Agree with all that. However one issue we have is that Lennon and Bale do not have much like for like cover and one of our priorities must be to sign another winger so we don't have to change shape when Lennon or Bale are injured/rested.
we are in a bit of an awkward place arent we? i think if we get Vertognen(sp) then we should say that he is our marquee signing. we cant sign the big boys for severel reasons..status,trophies and wages. yet i like most agree that when we hear talk about the likes of Fletcher from wolves..we think...'is this the type of calibre we can sign?' maybe we will have to realise that we cant sign individuals anymore that are bigged up by fans,media,youtube etc etc...but we have to become shrewd and start to sign TEAM players..players that want to fight..want the shirt...fuk it if we finish top 4 or or not but they bust a gut....i think our strategy has to change in order to tackle the rise of the oil barons,sheiks,murderers etc .. there is more than one way to suceed..one way to win....lesser clubs than us(talent wise) have shown us this. we need some good scouts..i dont know if we have good scoutrs or if we just have scouts..but im envious of Newcastle and thier talent spotting..im happy to finish 5th and unravel some talent like the Toon did..i think they had a better season than us in the grand scheme of things. i got alot of time for Vertognen he seems keen to wear the shirt..despite no CL footy and the wage cap.....he will get my backing. maybe we have realised somwhere that we need a TEAM and not individuals who sell shirts and get people saying 'ooooh'....and with that in mind Fletcher would be a welcome addition...he does have fighting qualities..worth 10 Bentleys and 15 Jenas's and about 25 GDS's in my book.
We don't "DO" early signings, unfortunately. It's more like watching one of our numerous erratic performances. High drama, and nerve tingling tension right until the end!
that is from a fans perspective NSIS...but i do wonder what the thinking of the hierachy is with last minute signings? maybe they have the same strategy i have when i want to buy easter eggs..i go after easter when everyone else has shopped..then i get what is left for a very cheap price..yeh i didnt get the egg when i wanted it or needed it..however i got an egg..and very cheap at that. bothers me.
Or when we do make early signings, we make them early - Modric in April, Sandro in March...but as for the rest of them, we consider signing somebody before lunchtime on Transfer Deadline Day to be an early deal and, frankly, a bit of a risk as there's some negotiation that can still be done.
really like this Dona, you've hit the nail on the head with most of this, IMO. just to elaborate..I still think there's marquee sigings like Vertonghen out there for the same money though, who would want to wear the shirt. No, course we can't afford the "big boys" as you so rightly put it, but there is still other quality players out there that have better ability than some of the players previously mentioned. I don't think the players we're linked with are out of our league at all. Leandro is a possibility, just because of our connection with Inter, if nothing else. Vertonghen is looking for a step up to the prem league, and he's looked at us for what we are. - a good footballing side who are getting better and better, finishing top 4 or 5 in recent seasons. same goes for Remy, he's playing in france. Then there's Toivonen at a reported 7 mill, Luuk De Jong at 14 mill euro's and the list goes on. - i think these players (most of them) are shrewd signings considering today's market. they might cost a bit (not excessive), but hey.. that's the transfer market. it just annoys me that some of this talent from overseas could be a real asset to us, but yet we don't generally take any risk in this department. But we're happy to blow 15 million on Bentley for example. or on the other hand, we're happy to just settle for the "steady eddie" prem squad members. (which there's nothing wrong with, for back up, but we never seek the real improvements.) We've just gotta take a few risks like Newcastle did. - great example by the way Dona Cisse, ben arfa, Ba, to name 3. why can't we do that with some of the player I've mentioned above? if Toivonen really is 7 mill, **** it. he's 6"3 and scores 1 in 2. - great scoring record and his size could help us add a new dimension to our game. sod it, take a risk at that sort of money. it baffles me at times.
