Spurs 2018/19

[SquishyMcSquish]

Who is saying otherwise? No-one that I can see.

You suggested that the fact we have continuity would be an advantage, when generally if you spend money, you improve. There are obvious exceptions, but nearly all teams who keep improving the squad season after season do better than those who rest on their laurels. Squad continuity is only really an issue if you bring in a silly amount of players every window ... and I don't think there is much danger of that. I've previously seen/spoken to other Spurs fans who are convinced we'll have the advantage because unlike other teams we aren't signing many players every window, when really it will likely lead to us being caught up by clubs who want to improve every summer.

I'm not happy with this window because we haven't signed 2-3 players that can really come in and challenge for a spot. We've signed nobody and there is 3 weeks to go. We've only seriously been linked with Grealish who is potential, not somebody who can be expected to come in and start. It's not good enough and it's not what Pochettino asked for at the start of the window, not at all. Feels like we're still where we were always at, spending when we sell, but this is not what the club was saying before the summer.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Glad we seem to be getting players tied down.

Been a really disappointing summer, though. After promises of spending, calls to bring in new players early so they could get in a good pre-season etc, we have done absolutely nothing. The only team below us in the top 4 have massively improved by bringing in Allison, Fabinho, Keita and Shaqiri. They were only 2 points behind us last year.

City stomped all over the league last season and even they have made more moves to improve ffs. United fans are annoyed at their summer yet have brought in Dalot and Fred, and again they were better than us last season. Teams outside the top 4 (Chelsea, Arsenal) are also spending money and we weren't too far ahead of the former.

Our only solid link has been to Jack Grealish, all summer. It's an absolute joke, we have clear deficiencies in the squad and so far have done nothing to fix them. Is it to be last minute panic buys (Sissoko) all over again when Levy had had an entire window? I don't believe for a second Pocchetino is happy.

I get it, it's hard to buy players in a World Cup summer. Other clubs have managed it though, clubs with less to worry about than us. There's no excuses for not bringing in a single player thus far. We look set to completely waste a strong core by failing to add to it and being content with semi-final knockouts, top 4 and 'competing' in the CL.

On current course I can see us missing out on top four, which would be a disaster. Likes of Kane and Eriksen would surely consider moving on, and fairly so. The club seems content as long as we're making the CL yet this uncompetitive attitude will lead us to dropping out to other sides more eager to improve. We are resting on our laurels and unless we quickly change a very disappointing window, look set for another season of the same old dissapointments.

Most annoying thing is this squad is so close to competing, just needs a couple of key improvements and it'll be ready. So frustrating.

Lucas Moura looked decent, but what are we expecting here? He's a Brazilian Aaron Lennon. Grealish is nice but he will only add depth and potential and is far from a sure thing, you can't rely on these sort of players to come in and make a difference consistently. Sure, you might strike gold with an Alli but it won't work every time. Who are the one or two other players? Unless they're players ready to come in and make a real difference it's not enough. We were promised proper reinforcements, Poch was promised proper money to spend. Where is it? Going on Grealish?

Aurier isn't very good. At best he'll be a decent backup for Trippier, who will clearly be our first choice right back. Again, him slightly improving isn't going to have a big impact on our season. He was disastrous at times, got bored of watching him take a terrible touch then lunge in to make up for it. Massive improvement is needed if he's to be an asset rather than a liability.

You're basically counting on everyone coming back and immediately being useful. Winks will need time and is still in need of a lot of time to develop, he's not ready to come in and start. Lamela is Lamela, he'll run around a lot but mostly be frustrating. Decent squad players but again, they aren't going to win us anything, sorry but Winks coming back is not going to be like a new signing. We'll also have new injuries coming in and having an impact, you're looking at a perfect start to the season where all our injured players return and no more injuries pop up.

This is just blind hope. You could say the same about every other top club. Of course a youngster could come in and make a difference, probably not though .. same with United, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all bring in the odd player regularly (Rashford, TAA, Iwobi etc) from the youth team, but it doesn't happen often. Again, you can't count on your youth players to make the difference, it would be incredibly risky to rely on them.

What difference will this make, really? Our Wembley record ended up being pretty good. This is just adjustment to another stadium which may take time, it's not immediately going to feel like home. It's not going to be WHL straight away, sure we'll get a boost at first but it's not a magical wonder super stadium which will make our team better than it is.

We lose Alderweireld and Dembele and only make the changes you suggested and we're absolutely fecked. We badly need to replace the latter with a proper central midfielder (spend some money, Levy) and obviously would need to sign a decent replacement for the former. We also need more competition in the forward positions but seem to have wasted our time sniffing after Martial. I'd even suggest we need to sign a decent backup for Lloris, Vorm isn't cutting it anymore and Lloris was incredibly dodgy at times last year, he needs a bit of competition. Clearly too comfortable, at the moment.

Overall, I think you're looking at the situation with rose tinted glasses. Most of the stuff you said would be true for other clubs (players returning, youth potential, new signings bedded in etc) - look at United with Sanchez, Liverpool with Van Djik etc. Except they're also fixing their issues by spending money on genuine quality, whereas we are sitting still and doing absolutely nothing. It's not good enough after what was promised and I guarantee Pochettino is furious with the current situation.

Seems like the all conquering Levy, the best businessman in the entire universe, also has his issues and is annoying plenty of fans. Red Cafe is full of moaners atm who think that every club is better than us during this summer dealings, and they thinks it’s great that a few Spurs players signed new contract, but it’s great to read the bigger picture. Current players signing new contracts is the bare minimum of what fans should expect.
I’m sure Poch is furious that the promises he was made have been broken also.
Levy is having to deal with paying the £400m stadium loans back, so it could be a testing few years.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Lucas Moura looked decent, but what are we expecting here? He's a Brazilian Aaron Lennon. Grealish is nice but he will only add depth and potential and is far from a sure thing, you can't rely on these sort of players to come in and make a difference consistently. Sure, you might strike gold with an Alli but it won't work every time. Who are the one or two other players? Unless they're players ready to come in and make a real difference it's not enough. We were promised proper reinforcements, Poch was promised proper money to spend. Where is it? Going on Grealish?

