Toby signs for Spurs - official.

A piece of reflective realisim. Thank you.

 

Neither do I, which is why it is an open statement not making any judgement on what that approach is. Simply hope he doesn't get frustrated is all. Doesn't seem like the type, I agree.

 

Toby who?....Time to move on He's not playing for Saints so He is now irrelevant to me.

 

so dissapointed & frustrated want so much to move on from this debacale.

 

Doubt we've got too much to worry about. I reckon Ron knows what he signed up to. All Dutch clubs face this every season. So long as he's given the support he needs to rebuild, he'll be golden I reckon.

 

Yeah gonna play NFL games there as well.

 

Looks a bit like that massive potty Portsmouth never quite got round to building.

 

Close up it looks great tbh.

 

Although of course I would have loved Toby to have stayed (we'll almost certainly be weaker without him, likewise without Morgan), I'm not actually disappointed in any way.

It was perfectly obvious that Toby was far too good for us. Spurs are not Barcelona, but they're still bigger than us. Why on earth the likes of City and Utd didn't bid for him, I don't know. But no doubt they will in the future, so a nice little profit for Spurs in due course. But ultimately, because it's always been clear (at least to me) that Toby was too good for us (there were times last season were I was sat in my seat laughing at the fact that a CB of that class had been loaned to us), I have long since accepted that we wouldn't be getting him for another season.

(OK, at the end of the day maybe we were a whole lot closer to getting him than I imagined. But it doesn't change the fact that I accepted a long time ago that we would have to do without him going forward).

 

Did anyone get to the bottom of the fire incident, that destroyed the business that was blocking this rebuild?

 

There were reports that it was old faulty electrical wiring that caused it...remember reading that it was definitely not arson (the firm owners and spurs were both rumoured to be involved with dodgy behaviour )
The firm did not keep up with repairs (I think...not a fact) as they knew they were not going to remain there so did not want to waste money.

 

If I were Alderweireld, I would have waited until the last minute as well. Maybe Atletico Madrid would give him a starting spot. Or any number of teams might have gone after him. Maybe Koeman decides to leave Saints for some strange reason. A lot of things can happen-- including Spurs making a last second move. So I'm sure Saints tried to convince him to stay, but he wanted to keep his options open.

Could we have done something different? Perhaps. It's like the girlfriend who breaks up with you, and you go back and replay the mistake-- "Hey maybe I shouldn't have had 20 drinks at the bar and thrown up on her that one time." or "You know what? Maybe that Metallica concert wasn't the best idea for a birthday date."

But in the end, it's really just not clear why she broke up with you exactly, and maybe she doesn't even know the precise reason. You can demand an explanation, but you'll never get a good one. And it wouldn't make you feel better, any. "Well, in the end I think it might have been you were just a little too fat and dressed like a slob, and honestly I'm just a bit out of your league." "Great, now I know." Best just to let it go.

I think perhaps Alderweireld is just an enthusiastic guy, and we mistook that general enthusiasm for enthusiasm for specifically for Saints. He was happy here and looking forward to coming back. But now he's happy to be going to Spurs, too.

In the end, he really didn't owe us anything. And he played after having dislocated his shoulder when it would have been easy to beg off. So we can have no real complaints.

As I said earlier, at the start of the summer most of us figured Alderweireld would be off. It hurts more in a way that we came so close, but I would look at this more like we did well to nearly pulling off a massive coup rather than us having thrown a gift Alderweireld away.

 

Toby is a nice polite guy...he was never going to be rude or turn his back on a club like us that might turn out to be the only game in town. He came here because Ron talked him into it and we enjoyed a great season (though not saying that was just down to him). Doubt it, but he could turn out to be another player that we make look good.

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/sa..._transfer___what_has_happened_so_far/?ref=mac

Looking at the time line in this article, I am under the impression that after April 2015 we were never going to be given the opportunity to acquire Toby. I don't know anything about the legal niceties, I also am dubious that we will get any compensation, who / what is the authority that can actually impose on AM to pay up?

 

Thats my question about the player. ..he would not be the first player who is made to look fantastic by one team and pretty ordinary in another.
We had it with Robbie Keane...good with coventry and wolves...average at inter and leeds...fantastic at spurs, cack at liverpool, good at spurs...then over the hill at west ham celtic and villa while being fantastic for Eire.
Haven't seen enough of Toby A but hope it is not the case with him

 

He is a good defender with the right temperament ....and can play midfield.

 

EUFA or the courts (if we really want that route, but I doubt it). Leeds have been threatened with a block on transfers because they have failed to pay compensation to a player they refused to sign after contracts were signed.

 

Very much agree with this. Our CB pairing has been Fonte + 1 for some time now and it won't be THAT long before Fonte needs replacing. I think we should definitely be looking to get someone in who has the potential to settle in for a decent length stay at St Mary's

 

From a rough count Fonte has had 8 defensive partners since he arrived in 2010 (Toby, Gardos, Lovren, Yoshi, Jos, Seaborne, Jaidi and Martin). I can't see Yoshi or Gardos moving on anytime soon, but neither are they in the same class as Fonte or Toby.