SimplySpurfect

That's from the previous page, took the whole of four seconds to find. I think you'll find that's what's called a joke, a piece of not particularly witty wordplay based on the name of your opponents. Presumably there's a similar reason why Spurs fans chant "Sit down you paedophile" at Arsene Wenger? Oh what's that? There isn't? Oh. Insinuating someone is a paedophile is the same thing, regardless of how you word. And it's all meant as a joking insult. If you think Spurs fans genuinely believe Wenger is a paedophile, then you're an idiot. And the jokes originate from the fact that Wenger has a propensity for signing the youngest players possible and he has a certain look about him. And for the record, it's not just Spurs fans that make that reference. I know for a fact that at least Man Utd and Chelsea fans do the same, and I'd imagine many other fans of other clubs joke about the same thing, they just don't chant it because they have no rivalry with Arsenal. But, of course, when something involves Spurs, it's always a lot worse than if it was a different team involved.

That's from the previous page, took the whole of four seconds to find.

Why? :? Because Arsene has been a huge fan of young boys during his time at Arsenal There we go. Oh, because Spurs fans and their paedophile chants are imbeciles? I don't think you needed to remind us of that really. Given that Villa fans have made the same references regarding Redknapp in this thread, along with plenty of other insults and deragatory terms for him and a lot of other players and managers in this and other threads, what does that make Villa fans then?

Why? :? Because Arsene has been a huge fan of young boys during his time at Arsenal There we go. Spurs' new cup sponsor is Investec for the next two seasons. Rumoured to be worth upto £10-12m a year. Obviously that's going to be dependant on cup progress as well as which European tournament Spurs will be participating in during those two years. Even so, after the £12m Autonomy deal, anything further is just more icing on the cake.

Those jokes would work better if it were Arsenal playing them.

That's been the rumour all summer long. But apparently City are playing games with regards to their own players, and especially when it's Spurs bidding. Clearly they want to make it as difficult for Spurs to strengthen their squad as possible, which makes sense if City consider Spurs their biggest threat, I suppose. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if Levy and Redknapp give up on the City players (there's also been links to Richards all summer too) and to move on to other targets that don't have owners with agendas to hold. Huntelaar seems to be the closest to being a reality at the moment. And Levy seems to be going in strong for Ashley Young too. So either or both of those could happen before the window is closed. And I'm still hopeful that Gudjohnsen will return this season. I was very impressed with him in his brief appearances last season. His hold up play and ability to drop into midfield was important last season and is something that none of the other four strikers are capable of. Players also need to leave though. Hutton certainly has no future at the club, as Kaboul, Walker and Naughton have leapfrogged him in the right back queue. And big questions will be asked over Woodgate's career soon too. Jenas and/or O'Hara won't have big parts to play this season, with Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric and Sandro competing in the centre. Danny Rose also looked very comfortable there in pre season. And with Giovani flourishing and with a new sense of professionalism and determination, it seems like he'll be battling Lennon for the right midfield slot, leaving Bentley to look for a new club. Defoe seems to be the only striker certain to still be at the club on Sept 1st. If Huntelaar comes in, that'll be the end of Pavlyuchenko and/or Keane, I feel. I'm unsure whether the links for Crouch to Liverpool are still there but if he leaves, that'll pave the way for Gudjohnsen to return, and Giovani is capable enough of being the fourth striker in that group. And with young players like Caulker, Bostock, Parrett, Mason and Townsend all looking to impress for their respective loan teams, they could very well have a part to play in the 11/12 campaign. I completely forgot why I started typing this post now.

He actually is injured, I believe. He wasn't involved at all in the Fiorentina game either, and there are doubts about him playing against City.

Yep, because a 45 minute second half debut in a pointless international friendly a few days before the season kicks off is the perfect way to judge a player's overall ability. I'm sure he'll get over it when he's leading his team out for the Champion's League qualifying matches.

Fiorentina have 2 top flight league titles, no European Cup, no UEFA Cup and fewer domestic cup wins so that makes them historically less successful than Spurs, genius. Your ridiculous need to constantly bring up the past in every single post you make is, quite frankly, pathetic. Why don't you spend more time in the present like a normal person? And out of curiosity, how many of Villa's league and cup wins were you actually alive to witness? I'm just interested because you take an overblown sense of pride and accomplishment from it, so you surely must've been there to witness it all first hand.

Fair play Jas. I'm well aware that not all Villa fans possess such hatred towards Spurs, it's just the ones that do are frequently very vocal about it in this thread. I'll be taking my nephew on his first trip down to watch them live, providing the weather is okay. Good team to be playing for his first trip, better teach him how to deal with defeat beforehand though. I'm so gonna regret having said that now! If you see a tubby bearded man yelling about unrequited man-love at Riccardo Montolivo, that'll be me. He's been raised as a Spurs fan for the last 9 years, so he's used to handling defeat. ;( It should be a very good test for Spurs, I'm hoping for a strong team from both sides and the players make a strong case for a starting position against City. Kyle Walker and Giovani in particular have looked very good to me in recent games. Hopefully they'll be in and around the first XI this season. Are you a bit of a Fiorentina fan, or are you going specifically to see Montolivo? Wasn't he strongly linked to Arsenal a while ago?

