuine top 4 team? Or will they see this year as a bonus and pocket the spare change they make from qualifying for the champs league?

It's a wonder that you bothered to end by asking a couple of questions about the future for Spurs........you seemed quite happy to predict it for the first three quarters of your post. Perhaps your crystal ball just went all cloudy on you before you could finish?! ;)

In response, though, I would expect more of the same from Levy / ENIC. Their strategy has always been to increase the value of the club. And, other than getting the new stadium built, they can only do that if the team continues to enjoy greater success.

So the policy will be to continue to invest the profits in buying or keeping players.

Congratulations you managed to have a dig at my post without actually answering the question.
In case you missed it, it was in the first line of my post, and the bolded part of your reply doesn't really answer the question I was asking.

It was only a gentle piss take, fella!

You're right....I only answered your final questions - not your first question.

And the answer to that one is no, I'm not alarmed. Not yet, anyway.

Sure, we have some players who are nearing the end of their careers. What club doesn't? But there's no point fretting about it until we see the quality of player that is bought to replace them.

And while we may not have the resources of some clubs, we are by no means paupers. We've bought pretty well over the past 6-7 years. It's why we're now one of the best teams in the Premier League. We can only hope that we continue to buy well.

 

[stony]

It's a wonder that you bothered to end by asking a couple of questions about the future for Spurs........you seemed quite happy to predict it for the first three quarters of your post. Perhaps your crystal ball just went all cloudy on you before you could finish?! ;)

In response, though, I would expect more of the same from Levy / ENIC. Their strategy has always been to increase the value of the club. And, other than getting the new stadium built, they can only do that if the team continues to enjoy greater success.

So the policy will be to continue to invest the profits in buying or keeping players.

Congratulations you managed to have a dig at my post without actually answering the question.
In case you missed it, it was in the first line of my post, and the bolded part of your reply doesn't really answer the question I was asking.

It was only a gentle piss take, fella!

You're right....I only answered your final questions - not your first question.

And the answer to that one is no, I'm not alarmed. Not yet, anyway.

Sure, we have some players who are nearing the end of their careers. What club doesn't? But there's no point fretting about it until we see the quality of player that is bought to replace them.

And while we may not have the resources of some clubs, we are by no means paupers. We've bought pretty well over the past 6-7 years. It's why we're now one of the best teams in the Premier League. We can only hope that we continue to buy well.

It was only a gentle response ;)

What club doesn't have players coming to the end of their careers ? Erm.......go on, have a guess :-P
I think you've been lucky with your squad. No one, not even Spurs fans suspected that Parker would have the impact he's had and he's in the later stages of his career. Ade is short term as is Friedel, and King is always one match away from a career ending injury.
You have some great players and good young talent but your board are as tight fisted as Julian Clary at a Michael Barrymore pool party. United and Chelsea will be back in for Modric and if your tight arsed board don't cough up the going rate for his wages then it will have a knock on effect when it comes to extending the contracts of your good players.
Enjoy it by all means, but don't forget that it isn't even a year since 'arry told you all it was as good as it gets.

 

[THFC6061]