Aurier isn't very good. At best he'll be a decent backup for Trippier, who will clearly be our first choice right back. Again, him slightly improving isn't going to have a big impact on our season. He was disastrous at times, got bored of watching him take a terrible touch then lunge in to make up for it. Massive improvement is needed if he's to be an asset rather than a liability.

You're basically counting on everyone coming back and immediately being useful. Winks will need time and is still in need of a lot of time to develop, he's not ready to come in and start. Lamela is Lamela, he'll run around a lot but mostly be frustrating. Decent squad players but again, they aren't going to win us anything, sorry but Winks coming back is not going to be like a new signing. We'll also have new injuries coming in and having an impact, you're looking at a perfect start to the season where all our injured players return and no more injuries pop up.

This is just blind hope. You could say the same about every other top club. Of course a youngster could come in and make a difference, probably not though .. same with United, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all bring in the odd player regularly (Rashford, TAA, Iwobi etc) from the youth team, but it doesn't happen often. Again, you can't count on your youth players to make the difference, it would be incredibly risky to rely on them.

What difference will this make, really? Our Wembley record ended up being pretty good. This is just adjustment to another stadium which may take time, it's not immediately going to feel like home. It's not going to be WHL straight away, sure we'll get a boost at first but it's not a magical wonder super stadium which will make our team better than it is.

We lose Alderweireld and Dembele and only make the changes you suggested and we're absolutely fecked. We badly need to replace the latter with a proper central midfielder (spend some money, Levy) and obviously would need to sign a decent replacement for the former. We also need more competition in the forward positions but seem to have wasted our time sniffing after Martial. I'd even suggest we need to sign a decent backup for Lloris, Vorm isn't cutting it anymore and Lloris was incredibly dodgy at times last year, he needs a bit of competition. Clearly too comfortable, at the moment.

Overall, I think you're looking at the situation with rose tinted glasses. Most of the stuff you said would be true for other clubs (players returning, youth potential, new signings bedded in etc) - look at United with Sanchez, Liverpool with Van Djik etc. Except they're also fixing their issues by spending money on genuine quality, whereas we are sitting still and doing absolutely nothing. It's not good enough after what was promised and I guarantee Pochettino is furious with the current situation.

Regarding Moura, I'm expecting that he'll have at least as much impact this season as many of the new players arriving at rival clubs. He has 34 caps for Brazil and IMO was quite impressive in his limited appearances for Spurs last season, so I'm not sure why you seem to be dismissing him.

You say that Poch was "promised proper money", but actually you don't know what he was promised. In any case, some new money has already been committed - on improved contracts for key players, with more such announcements to come: securing what we have is the top priority, to prevent our better players being poached away.

And I'm sure new money will also be spent on signings beyond Grealish (the "one or two players" that I've mentioned), so isn't the time to complain (if the results lead you to complain) after the transfer window has closed rather than now?

As for Lamela, clearly I rate him more highly than you do, so we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Seems like the all conquering Levy, the best businessman in the entire universe, also has his issues and is annoying plenty of fans. Red Cafe is full of moaners atm who think that every club is better than us during this summer dealings, and they thinks it’s great that a few Spurs players signed new contract, but it’s great to read the bigger picture. Current players signing new contracts is the bare minimum of what fans should expect.
I’m sure Poch is furious that the promises he was made have been broken also.
Levy is having to deal with paying the £400m stadium loans back, so it could be a testing few years.

Levy has his plus points for sure, he's definitely done very well for us in certain areas, but at the end of the day we're a sports team and fans want to compete for trophies, not sit back and admire our net spend and a nice new stadium. I want to see success on the pitch and I believe with Pochettino and the likes of Eriksen, Vertonghen, Kane, Son Alderweireld etc we have the base to do so, but we aren't taking that extra competitive step needed. It's very frustrating.

The window has been incredibly frustrating, we have sat completely still. United fans complain but you reached a final and finished ahead of us last season and have spent big money on a CM and brought in a young talent in Dalot. You also undeniably have better depth than us so will deal with the world cup issues at the start of the season better.

 

[GlastonSpur]

You suggested that the fact we have continuity would be an advantage, when generally if you spend money, you improve. There are obvious exceptions, but nearly all teams who keep improving the squad season after season do better than those who rest on their laurels. Squad continuity is only really an issue if you bring in a silly amount of players every window ... and I don't think there is much danger of that. I've previously seen/spoken to other Spurs fans who are convinced we'll have the advantage because unlike other teams we aren't signing many players every window, when really it will likely lead to us being caught up by clubs who want to improve every summer.

I'm not happy with this window because we haven't signed 2-3 players that can really come in and challenge for a spot. We've signed nobody and there is 3 weeks to go. We've only seriously been linked with Grealish who is potential, not somebody who can be expected to come in and start. It's not good enough and it's not what Pochettino asked for at the start of the window, not at all. Feels like we're still where we were always at, spending when we sell, but this is not what the club was saying before the summer.

Yes, continuity is an advantage when you have a good quality squad to start with - as Spurs do have. But that doesn't mean it'll be upset by signing 2 or 3 new players, including perhaps a couple of players who'll challenge for a place in our best XI.

