Lee Bradley’s View

So there it is; another question asked another emphatic answer from AVB and his band of merry men.  A nerve-wracking 97 minutes of football yesterday proved in many ways how far we have come this season even after such influential players left in the summer.  During the game it felt as though we were hanging on for large parts but after the adrenaline and resting heart rate dropped to acceptable levels (about the time MOTD2 appeared on telly) I was able to watch and analyse the game rationally and to be honest we were never really troubled by our deflated neighbours; all the possession they had seemed to flit around the halfway line and third quarter of the pitch.

In years gone by that game would have been reversed and we would have had the more possession and done most of the legwork only to be outdone by a couple of lapses in concentration but it seems the tide has turned and that corner has finally been negotiated, all that is left for us to do now is walk along the corridor and not trip up.! 

Going back to our amazing run of form, it is wholly unfair to attribute this to one player – namely Mr Bale, every player bar the lethargic Adebayor should take a bow for Spurs being third as they have all played their part.  Benny has come back from a period out and made the left back role his own again, Kyle Walker is starting to step up after a faltering second full season in a Spurs shirt. Hugo Lloris has been a revelation and will be up there with Bale for player of the season if he keeps up his form, Dembele continues to perform almost flawlessly after his seamless move from Fulham and Michael Dawson just epitomises what we are all about, I felt so proud watching him gee each player up individually and then take the huddle just before kick off yesterday.  Dawson’s actions as captain on the pitch and AVB’s intelligence and passions off it are a big reason why we are such a together team nowadays. You can see everyone plays for each other. 

So when lazy pundits and annoying opposition fans label us a one man team it really annoys me as we clearly are not. OK, we are about as “one man team” as Barcelona are and I don’t see anyone banding that label around. 

Anyway, keep up the good work Andre. You have given us Spurs fans the clearest hope yet that we are on the verge of something massive.

Well, after the last instalment, it seems I can now say “what a difference one or two wins makes”!

With the unceremonious boos now silent our season is well and truly under way. A less than convincing win against QPR but a win nonetheless, an extremely competent display against tough European opposition in the shape of Lazio in a game I thought we were very unlucky not to win convincingly, a good display by some of the younger members of the squad against Carlisle and of course the dramatic victory at Old Trafford have set us on our way towards a nice unbeaten run. Add to that the unlucky draw against Pana and a convincing win against a poor Villa and we are well and truly cooking on gas.

These results could not have come at a better time; now AVB has dispelled the huge pressure on him somewhat he can carry on his hands-on management of the players with a little less spotlight inspection. He is displaying the skills set we all crave in a manager – evolution. He has had the foresight to change things mid-match to make the right impact and in the end handled the Hugo Lloris situation better than I expected him to. I enjoy watching his reactions to goals and decisions during the match as you can see he is totally and utterly engrossed in play. This may be some sort of honeymoon period but long may it continue as I am really content with the squad we have at the moment even though we could probably do with one more striker.

I have to say though, one of the real stars for me so far has been Vertongen. He is slotting in like a dream and I can only reminisce what it would have been like if he and King would have been partners…Some of the tackles he has made so far have been outstanding and his attacking presence is an added extra, he has transformed the shape of the team since he has slotted on at Left back, giving Bale even more confidence to push forward, much as I love Benny I can see Vertongen making the position his own now and we will have a natural overlap on each wing then. So, as they say, while the sun is shining let’s make all the friggin’ hay we can!! 

Hopefully this is what we will be saying soon, as the wheels on the AVB bus look to have a couple of nuts loosening. It was all optimism and hope mixed with a tinge of “transitional period” at the very start of the season but the boo’s that seem to be resonating at half and full time at the last two games have some reflection on how the general Spurs public is feeling right now.

Hopefully this is what we will be saying soon, as the wheels on the AVB bus look to have a couple of nuts loosening. It was all optimism and hope mixed with a tinge of “transitional period” at the very start of the season but the boo’s that seem to be resonating at half and full time at the last two games have some reflection on how the general Spurs public is feeling right now.

Like a few fans I have a frightening figure bouncing round in my head that signified the last big change at the club – two points from eight games. Obviously the club is in much better shape now and has a lot more togetherness than under the Senor Ramos regime although Huddlestone could probably do with a few weeks locked in a room with him !

Looking at the cold hard facts – one loss and two draws – it’s not the end of the world by any means. I didn’t expect to get much change out of the result at St James’ Park on the first day and if you really want to make excuses, then you could say we have just played two teams that have new managers and are therefore unknown quantities. I think what remains to be seen is if Dempsey and co can make the difference now that Modric and VDV have departed.

