I disagree it'd be a truly crap ref that hands out 2 bookings in 10 seconds to the same player especially for dissent. All officials seem to ignore Suarez sarcastically clapping or giving a thumbs up when decisions go against him, if you play by the letter of the law he could have been sent of twice over just against us so why shouldn't everyone else be afforded a bit of leeway too.
Foy is a truly crap ref though, YV! Luckily he was so poor that he missed Bale's clapping altogether, as he was too busy scribbling away in his notebook.
Apparently Shakhtar's Fernandinho has told reporters that he'll get them through to the knock out stages of the CL, but then he wants a move to the Premier League. He's another shakthar player who's also caught my eye. He's a defensive midfielder with very impressive goal record from that position. - would him and Sandro work well together, with Dembele pushing further forward? just an option I've thought of, having missed Moutinho. - Then again, AVB was pictured at the game last night between PSG and Porto, so the Moutinho deal may well still be on... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Luiz_Rosa Sky are saying that Van Wolfswinkel is close to signing a new deal at Sporting Lisbon, so I guess he's close to being ruled out, too.
Anyone think we have any hope of signing Huntelaar/Llorente in January/next summer. Both are reported to be available, but I get the feeling that they are out of our range.
Nah, too expensive probably. Levy was interested in both a little while ago though so maybe the wages won't be so bad. I think other teams will be in for them though and I'd question the logic of signing another striker who would expect to start though, especially when we should be looking to sign another creative player as a priority.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/8324553/? River Plate ace Carlos Andres Sanchez is flattered by reported interest in him from Tottenham. The Premier League outfit are reported to have been watching the Uruguayan winger, who moved to Argentina last summer. "I heard the rumour about Tottenham," said Sanchez. "Immediately everyone started to send me messages and phoned me asking if it was true. I am very happy that a team like that is interested in me, we'll see in the future what happens." Sanchez revealed that his boyhood idols were another English side, adding: "I once said that I had the dream of playing at Manchester United, but I am happy about the interest of Tottenham." anyone heard of him? it seems bizarre. 28 already...not been snapped up by a european club. hmmmm. Hiag, you're going to hate him. - He played for Liverpool. but not as you might think... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Andrés_Sánchez
o please talkshite... what next? http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...eports-tottenham-bid-inter-milan-star-187228? "Tottenham could launch a shock January bid for Wesley Sneijder, according to reports in Italy. The Inter Milan midfielder is thought to be available in January after refusing to sign a new contract on reduced terms - and a number of clubs are monitoring the situation. Sneijder has not played for Inter since September, having missed two months due to injury and then not being selected after refusing to sign his new deal. And although Paris Saint Germain are the favourites to sign the Dutchman, Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Tottenham are shock outsiders to sign him. Andre Villas-Boas has been looking for an attacking midfielder after Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart were sold in the summer, with only Mousa Dembele arriving. Manchester United were thought to be candidates for Sneijder's signature but their interest has cooled, leaving PSG and Spurs to fight it out for the 28-year-old."
Despite Talkshit are known for their... ****talk, I reckon there could be truth in the Sneijder rumours. Not saying we'll get him but end of the day Sneijder hasn't played for Inter for about a month now and does seem to be on his way out so I'd like to think IF we did register some interest, his best made (Rafa) could stick in a good word for us and then who knows. He probably will end up at either Utd/ City/ PSG but I can definitely see AVB asking Levy to have a go, he'd be a brilliant signing for us, he'll know joining us that he'll be one of the big fish, sometimes players like that... Fingers crossed an' all that lol.
SOS, I admire your optimism, but there is no way we'll get Wesley Sneijder. He must be what.... £20-25 mill at least? (and contracted until 2015) He's already 28, so we'll lose a lot when we want to sell him. (can't see Levy sanctioning this) How on earth would we pay his wages? Unfortunately, even though his current situation isn't good, i don't think we've got "VDV Part Deux" heading our way.
I doubt he'll be worth that much, Inter clearly don't favour him due to his recent injury problems and failure to agree a new deal so to ask for £20m+ would be silly by all accounts. Plus, if what Talksport/ Gazetta are saying is correct and that Inter want him to sign a new deal on reduced terms, that to me suggests there may be some financial problems at Inter OR that they clearly don't rate him enough for him to warrant his current salary (not sure what it is). We're already shelling out shed loads for Ade and Bale's wages, as I said I don't know what Wesley earns but if Levy wants AVB to succeed he needs to back him, the money's there, if he really trusts AVB and wants to move forward we have to either find a gem for a measley fee OR bring in genuine quality and Sneijder is definitely genuine quality. Sell on fee shouldn't be taken into account with players of his quality, he could win us points single handedly and get us into a league position where his fee could easily be recovered in bonuses.
SOS, you're saying that Sneijder is genuine quality, but with that comes a fee. someone who's got the money will pay £20 mill for him, and that club will be able to pay the wages. I have looked for what he's earning, but there's all sorts online. £6mill a year seems to be the lowest and best case scenario, which is £115k p/w. - we won't pay that. He's a world class midfielder who will be snapped up. Whether it's financial problems or not, someone will pay 20mill for him as he's got 3 years left and he's at his prime in terms of his age. We've never spend £20mill on a player. Hypothetically, let's say he's not £20m and he's worth £15m (incredibly unlikely IMO) - that's just under the most we've ever spent. I cannot see Levy spending even £15m on a player who is 29 in 6 months time.
That's more like it. IF levy can get over the wages hurdle. - That, I could see happening. I actually think that's more likely than us getting Moutinho. Then we'd end up saying goodbye to WS at the end of the season, when someone else sees how good he's been for us and snaps him up.
You're putting the £20m figure as if it's a given though mate, if Inter are in a bit of financial bother then I highly doubt they're in a position to hold clubs ransom especially when the player isn't getting any game time, there's nothing that warrants him being worth £20m at the moment from Inter's and buying clubs perspectives. Of course clubs will pay that sort of figure but there's been no indication that that is the amount demanded. We're supposedly paying Ade £100k a week and Bale £90k, so I don't think £115k is entirely out of reach, even if it would be doubtful, though I have read somewhere before Levy does offer great bonuses. We paid £12m-£15m for Keano to come back when he was 28/29, so I don't see why we can't shell out a bit more (if needed) for a player who we can all agree on is top class and plays in a position that hasn't been filled. Like I said initially though it's highly unlikely we'll get him anyway, whether Inter want £2m or £20m, chances are he'll join a title chasing team should he leave, I just don't think we're fully out of contention to get him, stranger things have happened.
The only reason I'm using that figure, is because there were reports in the summer over a £24-25 mill price tag. I've used £20m, as I can't see that the value will have changed that much. Even if it has, there will be interested parties who will be in a bidding war over the player, even if Inter aren't holding him to ransom. Keane might have cost £12-15m when we bought him back, but he was sold for £20m, so Levy had already made a profit on him. We'll see how it pans out. But I think not being in the CL with no guarantee of it in the future, will mean we will have next to no chance with WS, before even getting to the fee/wages stage of negotiations.
