Transfer activity at Spurs has been literally zero since the departure of the unpopular Damien Commolly, and it hasn't escaped my notice how busy Liverpool have been this summer. I'm not convinced Levy is well equipped, well connected or experienced enough to handle our transfer dealings. IF the story of the Modric "gentleman's agreement" is true then it could be seen as either a dirty trick by our Chairman or naivety on the part of Luka. Either way, is this how players contracts should be handled? It seems his most recent meeting with the want-away Croat went down like a s**t sandwich. More importantly, no major singings this summer. Harry has clearly stated that Levy deals with all transfer negotiations and so far, has categorically failed to land us anyone of real note, whether young, old, world class or a future prospect. I have a horrid feeling come September 1st we will be faced with the same feeling of deep disappointment as we felt last February 1st and wonder what the hell our Chairman has been playing at all summer. Maybe if he forgot about concentrating his energies on an investigation into a stadium no-one wants and thought about strengthening our team, we might have a fighting chance. Problem is, we don't have the buying power anymore and Levy clearly doesn't have the gift to persuade players to come to the Lane. So it begs the question, do we need a Director of Football to work under Harry's instructions and directives to get players in? I simply don't have faith in Levy to do that job on his own and I think come the end of the transfer wiondow, I'll be proved right P.S. The acquisition of Rafael Van der Vaart doesn't count as Real called him to offer the Dutchman to us at a cut price so that one was sheer luck!
Players signed since Comolli's departure: Friedel Pienaar Van der Vaart Gallas Kranjcar Gudjohnsen Crouch Walker Naughton Kaboul Bassong Defoe Palacios Chimbonda Keane Cudicini Doesn't look like "literally zero" to me...
Comolli never bought the players we needed and paid over the odds. He's doing exactly the same at Liverpool. If we get Diarra and Adebayor in by the end of the week, I'd say we've had a fairly successful window.
We're never going to be able to take the next step until we have a new stadium which is capable of generating more revenue, you must understand this. We've never really had buying power - the last time we signed a 'world class' player was probably Klinsmann and he was an exception. The likes of Modric and Berbatov were not particularly high profile players when we signed them, they've developed into them while playing for us. The expectations of the club have risen over the last few seasons such that the fans will now only accept extremely high-profile players who are going to cost us £30million and £100k plus per week - It's not Levy's fault that he's brought us success, but we're going to have to keep searching for hidden gems until we have the financial backing to pursue higher-profile targets.
Absolutely spot on WY. It was also not Levy's fault that we didn't get into the CL this year. The team were perfectly capable of getting at least ten more points at home but under-performed against the weaker opposition. Harry doesn't understand rotation so some players get over-used and others are rusty when they finally get a game.
Sorry to disagree Schteff, if its those two plus FREEdel that make our summer business, then we've had an epic failure of a transfer window again. Although the blame for this isn't down to not having a DOF thats for sure. Its down to taking our eye off the ball because of all the Olympic Stadium bull-pucky on Levys part, and the failure of 'Arry and teh team to get us back into the CL last season when the teams above us were not at their best. IF we had converted a few more results against the bottom end of the table opposition when they should have done we would have been in the CL again this season. We desperately need CL football again next season, even if it is to the detriment of the EL. Without the revenue stream of a new Stadium and the ability to pay more money to and for players, the only thing that will us the right quality in will be particitpation in the CL.
Why? Friedel i'll admit is a strange one, but with the addition of those two players i'd say we have a stronger squad than both Liverpool and Arsenal and should thus theoretically be able to get 4th place.
We all have our own opinions I think you're overestimating the time that Levy personally spent on the OS battle. We obviously disagree on how good Adebayor, Diarra and Friedel are so I don't think we'd ever agree with eachother on whether it a was a good transfer window. I totally agree that we have to finish in the top 4 to avoid going backwards.
literally 1.In a literal manner; word for word: translated the Greek passage literally. 2.In a literal or strict sense: Don't take my remarks literally. 3.Usage Problem. a.Really; actually: "There are people in the world who literally do not know how to boil water" (Craig Claiborne). b.Used as an intensive before a figurative expression. At that point, I decided it wasn't worth reading the rest of your post.
You missed out the Jamie Redknapp use of literally, which is actually metaphorically in disguise, Croydon.
Are we missing a DOF? ...like I'd miss a bout of haemorrhoids. It seems to have escaped your notice that Liverpool have spent stupid amounts on average players...sound familiar?
Mind you i remember someone posting a list up of Comolli's signings whilst at the club and half were a success which was a pretty good record. The problem was that the other 50% seemed to be the overrated British players we bought at over the odds prices.
Comolli brought in some very good, young players. Unfortunately most of them weren't what we actually needed at the time. As I've said before, if you need a left-winger, then he'll buy you a right-back.
But Levy essentially does the DOF role for us anyway, Lidls. I can understand why Redknapp wouldn't want one, but we might be better off with someone in a similar role that wasn't so disruptive or powerful. Maybe a Head of Scouting and Youth Development or some equally silly title?
Levy is doing a brilliant job . Sly as a fox he's waiting for the next big thing. Many said we wanted a goal scoring striker but using his Oxbridge acumen he came up with the outstanding Pienaar. We even got one over are nouveau riche rivals. Danny boy and Uncle Bahames Joe must have creamed themselves over that one. What super action dealings will we see from our dynamic duo in the the future?
