It will be interesting to see how much of this is true..... http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896...sions-rise-as-tottenham-prepare-for-transfer-
"In fact, Villas-Boas has told his superiors that the club could be challenging for the title had he been delivered his summer targets, which included Leandro Damiao, Joao Moutinho and Hulk." Norwich would be challenging for the title if you gave them those players! It's a nice piece of fiction but it's no more than educated guesswork mixed with a bit of fantasy to make the writer seem ITK. Levy definitely backed 'Arry and Ramos/Comolli and Jol/Arnesen before them, the trouble with 'Arry was that he was expected after the initial period to be able to fund his new transfers by selling players. When you're buying expensive players like Palacios, Keane and Bassong and within 18 months they're becoming unwanted by the manager you do have to question how wise it is to leave the signings up to him. If Levy doesn't find good value in January then it's unlikely he'll spend but we all know that. I do however think one way or another AVB will be backed with funds for next season and if he isn't Levy has done a poor job.
Although that report doesn't contain any quotes or sources for the info, I do tend to agree with most of it, even if it's "fiction". If Levy doesn't do enough to secure AVB's old targets and/or new targets in Jan, the knock on affect might not be pretty. If we can strengthen correctly in Jan, it could be the difference between finishing 5th/6th/7th (who knows) or getting into the top 4 quite comfortably. 5th/6th/7th in AVB's first season would be a great achievement IMO, especially with all the changes to personnel and tactics. If Levy wants 4th place and above, he's got to give him what he needs. Waiting till the summer could be too late and other players such as Bale could well leave. if we're in the CL because we strengthened in Jan, it might mean that we keep those players and carry on building.
I agree with Roo's last point, despite any contract he may have recently signed, we might have a job keeping Bale if we don't get CL. I also think Sandro could easily attract attention too, he'll want to be playing top opposition next season in the run up to the WC, it might not be a problem for him though, its lucky Scolari is familiar with the PL.
Have always thought Sandro is a player that will have been scouted by clubs in italy & spain, plus sandro has a huge a mount of potential..the samba style isn't too far from his brute strength!
I think it's more likely to be the opposite for Sandro. He's not first choice as it is for Brazil and if we're giving him regular football in one of Europe's top leagues I can't see him itching to go to a bigger club and risk not playing regularly before a World Cup, particularly a home one. With Bale all we can do is guess. City and Chelsea should have new managers by the summer and will likely give them a good amount to spend. Whether they could put together a deal for Bale, I don't know but I think they'll get some big money crossing around Europe early on and if Barca or Real managed to sell a couple of players in that we could find they turn up the pressure. That's the worry anyway but it could very easily also be that none of that is the case. When Bale does leave us for Spain though I don't think it'll have anything to do with us not having CL football he'll want to be at a club that can win leagues and titles, not just finish top 4 so unless we put together one Hell of a squad and pay him a salary at the going World Class player rate before he decides to leave it'll just be up to him and Barca/Real getting their cash together.
Yes YV, I know Sandro is fighting for a place, and I just think it might be because he wasn't in the limelight of the CL under the previous Brazil coach/'s. Like I said Scolari has first hand knowledge of the PL, I'm not sure the previous ever worked outside Brazil.
I wasn't saying you didn't know that I was just justifying why I don't think he'll leave in the summer. Sandro was in and out of the side because Menezes wanted to use Ramires(and another guy who I forget) as DM options because they were better with the ball, willfully ignoring that Sandro gives them some much needed physical and defensive presence. Menezes tried to be too clever though and went for 0 strikers and players in positions that they don't suit. With Scolari he'll likely be going for players in positions that suit them which could help the likes of Sandro and Damiao who were seen as options in a plan b that the manager didn't want to use.
Sure, it would be great to have Damiao, Moutinho, Llorente, Willian, or some combination of - but, it almost certainly ain't going to happen. For me, strengthening our midfield is No 1, followed by a good striker. But please, no more last minute "bargains"
Yep, totally agree Boss Sandro will be thinking about the CL very soon. let's be honest, he's good enough to play in it. I can see him at AC milan, too. Bale will go to Spain, IMO. Again, we won't sell to either of those two prem clubs. I think it could be as soon as the summer if we don't make the CL. You're right though YV, I think he'll leave for Trophies, regardless. However, if we make the CL i think he'll delay that move. if we can make it for 2 or 3 years in a row, I think we could see him stay until he's about 27. (having just had a kid and seeing how tottenham build over a couple of years. bang on NSIS as you've alluded to, the last min deals are no good,especially in jan. it just means another 4 weeks without your transfer targets, when you've spent the last few months knowing who you need desperately. But that's business unfortunately. I can see why the bigger deals go right to the wire, but the "bargain deals" need sorting straight away.
