Can't see it happening mate. Peace usually means what he says, and he said that Berahino had been told he was going nowhere in this window.
Right so come on then guys, what's everyone's predictions for close of play tomorrow? Who goes and who joins? (First team only, I'm sure a number of youths will head out on loans as per usual). My predictions would be Lennon and Lamela both loaned out and Fazio to be sold to an Italian or Spanish side. Pato to join (apparently representatives from us are meeting with him now) with failed moves for Berahino, Wanyama and Witsel.
Lennon and Lamela out, a loan for a striker in. James Wilson has been thrown around now. We need to be helping utd develop their youngsters after all
Saw that Wilson link, wouldn't be opposed to it if A) The deal involves an option to purchase and B) He's not the only striker to join.
Just noticed Wolfsburg have spent that De Bruyne cash superbly, Draxler and Dante both joining, two top players.
Well, that wasn’t much of a forecast. I’ll say we move Lennon and Lamela, keep Fazio, buy a striker who hasn’t been mentioned and make no other big purchases, just one small one.
On the Lennon situation: Have I just got a very short memory or is it the case that we have an unusually large number of first-team players who are, or until recently have been, frozen out by the management? I mean Kaboul, Adebayor and Lennon is quite a lot and it does seem odd to me that it's an okay way to run a club to basically cut your nose to spite your face in this way. From a Levy point of view it's a massive waste of resources if nothing else. We don't know what went on but I can't help but wonder how serious it was and how ongoing it was and whether it really had to mean the total termination of those players' Spurs careers. Especially in the case of Lennon where his on-pitch attitude (unlike the other two perhaps) has always been exemplary. Not to mention that we could do with some pace, width and directness in our team... Is Poch falling out with and ending the Spurs careers of three first-teamers an unusually high number and unusually final outcome? I know all managers have to stamp their identity and authority on a team but have other Spurs managers hobbled a squad to this extent before due to an off-field clash or series of clashes? Can't think of a situation similar to it in recent times.
Add Capoue to that list. Having said that, we have to give the benefit of the doubt in that Adebayor has caused trouble wherever he's gone. The fact that Poch made him and Kaboul squad captains last year indicates to me that at least initially, he very much wanted them to be actively on board in moving the club forward. As for Kaboul, it can't have helped his cause that post-injury he's been awful. If you're going to rock the boat you need the skills to sit down and row it in your new direction, and he and Capoue seemed to lack those skills. Kaboul is finished as a player and we were lucky to get £5m for him, ruckus or no ruckus. Lennon is the only one of the four who baffles me. No history of rocking the boat, an exemplary attitude on the pitch as you say, he very much does have the skills to sit down and row and should be coming to the peak of a very respectable career. He's therefore the only one of the four who I think any of us would shed a tear over. For me, it's encouraging to see that MP doesn't feel shackled to play the big names and big earners; perhaps that more than anything has encouraged young players to want to move to WHL.
There were 3 or 4 first team players training with the youth squad when Ramos got sacked. Harry said that was unacceptable and that he would change it. I recall that none of them ever played for us again.... I would usually take the position that the manager's job is to get the best out of his squad and that this can't have happened in this case as the players are not playing. But if you are going to gain the respect of the squad there are some issues as a manager that you can't back down on. It would be interesting to know what they were in this case. I don't get the hero worship of Lennon though - the fact that we can't seem to sell him tells you all you need to know about how good he actually is. He is an exciting player to watch for sure but there is rarely an end product.
R I think worship is the wrong word. ..i think he is respected because A) he was one of the players who turned us from dross to a regular top 5 side B) he was an exciting player...his end product was not always good but he also worked really hard on his defensive duties for the benefit of the team C) he was part of a very exciting spurs team, helped win a cup, helped get into the CL etc. Fair enough not to pick him but after 9 yrs service and him being in the last yr of his contract we could just give him a free transfer...that's why I think he is being treated poorly
Yeah - I remember that about Harry coming in - who were they? Were they players who had as much first-team profile as the four mentioned? Was Bentley one of them? Think not. And Dos Santos was never exiled for the simple reason that he never got in the team in the first place. Ah - it's bugging me now. Sure - Lennon was our least good midfielder about three years ago. Nowadays - well would you rather see him or Lamela come on when we need a goal? Or maybe Dembele to really cause a tiring defence problems with his slowing down of play and safe passing? Perhaps a youngster fresh from the lower leagues?* For me Lennon is a barometer for how the squad's overall quality has dropped over the last 3/4 years. Never used to be one of our best players but now I think the team is crying out for someone like him. *Our best option right now I would say and maybe, *maybe* Alli's a better option than Lennon in that situation though I don't think he's a winger.
Lamela has gone to Marseille on loan according to various reports...thats all three of our record signings gone in just 2 yrs. Are any of the 7 bought that summer still with us?
I'm not sure that is a good idea - rewarding poor behaviour sets the wrong precedent particularly if the player is long serving - just mean any can get out of their contract by throwing a strop.
No-one's calling for him to be rewarded though PS. When Dawson left thousands of fans signed a petition demanding that he be granted a testimonial for his services. Lennon's been at the club just as long as he was yet no-one has made similar demands. Being summarily frozen out of the first team and having your shirt number given away is more than enough 'punishment' for whatever it is he's done. He's got one year left on his contract and clearly isn't in the manager's plans anyway. So treat him with a bit of dignity and let him go to the first bidder, irrespective of how low the bid is. Even if you don't rate him as a top player, surely you'd agree that having a player of his ability spend the rest of the season watering the pitch is a travesty?
Just Chadli and Eriksen if that happens. I said at the time that 7 players in would probably mean something like the addition of 2 first-team players who really add something to the team. But for all three of our record-breaking signings to have flopped so massively (though Soldado was unlucky) and all but two of them out of the club within about 2 years - well that's getting into the territory of "total balls-up" by pretty much anyone's standards. Baldini and the club had an absolute nightmare that summer. Some of the players weren't needed (Capoue) and some of them never looked frankly good enough (Chiriches, Paulinho, Lamela). The Beatles! More like Steps.
Not seeing those reports rcl, what are your sources? If true, that's 2 left out of the magnificent 7 and only 1 of them can be counted as a true 'success'. Utterly humiliating.