All in all I am relatively happy with our transfer dealings this summer albeit most of them done a little too late on. I would have been ecstatic if we had completed the Moutinho move as that would have completely replaced Modric, but I think Dembele will go a long way towards replacing him and also chip in with a few more goals than the creative Croatian used to contribute.

The only thing riling me is the Dawson saga; this shouldn’t even be a saga !  Michael Dawson is a stalwart of the club and a player that can be counted on time and time again, once fit, to give blood for the cause. In my opinion he should be captain, why he is being told he is down the central defensive pecking order is beyond me as Gallas is starting to show the similar wobbly signs that Ledley did last season. Vertonghen looks to have settled in well so far and should retain his place but Dawson should be at least tested alongside him sooner rather than later.

I think a lot of what AVB tries to convey is lost in translation somewhat though; a perfect example being that he summed up Brad Freidel v Hugo Lloris for the number 1 spot by saying “Hugo is one for the future”….

Whatever has been lost in translation needs to be found though if we are to start making avenues into Champions League qualifying territory… 

Levy has impressed me the last few years by learning and evolving from mistakes he has made, he can now learn and evolve from the mistakes made by his counter-part at Chelsea by keeping the dressing room young and hungry for success and development whilst also having more “well-heeled” veterans such as Ledley King and Brad Friedel around rather than the archaic John Terry and Didier Drogba. There will be no Old Guard to rid at Tottenham.

From his time at Porto and then Chelsea it appears AVB favours a strict formation and unwavering tactics, this does not mean one dimensional football though as it is as fluid as it is strict and unwavering. He simply wants his team to attack with width and speed when they have the ball and then squeeze and play narrow when they don’t have the ball. He would have gone a long way to achieving this at Chelsea had he got his hands on the missing jigsaw piece – Luka Modric. Obviously it looks like we could be losing Modric but rumours are that we are signing the player that AVB first worked with at Porto; Moutinho, who in my opinion will bring everything that Modric brought to the table. With the securing of Bale’s services and hopefully a fit Lennon, these players will fit perfectly into AVB’s system. With Sandro and Moutinho in the middle and Parker sweeping up behind, then Lennon and Bale pushed up on the wings all we need is a striker in the middle that knows where the goal is … step up Defoe, your time to shine if ever there was one!

Whether the Vertonghen deals goes through remains to be seen but with Dawson on the mend and Kaboul going from strength to strength not to mention a great under study in Steven Caulker, the defence seems to be on the right track especially with full backs as regular as they come in BAE and Kyle Walker. Although Friedel is a calming influence on the defence I would like to see this position secured for the future, someone like Hugo Lloris or Michel Vorm.

Obviously the above paragraph only scratches the surface of our squad and AVB may see something in certain players in training that push them into the team.

All in all I get the impression that like me, a lot of Spurs fans are warming to AVB being appointed because it means we will have tactical nous. It IS all ‘ifs and buts’ at the moment but this could be the start of something big for us and like everything it may need time to bed in. I just hope he is given enough time to plump his pillow!.

Just remember Brian Clough was sacked by Derby after 44 days, then went to Forest and the rest they say is history….

I have set up an online petition regarding this and when enough people have joined it I will make the FA aware, please take a minute to join if you will:  (after reading this article of course!).

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fansopinionscount‏

I know that most people think it will be pointless but with the power of the internet and passionate football fans this could be big ….

~ Commonly known as Falcao.
~ He plays for River Plate and sometimes goes by the nickname El Tigre.
~ He has a goals to games ratio of 25 to 65 respectively.
~ He scored seven times in his first seven games as a pro before tearing a ligament from which he is fully recovered now.
~ Rumour has it that he could be persuaded to move for around 10 million.

Obviously we all have many many opinions on who said striker should be and Arshavin would be the logical partner for Pavlyuchenko as it looks like he may have a problem settling in, plus he doesn’t speak one word of English. Arshavin has already played with him on many occasions for the national side and in a way it would be a different version or Berbatov and Keane.

So will it be another ice cool Russian counterpart or some samba heat to melt the supporters hearts … who comes … YOU decide !!! (if only !!).

I still hanker for a bit of South American flair up front though …

As the start of the season moves ever nearer and transfer rumours get ever desperate, there seems to be two linked to Spurs that just won’t die, both equally likely to fail or go ahead.Obviously I’m talking about Berbatov’s long haul courting by Manchester United and Andrei Arshavin’s slave like imprisonment at Zenit St. Petersburg.  Both players are talented strikers capable of turning a game on it’s head and both players also have agents capable of selling ice to Eskimo’s !!