And I say again, you keep confidently stating what Pochettino asked for at the start of the window, when actually you don't know what he asked for. Perhaps, for all you know, he asked first and foremost for most of our best players be tied down with new and improved contracts via a big change in our wages structure.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Regarding Moura, I'm expecting that he'll have at least as much impact this season as many of the new players arriving at rival clubs. He has 34 caps for Brazil and IMO was quite impressive in his limited appearances for Spurs last season, so I'm not sure why you seem to be dismissing him.

You say that Poch was "promised proper money", but actually you don't know what he was promised. In any case, some new money has already been committed - on improved contracts for key players, with more such announcements to come: securing what we is the top priority, to prevent our better players being poached away.

And I'm sure new money will also be spent on signings beyond Grealish (the "one or two players" that I've mentioned), so isn't the time to complain (if the results lead you to complain) after the transfer window has closed rather than now?

As for Lamela, clearly I rate him more highly than you do, so we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

Renato Augusto has 31. Paulinho has 55. The likes of Fred in the past also managed plenty of caps, you don't have to be a great player to get caps for Brazil these days. Moura used to be a promising talent but his career has completely stalled, perhaps we can reignite him but it would be arrogant to assume so. In is appearances for us he looked like he could dribble and is quick, but we knew that. The question marks were always over his end product and he's not done anything to show he will be anything other than a decent squad player. I'm not dismissing him, I just don't buy that his presence will be like a new signing.

I'm complaining because the next season is all too predictable. We were told that this window will go a certain way and it hasn't, I'm not going to sit here and assume everything will be rosy when nothing has changed. We finished third and won nothing again, and the teams below and above us have all made moves to improve whereas we haven't. You can't keep doing this and expect to keep competing. Lamela is a good player, I rate him, but he's (again) a squad player. You won't win the league with Erik Lamela as a starting wide player.

As for Pochettino:

- This summer was a very good example because we signed good players but it was so late and with no pre-season [for them], you pay,” Pochettino said. “You then need six or seven months for the player to be fit, adapt himself in everything and that is always against us.

Basically, at the start of this window he stressed that getting signings sorted before the world cup was vital. He made it very clear he wanted a pre-season to work with players and that we needed these signings. This has not happened.

“We tried to make early signings last summer but we could not, for different reasons. Now, we are going to try again to do things early. If we cannot again, I am going to say: ‘Come on, we could not again!’”

Levy has gone and done it all again, I'm afraid. Do you really believe Pocchetino is not frustrated with the same situation taking place again? I don't buy that for a minute. He's not going to be celebrating securing new contracts, he wants fresh blood and he wanted it early. He's talked about needing to make a step up and stop finishing second and third, but we haven't made any moves to do so.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...ants-150m-tottenham-squad-overhaul-including/

Much of the media was suggesting that he was demanding reinforcements at the start of the season. When he signed a new contract, most papers were reporting that it was on the condition that he received proper backing in the market. He hasn't had that. Unless all these papers were lying (Doesn't seem likely) he will not be pleased with the lack of investment.

And finally:

“If we want to be real contenders for big trophies, we need to review a little bit the thing. We need to create dreams that will be possible to achieve. Maybe we are a bit disappointed and frustrated because now we are close [to trophies].

If you think this is just a demand for our current players to sign new contracts, fair enough. But to me it's pretty clear what he wants, that extra investment from Levy to go ahead and stop being runners up, the kind of backing Klopp has had at Liverpool. Pochettino has not been subtle about this. He has constantly hinted in the press that he is frustrated with the lack of movement in the transfer window and that he is also frustrated with how slow we are to move.

Anyway, that's my last post for the day, but there's my thoughts. This club has let Pochettino down this window IMO and we are playing with fire, if we miss out on top four (likely, with the way things are right now) you can't blame him if he wants to move on. And then what? Do our key players really stay at a club who have lost such an asset and are now not in Europe? Doubtful.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

I dont think there is any sort of conspiracy or secret as to why Spurs havnt signed new players. There is a massive 60 000 seater reason for that, I dont buy for a second the 'it's already all paid for' schtick from the Spurs fans. The majority of their money is going into repayments, but with player sales they will have money for player purchases. Sissoko, N'Koudou, Janssen, Dembele, Alderweireld, Rose, Llorente, probably some younger players who are not going to make it at Spurs. They can definitely generate some decent funds to buy players if they move all of the above.

The players Spurs have been linked with is a bit of a mixed bag, Grealish, Pulisic, De Ligt, Zaha. Grealish is a good Championship midfielder but a step down from Dembele, Pulisic and De Ligt young unproven players with a lot of potential. The sort of players Spurs usually go for but they wont be cheap. And Zaha who I do actually rate, but I dont feel they need to reinforce attacking areas, midfield and defense is where they are short.

At the start of the window we had Pochettino's be bold speech and a mood that this window we will see a bit of a spend on players like the Bale money window. But clearly the stadium is putting the brakes on any sort of 'splash the cash' spending spree from Spurs. That and Spurs generally dont buy players until the last hour of the last day of the xfer window where Levy can rummage around the bottom of the can for bargains.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Grealish is precisely the kind of deal that could and should have been wrapped up early. Not involved in the World Cup, obviously wouldn't want to spend another season in the second tier etc. Get negotiations sorted and bring him in, get a strong pre-season under Poch, exactly what he'd been asking for.

Instead we are still unsure of whether he's coming in with only weeks to go. If Villa are being unreasonable, move on. We can't afford to piss around all summer chasing him, but that's what we've seemingly done.

Levy may be a great chairman for making a club financially prosperous, but as a manager he must frustrate. Last minute deals to save a few million here or there do not benefit the squad long term. We needed to be decisive and haven't been, and now face a rushed finish to the window where any signings we make will probably not settle for a good while.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

It's all looking a little Post-Highbury Early-Emirates Arsenal at the moment.

