Premier League Spurs - Arry's gone but we still dislike them...

[xliosive]

Surely someone should be able to get the name of their stadium into one of these puns. Young Boys play at the Wankdorf.

Harry returns home from spying mission on Champions League opponents:

Wife: Cor blimey ’Arry, you’re late ’ome. Where you been and what you been doing?

Harry: Wankdorf, watching Young Boys.

Wife: WHAT???

Nice

[Brumstopdogs]

An interesting comment from one of Spurs main transfer targets this pre-season

http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/60733/default.aspx

"Blanc told me I shouldn't join a smaller club like Tottenham Hotspur"

[kurtsimonw]

Reckon any of the Big 4 will be in for Dawson after his blinder today?

[SimplySpurfect]

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.

[chrissmith921]

Well, Gareth Bale up to his old tricks again.

'Injured' yesterday. Cock.

[SimplySpurfect]

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.

[wiganvillain]

Did he fall off his Tyre on a rope

[LondonLax]

What's up with Spurs?

They haven't bought anyone yet have they? Except that brazilian kid they lined up a year ago.

I can't imagion Harry being happy about the new season starting in two days and him not having been able to wheel and deal yet.

Surely this window is the only chance they get to play the "we can offer you Champions League" card because players will be cup tied in January (and perhaps not in the knockout stages anyway) and odds are they won't repeat last years feat of finishing ahead of Man City.

I am surprised they haven't brought in more high profile signings TBH. Perhaps the stadium plans have put a big drag on their transfer budget?

[Rob182]

Did he fall off his Tyre on a rope

[BOF]

Did he fall off his Tyre on a rope

No, one of his mates threw poo in his eye.

[SurreyAV]

Unless they realise that Man City will most likely take the other CL place next year so they're banking the cash and only making minimal improvements this year. Would be in keeping with Levy's management of the finances. Not to say that they won't try to get 4th, but currently looking unlikely for us, them, Plop and Everton.

[joey55]

What's up with Spurs?

They haven't bought anyone yet have they? Except that brazilian kid they lined up a year ago.

I can't imagion Harry being happy about the new season starting in two days and him not having been able to wheel and deal yet.

Surely this window is the only chance they get to play the "we can offer you Champions League" card because players will be cup tied in January (and perhaps not in the knockout stages anyway) and odds are they won't repeat last years feat of finishing ahead of Man City.

I am surprised they haven't brought in more high profile signings TBH. Perhaps the stadium plans have put a big drag on their transfer budget?

The trouble is that to improve on what we have, we need to buy established top quality playersa dn quite frankly we will struggle to attract players of that ilk. We don't pay high enough wages and don't have the prestige of a club like Juventus or Liverpool. So basically it's hard to find players. Also, like any business you don't want too m uch capital tied up in stock. Harry keeps saying we can't afford certain players, but this is rubbish when you look at our accounts. But there is no way we'd add considerably to the playing staff until we've got rid of some. But most other clubs genuinley don't have any money, so getting decent fees for the players we'd like t off load is problematic. If you buy before you sell, then, it becomes apparent you need to off load players and this will devalue them further.

So, in short, we have the money, but it's difficult to attract the right targets and ideally would want to sell players beforehand, which in the current market is tricky. Add to this that the market looked like it would get kick started by your sale of Milner and MON buying a Spurs player or 2. Are you still going to be interested in Keane or Bentley if MON is no longer there?

[GlastonSpur]

Unless they realise that Man City will most likely take the other CL place next year so they're banking the cash and only making minimal improvements this year. Would be in keeping with Levy's management of the finances. Not to say that they won't try to get 4th, but currently looking unlikely for us, them, Plop and Everton.

There's plenty of reasons to think that Spurs - even without any further signings - will be doing more than just making "minimal improvements":

* dos Santos: Last season was partly injured and partly away on loan. Now he's back after impressing in the WC, impressing in pre-season and picking up the MotM award in Mexico's 1 -1 draw with Spain last night. In effect he'll be like a new signing.

* Sandro: Brazilian U-21 captain and now called up into their senior squad.

