Let's imagine for a sec that we do end up selling Kane for + £150 mill. How confident are you that Levy will allow Fabio to spend that money as he sees fit?
It's Levy's fault because he is clearly the most effective financially astute chairman in the PL by some margin. People are put off by him ? Is that because he is actually capable of making sensible business decisions as opposed to fairlyland I WANT IWANT of the football fans variety. .
WHY? Because in your opinion these are gash players? That is just your opinion which not every one agrees with included the professionals at Spurs I am sure your would concede that all football clubs make signings that don't work out. In your list of players Sissoko has had a couple of really good seasons with Spurs and some poor ones Aurier likewise. Sanchez has not lived up to expectations but he's not a bad player. Ndombele & Lo Celso could yet both come good at Spurs a lot will depend on the new manager. So in every case your list is a matter of opinon which it always is. So our track record is no worse than the norm in football and better than for example Everton & Villa who are both in the same area of the league as Spurs. Our record exceeds our natural rivals in the last 10 years so we can't be that bad.
Is it not a point that the times we had a Director of Football were the times we made more signings that did not work out than normal? So far Levy's attempts to delegate signing players have proved to be amongst the worst times, but amongst the poor signings we had one or two good ones. In other words the reality is that unless we are lucky enough to have astute people spotting players it's all a bit hit and miss for everyone.
Of course signings don’t work out at other clubs, we’ve just seen an incredible rate of **** signings over last 5 years and it’s why we’ve declined and regressed in each of the last 4 seasons. The reason why our record over the last 10 years is better than some teams is because prior to the last 5 we done good business. But then you were someone who didn’t rate Eriksen and now tell yourself that Sissoko isn’t a gash player and that Sanchez isn’t as bad as some make out so I think your logic is a little warped.
I don’t think we have a great track record spending big, our historical sweet spot was probably the sub-20m mark and inflation has probably pushed the same category of player to c.30m. I think Levy gave Paratici his head when it came to the manager though, and expect the same when it comes to transfers. Otherwise what’s the point.
You are putting words into my mouth DH. I didn't rate Eriksen last couple of seasons at Spurs and I always thought he was not a fighter, but that doesn't mean I thought he was a bad player. For two seasons Sissoko became one of best players having previously been amongst our worst and now he has gone back to bit part playing but apparently has been hugely important in the dressing room. Your definition of bad just needs context. Sanchez is not looking good enough for the level Spurs want to play at but that's not to say he wouldn't impress in another team or a league less aggressive than the PL. That's the problem when we look at players from other leagues who look great and then find they don't settle in the PL. So far I think Ndombele falls into that catergory but not Lol Celso but these are just opinions.
You were always on his case, the idea a playmaker isn’t a fighter too doesn’t make sense, he weren’t in the team to fight, that was Wanyama and Dier’s jobs, Dembele’s too to a degree, did you berate them for not getting double digit assists each season? No, you didn’t. Eriksen done his job just as they did theirs but you always wanted to find reason to criticise him for things he weren’t in the team for. Sissoko had one great season and that was 18/19 where he won our Legends POTY award. I don’t care if Sanchez can be good in another team, I support Spurs so I only care if he’s good for us and for £40m he hasn’t been. Both Ndombele and Lo Celso have been crap for us so far. Whether they finally come good in their third season remains to be seen but right now we absolutely pissed away nearly £100m on the pair. Hence why myself and others have recently (and regularly) mentioned that we’ve wasted lots of money over the last 5 years.
Thinking further Sissoko is a classic example of why signing players is so difficult to get right. 30million was a big fee and you expect something special for that. For the first couple of seasons he was awful and I think most fans thought he was rubbish, then like a miracle Pochettino turned the situation around and we all amazed at how Sissoko had become one the best players in the team. Then he fades again as did the entire team, is that down to the manager? Is it down to the players? Is it the Chairman's fault? I think it's just the fickle nature of football and also the secret of footballs appeal. You never quite know what will happen.
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that a player a so called playmaker does not need to be a fighter. ALL players need to be a fighter in a team. All the great managers in football expected that and would not play people who fell short in that area. That's where Spurs philosophy (which I support) of trying to play attractive football is much more difficult than the likes of Arsenal under Graham say. We actively look for skilfull players like Eriksen and Ndombele and tend to avoid the harder players. This was something Redknapp addressed during his time with us with Palacious and even Scott Parker. Hojbjerg looks to fill that role hopefully. So in trying to find these skillful players we often come across the softer side of their game, hence the Spurs reputation for lacking fight and that goes back a long way. 'Lads it's Spurs' says a lot.
A team needs different styles of players. You have a Wanyama/ Dier in the team to do the dirty fighter work whilst you have an Eriksen in the team to do the pretty and creative stuff. They all done their jobs superbly for a spell and it’s why we as a team under Poch looked great. If you took Eriksen out the team and asked Dier or Wanyama to play his role we’d look terrible, just as we would if you asked Eriksen to play Dier or Wanyama’s role. Eriksen was not in the side to be a gritty fighter, he was in the side to make things happen and as the stats showed, he certainly made things happen as he was unrivalled for chances created and assists for the years he was in the Prem, yet you chose to constantly criticise him for something he wasn’t in the team for. Why don’t you ever criticise the DMs for not getting a bunch of assists or Son for not being a good defender? You seemingly had a witch-hunt for one of our better players and yet now you’re making excuses and showing a lot more support for players who’ve done nowhere near as much as what Eriksen did for us with players like Sissoko, Sanchez, Lo Celso etc.