- Retentions are like new players.
- January signings can only be counted in September.
- Injuries won't happen.
- All players will improve with none regressing.
- Experienced players leaving is no biggie.
- The youth will shine

 

[theyneverlearn]

Grealish is precisely the kind of deal that could and should have been wrapped up early. Not involved in the World Cup, obviously wouldn't want to spend another season in the second tier etc. Get negotiations sorted and bring him in, get a strong pre-season under Poch, exactly what he'd been asking for.

Instead we are still unsure of whether he's coming in with only weeks to go. If Villa are being unreasonable, move on. We can't afford to piss around all summer chasing him, but that's what we've seemingly done.

Levy may be a great chairman for making a club financially prosperous, but as a manager he must frustrate. Last minute deals to save a few million here or there do not benefit the squad long term. We needed to be decisive and haven't been, and now face a rushed finish to the window where any signings we make will probably not settle for a good while.

Grealish would have been a lot cheaper at the start of the window, now with further investment in Villa, they don’t need the money as desperate and can now hold off for a larger sum, or not sell at all.

You were in a strong negotiation spot previously, now they are and if you want him, you’ll have to pay more.

 

[africanspur]

I have been very disappointed with our approach to this window so far. And unless we sort out some great transfers, I will remain so, as I wanted us to get players in as early as possible.

Poch has a very specific style of playing that players need to get used to usually and it is a style that can't afford passengers. It often means a lot of our transfers don't make an immediate impact and going in without a decent pre season only exacerbates this problem.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

My goodness there is some panty wetting going on in here, tough transfer window for most clubs. Yes Poch said he wanted transfers in early but it’s not quite as easy as that in the market right now. Poch and Levy will be talking daily I’m sure, signings will happen but due to the stupid transfer window this summer and the World Cup it will be all in the last week, not really that bothered to be honest.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

Grealish is precisely the kind of deal that could and should have been wrapped up early. Not involved in the World Cup, obviously wouldn't want to spend another season in the second tier etc. Get negotiations sorted and bring him in, get a strong pre-season under Poch, exactly what he'd been asking for.

Instead we are still unsure of whether he's coming in with only weeks to go. If Villa are being unreasonable, move on. We can't afford to piss around all summer chasing him, but that's what we've seemingly done.

Levy may be a great chairman for making a club financially prosperous, but as a manager he must frustrate. Last minute deals to save a few million here or there do not benefit the squad long term. We needed to be decisive and haven't been, and now face a rushed finish to the window where any signings we make will probably not settle for a good while.

It's baffling, if Poch had identified Grealish as his main target why wasnt the deal done early? As you say not involved in the WC, so what was the hold up? Are Spurs waiting until they finalise outgoing sales before moving for incoming players? Are their finances that strapped that they simply dont have money until players are sold?

What would constitute a good window for the Spurs fans on here?

 

[GlastonSpur]

It's all looking a little Post-Highbury Early-Emirates Arsenal at the moment.

- Retentions are like new players.
- January signings can only be counted in September.
- Injuries won't happen.
- All players will improve with none regressing.
- Experienced players leaving is no biggie.
- The youth will shine

On the other hand, the doom-mongering is all looking like the doom-mongering that's occurred on here every summer for the last several years concerning Spurs … whether from the supposed sale of our best players, or being outspent by rivals leading to "no chance" for top 4, or the manager leaving, or … etc

 

[GlastonSpur]

Grealish would have been a lot cheaper at the start of the window, now with further investment in Villa, they don’t need the money as desperate and can now hold off for a larger sum, or not sell at all.

You were in a strong negotiation spot previously, now they are and if you want him, you’ll have to pay more.

That's doubtful, because Villa were always going to wait and see what other bidding clubs might emerge. It's fanciful to suggest that they would have accepted a bid from Spurs early in the window just because it was the only bid on the table at that time.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

It's baffling, if Poch had identified Grealish as his main target why wasnt the deal done early? As you say not involved in the WC, so what was the hold up? Are Spurs waiting until they finalise outgoing sales before moving for incoming players? Are their finances that strapped that they simply dont have money until players are sold?

What would constitute a good window for the Spurs fans on here?

What’s baffling? Grealish isn’t exactly for sale, meaning they really dont wanna sell the kid, it’s not like nipping out to buy a packet of cheese and onion crisps. Every transfer window is like ground hog day, the same people buying into the media circus of “The Transfer Window”, People sucking in all the media BS like sponges, it’s like everyone’s IQ drops by 50%. Sports “journalists” must laugh their tits off that people actually click on their lies.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

My goodness there is some panty wetting going on in here, tough transfer window for most clubs. Yes Poch said he wanted transfers in early but it’s not quite as easy as that in the market right now. Poch and Levy will be talking daily I’m sure, signings will happen but due to the stupid transfer window this summer and the World Cup it will be all in the last week, not really that bothered to be honest.

Every single one of them has done more than we have.

We were told that we would have early signings so that Poch could get a pre-season with them. Our manager has come out and emphasized that this is what he wants and needs to get the best out of our players. He called for us to be brave at the start of the season and we have signed zero players with a few weeks to go, having seemingly chased Grealish the entire window.

It's 'not as easy' meaning you have to pay a premium. We need to accept that this is the way the market is, we can't keep attempting to get bargain basement prices on every single player, Levy needs to start paying up because his stinginess is to the detriment of the squad. It means you end up panicking on the last day of the window and signing the likes of Sissoko.

The fact is we've had a poor transfer window. So have other clubs, but we're standing out as the worst of the bunch. We haven't succeeded in our objectives of bringing in players early and getting them a pre-season, which was clearly a priority going in. Liverpool have managed to bring in target after target yet we're meant to believe this is an impossible window?

