Defender I've never heard of from Portugal? Well he can't be any worse than Rocha, surely.... surely???
The rumours all seem to suggest that we've been offered him, rather than pursued him. Given his ability to play on either side, perhaps he was seen as some sort of short-term solution, if we were to sell Naughton? The only other right-back we've been linked with, as far as I can see, is Micah Richards, who's supposedly available on the cheap (£7m) from City. Last year of his contract and he doesn't want to sign another one there, hardly having played at all last season. I'd have thought that he'd want to move to a club where he'd be in pole position for their first XI, though.
Defoe from Portsmouth, Crouch from Portsmouth, Kaboul from Portsmouth, Kranjcar from Portsmouth. Carvalho to Chelsea and Real Madrid, Reina to Napoli. I'm sure there are others too, these just spring to mind. As for Fellaini, he quite clearly didn't want him because he let the release clause in his contract expire(which he would've known about). It was either sign him or no one from the way things panned out.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, but you ended up two places above us, and had we been able to keep our manager and core of the squad together, without the internal strife we currently have, with the average age being early twenties, and a couple of smart additions - who's to say that we couldn't have at the very least 'done an Everton'? Obviously that situation hasn't come to pass, but I'd suggest it wasn't quite as far-fetched as you seem to be suggesting.....
The problem was always going to be the same one that we experience, though: Keeping it all together. As you've seen first hand, once you succeed in pushing to the verge of European football, those that already have it will try to pick off your greatest assets. The same is true of us and the Champions League. It leads to a vicious circle of inconsistency, instability and frustration, creating a glass ceiling for clubs to repeatedly bash their heads on. Getting there or thereabouts is possible. Staying there is far, far more difficult. Finances dictate that, unfortunately.
Falque has been linked with a permanent move to Genoa. Doubt he'll cost much, but it'd probably be good for all involved if he moved on.
Why would you be argumentative? you're allowed a different opinion on the spurs board, doesn't mean you're looking for an argument! The reason it was far fetched was because you underestimated how big a step it is to keep hold of your players and gradually move up the league to compete with teams that have greater clout and in a better place to challenge. Don't get me wrong I have lots of admiration for your youth system and would love to see us have a youth system that you posses, and for that I respect saints but for some reason your fans view us as being a club that doesn't deserve the status of being much bigger and you believed we where within reach. In saying that, I still believe you can match teams like Newcastle if you manage to make key signings but the worry for you must be that if Koeman is a failure then you could end up being relegated if it all goes pear shaped but the positives are you have a top class academy and that could be your saving grace as from what I've been reading you have another batch of young players coming through that could be ready for the first team.
That's a touch condescending imo. They could well have caught us this season if theyd kept the squad together imo.
He is behaving worse than carrick and as bad as berbatov, keane, modric and bale at the end...I hope he comes no where near our club...he should shut the **** up and do his talking behind closed doors and if the club have broken an agreement to sell him he should take legal action...if he comes to us and does well how long before he demands a move to his boyhood club, like the other classless ****ers we have had in the past?
On a seperate note I see pool have signed a player and loaned him straight out...shouldn't be allowed in my opinion...if you buy a player he shoukd be in your squad, if he doesn't qualify due to nationality rules etc. then you shouldn't be allowed to buy
**** manager with Plan A but no plan B, C and an inability to see past the same 12-13 players each game. And I am not one of those that think Spurs are 'only marginally ahead' of where we are/were. Would take decades to get anywhere near Spurs fanbase. Another 10 year rise like Chelsea will never happen again. Man City were much much bigger than we are now when they got taken over as well. Can't see another team coming from nowhere to dominate again especially with FFP.
Is Schneiderlin at 25 really any better than Bentaleb at 20? Bentaleb looked very capable when he played in teams that beat, among others, Schneiderlin's Saints (I think...), Capello's Russia, and went to penalties with the Netherlands. Or are we valuing Schneiderlin because Saints are the flavor of the week in the transfer market and we don't want to go home empty handed (and, of course, because he played for Poch).
