Zokora did a decent job for us, had a great attitude and was sold on for a small profit. Always welcome at the Lane, as far as I'm concerned, though probably not in the team!
Have I once said I know more than the said managers? I've pointed out mistakes they've made with some signings but I certainly haven't said I could do a better job. Comments like that just provoke an argument as your suggesting I'm sitting here as a know it all, where as I'm simply putting my point across. I've said why I believe Pienaar doesn't warrant a place in the Spurs team and he HAS been tripe and sh*t while playing for us, so far you've still used his past to back up his present, you've not once given a reason as to why any of my comments have been harsh/ wrong other than saying "he's a proven prem and international player" that's not good enough for me to feel I've made a mistake in being so harsh on him. Look at Keano's second spell with us, for the majority of it he was tripe and I hate to say that about the man but it's true, he didn't get into our starting XI because he was below par and nowadays he wouldn't get in the team based on his past and international experience. I love Keano and when he retires he'll be straight into the hall of fame, of that I'm sure and it's fully deserved but fact is when a player isn't performing well and he's at an age where he won't really improve, you surely have to make the decision of considering letting him go or just leaving him as a spare part so to speak to allow others to come through and blossom. At present, I feel we have far better options and seeing as Pienaar is on a hefty wage (not that that's his fault) it would seem logical to get rid when we have others who are younger, on less money and so far performed better than he has, it just stacks up against him. His £50k/£60k+ (media said he was on around £60k at Everton so I doubt he'd have taken a cut to join us especially with Chelsea's interest) can go towards trying to get Ade on a permanent deal or another top class striker in Jan/ Summer.
He won't really get that LDL unless others are injured, he'll be limited to Europa games and in fairness most of the opposition isn't anywhere near prem standard so impressing in that as 30 year old is pointless, it's different for the young lads like Livermore, Rose, Townsend and Carroll as that's the stepping stone for them to hopefully impress (which they have) and then eventually make the grade one day in to the prem team sheet. Besides, all positions he plays in, we have a better player in the starting XI and we also have players in reserve who I'd feel would be picked over him or atleast they should be. When fit, Niko and Defoe will surely be first backs up to the attacking side of things and when it comes to the central mid side, he doesn't stand a chance as at the moment Sandro (who many feel should be in the starting XI soon when he's fully fit) will definitely be brought on over Pienaar. It's unfortunate for the guy but his poor form and injuries has pushed him way down the pecking order and he's in a position where I don't think he can make amends unless a mass of injuries occur. Logical reason for me is to sell him and cut our losses and save £50k/£60k on the wage bill.
I always liked him. The things he lacked, he lacked in the extreme but he was a good player, if not a good footballer.
I think I'd actually agree with that. But only cos I've had a few glasses of wine, maybe. And let's be honest - being a good footballer is pretty handy, isn't it? When you're a footballer. And the odd ten-yard pass going in the right direction would've been nice. And I think his career scoring record was not as good as Paul Robinson's.
I've no wish to upset either here, but we are talking about Steven Pienaar here, not Steven Gerrard!. SP, is/was , 'a Mr reliable', a 'steady Eddie', 'Mr. versatile', no more. In a Spurs shirt, we've seen precious little of that, his contributions 'for us' have been so under par, just how would like us to describe such performances so as not to upset you in future? In comparison to the great performances I've seen, I would happily describe his as '****'.
He was **** against Milan was he? **** against Liverpool, I don't think so. He wasn't even **** against Rubin Kazan after he'd just come back from a long lay off. However, there's a difference between saying his performances for us have been ****, which is debatable, and saying he is '****' and 'utter tripe', which I find upsetting, as I think it is unnecessarily harsh on SP, giving the wretched time he has had with injuries, which are not his fault, AFAIK. I'm not sure if you're trying to upset me over this NSS, but I'll assume you're not. For me, SP should be judged on his performances like any other Spurs player, and assuming he can stay fit now, we'll see how he plays.
I'm glad you assume correctly . I'm just reading this as a neutral, and i think we have to accept SP is a 50/50 player as i call it, as in he divides opinion, JJ always prompts such debates. Half will say he's ****, the other half won't. I just don't think its cause to question someones knowledge over a subject with such divided opinion as I said, because neither opinion is wrong if you think about it. Having taken both views on board, I still have to make a choice, which isn't supposed to make the one I don't choose feel bad.