I'll be taking my nephew on his first trip down to watch them live, providing the weather is okay.

And then two years later they broke into the top four? Good times.

With the stories going round about City's dirty tactics, regarding even their own players, I hardly think a City fan can get on his high horse when it comes to footballing ethics.

Arteta for £2m has got to be one of the best signings I've ever seen. Brilliant player. I can't believe he's never won a senior cap for his country. Goes to show the strength of Spain's midfielders, I suppose. Capello ought to be begging him to switch his allegiance to England.

Tony, you asked in the City thread who Spurs had signed from China, South Africa, Brazil and the US. They signed the Brazil under-21 captain, Sandro, from Inter this season, as a result of the partnership formed between the two teams. As for the other partnerships, I believe they're more for commercial purposes than the intention of uncovering new talent. Although obviously, if a good prospect does emerge from those partnerships, Spurs would have first option on them.

I can't believe you sunk to that level in an attempt to make a point.

As with all insider info, it's to be taken with a pinch of salt. But figured it'd be worth posting here, all the same.

I'd imagine a fair few of the Spurs fans at the "New York Challenge" trophy games actually live in and around NY. It's called having a global fan base. They must be HUGE fans, living in New York and commuting to WHL every two weeks. Must also earn a lot of money. So, what you're saying is, your definition of a fan is someone who attends every home game of the club they support? So, with that definition in mind, Man City have about 47,000 fans in the world? Seriously, dude, you can support a team without having to live in the country they play in. Just look at your brothers in red, they have millions of fans all over the world.

Hmm, looking at the tables now, it was probably that 68 points was always enough for fifth place.

Oh by the way, this is total bollocks. In the following years 70 points wouldn't have got top 4. 92/93 93/94 94/95 01/02 07/08 08/09 So I guess you just made that little stat up to support your case. What. I'm absolutely sure I read last season that 68 points was always enough for fourth place. I take that back then, my bad.

70 points has been enough to finish in the top four on every season of the Premier League's existence. I don't see that changing next season.

Pile of crap article, just like the Young one the other day. "The midfielder is one of three players boss Harry Redknapp has targeted to drive his Champions League campaign. He has already made a £20million bid for Aston Villa's Ashley Young and remains hopeful of bringing in Craig Bellamy from Manchester City." Wrong. Spurs haven't bid for Ashley Young at all. Bellamy is very much a last resort target too. Spurs have already made a fairly big money bid for Luis Suarez, but the papers still haven't picked up on this. Spurs are also in talks with City with regards to signing Micah Richards and Galatasaray about Arda Turan. "Redknapp, who has yet to make a signing this summer, could pick up Bellamy, 31, for £4m in the City firesale." Wrong. Spurs have already signed the Brazil under-21 captain Sandro this summer. He's a central midfielder, so he'll be competing with Palacios, Huddlestone, Jenas, Modric, Kaboul and even Kranjcar Livermore for a starting spot. So why would Redknapp spend £20m+ for another central midfielder? "And he has also confirmed his interest in Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano, 29, as Sport of the World reported last month. " Yet, literally seven sentences ago, the article states that Spurs are after only three players in Young, Milner and Bellamy. Fabiano would make four targets, surely. Well done, Mr. Magee.

1, That's because you're the only person that cares about that. As evidenced by the fact that you've brought it up about 25 times in this thread and everybody else ignored you. Seriously, what possible bearing does league finishes in the 90s have on a team's ability to perform in the league now? 2, Spurs didn't get lucky last season. They finished 4th by being the better team throughout the season, and that's with the ridiculous amount of injuries the squad suffered. City and Liverpool will improve, of course, but so will Spurs. Everybody wrote off Spurs for 4th place all through last season because City and Liverpool allegedly had better teams. But Spurs finished higher than them by playing better football and with the team having better team spirit and understanding of each other's game. Spurs finished on 70 points last season, if they hit that number again this season, they'll finish in the top 4, regardless of what any other team does.

Modric? Palacios? Dawson? All good enough. Just put maybe one top class striker (Fabiano), a defender that is better than Bassong and less injury prone than King and hope Huddlestone develops quickly and viola. Palacios not good enough, nor is Dawson. They have many good players, but not that quality or experience to win the league. They had their best Premiership season and still finished 16 points off the title?! with the same squad + maybe an addition or two, they are not suddenly going to challenge for the title. They were closer to 13th than they were 1st...... It'll be the same squad, but most of the younger players will be that little bit better and more experienced. Plus, Spurs suffered a dreadful season with injuries last year. Losing Lennon for over half of the season, when he was in his best form of his career before November. Modric lost four months, Defoe was out for a couple of months, Woodgate missed the entire season, King was King, Bale was injured for the first three months. And in March/April there were as many as 9 squad players, many in the same positions, injured at the same time. So with less injuries this year, there will already be a stronger squad than last year. So you believe your title challengers? Nope, but you posted before I finished typing that last post.