They've hit their glass ceiling. Until they break through, can't see the best players wanting to play/stay there. Gotta win things in order to be considered a top club.
I don’t see the season as a total failure. I said before the start of the season that, given the inevitable disruption this season, if we made top six that would be reasonable. We’re well on course for that and have a good chance of top four, which will give us CL again next year.
It’s not a total failure but a failure just the same. Baring in mind this is the best team blend you’ve had for over a decade yet the astonishing lack of ambition shown by its greedy owners has exceeded all expectations. Yes they are building a new stadium but it’s sole purpose is to extract more money from the long suffering fans. When you finished third in a two horse race to Leicester it was patently clear to all but the spurs board and a large percentage of its fans that the squad needed a couple of marquee signings who have the winning mentality but never got. Last year despite Harry’s taunts ‘We are coming to get you’, you failed as did we by buying cheap quality replacements. Next season is possibly your last chance to improve a squad that is crying out for a few quality players that will take you from bridesmaids to bride. With the imminent repayments on the new stadium all wages and bonuses will be frozen apart from Danny’s 100% pay rise. Chances of those marquee signings during the next 2-3 years? Non exsistant.
I agree the squad is too thin, and also lacking in the right quality in some areas. Notably full back - I don’t consider either Trippier or Davies to be of the calibre needed for a team that wants to be serious challengers. The result of the lack of depth is that certain players get worked to exhaustion because we have no adequate backup or the only possible alternative is injured. The rest is up to the board. If they seriously want to be seen as challengers for the title, etc, to go with the new state of the art stadium, then serious investment is needed.
Blimey, Ginge, a Spurs post without actual wummery, you feeling alright, mate? . FWIW I agree with a lot of what you've wrote and 'the bridesmaids to bride' sentence is a fair statement. Next season is highly likely to be our last chance to achieve something big before a number of key players may decide to look elsewhere, I think even Poch and Levy acknowledge that which is why I believe the rumours of a marquee signing(s) and a massive warchest (by our standards) for Poch to spend this summer. Levy said in a recent meeting with the supporters trust that wages at the new stadium will likely be addressed but did also state that our bonus structure is considered the best in the Prem (presume that means appearances, assists, goals, clean sheets etc). Stadium repayment should likely be easier for us in this day and age than it was when say Arsenal were paying for the emirates, thanks to the money now in football. Levy may have some critics but if there's one thing no one can deny it's that he's a phenomenal businessmen and I'm confident that he's got the repayments covered in a way that shouldn't impact us too much with regards to buying or selling.
There was a small amount of wumming there. There is unfortunately only a few spuds who you can have a footballing conversation. The reason the bonus system is in place is because it negates having to pay the going rate in wages. Some players have been suckered in but the likes of Walker, Toby and Rose were the first to show there indignation. As for the stadium repayments I’m not entirely convinced. It only requires another barren year and players like Kane, Eriksen And Deli will be looking for the big bucks and honours elsewhere. I see Spurs going down the Arsenal route, their stadium set them back so much they couldn’t afford to keep pace with the top teams enough to sustain a worthy challenge. Wengers hands were tied hence I don’t understand the hostility he faced from their fans. Time will tell of course but don’t be too disheartened if your dream doesn’t materialise.
This Spurs need to show the team.and manager support now because the new stadium and everything surrounding that set them back 5 years imo
We can't realistically match the going rate with regards to what rivals pay their key players - at least not at the moment - which is why the bonuses somewhat make up for that. We can probably afford to pay three or four of our players a wage that is parity with their counterparts at other clubs, while the likes of you, Arsenal, Utd, City and Pool can pay your whole XIs massive wages plus a few squad players, too. I don't think we will need to go down Arsenal's route. What Wenger done was phenomenal to have kept them competitive while selling a key player or two for a number of seasons but theoretically we shouldn't have that issue because there's so much more money now in football than there was when they were paying off their stadium. Even if we did have to sell some key players, it wouldn't need to be near as many as what they sold. Most of their guys went for around £30m, if we were to sell say one of Alli, Eriksen or Kane, all three would fetch more than £100m alone in this crazy market.