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

What’s baffling? Grealish isn’t exactly for sale, meaning they really dont wanna sell the kid, it’s not like nipping out to buy a packet of cheese and onion crisps. Every transfer window is like ground hog day, the same people buying into the media circus of “The Transfer Window”, People sucking in all the media BS like sponges, it’s like everyone’s IQ drops by 50%. Sports “journalists” must laugh their tits off that people actually click on their lies.

He's clearly too good for the championship and Villa will know this. You're acting like it's an impossible deal to do.

Most clubs don't want their players to leave, this isn't a unique situation. You reckon Roma are loving losing Alisson? Levy is meant to be an extremely strong negotiator and he's had all summer, Grealish was not involved in the world cup. Plenty of clubs have wrapped up transfers yet we're meant to believe this one in particular is impossible.

Bottom line is we've done absolutely nothing with a few weeks to go after our manager came out multiple times and said we needed to be doing more. If you're content with that, fine, but I and a number of other fans are not.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

On the other hand, the doom-mongering is all looking like the doom-mongering that's occurred on here every summer for the last several years concerning Spurs … whether from the supposed sale of our best players, or being outspent by rivals leading to "no chance" for top 4, or the manager leaving, or … etc

It's not doom mongering. We will be fine because we have a fantastic manager and some excellent players at the club. We will obviously compete for the top four. What we're not doing however, is taking the next step to become title challengers, or the next step to add to our excellent core and attempt to at least win a trophy.

We're not far off, and this window was a perfect opportunity to show ambition following our manager's comments. We haven't at all done that so far, of course this could change in the last few weeks but even if we do sign players, they will take time to adapt having not had a pre season. I'm also doubting that we'll go on some late splurge, I expect we'll bring in Grealish and maybe one other player.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Every single one of them has done more than we have.

We were told that we would have early signings so that Poch could get a pre-season with them. Our manager has come out and emphasized that this is what he wants and needs to get the best out of our players. He called for us to be brave at the start of the season and we have signed zero players with a few weeks to go, having seemingly chased Grealish the entire window.

It's 'not as easy' meaning you have to pay a premium. We need to accept that this is the way the market is, we can't keep attempting to get bargain basement prices on every single player, Levy needs to start paying up because his stinginess is to the detriment of the squad. It means you end up panicking on the last day of the window and signing the likes of Sissoko.

The fact is we've had a poor transfer window. So have other clubs, but we're standing out as the worst of the bunch. We haven't succeeded in our objectives of bringing in players early and getting them a pre-season, which was clearly a priority going in. Liverpool have managed to bring in target after target yet we're meant to believe this is an impossible window?

We weren’t told anything, Poch said he wanted his signings early it didn’t happen. We aren’t an elite club with elite finances, we aren’t in a position to pay for elite players. You bring up Sissoko and forget the other good signings we have made. I believe we will spend money but the bed wetting by some fans is nothing short of embarrassing.

It's not doom mongering. We will be fine because we have a fantastic manager and some excellent players at the club. We will obviously compete for the top four. What we're not doing however, is taking the next step to become title challengers, or the next step to add to our excellent core and attempt to at least win a trophy.

We're not far off, and this window was a perfect opportunity to show ambition following our manager's comments. We haven't at all done that so far, of course this could change in the last few weeks but even if we do sign players, they will take time to adapt having not had a pre season. I'm also doubting that we'll go on some late splurge, I expect we'll bring in Grealish and maybe one other player.

Who do you want to sign that will automatically improve us? You don’t understand how the transfer window works at all.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

We weren’t told anything, Poch said he wanted his signings early it didn’t happen. We aren’t an elite club with elite finances, we aren’t in a position to pay for elite players. You bring up Sissoko and forget the other good signings we have made. I believe we will spend money but the bed wetting by some fans is nothing short of embarrassing.



Who do you want to sign that will automatically improve us? You don’t understand how the transfer window works at all.

Yeah we're such a poor club, no way could we have finalized a deal for Grealish in time. Jesus christ you act like we're working on the same budget as Crystal Palace. We've made plenty of bad signings, too. When we leave signings late we often resort to panic buying at the end of the window and not ending up with our actual targets, Levy has a history of this. Sissoko was a disastrous panic buy because we left it to the last day of the window.


I don't understand how the transfer window works? And you have fantastic insight? How do you explain how nearly every other top club has managed to secure some transfers, but we haven't. Arsenal don't have elite funds either but they've managed to bring in some players, even a Chelsea in the midst of chaos have signed somebody. Liverpool have signed numerous fantastic players, United have brought in Fred etc. We have done nothing. Apparently we're the exception in the market?

Nobody is bed wetting. We're just annoyed because our manager (who is really responsible for our success) told Levy and the board what he wanted, and he didn't get it. You want to act like signing Jack Grealish from a championship team would have been impossible to get done early, fine. I'm pretty sure if other clubs can manage to get deals done early we could too. We're facing another battle for top four this season and if we drop out it would be disastrous, perhaps some fans just want us to show a bit of ambition and go for trophies? Scandalous, I know.

Sorry if some of us don't want to believe that the transfer market is just too tough for Levy. If he can't bring in a player in the situation Grealish is in, then he is failing in his duties to our manager and needs to step it up. We've got an incredible manager and should be giving him the same backing Liverpool are giving to Klopp, but instead we are ignoring his demands.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Yeah we're such a poor club, no way could we have finalized a deal for Grealish in time. Jesus christ you act like we're working on the same budget as Crystal Palace. We've made plenty of bad signings, too. When we leave signings late we often resort to panic buying at the end of the window and not ending up with our actual targets, Levy has a history of this. Sissoko was a disastrous panic buy because we left it to the last day of the window.