Unfortunately, it's the food chain syndrome. As we are a bigger club, we nick players from you. A few years later clubs like Real come and nick them from us. Unfair!? Possibly, but that's the way it works nowadays.
Not argumentative at all mate, it's a valid point. What I'll say in our defence though is that last season was quite possibly one of the worst Spurs fans have seen in a long, long while. Despite finishing in a respectable 6th position, the performances we witnessed were shocking for the most part and the hammerings we took were unacceptable for a team with aspirations of becoming a top 4 side. Deep down we knew Bale's loss would've hit hard and that our 7 new boys would've needed time to adapt but even some of our existing players were woeful. I'm actually amazed we finished where we did because performance-wise, it was bottom half worthy and that's probably being kind. That said, our squad is ridiculously talented and also relatively young, I'd say around half or two thirds of our squad are under 25 and I don't think it was managed properly at all by both AVB and Tim. I'm hoping that now having a proper manager with valid footballing philosophies, we MAY just see a much better Spurs side this season and with a bit of luck give a good push for a top 4 spot again. A few of your fans said that while Poch done well for you, he didn't have a Plan B, to be fair that's still a good upgrade for us, our previous two didn't even have a Plan A for the most part.
Not that I'm discrediting Schneiderlin as a player but I was actually going to pick up on the topic of DM's. Around about 5 or 6 years ago, a player like Schneiderlin would've been well sort after as the DM role really started to become a pivotal role in modern day football and finding a good DM with strong positional sense, discipline and great tackling attributes was hard. Nowadays I think you'd have to say that there are a number of DM's around the world that are all arguably as good as one another. I was on the Soton board a couple days back and a fan mentioned about Schneiderlin being up there statistically with the league's best in terms of tackles made, interceptions, distance covered and so on which they felt made him worth the quoted £27m, it's a credible stat to have but I don't think it separates him above other DM's and I definitely wouldn't rate him at a near £30m price tag. A DM is only truly tested when on the back foot and while some DM's may not have had the same high stats as Schneiderlin, it doesn't mean they're no better than him, just may result in having had less to do. Admittedly I've only see Schneiderlin from clips on MOTD and if I catch the odd Soton game and from what I've seen, I wouldn't rate him above Capoue and Sandro (whom the latter had amazing stats prior to his injury spells, his were also amongst those in Europe, not just the Prem), that's not saying any are better or worse but for the quoted price Soton are asking for and the fact I feel we're adequately covered in the DM role, I'd rather pass up the opportunity to sign him, especially for the price. Though if Poch wants him I'll back his judgement. Makelele for me was the original DM of modern football, he made the position such a sought after role but as time's gone on, I'd say around 70% of the good/ top clubs in Europe possess a solid enough defensive minded midfielder who could equally have for's and against's as to who's better.
One Tweet and he's worse than Berbatov and Modric? You can't be serious! The club don't necessarily have to break a written clause to piss a player off. We know that with Modric, who thought he had an agreement with Levy, but that was a scenario that was forseeable and warranted a clause(not finishing in the CL spots). At Southampton the man who was driving their ambitious project was forced out, their manager has left and they've sold half their team then that's not forseeable and as he only signed a new contract a year previous it's not like he's able to go demanding new deals with clauses in now. On top of that it appears that he was going to be allowed to move too, only to have the door shut in his face and they didn't even tell him privately, they did it in the media. That's insulting for anyone.
Boss, i think you are doing Southampton a disservice. They are basically better than we were pre-2005-ish. They perhaps don't have the fame worldwide (which helps bringing in foreigners i think) but their youth system is lightyears better than ours. We're not even on the same planet there. Even if they had kept Poch and the squad i don't think they would have caught us this season as that little gap is a big one to cross, but in 2, 3, 4 years i wouldn't be so sure. Personally i hope they keep Morgan and JRod, not because i don't want them (i'd deffo take JRod) but what is happening to their squad this season is heartbreaking for the fans i'd imagine