Sick of hearing Damiao's name. I bet he will be a flop. If Levy doesn't back AVB....he's getting a 'Levy out' article from me on Feb 1st.
I actually think Damiao is over rated and not really much of an improvement (if any) on what we have. If Inter are going to ask for something like £20m+ for him, I'd rather look elsewhere to be honest. If Llorente is going to be available for around £7m in January, we'll be stupid not to go all out for him.
he's definitely overpriced, but does look like a good player. unfortunately, not one we can take a risk with, at that sort of money. I don't think I'd go so far as a "levy out" article,as Levy has done a hell of a lot. But I will certainly share your frustrations, Dona. Levy doesn't have any excuses this time round. he's managed to cover things up with reasons in the past. He got rid of a manager (yes he had his reasons) who got us into the CL once and was so close on 2 other occasions, but to bring someone else in for "the future of the club" and not support that person would make all these changes a complete waste of time. Agreed SOS. unfortunately, it looks like he might sign a contract elsewhere in Jan, but Bilbao will make him see out the remainder of his contract there, even if he rots on the bench. - which is what he is doing at the moment. If we can't secure him in Jan (to join us in jan) we've got to look elsewhere, IMO.
SOS - I've just read somewhere that Sneijder could be available for 8m. If this is correct, then I take back what I've said. - the source isn't reliable, but it backs up your theory yesterday of him being much cheaper than £20m. I'm really surprised at that. - It could be VDV part deux.... Unless you've written the report, that is?!
Haha, you've discovered my true profession of a fantastic, well informed journo mate, or should I say professional bullshitter lol. I've just one got of them feelings though that Sneijder COULD be tempted to join us and that Inter aren't in much of a position to expect a huge fee if they want rid. 6 months ago I'd have laughed and called anyone a WUM for saying we'd have a chance of getting Sneijder, now, with his recent circumstances at Inter and the fact we crave a proper CAM, I really think we have more of a chance than some may think. I'll still put Utd/ PSG as favourites to get him should he be sold but I think we're in with a decent shout if Levy and AVB can work their magic.
To be honest I haven't a clue, Roo mentioned that there's been contrasting reports/ info as to what he actually earns. If it is that much then we're ****ed. I was hoping it'd be around £120k-£150k and therefore Levy would be able to knock his basic down a bit but offer massive bonuses to make up for it (goal/ assist incentives etc - something quite a few "ITK's" have said that he's done before).
the lowest figures i've seen that he earns is 6mill. - but i've also seen that as £6m and 6mill euro's. so god knows. either way, it's £90-95k + p/w, at least. and that's being generous. To be honest, I'm expecting another window of players with fairly big transfer fees attached to them, where we could do our "hmmm....not sure if he's too expensive, so we won't buy him just yet" technique. - but we've done this too much already in recent seasons. The problem, is that the fees in the football transfer market have been "excessive" for about 3 or 4 years and it appears to be the norm now. Each window we're linked with some big moves, but never spend the money because we're "not sure" and put it off until the next one. -that process is repeated. - it's got to stop. We're constantly seeing players who we're linked with get better and better after we show interest but then never followed it through . How much longer do we do this for? There's always a risk that a fairly expensive player could be a failure, but our missed targets (such as willian and Moutinho) are showing us that we're watching the right people at least. - that should be enough reassurance for us to spend what's needed (with in reason) We either have to make a couple of moves and get who we want, or we'll be seeing the Swansea's, Everton's etc etc gain ground on us, (of which everton appear to be doing quite noticeably) as that's who our current net spend is more in line with, and has been for some time. - which makes complete sense to be fair! The top 2/3 is pretty much nailed on IMO. 1 team has a superb manager with an incredible track record. The other 2 will just spend and spend their way to a top 1/2/3 finish. That leaves 1 spot. With arsenal having declined in recent years and now selling all their best players without properly reinvesting, they've slipped into competition for this 4th spot too. There are just too many clubs fighting for 1 place and all these clubs are fairly level in terms of ability. Over the years, we've gradually improved but now is the time to show some real intent. why do we want to fight such a tough battle, where failing could result in a more detrimental effect such as players leaving, through lack of CL qualification again?, Alternatively, we could spend the money that makes the difference and find ourselves getting a nice £30mill bonus (which makes up for what we've spent) which pushes the club even further forward. Sometimes you've gotta take a bit of an educated risk to get the reward. Liverpool and Arsenal are 2 teams that have deteriorated a bit in recent seasons, but as a result it's left us with a massive opportunity. We seem to keep going sideways. Now is the time to take a massive leap and make ourselves different to the rest of the league table. (3rd downwards). Levy's dodged all of this like a cat with 9 lives in the last 3 seasons or so. Those lives are running out and he's got to take us forward.