I don't understand how the transfer window works? And you have fantastic insight? How do you explain how nearly every other top club has managed to secure some transfers, but we haven't. Arsenal don't have elite funds either but they've managed to bring in some players, even a Chelsea in the midst of chaos have signed somebody. Liverpool have signed numerous fantastic players, United have brought in Fred etc. We have done nothing. Apparently we're the exception in the market?

Nobody is bed wetting. We're just annoyed because our manager (who is really responsible for our success) told Levy and the board what he wanted, and he didn't get it. You want to act like signing Jack Grealish from a championship team would have been impossible to get done early, fine. I'm pretty sure if other clubs can manage to get deals done early we could too. We're facing another battle for top four this season and if we drop out it would be disastrous, perhaps some fans just want us to show a bit of ambition and go for trophies? Scandalous, I know.

Sorry if some of us don't want to believe that the transfer market is just too tough for Levy. If he can't bring in a player in the situation Grealish is in, then he is failing in his duties to our manager and needs to step it up. We've got an incredible manager and should be giving him the same backing Liverpool are giving to Klopp, but instead we are ignoring his demands.

If we move early for a player that bcould possibly be wanted by another team, the other team will move too and more than likely pay a higher wage. Hence we have to wait for the other richer clubs to do their business and then we have an easier time.

Your talking about ur bad signings like we are the only club to have them, we actually do better than most. I don’t want players signed simply for the sake of signing players I want players to make a difference. Arsenal and Liverpool have a bigger pot of money than us, I hate to say it but both have been more successful than us in recent time, and both have more following. I don’t see one of Arsenal’s signings I would be really over the moon with having.

As for Grealish, I simply don’t think they want to sell him it doesn’t matter what league they are in or what level you can’t make a club sell a player. Grealish is loved by the fans there, if they were to sell him the fans will be up in arms.

Spending money doesn’t mean you get too four, you should know this by now. Of course I want trophies but that doesn’t mean we need to but players it means our players and manager need a bit more belief and fight when it comes to it.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

If we move early for a player that bcould possibly be wanted by another team, the other team will move too and more than likely pay a higher wage. Hence we have to wait for the other richer clubs to do their business and then we have an easier time.

Your talking about ur bad signings like we are the only club to have them, we actually do better than most. I don’t want players signed simply for the sake of signing players I want players to make a difference. Arsenal and Liverpool have a bigger pot of money than us, I hate to say it but both have been more successful than us in recent time, and both have more following. I don’t see one of Arsenal’s signings I would be really over the moon with having.

As for Grealish, I simply don’t think they want to sell him it doesn’t matter what league they are in or what level you can’t make a club sell a player. Grealish is loved by the fans there, if they were to sell him the fans will be up in arms.

Right... so instead of moving quickly for our own targets, we sit in the shadows and act terrified that other teams will steal the players we want? Christ what a loser attitude. Don't bother moving for players because better teams will take them anyway. We are a CL team playing in London under billionaire owners with among the top revenues in world football. We aren't some mid-table fodder who are unable to compete. Yes, we cannot eat at the top table but we are one of the more attractive propositions for young talents. Pochettino wanted players early and Levy failed him, thus we are at a disadvantage due to our new signings having no pre-season.

I didn't say we're the only ones to sign bad players, however we do have a habit under Levy of making rushed deadline day signings, Sissoko being the best example. Levy is always looking for tough negotiations, which can be asset when we're selling players but when purchasing it means we often take too long to get it sorted, and then end up rushing at the end when we realize we'll end up with nobody. Liverpool have not been more successful than us for a very significant period of time, we have been higher than them in the league nearly every season. They are obviously benefiting from their CL run and I can accept they have more pull than us with Klopp and their history, but they aren't juggernauts. Arsenal have missed out on CL football two seasons in a row and have a famously stingy board, perhaps their signings wouldn't improve us but they've identified issues in the squad and tried to fix them.

Aston Villa fans know that the player is a top talent and aren't about to riot if they get a reasonable fee from a Premier League team. You can't 'make' a player leave but more often that not if you're offering a player a massive step up in level and wages, his club will realize that. I don't think Villa are against selling, they've obviously quoted a price and we're trying to negotiate. We needed to do so more quickly, and if they were being entirely unreasonable with the price then move on to another young player who is more gettable.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Right... so instead of moving quickly for our own targets, we sit in the shadows and act terrified that other teams will steal the players we want? Christ what a loser attitude. Don't bother moving for players because better teams will take them anyway. We are a CL team playing in London under billionaire owners with among the top revenues in world football. We aren't some mid-table fodder who are unable to compete. Yes, we cannot eat at the top table but we are one of the more attractive propositions for young talents. Pochettino wanted players early and Levy failed him, thus we are at a disadvantage due to our new signings having no pre-season.

I didn't say we're the only ones to sign bad players, however we do have a habit under Levy of making rushed deadline day signings, Sissoko being the best example. Levy is always looking for tough negotiations, which can be asset when we're selling players but when purchasing it means we often take too long to get it sorted, and then end up rushing at the end when we realize we'll end up with nobody. Liverpool have not been more successful than us for a very significant period of time, we have been higher than them in the league nearly every season. They are obviously benefiting from their CL run and I can accept they have more pull than us with Klopp and their history, but they aren't juggernauts. Arsenal have missed out on CL football two seasons in a row and have a famously stingy board, perhaps their signings wouldn't improve us but they've identified issues in the squad and tried to fix them.