* Cudicini: back and fully fit after his motorbike accident. Good backup GK that wo didn't have for muich of the 2nd half of last season.

* O'Hara: back after being with Pompey on loan last season. The experience looks to have improved him hugely.

* Keane: back from his loan to Celtic.

* Kyle Walker: Looked excellent in pre-season playing at both RB and CB. May well have a significant role to play in the first-team squad this season.

* Kyle Naughton: back from his loan spell at Boro'. Has also impressed in pre-season.

OK, some of the above might still be sold or loaned out, but then again Spurs might make 1 or 2 new signings, so it all balances out in the wash. The point is that either way the Spurs squad will likely be stronger than last season - and that's not counting the fact that young players like Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Modric, Kaboul, Rose etc will likely kick on again this season.

[PompeyVillan]

Unless they realise that Man City will most likely take the other CL place next year so they're banking the cash and only making minimal improvements this year. Would be in keeping with Levy's management of the finances. Not to say that they won't try to get 4th, but currently looking unlikely for us, them, Plop and Everton.

There's plenty of reasons to think that Spurs - even without any further signings - will be doing more than just making "minimal improvements":

* dos Santos: Last season was partly injured and partly away on loan. Now he's back after impressing in the WC, impressing in pre-season and picking up the MotM award in Mexico's 1 -1 draw with Spain last night. In effect he'll be like a new signing.

* Sandro: Brazilian U-21 captain and now called up into their senior squad.

* Cudicini: back and fully fit after his motorbike accident. Good backup GK that wo didn't have for muich of the 2nd half of last season.

* O'Hara: back after being with Pompey on loan last season. The experience looks to have improved him hugely.

* Keane: back from his loan to Celtic.

* Kyle Walker: Looked excellent in pre-season playing at both RB and CB. May well have a significant role to play in the first-team squad this season.

* Kyle Naughton: back from his loan spell at Boro'. Has also impressed in pre-season.

OK, some of the above might still be sold or loaned out, but then again Spurs might make 1 or 2 new signings, so it all balances out in the wash. The point is that either way the Spurs squad will likely be stronger than last season - and that's not counting the fact that young players like Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Modric, Kaboul, Rose etc will likely kick on again this season.

Only Keane is the type of player that you would describe as anywhere near 'Champion's League' quality. Sure the other players might improve, but whether it will be significant enough to make a difference, nobody knows.

Whereas Liverpool and Manchester City have brought in 'Champions League' quality players. You can speculate whether the Man City team will gel or not, but one thing you can sure about is that the players they have bought have proven their quality in other teams. If they do gel, they'll be challenging for the title, let alone 4th place.

Dos santos, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton and O'Hara have not shown anywhere near the same level of performance as the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva, Jerome Boateng etc.

I wouldn't gamble your hopes too heavily on decent young players.

[GlastonSpur]

Only Keane is the type of player that you would describe as anywhere near 'Champion's League' quality. Sure the other players might improve, but whether it will be significant enough to make a difference, nobody knows.

Whereas Liverpool and Manchester City have brought in 'Champions League' quality players. You can speculate whether the Man City team will gel or not, but one thing you can sure about is that the players they have bought have proven their quality in other teams. If they do gel, they'll be challenging for the title, let alone 4th place.

Dos santos, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton and O'Hara have not shown anywhere near the same level of performance as the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva, Jerome Boateng etc.

I wouldn't gamble your hopes too heavily on decent young players.

The post I responded to was discussing Prem league placings, not how Spurs would do in the CL. The league is a marathon, not a sprint, and my point is that the Spurs squad depth will improve again even with no new signings, and last season's squad finished 4th.

Livepool have signed Joe Cole - CL quality, yes. But they will likely be losing CL-quality Mascherano in return, and Benayoun has already gone. None of their other signings are CL quality, far from it.

Man. City: the "likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva, Jerome Boateng etc. " have not even kicked a ball in the Prem yet. They might all flop for all we know, or at the very least take quite some while to adapt. Right now, with the season about to kick off, I'd in preference take the Prem-proven trio of Huddlestone (over Toure), Modric (over Silva) and Corluka (over Boateng), just as I'd take Bale over Kolarov.

