We could ship out Defoe but where's the loyalty in that? We gave him a new contract less than 6 months ago and he's been playing well for the most part, given our history with him and how positively he speaks about the club I'd consider it very unfair to bin him off. I don't want us to become a club where the mad chairman hires and fires at will, where valued players who have given a lot to the club are discarded easily. As for Ade, like Dempsey and Sig we only signed him recently and there's definitely the scope for him to improve. Who would even want him anyway? We were the only ones in for him in the summer so why would someone want to pay his big wages now that he's been off the boil for half a season? I think it's a bit simplistic to think that we could just sell him quickly in the last week of the window, especially with him being away, and I'm not sure pissing him off is a good idea since we could end up keeping him and needing him. Do you really think one top striker solves all of our problems and guarantees us top 4? It's a lot of money and no matter how you look at it, spending the big money before you get it is a gamble and forgets that one reason we've kept together a squad capable of challenging is because we've been spending more on wages which then has to limit our transfer spending. Personally I'd rather the £30 odd mill we can expect if we qualify for the CL is first and foremost spent on giving our key players contracts that players of their calibre can get at other clubs. Walcott's on £100k per week and I doubt that's gone unnoticed by some of our players and their agents. After that we can look to tweaking and improving the squad. It's not the way most fans will see it which I understand but it helps to understand that Levy isn't purposely holding us back. I would like to think AVB will get properly backed in the summer but I think for now we'll have to settle for some last minute signings looking to get good players at cheap prices.
All you say makes sense YV but football is not a sensible game these days. I'm not sure loyalty means much except for the fans. I am hanging my argument on the basis that one top striker WOULD make all the difference. We have seen for three or four seasons numerous chances made and squandered. I think you can see the difference at Man U with just one new striker. Some of us can remember the difference Klinsmann made when he arrived. Yes it's catch22 as NSIS has said either way is a gamble. The present team is good enough for top 4 but then 3 others can say the same, make that 5. You are no doubt more up to speed than I am when it comes to wages, I am just looking at it as a fan, that's easier. < All other considerations aside one top striker will make all the difference.
As a fan I too would love us to sign some big players but I do have more sympathy forLevy's position than most which I think is the difference. I also, as said, like to support a team that shows loyalty to players and sticks with them rather than having a revolving door and also like to see us as a more prudent, well run club. We've ended up with a load of deadwood, that we're still clearing, by buying players and then replacing them a few months later without selling them. I do agree partially with what you're saying though, to improve our current side I think we have to get top players and that usually involves spending big money. I'd rather we didn't go for any reasonably priced sort of impulse buys to patch up our squad for the rest of the season but I suspect that's the way Levy might go. Having said that I still wouldn't mind signing Odemwingie for another option upfront although I suspect QPR have already been talking to him about a big contract which is why he's so desperate to leave for a worse side currently so I guess he might not be such a good deal.
Yes I too understand that Levy is doing a good job and it's not easy. There is much complaining about the last minute deals but would we have been able to sign VDV if not for that. I also appreciate that the first 11 that I am praising has been assembled under Levy's watch. I think Harry at one point mentioned how difficult it was to sign a top striker so I understand the problem. I am not having a go at Levy it's more frustration at knowing how close we are to challenging for the top. Yes the final step is the most difficult but we live in hope that at some point in the not too distant future Levy will surprise us again.
If we are going to spend >£20m on one player (which is the only possible way to get someone better than Adebayor) then Levy needs to know that the player is worth it. I'm not sure he would have trusted Harry's judgment on this even if he had the cash. Perhaps he trusts AVB or someone else at the club?
Not solely as the question implies, because the only problem it would solve is more goals, not the other problems, do you really think it wouldn't? These stats we keep seeing after games of us out-shooting our opponents week in week in out says creating isn't that much of a problem and is one that can wait till summer, but right now we need to maximise these missed opportunities. You aired a previous concern "We're supposedly paying him around £80k a week and if you think we can afford to have an £80k a week striker sitting on the bench as well as buying a replacement before he's even gone then I don't know what to say." ...we've been doing that with Jenas and Bentley for years, a bit more won't hurt! In seriousness, getting one in isn't the issue, we all agree we need one, can we wait till summer is what the problem is. Its a gamble, I see the sense in what you say, but I also see the sense in doing everything possible to make sure its us and not the Goons in the CL next season, Bale's continuing appearance in a Spurs shirt depends on it I think. Its a roll of the dice either way, a new man is not guaranteed to hit the ground running I'd agree, nor is decent form of the two we've got. The latter is the worse of the two evils for me, but fully understand others view being the other way round.
I wouldn't question Harry's ability to spot a player I think that is one of his strengths but maybe Levy did not see Harry as long term and that would have inhibited his desire to splash the cash. AVB has been presented to us as the man to take this club forward over the next few years, if that is the case then success of some kind is needed to cement Levy's confidence and encourage him to spend. Top 4 would do it, so back to catch22.
I'm not convinced that we do need to bring someone in over the strikers that we already have. They're both good players and score a decent number of goals, but they don't work as a pairing, so we need to avoid starting them both together. Maybe Adebayor could perform to a higher standard if he's paired with Dempsey? If not, then maybe Sigurdsson, Mason or even Pritchard? It worked out for him with van der Vaart, so perhaps that's more the kind of player that we should be looking to play him with? Not a first choice partnership for every league game, of course, but if we can progress in the cups then we'll need to rotate a bit.