Aston Villa fans know that the player is a top talent and aren't about to riot if they get a reasonable fee from a Premier League team. You can't 'make' a player leave but more often that not if you're offering a player a massive step up in level and wages, his club will realize that. I don't think Villa are against selling, they've obviously quoted a price and we're trying to negotiate. We needed to do so more quickly, and if they were being entirely unreasonable with the price then move on to another young player who is more gettable.

We have billionaire owners yes but they are an “investment group”. They have also improved our club 10 fold since they took over.

We have no idea what Poch is thinking but I’m pretty sure he is up to date daily with what is going on. From his time at Southampton we know he isn’t shy on speaking his mind, we will certainly hear more from him when the preseason tour starts. Our main problem is when our first team is fully fit, it’s gonna be pretty hard to improve us without a massive signing.

I don’t like arguing with fellow fans, especially on here, so let’s discuss this after the window has closed, I still think we will have a pretty good window.

 

[balaks]

Seems like the all conquering Levy, the best businessman in the entire universe, also has his issues and is annoying plenty of fans. Red Cafe is full of moaners atm who think that every club is better than us during this summer dealings, and they thinks it’s great that a few Spurs players signed new contract, but it’s great to read the bigger picture. Current players signing new contracts is the bare minimum of what fans should expect.
I’m sure Poch is furious that the promises he was made have been broken also.
Levy is having to deal with paying the £400m stadium loans back, so it could be a testing few years.

Oh yeah there are tons of Spurs fans that hate Levy and are deeply unhappy that he doesn't spend £100 million+ every summer. You get that at every big club.

 

[balaks]

Yeah we're such a poor club, no way could we have finalized a deal for Grealish in time. Jesus christ you act like we're working on the same budget as Crystal Palace. We've made plenty of bad signings, too. When we leave signings late we often resort to panic buying at the end of the window and not ending up with our actual targets, Levy has a history of this. Sissoko was a disastrous panic buy because we left it to the last day of the window.


I don't understand how the transfer window works? And you have fantastic insight? How do you explain how nearly every other top club has managed to secure some transfers, but we haven't. Arsenal don't have elite funds either but they've managed to bring in some players, even a Chelsea in the midst of chaos have signed somebody. Liverpool have signed numerous fantastic players, United have brought in Fred etc. We have done nothing. Apparently we're the exception in the market?

Nobody is bed wetting. We're just annoyed because our manager (who is really responsible for our success) told Levy and the board what he wanted, and he didn't get it. You want to act like signing Jack Grealish from a championship team would have been impossible to get done early, fine. I'm pretty sure if other clubs can manage to get deals done early we could too. We're facing another battle for top four this season and if we drop out it would be disastrous, perhaps some fans just want us to show a bit of ambition and go for trophies? Scandalous, I know.

Sorry if some of us don't want to believe that the transfer market is just too tough for Levy. If he can't bring in a player in the situation Grealish is in, then he is failing in his duties to our manager and needs to step it up. We've got an incredible manager and should be giving him the same backing Liverpool are giving to Klopp, but instead we are ignoring his demands.

Not saying we are at Crystal Palace level but we are way behind our rivals. Although in net spend terms we ARE behind Crystal Palace.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

SPOILER ALERT













It'll be the same as every season last 5 years or so.

They'll play good football, the neutrals will want them to win the league, they will hammer the small teams, they will bottle the big games, they'll finish somewhere between 2nd & 6th & not once look like winning the league all season.

People will continue to wank over Poch

Rinse & repeat.

 

[balaks]

SPOILER ALERT













It'll be the same as every season last 5 years or so.

They'll play good football, the neutrals will want them to win the league, they will hammer the small teams, they will bottle the big games, they'll finish somewhere between 2nd & 6th & not once look like winning the league all season.

People will continue to wank over Poch

Rinse & repeat.

2nd and 3rd you mean. Otherwise yeah that's probably true enough. By the way I'm extremely happy to be up there too.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

We have billionaire owners yes but they are an “investment group”. They have also improved our club 10 fold since they took over.

We have no idea what Poch is thinking but I’m pretty sure he is up to date daily with what is going on. From his time at Southampton we know he isn’t shy on speaking his mind, we will certainly hear more from him when the preseason tour starts. Our main problem is when our first team is fully fit, it’s gonna be pretty hard to improve us without a massive signing.

I don’t like arguing with fellow fans, especially on here, so let’s discuss this after the window has closed, I still think we will have a pretty good window.

I don't disagree they've done a good job. I just have my doubts over whether they're going to be content with making top four every season, or if they really want to take us to a level where we're competing for trophies. Similar to the Arsenal board, are they merely in it to make us financially profitable, or are they prepared to take risks to see us properly succeed on the pitch?

We do have an idea of what Pochettino wanted. He made it pretty clear and came out with a ton of quotes making it pretty obvious he wanted early signings, with proper investment, and us to be brave in the transfer market. He hasn't got that, maybe you're right and a late flurry will change things, but would that really be consistent with our transfer dealings? I can't see it. I think we may end up signing after selling a load of players, but that isn't being brave. I don't believe it's what Poch has asked for, personally.

Not arguing bud, just think we disagree on the ambitions of the board, which is fair. We both want the best for the club but I feel for me and some other fans it's just very frustrating as we're so, so close to achieving something big with this team. I really honestly hope I'm wrong about this window, but it does just feel like more of the same after a ton of promises at the start.

 

[balaks]

I don't disagree they've done a good job. I just have my doubts over whether they're going to be content with making top four every season, or if they really want to take us to a level where we're competing for trophies. Similar to the Arsenal board, are they merely in it to make us financially profitable, or are they prepared to take risks to see us properly succeed on the pitch?

