Everyone wanted an understudy to Kane... so it was a signing we wanted. Aurier’s off field problems didn’t hide the fact that at the time we were signing what seemed to be an elite level RB and a like for like for Walker. Why would you want a bidding war? That makes zero sense. First team improvements are only needed at CM, I think every Spurs fan can agree on that. Therefore all we need is essentially one or two players in that respect. We don’t need keepers, FBs, CBs (unless Toby goes), AMs or even a striker because we all know they get limited game time. CM is the only pivotal area for us. If by deadline day we have Grealish and then a top signing like Brozovic/ N’dombele then it’ll have proven a great window for us.
With th exception of VDV though mate, every other “deadline day transfer” has been basically completed before deadline day. How many times have we said “when the hell are the club gonna announce [insert name]?” There’s been so many signings which we all know are basically done, but the club take an eternity to make it official. This is why I keep mentioning the time limit thing. Anyone we’re interested in we will already know about, and will have had something regarding said player in the media recently. Grealish seems like the only one that has any weight behind it. I believe that’ll go through, and it’ll be pretty much sorted before the final day, but we just won’t annouce it until then. As for anyone else? **** knows. I think it’s gonna take for us to sell Toby before Daniel picks up the phone. And by then it could be too late.
It's difficult to buy from abroad too (especially trying to get a deal) because our deadline is before all of theirs. So they can say "we've got another 2 weeks to get top dollar for this player, why should we accept your ****ty deal now"
People still use Leeds 15 years ago as the go to example..it rarely happens no matter how stupid a charman is and Levy has proved that he can run a business..we wouldn't do a Leeds. I don't believe a 100 mill which would change our fortunes on the pitch if spent astutely..is what stands between us and liquidation. This is about Levy's mindset when it comes to winning things. 1 trophy under his tenure whilst we build an absolute kingdom called THFC where there is lots of fun to be had for the prawn sandwich brigade.
Lloris was pretty out of the blue. I don’t remember there being weeks of speculation surrounding him. Llorente was out of the blue as well, literally got linked with the morning of deadline day (or maybe morning before). With the exception of Grealish - which was confirmed by Bruce in recent interviews - we actually have no idea who we’re really interested in and how long we’ve had an interest, this the problem. If we were interested in every tom, dick and Harry that a paper linked us with, we’d have 20+ signings a window. It’s best to speculate once the window is shut to determine whether or not we’ve done good or bad business. Levy gets a lot of stick but he’s one of the most successful buyers out of all chairman in football. Our transfer strategy is phenomenal. We’ve been able to compete with bigger and better sides through smart buying.
It happens a hell of a lot more than people think: Southampton, Portsmouth, Villa, QPR and Notts County are all examples that have happened in this country since Leeds hit the buffers (and Chelsea were a Russian billionaire away from being added to the list), while the likes of Parma, Anzhi Makhachkala, Dnipro and Gretna can be added elsewhere. Also, chucking £100m at one player will change our business model, because the second we do that then clubs will expect we'd pay a similar figure rather than negotiate, which is a large part of the reason Baldini was jettisoned.
We live in the real world though Spurlock. Other clubs gamble and suffer long term damage. We don't gamble and have continuously progressed ever since they took over in 2001. The first 3 years were bumpy but we are unrecognosable from the 2003-2004 Hoddle/Pleat season. In the past 14 seasons we have finished 8th, 5th, 5th, 10th (won League Cup), 8th, 4th, 5th, 4th, 4th, 6th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 3rd. We have stuck to a budget, and financially safe, have trustorthy owners, a new ground, a very good team and a very good manager. The clubs who we were battling who did gamble are worth looking at. 1) Bolton (we battled them for UEFA places in 2005 -07) are a basket case. 2) Boro (we battled them from 04-08) are in a state. 3) Villa ( we battled them from 05 -11) nothing needs saying. 4) Charlton were our equals in 03-04 and look at them now. 5) Sunderland were ahead of us ... when kevin phillios was banging them in ... can't remember the years. Of the clubs we currently battle with they are all financially stronger than us so we either trust in a proven and successful method or we roll the dice... one way could repeat the mistakes of the 1980s...to do something once is a mistake ... to repeat the same thing is stupidity of the highest order. I like how we are run None of this is to say that anyone on here is a stupid dumbass ... but I think there is a rationale that is not bring seen
I do get all that but really I don't think if we backed Poch this summer that we would dissapear into the abyss of football..so much money being pumped into the game plus we do actually have a state of the art stadium with special bits dangling off it, doesn't Levy trust that he will see a return of that war chest we were mooted when he needed bums on seats? I like how we are run too but there comes a time when the strategy needs tweaking...it's obvious to me that the way we are run also results in us being nearly men...it's about the glory...Bill Nick will be turning in his grave.
I also like that we don't spend beyond our means. What I hate is that we'd rather drop £60 million on GKN, Janssen and Sissoko plus their wages (2016 summer window) when we could have had 1 decent player on less than their combined wages.