I think I need to explain what I mean by fighting. I am talking about attitude. DH using terms like witch hunt is a bit unfair. You have strong opinions on for example Winks and Dele it's not about witch hunts. My criticism of Eriksen is related to his lack of determination to change games. He has the skills to do it but IMO did not show it. Fighting from a player like Eriksen is using his ball and passing skills to disrupt the opposition. I don't expect him to become a hard tackling Roy Keane of a player but he often IMO drifted out of games he should have been central in. I am not supporting Sissoko and Sanchez I think their time should be up at Spurs. Lo Celso IMO is a fighter and skillful with it I hope he can maintain an injury free season because he is just the sort of player we need in midfield.
I don’t think it is unfair, I think you had it in for Eriksen at a time where he was one of our best players, at times even being our best player hence why he won two Spurs POTY awards. He also changed plenty of games and won many games on his own, just like Kane has done and what Son has done too, so again I just don’t understand the criticism you had for him. His way of fighting was grabbing tons of assists, creating chances and getting a decent amount of goals, just like Wanyama’s way of fighting was to protect the defence. I absolutely have it in for Winks, I won’t deny that, he’s one of the worst players I’ve ever seen play for us in terms of getting regular game time, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the more game time he got the worse Spurs got, wasn’t just him of course but he’s been a catalyst in our regression. As for Dele, he’s living off of the form he had in his first two seasons. It’s why his value will have gone from about £100m to about £20m-£30m if we’re lucky, it’s why he’s lost his England place and it’s why he was rarely (and rightly so) selected by Jose. Lo Celso being a skilful fighter hasn’t done a fraction of what the “non-fighter” Eriksen done. So surely you can see why I find it weird how you seemingly show more support for these types of players than you did for one who done so much?
I am judging Eriksen by HIS standards as a top player and it's only my opinion. For me he fell short considering his abilities. With Dele you express very strong opinions which I think are premature because he is still a young man with time to improve. He has a lot of football skills and I agree he has not lived up to them in the last couple of seasons but I think I can see signs that he has maybe learnt a lesson from his treatment by Jose and missing out on the Euros. He has clearly spent a lot of time building his physique over these last few months and looked determined in the pre season games. This season will be a game changer for him either way and I suspect he knows that. Lo Celso has hardly had time with us to form a fair opinion, again we will see this season how it pans out. It's waste of time to discuss Winks with you
from the sounds of it, more of the latter. Players can have 1 great season but then revert back to their usual **** self. Strikers, midfielders, Defenders, happens to all players.
I don’t think he did fall short barring his final 12 months where he was terrible. In his 6 and a half years in the premier league no player registered more assists or created more chances than he did, I don’t think he could’ve done much more than that. Dele will be entering his 7th season (I think) so I don’t agree my views are premature. He’s 25 now and should be in the form of his life yet he’s arguably at the worst point of his career. Lo Celso’s had two seasons, as has Ndombele and neither have contributed much, for the money we paid for both that’s poor. Eriksen won Spurs POTY in his first season to put into comparison. I agree on that, lol, but I also believe I’m correct. I’d challenge anyone to name five poorer midfielders than Winks who’ve played a similar amount of games for us as he has in say the last 10-15 years. I’m pretty confident people would struggle. Truly do think he’s an horrendous footballer, genuinely want to gauge my eyes out when I see him on the pitch.
No, it's because he won't restrict his interference to things that he's actually good at and has the time to do. He has to get involved in everything. He added hundred of millions and months and months onto the build of the stadium by constantly changing his ****ing mind when jobs were nearly or totally complete. He took the stadium sponsorship issue on personally because he didn't like the feedback he got from the external consultants. It didn't work, we didn't secure a sponsor but we pissed away a year and a half whilst he 'had a go at it'. He regularly bought players that the manager/coach didn't want - Sissoko, Llorente, Aurier, Bergwijn, Bale and Rodon were all Levy purchases and were only used by Poch/Mourinho when they had no alternative. He doesn't listen and he doesn't learn and he has pretty much the final say...unless Joe Lewis yanks his chain. I think that may have happened this year. Suddenly, there are a number of people like Paratici, Todd Kline, Chris Perkins showing up to sort out things that didn't get done or got done badly in the last few years...by Levy. Is it too late and too little? It probably is for me. I did want his wings clipped and power reduced but he'll always want that power back, irrespective of whether it's good for the club and its fans. He's done a lot of good but everyone has to go sometime. Now would be a good time for Daniel.
i think many people from what I’m reading and read in the past think the sun shines out of Levy’s arse because once upon a time he saved us from evil Sugar n Scholar therefore we should forever be grateful regardless of his financial incompetencies in the transfer market…this myth about him being some kinda shrewd negotiator is the biggest pile of horse **** I’ve ever heard by the Levystas over the years to back their man. No one has denied that he is good at wasting the money we do have on the Clarke’s and Rodons who dont get a sniff yet baulks at very gettable targets and obvious improvements to the first team due to the odd million here and there.
Could be a good move for him, if Russell Martin stays there. The commentator for yesterday's game mentioned interest in him from Swansea. He also mentioned that they'd lost a lot of firepower from last season. 15 goal striker and a 14 goal attacking midfielder, IIRC.
