Players In (permanent) Friedel, Parker Players In (loan) Adebayor, Yago Falque Players Out (permanent) Woodgate, Palacios, Crouch, Hutton, Keane, O'Hara Players Out (loan) Caulker, Naughton, Jenas, Bentley, Khumalo Squad Goalkeepers: Gomes, Friedel, Cudicini Defenders: Dawson, King, Gallas, Kaboul, Bassong, Rose, Assou-Ekotto, Corluka, Walker Midfielders: Pienaar, Modric, Huddlestone, Lennon, Kranjcar, Bale, Sandro, Parker, Van der Vaart, Townsend, Livermore, Falque Forwards: Defoe, Pavlyuchenko, Adebayor, Giovani. Many may complain about our lack of signings this window compared to our departures, but it is easy to forget that we have a number of young players coming through who are highly capable – Walker, Rose, Livermore, Townsend. Financially we've made a decent profit without any cost to the strength of the squad and our wage bill will in all likelihood be greatly reduced with some big name departures, so we can expect there to be money to spend if necessary in January. The midfield and the attack look like an improvement on last year which to me signals a successful transfer window. It’s a shame we couldn’t get Cahill in, but not the end of the world, and we’ve kept hold of Modric for another season and reinforced with Parker to replace the frankly useless Palacios and Jenas. I’m also hopeful that our forgotten friend Giovani dos Santos may finally step up to the plate this season, possibly as some actual competition for Lennon who has been poor recently. I'm happy with the state of our squad for now, but a top striker and top centre-back have to be the priorities for the next window. And Harry has at least proved one thing to everyone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fulsHPpBr1U
Don't forget Ceballos from Barcelona and Coulibaly from Siena were signed as well. We will get in the top 6 I think but no way top 4 now but then I think to get top 4 we would of had to risk financial ruin.
What was the deal with the late Kaka link? was there any truth behind it - I think Harry's respons to it was somethnig like "it wasn't an option"?
Not sure, think Madrid would of let him go on loan because we aren't in the CL but maybe Kaka didn't fancy it.
Disappointed overall. Still think we are two to three players short. A solid, proven leader in central defence was a must for me. Plus another striker, as I can't see Defoe, Pav and Adebayor being suffice to deliver the goals, not taking Van Der Vaart into the equation. I also think we need a right winger as Lennon's game is becoming one dimensional and he never seems to learn to improve of late. On the plus side, some dead wood out the door which is good but Jenas is still officially clinging onto Spurs as our player whilst he's out on loan for a season. The guys like a bad smell that won't go away! I still wonder what effect keeping Modric will have on us. I hope we don't regret trying to force him to stay, as much as we need him. Hopefully Scott Parker will prove an engine in midfield. We'll see.
Agreed. In the mid term I think we can count on a new stadium to boost our buying power and salary levels, (using the Goons as a model of what to do and maybe what not to do, whilst we pay for it) but I think the best we can do right now is keep in the game, ie the top 6. The Champions League has to be our goal but we need to make a sustained effort to stay in. Financially that is beyond us right now. As for the window, Cahill would have been nice, but I am, on the whole, reasonably happy.
We certainly can't afford any bad injuries in the striker dept. Whilst I'm happy to see Crouch go, I'd be happier if we had signed a top level permenant replacement. Also, given the frequency with which our CB's are injured, we should maybe have tried harder for Cahill.
Top four still on - the squad is not far off Chelsea's about equal to Liverpool's and better than Arsenal's I think. Utd and City out of reach for now, but our young players have lots of potential.
I think with Cahill Bolton wanted a cash only deal, where Levy was offering cash + player(s). Or he didn't offer enough cash- as we have seen it doesn't matter who is doing the asking terms are terms.