We do have an idea of what Pochettino wanted. He made it pretty clear and came out with a ton of quotes making it pretty obvious he wanted early signings, with proper investment, and us to be brave in the transfer market. He hasn't got that, maybe you're right and a late flurry will change things, but would that really be consistent with our transfer dealings? I can't see it. I think we may end up signing after selling a load of players, but that isn't being brave. I don't believe it's what Poch has asked for, personally.

Not arguing bud, just think we disagree on the ambitions of the board, which is fair. We both want the best for the club but I feel for me and some other fans it's just very frustrating as we're so, so close to achieving something big with this team. I really honestly hope I'm wrong about this window, but it does just feel like more of the same after a ton of promises at the start.

Let's wait till the end of the transfer window before we have a meltdown.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

SPOILER ALERT













It'll be the same as every season last 5 years or so.

They'll play good football, the neutrals will want them to win the league, they will hammer the small teams, they will bottle the big games, they'll finish somewhere between 2nd & 6th & not once look like winning the league all season.

People will continue to wank over Poch

Rinse & repeat.

- We've finished 3rd, 2nd, 3rd the last three seasons.

- Last season we beat Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. The only team to beat us home & away was Manchester City, our big game record is not bad, at all. It's not exceptional but we're not mere flat track bullies, to act as if we are is mere silliness, our record is pretty similar to the rest of the top clubs in the league.

- People 'wank' over Poch because he has consistently finished ahead of teams who spend far more on wages and transfers, whilst also having us playing very good football and developing players brilliantly. Sure, his trophy record could be better, but he hasn't been backed transfer wise in the way that managers like Mourinho, Guardiola, Klopp, Conte etc have. He deserves praise.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Not saying we are at Crystal Palace level but we are way behind our rivals. Although in net spend terms we ARE behind Crystal Palace.

That is a decision being made by our board. We have the resources to spend more, especially with CL football, but we are not. I have massive praise for Pocchetino for what he is achieving under such constraints, but it is because of his work that we aren't much lower down the table. We are fortunate to have an exceptional manager, but he will not stay indefinitely if we refuse to make the next step and start backing him fully in the market.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Let's wait till the end of the transfer window before we have a meltdown.

Not having a meltdown, merely frustrated at a lack of action. Even if we do have a strong end to the season, the complaints over not securing at least a couple of players early in the window so they would have the luxury of a pre-season (as Poch requested) would be valid. My anger is because I genuinely fear we will soon be losing our manager if we continually refuse to bow to some pretty simple requests, how long can he be expected to work with one hand tied behind his back?

 

[GlastonSpur]

Yeah we're such a poor club, no way could we have finalized a deal for Grealish in time. Jesus christ you act like we're working on the same budget as Crystal Palace. …

Crystal Palace have not spent little short of £1 billion on a new training centre and new stadium complex. If you want both this £1 billion spending and for Spurs to pay way over the odds for a player simply to get them in a few weeks earlier, then frankly you're living in cloud-cuckoo land.

 

[balaks]

That is a decision being made by our board. We have the resources to spend more, especially with CL football, but we are not. I have massive praise for Pocchetino for what he is achieving under such constraints, but it is because of his work that we aren't much lower down the table. We are fortunate to have an exceptional manager, but he will not stay indefinitely if we refuse to make the next step and start backing him fully in the market.

We are building one of the best stadiums in Europe at the moment - you have to accept that this will have an impact on our finances. The club are clearly investing very heavily.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Crystal Palace have not spent little short of £1 billion on a new training centre and new stadium complex. If you want both this £1 billion spending and for Spurs to pay way over the odds for a player simply to get them in a few weeks earlier, then frankly you're living in cloud-cuckoo land.

We were told we would have significant investment in the playing staff, and that the stadium costs were paid for and would not lead to an Arsenal style drop in spending. Pochettino signed a new contract soon after demanding we be brave in the window and bring in players early, is our manager living in the same land as I am then?

By 'way over the odds' you mean pay market value in order to benefit the squad. It can be the difference between an exit in a semi final and winning the trophy. Pochettino has continually stressed this so perhaps it's time the board took notice of our fantastic manager? We lose him and all this penny pinching will feel very silly, because we will immediately face and exodus and drop from competing.

 

[dirkey]

I think Spurs will spend big, it will be a busy last month of the window. The world cup has seen the market slow down but it should start picking up again now.

Also - Spurs players carrying England and Belgium to their best world cup in decades.

Yup, and failing to win anything. Sounds very Spursy ;-)

 

[balaks]

Yup, and failing to win anything. Sounds very Spursy ;-)

Our club captain was also captain of France..... let's not forget that!

 

[dirkey]

Our club captain was also captain of France..... let's not forget that!

This is true.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

- We've finished 3rd, 2nd, 3rd the last three seasons.

- Last season we beat Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. The only team to beat us home & away was Manchester City, our big game record is not bad, at all. It's not exceptional but we're not mere flat track bullies, to act as if we are is mere silliness, our record is pretty similar to the rest of the top clubs in the league.

- People 'wank' over Poch because he has consistently finished ahead of teams who spend far more on wages and transfers, whilst also having us playing very good football and developing players brilliantly. Sure, his trophy record could be better, but he hasn't been backed transfer wise in the way that managers like Mourinho, Guardiola, Klopp, Conte etc have. He deserves praise.

I'm just being facetious mate. Poch has done a great job, fair play to the lad, I'm a fan. I'd rather you lot win the league than City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal, trust me. You won't though, we all know that.

All I'm saying is, it's all well & good to get wins against big clubs, but when you talk about BIG games, season defining games, you can always count on little Spurs to bottle it. Juventus in the CL last season, United in the cup, West Ham away when you were right up Chelsea's arse the year before, Chelsea away the year they were shite & you were 2-0 up.