I just refuse to believe we aren’t trying to sign players. Ange himself has said he knows we’re trying so that’s good enough for me. If the players we want aren’t available or don’t want to come then what more we can do, there’s no point buying for buyings sake. Apparently Forest are bidding £60 mill for cunha. Considering people’s criticism of the money spent on Solanke (a better player than cunha), richarlison (stats are probably similar to cunha) and Johnson do people want us just to spend another £60 mill for the sake of it or do they want us to buy the right players? I still think people expect to much from the January window. No one besides city are doing to much (easy when you have unlimited funds) and I can’t think of any players that have moved that would improve us except for the ones at city but we’ve pretty much no chance if they also want the same player.
So sorry. The cave is currently being used as an extended treatment room for injured Spurs players, as the one at Hotspur Way ran out of beds in mid November. I hope we can reopen to the public ahead of our relegation clash against Ipswich in February.
I remember that song. See me in me heels and ting Dem check, sey we hip and ting True dem no know an'ting We have dem going kar ting
Ange has just said it’s possible we don’t sign anyone this window as nothing is imminent, albeit implied things move quickly in the final week of the window. Literally said earlier on the thread today I was having a feeling we wouldn’t bring anyone in. We were playing catch-up the moment the summer window shut considering how bad that was, then add in form, injuries and how the ****ed the Europa squad is, along with the incompetence of those above the manager and it’s a recipe for extreme disappointment.
At the very least, we really should have been looking at teams facing PSR/FFP armageddon this season and having some of those players as a contingency in case we need to get some quick and dirty signings handled Which, honestly, is probably where Paratici should be positioned entirely so there's a chance we get a couple of options on the boil here and there, even if it might be as a fallback option if the main targets Lange is working on fall through
I'd wager a solid amount of money that we are the only team in the world in more competitions than we have centre backs, and more goalkeepers than competitions. But our average league position over 24 years is around average so the only reasonable conclusion is that Levy is a genius.
The data shows that Levy is well above average at growing the wealth of a football club and exactly average at turning that wealth into football success. I've never said he is a genius but I certainly don't want him replaced by some random person with no experience.
There’s also the fact that despite all the “manager has the full support of the board” stuff that we’ve seen, that narrative may simply not be true. Where as, Levy’s already decided the outcome of the cup matches are when he will be sacked (or not). which ties in perfectly that the window will be closed and he doesn’t have to spend on new players for the new manager. but for now, he can also hide behind the “January is too difficult” excuse. It’s win win for him in both cases. It’s just the barrage of abuse from fans that’ll be relentless, but I expect he’s not arsed one bit.
The most likely reason we have not signed anyone is that we have very limited funds to do so without breaching the stadium loans covenant. If that leads to abuse it is based on pure ignorance and Levy is right to ignore it.
Given that the terms of the loans run for appx 20 years and the covenants appear to restrict us to spending less than at least 4-5 other teams, it would seem that fans' expectations should be drastically reduced to the point that we should just shut up and accept that the next 20 years will be much like the past 20 years, just without the occasional CL football. Is that the case? Is there a way out of the straightjacket the covenants have created? If so, what is it? If not, is that not reason enough to criticise Levy?
Exactly my thoughts, if only I could have articulated them! I believe I understand the points @PowerSpurs makes (although it does make my head hurt..) but is @Citizen Kane correct or am I missing something here? So in essence we have a very lovely stadium but relatively limited supply of funds to put players in it...
If we had stayed at WHL there would have been at least 7 teams now who could spend more than us. As it is, the same 5 that have always been capable of spending much more can now spend a little more. This is an improvement not a straitjacket. If the covenant was removed by paying off the loans we would have about £150m of extra headroom (one off, not per year) before we hit the PSR limit. If we continue to spend at the current level we will run into the PSR limit rather than the covenant limit in a few years in any case. The issue remains that other clubs have more revenue. Levy has been the most successful chairman at closing the gap but we are not there yet. This isn't any sort of failure...it is a very difficult problem.
So if we were to increase revenue via commercial, entertainment and property interests etc., which is exactly what Levy is doing, would that revenue be used to pay off the loans quicker, increase our PSR ceiling, or neither of the above?
The current policy seems to be to spend all the increased revenue on wages and transfers. Paying off part of the loan wouldn't alter the covenant so that seems the best course of action. A new owner could pay the loans off or guarantee them in some other way.
The Athletic’s piece on Postecoglou today is pretty damning. Really does highlight the injuries are largely on him and not the medical team. Supposedly clashed with Geoff Scott before Scott’s departure over the handling of player fitness/ rehabilitation. Club knew/ believed we’d suffer from injuries last season but expected to improve this year yet it’s gotten worse. The van de Ven (and Romero) decision for Chelsea - something a number of us raised concerns at pre-KO - had reservations from the medical team. Reading through the article really does further my belief that we’re not gonna sign any/ many players this window, I think the club will be waiting for him to lose one or two more then sack him. It’s cheaper for them than to sign new players for someone they’ll then likely still sack soon after. The bloke seems horribly amateur, regardless of my positive view of him as being a decent bloke, I think he’s hands down one of, if not the worst manager of Levy’s tenure and that’s pretty wild to think about considering a few of the candidates. He’s destroying player’s fitness with his demands and choices, we simply have to get him gone soon otherwise we’re gonna be left with a team full of Lamela’s in my opinion, van de Ven especially is arguably already there.