My trail of thoughts turn firstly to Berbatov’s behaviour and comments (regardless of whether they were made through him or his agent) since he was made aware of Man United’s interest in signing him just over a year ago; a fact backed up recently by a Martin Jol interview on Talksport where he candidly and openly stated that Berbatov has wanted to travel north since as early as the first transfer window opened the January after he signed for us.

It is fair to say that this speculation created unrest at the club, mainly with the supporters and board because you can’t argue the fact that Berbatov has still chipped in with enough assists and goals to propel Tottenham forward.  With this speculation on our star striker’s future hanging like a thunder cloud, along came the real strike of lightning with the comparatively quick and shocking move of a certain Irishman to a certain Scouse lot.  This changed Berbatov’s future at board level I believe as the club and Levy in particular realised that they had a reputation to think about.

Therefore I believe that the only way we will sell Berbatov is by securing the services of Arshavin.  Which brings me to my second trail of thought; if we get rid of one sulker in Berbatov, are we buying arguably a bigger sulker in Arshavin ?

Rewind to a little over two years ago to when we were signing Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen and you would have been hard pushed to link Andrei Arshavin to a European club of any standing let alone the likes of Barcelona.

Present day is a different matter all together with eye catching performances in the UEFA cup and Euro 2008 propelling Arshavin into the limelight and the work of an ambitious agent not afraid to over hype things and hey presto !  You have the now essential commodity for any successful club known as Andrei Arshavin.

The first rumblings of transfer rumours looked promising for a number of clubs from Barcelona to Juventus, detouring to Arsenal, Spurs and Man United.  Then things fell silent for a little while as Arshavin’s agent proclaimed the player’s ever lasting love for Barcelona but with the asking price hiked up daily by Zenit, the deal slipped away.  Enter Spurs …

Suddenly with Keane gone there was a hole to fill at the Lane. Rumours were rife that Daniel Levy had flown to Russia to secure both Arshavin and his international counter part Pavlyuchenko.  True or not, Arshavin’s agent suddenly started releasing little statements to the press that his client would be interested in moving and that Tottenham were the only club making a firm offer; which turned out to be a lot less than Zenit had wished for.  Talk was circulating that a gentleman’s agreement had been reached for Arshavin’s wages, rumoured to be the highest in Spurs’ history and all that had to be agreed was the fee between the clubs.  Spurs’ offered slightly higher, Zenit wanted slightly more and being a Russian club bankrolled by billionaires that make Abramovic look poor, they could pretty much do what they wanted as long as Arshavin was under contract.  So, out comes Arshavin’s agent with cries of “Slave !! Slave !!” followed by the player’s decision to sit out of a cup game against Sibir Novosibirsk supposedly on strike.

So here we are present day and despite their agent’s admirable efforts, both sulkers, er I mean strikers, still at their respective clubs, but for how long ?  The rest of the season, if my theory is correct, because the rules seem to be different in Russia with the owners of the club the possessing the power and not the players; which would mean no Arshavin to Spurs hence no Berbatov to Man United.

This could be a blessing in disguise though; if Arshavin is willing to get a transfer by playing hardball with Russian businessmen that take crap from no one then I dread to think what he would do should he play a blinder for us this coming season and then Barcelona/Real Madrid come calling next season.

I’ll take “sit out the odd friendly or two” Berbatov over that any day !!

The press conference of David Bentley was a very interesting affair indeed.

Scheduled for 10am to achieve maximum exposure, us Spurs fans with the internet at work or the lucky ones watching Sky Sports News from the comfort of their own homes waited to see what this ambitious young winger had to say.

Just past 10am in strolled Ramos with Bentley wearing this season’s dark strip but the customary facial hair nowhere to be seen (Ramos’ strict regime showing in him already ??).  He answered each question in a focused, calm manner and I can’t help but think he looked like one of your mates that had just signed for his boyhood club (deja vu ?!).  He said all the right things with regards to pushing on and performing for Spurs, being impressed with the rising fitness levels and brushing aside his history at Woolwich FC whilst generally creating a buzz with his fresh and enthusiastic approach to his new life at Tottenham.  From what he was saying he has quite a few mates that follow Tottenham and they helped urge him to sign but it was the fact that he stated “As soon as I knew Spurs were in for me I didn’t want to go anywhere else” that started my brain thinking …

Now David Bentley is known as a switched on, driven young man; you can tell by the way he conducts himself and the lessons he has learnt from the episode regarding the England Under-21s refusal.  He has stated on record quite a few times his desire to play regularly for the England first team and that Capello has said to the players that to secure a regular England place they need to be playing Champions League football, at the moment sadly we are not. Anyone looking at Bentley’s character in this respect would put him down for a move to Man Utd, Liverpool or Chelsea (Arse being out of the question as they sold him originally).