spot on..of course there is loads of talent out there..infact there are more very good players in the world than there are so called world beaters or hyped up to be so..but we dont seem to go for them..they are seen as too much of a risk..insted we latch onto players that are looking to move to Real,United,Chelsea etc ...because we think that they must be good to warrant attention from these clubs...BUT me and you and other spurs fans know full well we will never ever get them....yet the club seems happy enough to tell the fans that 'we tried' to sign them..as if that is enough to lift our spirits...yes its great that Levy tries to negotiate as good as my mum does when she wants something from the market...but i,for one im quite sick of us being linked to the likes of Hazard,Hulk etc..knowing full well that we wont get them...as if! there we are trying to sign a player by trying to work our way around the wage cap yet a club like Chelsea just comes and offers and takes..most times. i would much rather stop looking silly and re adjust the strategy...thats why i said Vertognen is our marquee signing..or Remy would be one aswell as you mentioned...this is our calibre for now and it will do me..we wont get better standards than what these offer when it comes to spending money....after him is a category known as divas..we need to steer clear..get some scouts that are actually progressive in talent spotting and get on with it..Levy like saving money...for me that is the best way to do it..and i think most Spurs fans are not gullable..we would recognise this approach and support it..we are not glory hunters...we just get pissed off with the promise of many a false dawn.
There are strong rumours we are in talks with 2 new scouts - 1 is a specialist in South America and the other I'm not sure.
good to hear that SL..i think we really got to be intelligent about this...there is talent out there but im afraid our talent spotters are not good enough....for gods sake we have Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand coaching half our team...yes good footballers but coaches?.....really? id rather pay more and hire someone like Romario (i dont know his current status) to have a word with the strikers and someone like Edgar Davids or the Bergkamps of the years gone by(i know hes at Ajax) to teach our midfielders something..and id bring in Beckham ever single MLS break to teach our wingers how to cross...if that isnt forward thinking i dont know what is..we should use peoples experiences for the good of our team..insted of making Spurs an 'old boys' clique and pension plan. i think we need to wake up from our little coma and pioneer a new way of thinking..so what if we miss out on this and that for a few more years...ive only ever witnessed the odd trophy scattered here and there in my 31 years of support anyway...but id love to say that my club is revolutionary and takes the challenge on in new unique ways...insted of only getting the old boys in.
Our current South American scout must be racking up the air miles as it is, given he's run the rule over players from the Brazilian, Argentine and Ecuadorian leagues. As for coaches, does anyone know which of our coaches is in charge - or at least should be in charge - of set piece training? It's got to be one of Jordan or Bond, yet we're utterly hapless in this regard.
The situation regarding scouts is that during his first summer (2009) as our manager, Harry spent much of his time reorganising and restructuring our scouting network. As a result of this, we currently have 1 full time scout based in Spain to cover Europe and another full timer based in South America. It is intended to appoint an additional scout to work full time in both Europe and South America. Without naming names on here, these guys will be reporting to a man who is a previous manager of our club and has also managed Luton Town, and who spends some of his private time driving very slowly past Kings Cross railway station. Closer to home, we have Kevin Bond's father John, as our scout based in the north-west and we have another of Harry's mates, Ken Brown working for us covering the East Anglian area.
Yes, it does, doesn't it. And of course the reality is that it is 'tight knit'. I was going to elaborate further in my initial post, but the telephone interrupted me, which was probably a blessing. However, we do have this strange situation where we have scouts working for us who also work for other clubs. For example, we have a scout who scouts for both Spurs and Fulham because he has always worked for Spurs, yet he knows Jol from his time with us, so he passes info/recommendations onto both clubs.
yes like i suggested..the old boys clique. instead of employing people who will actually do a job for us..thats what i meant when i said get in old greats like Romario,Bergkamps or whoever..im not saying they are good or they would come but i dont think Tim and Les are good coaches..probably their first jobs actually..Ajax are renowned for producing good youth talent and they hire the likes of Bergkamp..we get Tim. say what you want but for me that states the ambitions of our club..hence my lengthy rants above!
I am not Sherwood's biggest fan, and was I was very noisy in my doubts over his appointment. But, there is no doubt he is very very popular with everyone at Spurs and is doing an excellent job in his current role. Les ferdinand is also highly thought of, but he does only work part-time for us, although I believe his hours will increase next season.
