One month to go until our new season kicks off! Are you optimistic, pesimistic, or stuck on the halfway line fence? Only one major signing so far (Paulinho) but a fit Sandro and Kaboul will be like two new players and what players! It seems we will keep Bale, for another season at least. AVB has had a chance to bed in (not sure with who! ) Even without further transfers we should be stronger than last season, but then so will the opposition. Yes I know it's difficult without knowing who we might or might not bring in but the window closes after the season starts so looking at the squad as it stands, what do you think? My feeling right now is that we will do better this season than last, no doubt Chelsea will be a more effective force, Man U is a little unknown, and Arsenal we must expect to be stronger. If our ambitions are to be met then CL is a must. The pressure is on, but I think we can do it. COYS
I just want the season to begin. Ever since the internet the close season has been even worse than it used to be. Times were you'd read the transfer gossip in the paper(s) in the morning and you were done. Now it's 24/7 bullshit. Fairly optimistic, TBH (that's a first). We're in better shape than last year, basically. Only real danger is Bale getting injured. That would make me very, very sad and somewhat change my mood. This year's target is the same as the last few - finish above Arsenal. Everything else should follow from that.
Yeah, I feel pretty good, even if we don't get that new striker. Stick with the core we had last year, add Kaboul, Sandro and Paulinho, and we'll have a very formidable team. On the other hand, while we're stronger, there's every reason to believe our rivals will be stronger as well. The way of the world: the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. I think we may have just enough depth to avoid wrecking our stars through overplaying them. It may well come down to whether we have three big injury/exhaustion periods, as we had this year, or whether we can get it down to 1-2. I won't hope for 0.
At the moment I'm erring on the pessimistic side, we STILL haven't addressed the glaring problem in the squad. It cost us last season IMO and it will cost us again. As you say though, still got a month
Excited and nervous. Excited because Kaboul & Sandro will be back to add to an already strong core, Paulinho looks a class act and if Bale can repeat or better last season's form then **** me we'll be in for a treat. Nervous because we need a striker to really push on and even though it does seem the club is trying, we've been let down in the past.
As it stands today...pessimism about finishing higher than 5th. Unless we find a reliable forward, as last year it will be the difference of marginal failure again. I reserve the right to edit this post over the coming weeks!
Whilst I'm happy that we sorted the Paulino deal so early, it seems to be slow regarding any other transfer. With just under a month to go until the season starts, I thought there would be more reinforcements by now. The epic need for a striker has been apparent for sometime. IMO, this should have been taken care of as a priority. The days are passing by and the amount of preseason time is diminishing. Fingers crossed, there's lots happening as we speak. But, as others have said, we're used to being let down and transfers being left till the end of the window. Hopefully the statement made by Paulinho's early arrival is an indicator that this is no longer the case, but I'm not so sure just yet. IMO we still need another winger and more central creativity. Here's hoping that several deals will all be announced in a matter of days. - we need the squad together for the start of the season. We have our biggest rivals so early on and cannot afford to be unprepared. Otherwise it could well be deja vu again in may, where we've seen ourselves narrowly miss out on CL once again. As it stands, i predict 5th place. But that depends on how much we and others strengthen. I have a feeling Liverpool might cause a few surprises next season.
I don't think Liverpool will to be honest, especially if Suarez gets sold. Their signings so far, haven't really caught the eye in my opinon. Toure's passed his peak and Mignolet isn't an upgrade on Reina in my opinion (probably will be back up anyway unless Reina is sold?), Alberto was signed from Sevilla having only played a handful of games for them after a season on loan at Barca B and Aspas has only had one full season in La Liga. I think they'll be top 6/7 unless they invest in some proven talent.
Mignolet is better than the Reina of the last 2 seasons i think. I reckon Reina will be in Spain before the end of the summer. Aspas could be decent, hard to guage at this stage. The other forward is for the future. I don't think they've improved enough, at this stage, to be considered for top4. If Suarez goes then they have a lot of business to do.
I have spent some time at the training ground recently and the mood is very good and positive. For the first time in a long while, everyone seems to be pulling together and all in the right direction. This time last year there was a different mood. Some were still stunned by the sacking of Redknapp and understandably there were some staff apprehensive and uncertain about the future. It is no secret that AVB started off on the wrong foot with some people including a few senior players, but that is now in the past and as I say there is a real positive vibe about the place which wasn't there for a lot of last season. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes at he moment regarding sourcing the right type of player we need and certainly the appointment of Baldini has given these searches a new momentum which wasn't there before. The training ground looks fantastic in this weather, the players are being worked hard and are raring to go. Bring the new season on !!!
Very good news from Spurcat it's a big bonus to get some real inside news on the build up to the new season. Many thanks Spurcat.
This is the first season in three that going into the start of the season I do not think we will get into the top four. What I do not understand is that it is blantently obvious that we need two strikers and yet we are not willing to break the bank to sign them. Perhaps ourselves, much like Arsenal are going to find it very difficult to bring world class and/or very good strikers to the club regardless of a top four finish. In a champions league that is currently being dominated by overseas clubs and this is not likely to change anytime soon, while some clubs can offer champions league football, only 4 clubs in the world can really provide the oppertunity to win it. A handful more can offer the last stages, that will not be Spurs, Liverpool or Arsenal anytime in the near future. That means that we need to get the next best thing, but is the next best thing going to be good enough? It's painful to watch but most teams have it right when they just defend against us and hope to beat us at our own game. We only have Bale that in my opinion can create or open up a defense. Our strikers can't, they are toss, depressingly rubbish. Whilst I can appreciate the need to be sensible with money and get the right person, are we not paying people week in week out to find these targets? Surely, we should have 3-4 targets on our radar from our scouts who we can attempt to buy early on in the trasnfer windoe to gel in pre-season. My two targets would be Hernandez and now Dzeko. I would also like a bully up front, someone a bit more nasty like your Rooney's, Augero's, Suarez's. Not someone useless streak of piss who does a camp little dance when he scores.
At least Kyut had some pride in wearing the shirt and gave his all every game. I cannot see us getting a good striker. I do not think Benteke is the answer, but I would loved to be proved wrong.
Yeah, and he was still crap. If I was signed up by Spurs I would have pride in the shirt and give my all, but I'd still be pony
