Chelsea's net spend on wages and transfers was about £145m higher than ours, so to even stay within touching distance of them was quite a feat. That the difference virtually ended up being either Man Utd's capitulation after we gift-wrapped the title for them or that late free-kick that Bale missed, bar a bit of goal difference, is even more impressive. They can afford to have someone like Malouda rotting away in the stiffs to prove a point, whatever it might be, when we really can't.
Cause they're depressing? Good to hear more of his thought out views though. Wasn't long ago I didn't know how he felt about anything except that Spurs would lose at the weekend.
I used to post a lot more, but then had a little un, work changed the internet security and I was left with making sure I got my predictions in and that was about it. There were times I couldn't even manage that last season! Security, however has now been updated again, and I can get back onto not606 during the working day - whoo hoo (says I, everybody else groans...)
He sounds like the guy to whom the glass is not only half empty, but has a ****ing great hole in the bottom of it too
Personally I think Spurs' chance to overtake us was this season and you missed it. You've improved since the days when we used to celebrate st totteringham's day back in March and April, but to be honest, your best period for 15 years up against our weakest team for about 15 years has still not seen you overtake us. It now looks likely that we will spend some proper money this summer and bring in the players that our team has desperately needed. Both Chelsea and City will spend, that's a given, especially having new managers who will want to assert their own agenda and there's no way you're going to overhaul Utd, even without Fergie. I think a lot will depend on what Liverpool and Everton do in the summer, the latter look a bit rudderless at the moment and they could fall away, if Liverpool spend and keep Suarez, then they could be the ones knocking on the door of 4th, pushing you further down into a battle with Everton and West Brom. The Bale equation also will have a massive bearing on your fortunes next season.
This is more about your hopes than expectations as you have absolutley nothing to go on as yet. We will all see what happens but writing us off at this stage is premature.
Not so sure about United next season,moyes will have to spend some serious money,as he has an ageing squad,you had weakended team ,but so did we,could be interesting next season,looking forward to it already
We're always getting told we can't keep up with other teams and Liverpool will bounce back. If we keep all the players we want to over the summer then with a few shrewd signings we'll be challenging for top 4 again. There's always reasons you can find to doubt this, last season it was that Chelsea had spent big and wouldn't have to prioritise trophies over the league and Arsenal fans were confident because they couldn't start as badly as they did last summer. Considering we still did challenge for a top 4 spot until the final day after a summer of major upheaval, the speculation was wrong. I'll wait until we're seeing how the clubs are shaping up for next season before making any big statements.
I agree that it's all speculative at the moment. But I would say that an educated guess would say that it's likely that Arsenal, Chelsea and City will spend and strengthen their squads. Also I can't really see Moyes being simply told to get on with it without any financial backing either. He spent years trying to convince Bill Kenwright to splash some cash, now he's got the chance to actually do it.
As Spurf said, you're seeing what you want. There's nothing to say we won't spend, there's nothing to say anyone else's spending will put them beyond our reach. Next season is exciting because it's so unpredictable right now, we all know spending doesn't guarantee you success and upheaval in the summer is not ideal. You might think it's educated to guess based on one reason, money, but I can assure you if we get 72 points next season we will be there or there about again and at the moment there's no reason to believe we won't.
Equally, I could say that you're seeing what you want too. It is unpredictable to a point, but I would be surprised if Arsenal, Chelsea and City don't significantly strengthen their squads this summer. Spurs may also try and do so, and this isn't a wum, but without Champions League football, you're not going to be able to attract the same calibre of players.
Vertongen and Holtby,both class players have come without C/L football,so it's not as hard as people think to get top players without C/L football
As I put in an earlier post, this will be about who buys the most wisely. Not about who has the most money. Whoever buys the right pieces to complete their particular "puzzle" will be the most successful. In other words, it's not just about buying so called top players, it's about buying the "right" players for your team.
I agree with that, but ultimately it makes it a lot easier to get the players you need if you've got the money to do so. We should know as we've been trying to do it on the cheap for the last 8 years.
In our case, that will be down to Mr Lewis. I think we will be able to gauge this summer if the ambition is there, or not. Again, I don't just mean marquee signings, but the ones who will make us a better team.