But for him to come out with the statement about always wanting to join Spurs either signals that none of the above made bids for him or that he has seen special times ahead for Spurs and wants to be join the party.  Also that he has seen the departure of Robbie Keane, noticed the “hero” tag is vacant and has carefully chosen the right words to say to impress and lay the foundations for him to take over where Robbie left.

I hope this is the case and not the former as I remember being blown away by some of Bentley’s goals last season.  His distribution is of a very high standard; I can see Bent & Co receiving a sterling service from Bentley and I get a strange feeling that he will take great pleasure in setting up/scoring against his old club down the road when the time comes.

Messiah or not I think he is an excellent addition to the squad and softens the blow somewhat of Robbie’s departure, of which this is the last time I am mentioning the Irishman.

Just a few of the feelings running through me the moment it flashed up on the screen “Liverpool complete Keane transfer”.  I sat and stared at the screen for a good few minutes at the picture of Keane’s grinning face, an almost knowing glint in his eye that his decision to leave would rip the heart out of most Spurs fans. Obviously there will be a great divide between indifference to his transfer and “the Sol thing – as in Judas”.
  
One thing that is different about Robbie to Sol though is that spurs fans have been on a journey with him. When he arrived after his nomadic years from the obscurity of the Midlands and the glamour of Serie A, there was an opinion floating around that he would last one season and then bugger off once more to lay his hat elsewhere but the passion and drive slowly developed along with each and every Spurs fan’s love and recognition of a fine player and it’s safe to say one that got finer with every season after all, Sol was just there and played well enough to be loved for a few years (even though he is probably the most hated figure at WHL now, it’s hard to swallow he was once the most adored).
  
So, will Robbie be hated, tolerated or applauded for his service ?? My thoughts are at first he will be hated, then he will be tolerated, followed by maybe not applause but acknowledgement of his services to the furtherment of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. It may take time and will also depend if Keano makes any silly comments or parting shots, which I really hope he doesn’t result to, but Robbie will still be a legend of the lane to some extent.
  
On to Levy, that’s another matter…He has shown he has no balls to back his words. Fergie has now seen Levy back down after an “apology” from Liverpool – so if I slap your grandmother in the face and then apologise, that makes it okay ??? – he will surely be  laughing at Levy’s case against him.
  
How Levy can come out with such rubbish as “I don’t regard it as a transfer deal – that is something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade – this is very much an enforced sale”.  Are we Tottenham Hotspur or Luton Town ?!?! All he had to say was NO, Robbie Keane’s not stupid as I have said previously, he had the adoration of the fans and he certainly wouldn’t of thrown that away. He must have known that Levy was going to be spineless over this deal.

Last week I wrote a letter to the Public Relations officer at Spurs addressed FAO Daniel Levy encouraging him to carry on his hard-line stance against Liverpool and Man Utd and how if he carried this on he would earn respect no end from the Spurs faithful for not giving in. I didn’t even get a reply for my efforts ….
  
All I can say is there better be a mighty fine signing to replace Keane otherwise there will be major trouble !!! 

With Ramos seemingly obsessed with bringing talented youngsters to White Hart Lane, I can see a few of a our present stars-in-waiting getting more than a fair chance this season, here’s a few lads to ponder …

Tomas Pekhart
Tall, quick, powerful striker that scored plenty of reserve and academy goals last season. Accompanied the first team squad on the Spanish Boot Camp trip and promptly scored a couple of goals in the first friendly. Gus Poyet has also spoken in the press about Pekhart breaking through into the first team ranks. Tomas is also held in high regard for his performances for the Czech National teams at under 19’s and 18’s.

Dorian Dervitte
Large imposing Centre Back bought from Lille in 2006.  Scores a few goals for such a large defensive player. Marked Teddy Sheringham in his first game for the reserves against West Ham a couple of years ago and ended up scoring a powerful header. Ruled out with a serious injury for a while but could make a few appearances this year due to our first team Centre Backs being quite injury prone at times.

