TartarugaJones

The only thing that worries me is that we're so far along the line with the current project in terms of all the planning agreements, consultations etc. that to try and make such a radical change at this late date could add more years to the project. On the other hand a deal with a NFL side could be massive, and game-changing for the club.

This is an article on skyscrapercity, a forum for architects, regards new plans for our stadium: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?s=aa3e203abb86fa5518ba318833ce4b30&t=447082&page=36 And this is an article from architects journal: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/tottenham-hotspurs-secret-plans-for-white-hart-lane-mega-stadium/8654598.article?blocktitle=News-feature&contentID=9529

This London Media myth is the same as the refs always biased against us myth! I'm not a Londoner, but I live there and I can honestly say there is no bias except that we're all biased towards our team and so congenitally disposed to find bias in others when they talk about our team. Once you've found bias then you try and find a reason why, and the media's all based in London is a good one. I'll tell you for nothing that every club in London also thinks the media is biased against them, except they can't blame the geographic location so they find other equally spurious reasons, they all support Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea etc. There is one big difference between the London clubs and the rest of the country though, they don't have large regional newspaper(s) to act as cheerleader. I don't know if you do in Birmingham, but just look at Liverpool, or the likes of Marca in Spain to see what a biased press looks like!

Dave Whelan's better than Levy? On what basis do you make that judgement? I think there's a case for some others, the people in charge of Arsenal have done well for years, Huw Jenkins at Swansea, arguably Bill Kenwright... not sure any have the full-package of skills or track record over the longer term that Levy has though.

I'd be happy with a Naming Rights / shirt sponsorship deal, not with a take-over. In either scenario our name surely wouldn't be changed, would it?

I'm surprised no one's linked my club with them? We know we're looking for a sponsor for our stadium, which in the pics, thanks to the silver and blue, looks quite a can of Red Bull: The other thing to consider is that if they're serious about taking a team into the CL it's getting harder and harder to simply take a lower level side and bankroll them there, this is because there are already five seriously well-funded sides, plus Spurs. Money is no guarantee, easier by far to look to invest in a club on the brink! Personally I'd be happy with Red Bull sponsoring the team and Stadium, but not so happy about them taking us over as I think you'd struggle to get a better chairman than Daniel Levy.

It's still a gamble though, you just never know with some players. Gourcuff was meant to replace Kaka', now he struggles to even get in the Lyon side and he's meant to be in his prime. I think Eriksen will pay off and get a big move in a few years, but there's always the chance he just doesn't progress either. Hey! We are a big move!!!!!

And that really is bullshit. Benteke's the best header of a ball in the PL, and imo by a mile! What is this site, do we know anything about how they decide the rankings? Or is it just a bunch of know little numpties making it up as they go along?

think ive only ever seen 1 defender outpace Gabby in a race for the ball and that was Kaboul Us Spurs fans think Kaboul and Walker are our fastest players, and yet this site has Kaboul slower than Eriksen and Lloris. Personally, I think they've just made it up.

Swansea are at the sty and they're in the same boat as Spores so a simple toss up type decision I'd say. Why they just don't give the Welsh side a bye, I don't know! Arsenal also playing in Birmingham (so issues with Spurs and Arsenal fans on the trains), and all three of Spurs, Swansea, and Arsenal played on Sunday. Not sure of rivalries up there, but perhaps having Villa on a day by themselves and West Brom and Birmingham sharing a day is marginally preferable to the police? Anyway, it's a mess, but the clubs get a lot of money from the TV deal so they can't complain too much.

We'll have had only 48 hours between the end of our last game and the start of this one which is not enough recovery time and really heightens the chance of injury, for these reasons I'd be amazed if he plays someone like Dembele. Also, Defoe's injured. Apart from that I think that's probably the team.

Injured.

Spurs fan here, I suspect AVB will try and rest the entire first team for this one, therefore something like: Friedel Naughton Kaboul Chiriches Fryers Sandro Holtby Gylfi Lamela Kane Chadli

For people who care here's some of the maths behind the randomness calculation in that article: http://jameswgrayson.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/the-variance-of-points-in-the-premiership-and-la-liga/

I think the top six are of similar quality, there are obviously stronger and weaker clubs there, but I think any one of them can score 85 points without it having to be an exceptional or unusual outcome, similarly any of them can end up with 60 points, all due to random factors. Since 85 points can win you it, and 60 mean you're outside the top six this means any of those teams can finish anywhere from 6th to 1st just down to randomness, and not talking about outlandish results, but results which fall within the main body of the distribution. Here's an article which explains why: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zachslaton/2013/08/27/arsenal-and-spurs-demonstrate-how-the-Premier League-table-lies-to-us/

Sorry if taken that way, it wasn't intended, just picked your post at random to make a more general point about how people have been describing our first two matches as if we played badly when in fact the game against Swansea was as good as I've seen up play in the last 12 months, and the game against Crystal Palace wasn't too shoddy either.

