JD has signed a new 3 year contract according to SSN. Guess he won't be off in this transfer window now.
Mousers and Spanners across the Land will be disappointed. The Mousers had already dusted off their bunting and were getting ready to hold street parties all over Merseyside (dancing to Cilla Black records).
The worrying thing is he must have been given some assurances that he will get a lot of game time!! He is nearing 30 and surely needs to be playing, maybe this is just to ensure we can get top dollar for him if he does go.
I like Defoe, but he's just not suited to how we play now. I really don't get how successive managers appear to be missing this.
I like him even though I give him a hard time for his reading of the game...don't think he will be more than a sub in the league...but at his age he knows he won't find another 'home' quite like the Lane. Just ask Keane.
What has to be admired is Defoe's unstinting loyalty to the club. He obviously loves it at Spurs, and for that I'll take my hat off to him. On balance, I'd rather we kept the little fella, provided that he is content to remain useful as an impact sub, which I think he is greatly suited to. There are few strikers in our division that have such a natural scoring ability, which can be very useful, provided that it is carefully managed to take account of his blinding selfishness and inability to hold up the ball or to link play.
exactly HIAG......the lad is a yiddo and does not want to leave us...the grass is green at WHL for him.
He can't play lone striker, I'd swap him for Carroll any day. In what sense is he a Yiddo? AFAIK, he used to support Arsenal. The only yiddo in our squad is Jake, again AFAIK.
Fair enough SL - but it does my head in - all this yiddo stuff about JD AFAIK, he moans big-time when he doesn't get picked. He's a pro footballer, who wants to play - fair enough - is he Spurs - not that I know of.
His hero growing up was Ian Wright so I doubt he was originally a Yid, but he has grown into a yiddo so thats fine with me! Defoe is a top quality squad player for us and is a goalscorer, doesn't matter what quality the opposition, if you stick him on, he will cause problems. Its just when you rely on a player like defoe week in, week out that you see his flaws and realise he has his limitations, but as an impact player then am glad he is sticking around.
Yeah - I think this is just a straightforward, decent move for all parties. I'm not Defoe's greatest fan but, as HIAG has said, he's an instinctive finisher and someone who can score a goal and change a game in the blink of the eye. That is a very valuable quality for a team to have. I'm not sure many on here would put him in their strongest XI but as an impact sub there's few I'd rather have. So often it's easy to look at a bench and think "bar injuries, what does that player add as a possible sub?". Well for me it's obvious with JD - shots on target. Yes - that may be ALL he offers but sometimes that's all you're looking for. JD, like Dawson, might not be an out-and-out world-beater but having players like those two in the squad is essential for a club like Spurs to progress. It's not JD's fault that we still need another striker.
I don't think Defoe's shown amazing loyalty or grown into a yiddo. I think he's a very good professional footballer who wants to play football, and get paid exceedingly well for it, who likes it at Spurs, but apparently moans when he is isn't played. To me, him playing as a sole striker is to the detriment of the club. I don't blame him for that, I blame the manager.
Completely agree about this and meant to say it in my first post. Defoe having played at Spurs for as long as he has does not, per se, imply some great loyalty to or love for Spurs. Imagine if you had a job you really liked, were paid really well and lived in a city that you liked (and anyway no really better offers came along). You'd happily stay where you are, wouldn't you? If he'd repeatedly turned down offers to sign for United when we'd agreed a fee with them it would be different. When players (like Dawson, as another good example) stay with a club for a long time I think it's fair to say that they've "been a great servant" and that a genuine bond develops towards them from the fans (but is one-way). But don't take that as the sort of loyalty or love of the club that we as fans have - it's nothing of the sort I don't think.