Adel Taraabt
Very stylish player that was brought on last season when we needed a goal/ were cruising a couple of goals ahead. From the moment I saw this guy play for the first team I’ve thought his touch was special. When he first arrived at Spurs he was hailed as the “New Zidane”, now he has shaken that label from around his neck he should be able to start stamping his own style onto games more often this season, fans will fondly remember his bursting runs and long powerful shots forcing saves from Petr Cech and the like in the dying minutes of a few games last season.

Danny Rose
Extremely young and talented player, bought from Leeds in much the same manner as Lennon – under  protest from the Leeds Utd faithful … Will maybe go out on loan but will come back with the experience to maybe warm the bench after his one sitting against Sunderland last season and can maybe feature in an extended Carling Cup run.

Troy Archibald-Henville
Central Defender who improved significantly enough in last season’s reserves to earn the captain’s armband. I can imagine the papers having a field day with a name like that !!!.

So, the future’s bright … the future’s …

Reports from “The Newspapers” (I use this term loosely as lately they should be called the “make-things-up-for-the-good-of-ManUtd-and-Liverpool” papers) suggest that Juande Ramos is willing to sell Berbatov and Keane…If the papers read what Ramos ACTUALLY stated, they would realise that he was basically saying “I know that two of the top clubs in the world are after our players, I take this as a compliment but I am not worried because whatever happens, at the start of the season we will have a squad strong enough to mount a challenge for success, so chill out people !”Call it blind faith if you will but I have not heard a bad or wrong word from Ramos since he has been at the helm of our club.  I trust him completely and it feels slightly strange to say such a thing considering we’ve had Ossie and Christian Gross in recent times!!! You cannot fault his training methods so far, after all, it was our improved fitness levels that proved instrumental in beating Arsenal and Chelsea on the way to cup glory last season, Spurs teams of the past would have given up and been huffing and puffing round the pitch lobbing wasteful passes anything past the seventy minute mark.  I believe with the fitness levels reaching the levels they have we will not see many “defeats grabbed from the jaws of victory” this season that dogged us so badly last season.I always look forward to the start of a new season but especially this year as I have a certain inner calm and assurance with Ramos in charge.  I feel he is The Special One that walks the walk without talking too much of the talk.  He seems to advocate a style of play that will suit Spurs down to the ground and is reflected in his signings made – basically he plays a direct style of football with the full backs overlapping and getting balls in the box for a skilful lone striker to finish.  Recent(ish) acquisitions Hutton and Bale fit this system perfectly and with Berbatov or Bent on the end of these crosses and Robbie playing just behind the lone striker working his magic at breakneck speed we will see some impressive ball play I feel.  Not to mention that he has shored up the leaky defence in one foul swoop with Woody and Ledders creating a formidable defensive wall (Ledley will benefit from the Ramos regime I believe and will start to rediscover his form that helped take us to fifth for two seasons).

Briefly on the Keane saga, I have just watched a video of the Carling Cup Final, at the end when the players are walking around the pitch you can see the tears and passion flooding out of Keane’s face and for that moment he looks like any other success starved Spurs fan.  Is that really the actions of a player who supposedly wants to transfer to Liverpool.  I think not …

Fingers crossed anyway …

I have been thinking lately about the relevance of Damien Comolli’s position at Spurs…

Look at his Work History –

– Under 16 coach at Monaco for three years winning the State Championship (District Cup equivalent I suppose).
– Technical Director of Saint Etienne finishing 6th in league and Semi Finals of Coupe De France, where he is recognised for developing successful links with local amateur clubs.
– Then finally after completing a law degree he moved to London and spent several seasons searching for little boys for Arsene Wenger …

Not really an impressive enough CV to secure Director of Football at the fifth biggest football club in England me thinks …

My gripe is that we have effectively taken a scout from our bitterest rivals and made him Director of Football!! I recognise he has some skills in finding talented youngsters but some of the signings made last season bring his judgement into question – Bent to say the least…

At the end of the day, we now have a proper “Manager” in Juande Ramos in place, so let’s use him in this capacity – the capacity in which I’m sure he wants to be utilised.  That’s no disrespect to dear old Jol as he was always cut out to be a head coach, not a manager.

If you look at the two most successful clubs in the Premiership in the last 10 years, they have both effectively been run by a single figure-head pulling all the strings, making all the decisions.  No airy-fairy football players who retired at youth level to cloud their judgement.

I say let Ramos take the reins and guide us wherever he feels necessary, not some French Scout that has spent too much time with Arsene Wenger filling his head with delusions of power over Bagels, Garlic and candlelight in some dodgy West End bar.