Interesting that this is only 24 players (+ 4 u-21) - suggests a signing fell through at the last minute? Not Cahill as Bassong was going if he signed
Unfortunately, we still have Bentley on our books. He'll only ever leave this club on a free, and it can't come soon enough.
i'm just a bit bemused and tend to agree with Flaspur. the dead wood needed shifting, we all knew this and we've done a great job of getting rid of the "fringe players". But There's been to much focus on this. Yes, we've probably saved us £300,000k-400,000 a week in wages, and we also sold roughly £25 mill of players and spend £5mill, but we haven't significantly strengthened like our competitors. Regardless of what went out, we haven't spent any money for some time and we've needed to fork out a little bit. If adebayor kicks up a stink or gets injured we're back to square 1. we then have no holding striker and become even shorter in that department now crouch has gone. Defoe has been hot and cold and now has a lot to prove, Pav is useless and VDV is very injury prone. - also not what i'd class as a "striker". so for me, our striker issues haven't really been looked at seriously. Coulibaly is 16 and he cannot be relied up on, unless the club can categorically confirm he's the next rooney. - i doubt it. on the upside, scott parker is a great addition and was a good bit of business. I just don't feel we've done anything to take us forward this season. the squad has been trimmed, which we've needed. but as flaspur says, we've actually left ourselves a little short. Yes, we have youngsters coming through, but I do not believe we have the quality to push on. For me this raises alarms over Modric, Bale etc over their future. - even as soon as january if we're not sat in a tidy league position. Sides like sunderland and stoke have strengthened, so have liverpool. Arsenal pulled off some good signings last minute as well. 5th could be a real struggle this season, especially with the EL. the competition for 6th will also prove to be a bigger competition. we desperately needed a stable CB. if the reported price for Cahill was £15mill, it's alot yes. but why didnt we think about this before deadline day so the price wouldn't be through the roof or switched targets maybe? why didn't we make a move for SOMEONE like Bryan Ruiz? that's potentially a great bit of business for Fulham. No one knows what he'll be like when he joins the prem, but he is scoring goals. using him as an example, he'd have provided some competition for lennon and would have been a useful striker, potentially. Suarez didn't turn out to be too bad did he? we have shifted so much in wages and made some cash. i just cant believe there was no one out there we could have used that money for. - I can't wait to see harry's reasons for this.
Agree with SpursRoo, we desperately need another centre half. Cahill would have been fantastic, but we didn't really seem to be chasing anybody else when that deal fell through. Remember too that we're probably going to lose Bassong and BAE to the African Cup of Nations in Jan/Feb so unless we bring in some reinforcements in January we're looking a bit thin in defence. :0(
Can't help but think that we missed out on that one. In my head I imagine it fell through cos they were trying to boost his price up by saying something like "He's scoring every week and deserves to cost more" then Levy replied with "Yeah, but your league is easy to score in, so hes probably just quite average" then they got offended and pulled out.
Jeez.. I didn't think of that! well january is going to result in inflated prices. surely that can't be Levy's tactic. not him of all people? i just can't imagine that they've taken the "that'll do for now, lets wait and see what happens in Jan" tactic. Levy'sa businessman, surely he's not leaving us open like that, knowing what january's like!
The Mirror says Levy told Crouch he wasn't guaranteed to be in the squad - who else could fill the last place (Alnwick?)
If we serious about Damiao then January is when we are liking to get him as Inter wanted him to finish the season before he left anyway...
I think many people are losing sight of the fact that we already had a good squad, in fact the best Spurs squad for many many years. In some peoples eyes they seem to have become second rate overnight. To hang on on to all our top players despite the preditory instincts of our competitors is an achievment in itself. Add to that a few signings that will improve us and in IMO we have come through this period with something to look forward to. The habits of the consumer society are influencing many peoples view i.e. new is better. Gone is the Crouch option and this alone means we will not so easily resort to the simple option of cutting out an expensively aquired midfield. Much more important than the signings or lack of them is how this team can come together get their collective heads right and play to their full potential. If they do that we will not be far off.
Unfortunately, Solid, fact is that in a world where "strikers" over 30, such as Bambi, are being sold for £10mm+ then you can see why they want just a bit more for what is, supposedly, one of the hottest young striking prospects around. They'll probably get it, too. Although, I doubt it will be from us.
