Just referring back to your wages idea for a minute; I think the following table demonstrates the dilemma: PL WAGES 2016-17 (http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/776353/Premier-League-wage-bill-2016-17-sportgalleries) 1) Man City - £225m 2) Man Utd - £220m 3) Chelsea - £215m 4) Arsenal - £200m 5) Liverpool - £166m 6) Spurs - £120m 7) Everton - £83m 8) West Ham - £80m 9) Stoke - £75m 10) Sunderland - £68m I think that what this demonstrates is that a number of PL teams chronically underachieve based on their outlay: Sunderland, Stoke, West Ham and United in particular. Everton were the only team who finished where they were 'meant' to last season. While we were probably the only team in the top half to significantly punch above our weight (a mention should be made of B'mouth and Soton though who are 17th and 13th in terms of wages yet finished 9th and 8th respectively.) It also demonstrates that we are kind of stuck in a no-man's land between the top 4/5 and the rest of the country. The same gap (£40m) separates Hull (20th) and Everton (7th), then Everton and Us, and finally us and Liverpool. The chasing pack are probably too far away to close that gap any time soon, but by the same measure, for us to catch Liverpool - let alone Arsenal and beyond - looks almost impossible.
All this just proves that it is not transfer fees nor wages that make you winners. Who out there would we buy if money was no object? And would they guarantee a trophy? Pogba? Morata? Neymar? Costa?
Hernandez fee is £13million in today's market. Absolute bargain and surely because of the 'low' fee that would mean we could pay him more to make him one of the top earners. I get it's all about investing correctly and prudently but sometimes it feels like Spurs are the only club that care about profit more than glory.
West Ham are offering him a starting place and £145k p/w though, apparently. We can't do either of those things.
This is why I wanted to discuss it mate. Bearing in mind there's the potential to sign an absolute stinker of a player for a huge fee (Sissoko), would an investment in higher wages for the players we already have (who we know have performed well for us), mean we keep them, thus giving the best overall result for us long term. - As well as getting additions similar to that you mention of Hernandez. There's only so much Poch can do, and he's already got us punching massively about our weight in terms of pitch performance relative to wages (as CK's table indicates). Obviously we'll see the bankrolled clubs signing every Tom dick and Harry each summer, but it feels we're so close yet so far, when we only need 1 or 2 quality players to compete with the other clubs' money, and that is down to all the hard work Poch does with the team. Makes you wonder how the guy does it. Bloody amazing.
Headline doesn't match the quote, for me. He's trying to say something positive about joining City, not criticising Spurs.
I think Brandt is expected to go to Bayern next season, just FYI. What I'm saying is that the players we sign won't be ready-made stars, they'll be a gamble of some sorts, otherwise they'd be too expensive. We have a tendency to build up players too much, we would have been ecstatic to sign Depay when United did, people were less excited when we signed Wanyama and look at how they both turned out. There are Depays and Wanyamas out there this summer too and we've got to make sure we're getting the latter but we won't know for sure until we've signed them, as we can't afford the players that aren't a gamble. Barkley has the physicality, pace and has the ability on the ball to do damage. These are the key traits of what makes a good PL player, and particularly one at Spurs. What lets him down is the mental side and consistency but that was the same for a lot of players at Spurs. Rose, Walker, Dembele, Lamela, Kane, etc all had the ingredients but it wasn't until Pochettino arrived that we started actually seeing the best from them. Who thought Rose had the brain and discipline before Pochettino showed up? Who thought Dembele was great technically but didn't impact the game? Who thought Kane could turn his natural abilities into becoming the best striker in the league? That's what gives me confidence on Barkley, he's in just the same position as those guys. Pochettino knows what he wants from players in each position and he knows how to convey it, which is why we've seen Alli and Dier get so quickly converted to new positions. Anyway, it seems like Barkley's off the table now with the surgery. I'm still determined that you will agree with me though
Yeah, I was pretty pissed off reading the headline then I listened to what he said and it's nothing alike. He's even asked specifically about comparing Spurs to City and he shies away from it. The BBC used to be above this kind of nonsense.
I don't know the answers, as I don't know the specifics on salaries and demands. I was just intrigued to know if a higher wage cap opens up more transfer options for us that could help us find those who could help to add more success.
Completely! Good points that I couldn't agree more with, especially about Poch. And you're spot on about the Wanyama's and Depays. The evening standard are saying that we've asked about Mahrez's situation. With everything considered, this signing would tick so many boxes. Knowing how difficult it's going to be to find the right player, I hope we're all over this.
Exactly. Think how frustrating it must be to be so close but then see rivals strengthen while your club stands still. Then you're expected to do even better next season.
Mauricio Pochettino is his own man. He'll do what he wants to do because it's what he wants. Unlike just about everyone else in professional football, he doesn't have an agent. He negotiated his own contracts (he has a Degree in Business Administration) and he gets a contract lawyer to sign off on them. He is the antithesis of Mourinho, Klopp, Guardiola in that he doesn't need his ego massaging in the press. Despite being able to speak perfectly decent English, at Southampton he did his press conferences in Spanish so as to avoid the usual moronic journo nonsense. At Spurs, he pretty much says the same thing at every press conference. He likes working for Levy because he's trusted and very definitely a real part of the upper management of the club. He gets to run the football side of things in a way that no previous Levy manager has even got remotely close to. He got the title 'Manager' reinstated and that's what he does. When all the Barcelona bollocks came up last season, he came out and said that there would be a limited satisfaction in winning a title with them or Madrid or United. He wants to build a team of players who are 'his', not mercenaries brought in at top dollar. He wants the Academy to get us there. More than anything, that's what floats his professional boat. He's not into vanity purchases. He'll be with us to launch the new stadium. I'll bet that any Stadium sponsorship would make that a contractual requirement for a few years beyond that. For many reasons I see him with us into the medium term. Beyond that? Maybe........ I really hope so but I don't see him wrecking his legacy by doing the dirty on us. He'll go when the time is right for him and us.