Fair enough, they have not gone off to a great start in the league, even if they have two wins. Still, it`s pretty hard to transform your team and take first place after you lost player of the year. He was great for them, he saved them so many points but they have brought in a lot of highly rated players this window, it is certainly looking good on paper but I am not gonna force it down your throat. You are entitled to your view and it`s interesting to see people who don`t buy into the hype regardless. May I ask why you think it will fail with all these new acquisitions? Not having a go, just curious as to why you feel that way. I'm not sure where you got that idea from? Did you watch the two games? I ask because there's been a dominant narrative that we were lacklustre, missing creativity and only won thanks two dubious penalties, and I'm sure if you picked up on that but didn't see the games you might believe it. I only watched extended highlights of the first game so can't comment properly, but Selhurst Park on the first day of the season with a brand-new team is tough, there were bound to be cobwebs, but from what I could see we were very comfortable, got behind their defence a number of times creating several good chances and that pressure resulted in a penalty. We weren't totally fluent, but nor were we disjointed. We didn't give them a sniff. Against Swansea it was a very different story, up until the goal we bossed possession against the best possession football team of the last two or three seasons, in the course of the match we had a chance deflected of the line, two one on ones, two pens (one wrongly called as being outside the box), and restricted them to a solitary speculative volley, and a snatched chance from the edge of the box. It was a classy, dominant display, showing signs of a team beginning to gel. Four games this season, four wins, 10 goals scored, none conceded. Lots of room to improve, but by no means shabby as it is.

I think we played the card we were dealt as well as any of us could have hoped for. Once the management team decided Bale was going to go it was just a question of how we spent that money. There's a huge difference between a team on paper and the real thing, but would prefer to have a good team on paper with caveats applied, than a poorer team on paper with the same caveats. As for our best 11 I'd guess something like this (caveat: any three from four in the midfield): Lloris Walker Kaboul Vertonghen Rose Sandro Paulinho Lamela Eriksen Chadli Soldado Friedel Naughton Dawson Chiriches Fryers Capoue Dembele Townsend Holtby Lennon Defoe Which means we can pretty much play Thursday-Sunday with minimum impact and still be competitive. If we get Coentrao so much the better,

£65m 5Live were quoting it as £92m last night. I forgot to add Chiriches so more like £73m net, add another £20m for the sales and you get a gross spend of £93m

£65m

Assou-Ekotto? Not in the frame either. I heard that he doesn't actually like playing football. He only does it because he's good at it (and the money obviously helps). No idea if that's true. Question to TartarugaJones: What is the situation with Holtby? Is he part of AVB's plans? First off I slightly disagree with BOF's team. The CM can be any three of four, so the this team isn't written in stone, it will depend on opponents, however the rest, if fit I think is accurate: 433 Lloris Walker Kaboul Vertonghen Rose Sandro Paulinho Dembele Lamela Soldado Chadli 4231 Lloris Walker Kaboul Vertonghen Rose Paulinho Dembele Lamela Eriksen Chadli Soldado Second string 4231 Friedel Naughton Dawson Chiriches Fryers Capoue Sandro Townsend Holtby Lennon Defoe Squad: Adebayor, Gylfi, Carroll As far as Holtby is concerned I think he's got an uphill struggle to prove himself, and personally I wouldn't be surprised if he went out on loan.

Send the kids out. Should be enough to do them!!! (Joking!!) About £30m a year more if you count the true spend which is on wages! Your wage bill must have gone through the roof this summer. Reduced I believe. Since last time the accounts were published we've removed from the wage bill: Hudd, Dempsey, Parker, Gallas, Bentley, Bale, Corluka, Pienaar, Bassong, VdV, Modric, Jenas. Equivalent added: Vetonghen, Gylfi, Dempsey, Soldado, Lamela, Paulinho, Capoue End of the financial year is April mate, so any signings after April this year are what will affect the accounts released next year (if that makes sense) That's what my post reflects!

About £30m a year more if you count the true spend which is on wages! Your wage bill must have gone through the roof this summer. Reduced I believe. Since last time the accounts were published we've removed from the wage bill: Hudd, Dempsey, Parker, Gallas, Bentley, Bale, Corluka, Pienaar, Bassong, VdV, Modric, Jenas. Equivalent added: Vetonghen, Gylfi, Dempsey, Soldado, Lamela, Paulinho, Capoue

About £30m a year more if you count the true spend which is on wages!

£10m for Lennon anyone? Not based on anything, but he could be surplus to requirements now... If not Villa, who? And how would you value him? I think he's a great player, but hasn't made the most of his talent, only 26, and with the right manager to bring his quality out has the attributes to be sensational imo. What you talkin' about Willis?