Yes they are both good and score decent amounts but we need more than that. We need a striker who puts the fear into the opposition every time he gets near the ball. The way Bale and Lennon do, we need a striker who is on a par with those two. A striker who is always first on the team sheet. Step up Ade the ability is there.
Perhaps in the summer Spurf, but now's an awful time to try and sign one. Bale and Lennon are two good examples of what we should be looking for. We signed them as youngsters with massive potential, which is the only way that we can really hope to get hold of exceptional talents.
One way is forward and upwards. " To Dare, is to do" Our club is built on a tradition of seizing the moment . Not this puritan austere approach of big money investment. Levy's Cromwellian fiscal regime means at best we will tread water.
To Dare IS To Do indeed Sidney and the quote from Bill Nich at the top of this page, have a look Levy, remind yourself. Glory that's what we want not a nice balance sheet.
Who are these mystery strikers that are going to guarantee getting us more goals? I feel like everyone else seems to know there are these players available(albeit at a high price) and also are interested and aren't already earning more than we'd offer. I meant that we can't afford in terms of the principle of it. I think expensive mistakes like Bentley have held us back in the past and now we've finally got rid of most of them I don't think we should be writing off Ade so quickly and with it £4mill a year until we rid ourselves of him. As our recent loss shows, we're probably running a fine line as it is, let alone spending £20/30mill plus an extra £5mill in wages say?
Spurf, I'm with you on this. I get the the fact we can't compete with teams above us on transfer fees and wages, but there's a fine line between spending quite a few £mills on average "lets hope for the best" and the top quality. We have quality everywhere else on the pitch and now need to make that move for a 20+ goal a season striker. If negredo is the man, then spot on. But concerned he could be another bent or Pav. It's so easy to spend 15 mill on a striker and not get enough, when the extra 5 mill gets you something special. If we're not going to to that. We need to find the really young 20 odd year old talent that could be something special. The 15mill spends can be such a waste of money. - that's the fine line for me.
That's all well and good Spurf - but neither do we want to follow the likes of Leeds and bankrupt the club in an unrealistic pursuit of the Holy Grail. A nice Balance Sheet should not be the be-all and end-all - but finding the right balance should be.
All right, all right but my balance is that it's a sad state of affairs when football fans spend so much time talking 'money' that, as fans, is not our problem that's Levy's. We didn't ask these money men to buy our clubs but since they have then us fans need to remind them what this is all about. Levy is a good enough business man not to let us get into the Leeds situation he's already proved that. I don't need to remind him about that but I do need to remind him that this is the entertainment business with a subtle difference, the fans are loyal and will be here after he has gone. So as fans we need to shout with one huge voice: Get us a bloody decent striker Levy! When do want him? NOW!
I find this stance quite ridiculous Roo. To say that 15 million gets you an average striker while 20 million gets you a 'special' striker is a load of nonsense, in reality the difference is miniscule, and there is no guarantee that this works out to be true whatsoever. Look at Carroll/Robinho (30 mill+), and then compare to Michu/ Hernandez (2 and 8 mill). I don't think you'll find many people who would argue that the former have been more successful in the prem than the latter. Finding good strikers is and always will be about doing proper scouting, research and taking time. Not making impulse purchases of big name players. The price you pay for a player is totally dependent on circumstance, there is really no such thing as a 15mill player and a 20mill player.
Agree 100%. Prices contain so many factors (years on contract, selling club's position, buying club's position, time of year, how much the player wants to leave, not to mention the massive factor of the subjective nature of the assessment of a footballer's worth - to us, at the time, playing with Berbatov, Keane really was worth 20m. But to anyone else he was not going to be worth anything like that. If players went for transfer fees that seemed commensurate with their ability and what they offer a team 90% of the time then the idea of "a 20m player" and a "15m player" might have legs. But I'm not sure if transfer fee and value to team correspond very often at all. I'm pretty sure that most transfers fail. (i.e. the player does not do the job and/or proves to have been over-priced). Berbatov was 12m wasn't he? That's the sort of fee we can afford, it seems. And I think that it is just as likely (almost) that you'll get a very decent striker for that amount as if you paid twice that price (or even a fraction of it in the case of Michu or Adebayor). It's a very, very inexact science this footballer-pricing lark. And websites that have lists of player's transfer-fee worth are pretty laughable - they basically mistake real life for a computer game. And I personally believe that there must be more Berbatovs out there - players playing for clubs who pay less than Spurs and for whom 12m is a huge windfall. Oh - and who want to come to us. And who are not subject to interest from bigger/wealthier teams than Spurs. Somewhere. Surely.
A good striker can cost anything 2 to 40 million . Your chances tend to increase the more you spend of a great player doing well than been lucky with a cheap punt. I think what most are saying is that if we want the next level then we have to show purpose. For about 4 seasons we have always been 2 players away of a challenging and actually winning something but Levy, Lewis never and repeat never address this. There is no room for excuses anymore, we all have been talking about it for years. It is not about this transfer window but many before. We have given Levy many chances and he is failing , and as Spurf has said I don't give a toss about Billionaires greedy bank balances. Enic have controlled many clubs but have only showed cold Thatcherite economics in there running. Are we stupid to think they will treat us any better than the hundreds of company's they control ?