City for the title? No chance. I have them down for 5th.

[PompeyVillan]

They might flop. But they might not. I think there is a better chance of them not flopping than there is Spurs fringe young players making the step up.

What about the players that City have signed and are bedding in now? Surely they'll improve as time goes by too.

As for your opinion on Spurs players, I'll take it with a pinch of salt, I hope you're not offended but you do tend to be a little bias (as we all are) in rating your own team's players.

The transfer window is not over yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if Redknapp brings in a few tried and trusted faces to shore up the squad. Keane out and Bellamy in perhaps?

[thetrees]

Errr,

Spurs haven't got any cash and need to ship out some dead wood, to free up wage bill capacity.

Sound familiar?

[SimplySpurfect]

The transfer window is not over yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if Redknapp brings in a few tried and trusted faces to shore up the squad. Keane out and Bellamy in perhaps?

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.

[LJRM050389]

Unless they realise that Man City will most likely take the other CL place next year so they're banking the cash and only making minimal improvements this year. Would be in keeping with Levy's management of the finances. Not to say that they won't try to get 4th, but currently looking unlikely for us, them, Plop and Everton.

There's plenty of reasons to think that Spurs - even without any further signings - will be doing more than just making "minimal improvements":

* dos Santos: Last season was partly injured and partly away on loan. Now he's back after impressing in the WC, impressing in pre-season and picking up the MotM award in Mexico's 1 -1 draw with Spain last night. In effect he'll be like a new signing.

* Sandro: Brazilian U-21 captain and now called up into their senior squad.

* Cudicini: back and fully fit after his motorbike accident. Good backup GK that wo didn't have for muich of the 2nd half of last season.

* O'Hara: back after being with Pompey on loan last season. The experience looks to have improved him hugely.

* Keane: back from his loan to Celtic.

* Kyle Walker: Looked excellent in pre-season playing at both RB and CB. May well have a significant role to play in the first-team squad this season.

* Kyle Naughton: back from his loan spell at Boro'. Has also impressed in pre-season.

OK, some of the above might still be sold or loaned out, but then again Spurs might make 1 or 2 new signings, so it all balances out in the wash. The point is that either way the Spurs squad will likely be stronger than last season - and that's not counting the fact that young players like Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Modric, Kaboul, Rose etc will likely kick on again this season.

how is this different to most of our squad (with the exception of Friedel and Heskey) reaching their peak or continual development?

Lichaj, Clark, Delfouneso, Bannan, Weimann are all better players than this time last year

[PompeyVillan]

Unless they realise that Man City will most likely take the other CL place next year so they're banking the cash and only making minimal improvements this year. Would be in keeping with Levy's management of the finances. Not to say that they won't try to get 4th, but currently looking unlikely for us, them, Plop and Everton.

There's plenty of reasons to think that Spurs - even without any further signings - will be doing more than just making "minimal improvements":

* dos Santos: Last season was partly injured and partly away on loan. Now he's back after impressing in the WC, impressing in pre-season and picking up the MotM award in Mexico's 1 -1 draw with Spain last night. In effect he'll be like a new signing.

* Sandro: Brazilian U-21 captain and now called up into their senior squad.

* Cudicini: back and fully fit after his motorbike accident. Good backup GK that wo didn't have for muich of the 2nd half of last season.

* O'Hara: back after being with Pompey on loan last season. The experience looks to have improved him hugely.

* Keane: back from his loan to Celtic.

* Kyle Walker: Looked excellent in pre-season playing at both RB and CB. May well have a significant role to play in the first-team squad this season.

* Kyle Naughton: back from his loan spell at Boro'. Has also impressed in pre-season.

OK, some of the above might still be sold or loaned out, but then again Spurs might make 1 or 2 new signings, so it all balances out in the wash. The point is that either way the Spurs squad will likely be stronger than last season - and that's not counting the fact that young players like Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Modric, Kaboul, Rose etc will likely kick on again this season.

how is this different to most of our squad (with the exception of Friedel and Heskey) reaching their peak or continual development?

Lichaj, Clark, Delfouneso, Bannan, Weimann are all better players than this time last year

They play for Spurs of course.