Fair enough NSS Let's see how it goes with SP, if he plays ****, then I'll have no problem with people calling it as such. But I've no doubt that he won't, he is a good, consistent player on the evidence of his career pre-Spurs, and I expect him to return to those levels or near to them anyway. It's always hard to tell with a player who has a series of injuries as to whether they can get back to their previous level. If SP can't, then I'll feel sorry for him, and won't be laying into him, I'll just think it's time for him to leave.
Milan - Probably his best game though was easily outshone by a magnificent performance from Sandro. Liverpool - Average, won the penalty but bar that didn't contribute to much else, if I remember correctly Danny Rose was getting into better attacking positions from fullback and creating far more from the left than he was. I mentioned in another post that fans were getting very irate with him in fact, while I will never boo or shout negatvies to a Spurs player at the game, I can fully understand why some were calling for him to be subbed and also sighing whenever he misplaced another pass. Rubin - Awful would be an understatement. As was most of the other players that day bar Carlo. Yet if you say he had a good game there, then clearly your conception of a good performance is far different from what I could consider one. Gareth Bale vs QPR was a good performance, Brad Friedal vs Fulham was a good performance, Scott Parker vs Every team he's played against for us have been good performances but Steven Pienaar vs Rubin? Not in the slightest. How do you think I've (and others) been judging him if it hasn't been for his SPURS performances? His performances with us have been of what a Sunday League player would look like playing for Barcelona, hence the reason I've used such comments as "sh*t" and "utter tripe". I don't care about a players past and the amount of caps they have for the national team, if they're not playing well, or playing awful I will say it. You're probably ignoring me now as you mentioned you would, I noticed you never replied to my previous comment and your well within your rights but while we're on this topic and any other for that matter I will continue to get my points across and debate with any poster on this forum while also hoping to add some good banter in between
One of the things that Pienaar does well is creating space for his full-back to get crosses into the box or hit the byline. That's one of the reasons that Baines created so much for Everton while the South African was playing in front of him.
Haha, yeah but considering we paid an extra £8mill to get Palacios I feel we were better off sticking with him. I remember seeing him at the World Cup when we'd just signed him. He smashed the bar from about 35 yards out and I thought we'd signed ourself a goalscoring midfielder which prompted me to put his name on the back of my shirt that season first time I'd done that since I was a kid. It then became a bit of a running joke that I'd have a bet on him to score last because he was the only player to not hoof the ball out of our half when we were backs against the wall defending a lead. If he'd scored when he was through on goal in the Carling Cup he'd have won me £400
Our full backs are pretty much taught to attack anyway PNP. Benny and Walker are constantly attacking down the flanks when the time is right even if Bale and Lennon are sprinting down them also. It's not a quality I like in a player for our team, perhaps if we played a 5-4-1 where the fullbacks were expected to be the main source of attack down the wings I'd understand but we don't, our wingers combined with the support of our full backs have proved deadly in our 4-5-1-/ 4-4-2 and I'd rather Pienaar follow suit, otherwise it just adds to another reason why I feel he's not right for us because thus far the way he plays certainly hasn't benefitted us much if at all, I don't see him as typical "Spurs player" and I just think the sooner he's moved on the better, for him and us in fairness. I'm sure deep down he knows he'll never cement a first team place unless a few injuries occur.
The managers job must be to try to win everything. This season we have had an extraordinary amount of injuries but because Harry has shuffled the pack with a fair degree of success we are in with a shout for the top four plus european glory not to forget the FA Cup. We were unlucky in League cup. He has assessed the opposion and selected sides with a fair chance of winning each of their respective matches. None of us would want a mid table finish because of too many injuries at the business end of the season. Harry obviously has that in mind. One of Harry's strong points is his substitutions to protect the likes of Modric, VdV et al. I for one hate watching the last two or three months of the season when we have nothing to play for. I think Harry has got it about right. It has to be one game at a time, no one can win or lose the trophy on the basis of the result of one match in a EL group stage match. Once it becomes a knock out the stakes become a lot higher and team selection is likely to reflect that.