So have some balls Levy and do the right thing !!!

Firstly, I would like to express my delight at us signing Bobby Zamora.

Bobby is a player I have wished for us to sign for the last year or so, I feel he could be a real legend for Spurs. He reminds me of Sir Les when he was in his prime at Newcastle and QPR, but with a touch more pace and a little more foot-eye coordination. I know it’s only lower league opposition (no disrespect) but 3 goals in 2 games is better than a kick up the back-side!.

The only thing left for us to ponder (apart from the possible capture of a midfield battler) is what formation GH will fall back on this year.

Personally, I would love to see Ziege play a left-midfield role instead of the wing-back duties we are used to seeing him perform.  Ziege could quite easily be a Beckham equal on the left side, his crossing a lot of the time is spot-on and I personally think he could be even better if he is allowed to spend the bulk of his time in the better half of the pitch.

The somersaulting Keane will obviously slot into the role left by Teddy (and I hope Robbie gets very dizzy from all the gymnastics he will perform this coming season!) and it will be a pick of who’s doing the business out of Postiga and Zamora obviously. I would think Postiga will get the nod to start with judging by his price tag.

Defence is a bit tricky, because as much as I hate to say it, I don’t think Richards will feature as regularly as hoped.  His back will be a problem a lot of us Spurs fans will wish just went away.  Maybe we can do a Sun-type voodoo chant and all put our hands on a picture of Deano’s back at the same time and wish for a cure!

I have heard all this talk about pushing Ledley into midfield to bolster incoming attacks, although he has played there before, I disagree with this, as Ledley has been somewhat of a rock at the back for us and it would take him a season  to adjust to the new position, I feel.  We would have a ‘Heskey’ scenario on our hands me thinks; Heskey is regularly played on the left of midfield and therefore doesn’t do what he was bought to do – score goals !  Anyway, this isn’t a Liverpool website so let’s get back to business….

As I am writing this, I hear rumbles on the internet that two clubs, believed to be SCBC and Tottenham, are putting serious enquiries to West Brom about Koumas. This is a great move, I still don’t know why we didn’t step in and steal him from Tranmere !  He takes a mean free kick, apart from the many other skills he possesses and can eventually take over from Redknapp, maybe sooner rather than later if Jamie’s toe flares up again !

This looks like the way forward at the moment; buy talented youngsters proven at lower league status and mix them  with the experience we have already.  The five-year plan is really happening !!!  Hopefully these great new buys will help steer us towards Europe at the end of the season and then we can bring in some even brighter stars to complement the team further.  Watch out Europe, HERE WE COME !!!!

To put it politely, I am getting sick and tired of hearing Mr. Levy quote “we want to bring quality players in but Glenn will need to be thrifty”.  Does this bloke live on planet earth or is he a resident of cloud cuckoo land – like a lot of us think ?

The words quality and thrifty only go together if you are Real Madrid or AC Milan; clubs that can entice world class players on Bosman rulings through ambition and success.  Sadly, at the moment, we are not in this bracket.

He must realise that you have to speculate to accumulate.  I know it went pear-shaped at Leeds, but they did go a little OTT on the spending.  All Daniel-san needs to do is spend £20mil tops in this close season to get a class goal machine, a couple of steely midfielders and someone to sit behind the front two, if we had a good season from this he could probably get away with snapping up a few good Bosman’s the next season to satisfy the fans.

I can almost hear the groans from fellow fans reading this article “yeah, what’s new ?!  We know this already !!”, but I have to express my feelings on this subject.  The way the board talks about money being tight you would think we were in the position of West Ham or Charlton !  Surely we can’t have money problems so deep that the best we can offer is a third of the asking price for players we are bidding for.

If we are not careful, we will become a club that no-one wants to come to and that no opposing manager has respect for.  Worst of all, we could be left behind by teams like Middlesbrough and SCBC, who, through spending millions on attractive players and buying dynamic youngsters/foreigners respectively, are likely to make significant progress soon – let’s face it, it’s only a matter of time before these teams find the right combination of strikers and midfielders to be consistent.

Even one great signing can make a difference, if we ended up signing someone like Morientes think of the optimism it would generate for the coming season.  I shudder to think what our last season would have been like without Keano.  I know it’s bad to rely on one player, but he acted as a catalyst for everyone for a while and actually made people think we could qualify for the promised land at one point.

If I can consistently manage Spurs into the top 5 each season on Championship Manager 3 (with a £15mil budget) then surely it’s not impossible to work towards this -REALISTICALLY- in real life !!!!