Comolli; the facts

[JimmyG2]

Should Comolli be sacked? He seems to be the main object of Spurs fans wrath, in tandem with the general dissatisfaction with the DOF system. Second of course is Levy and third usually is Jermain Jenas.

I publish below (with kind permission of Jim Duggan of 'Topspurs from the 'Topspur' Archive) the list of all our signings since Comolli replaced Arnesen in September 2005. Since then 31 players have been signed and 29 sold or released.

Ramos became manager in October 2007. Since then 13 players have been signed and 8 released or sold.

I have included the fees involved where available so that you can have fun deciding whether we got value for money. Again we don't know precisely the Levy input at this stage.

2008/09 Frazier Campbell Manchester United Sep-08 loan

2008/09 Vedran Corluka Manchester City Sep-08 £8,500,000

2008/09 Roman Pavlyuchenko Spartak Moscow Aug-08 £14,000,000

2008/09 Cesar Sanchez Real Zaragoza Aug-08 Undisclosed

2008/09 David Bentley Blackburn Rovers Jul-08 £15,000,000

2008/09 John Bostock Crystal Palace Jul-08 £700,000

2008/09 Heurelho Gomes PSV Eindhoven Jun-08 £9,000,000

2008/09 Giovani dos Santos Barcelona Jun-08 £4,700,000

2008/09 Luka Modric Dinamo Zagreb Apr-08 £15,800,000

2007/08 Gilberto Hertha Berlin Jan-08 £1,900,000

2007/08 Alan Hutton Rangers Jan-08 £8,000,000

2007/08 Jonathan Woodgate Middlesbrough Jan-08 £7,500,000

2007/08 Chris Gunter Cardiff City Dec-07 £2,000,000

2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng Hertha Berlin Jul-07 £5,200,000

2007/08 Danny Rose Leeds United Jul-07 Undisclosed

2007/08 Younes Kaboul Auxerre Jul-07 £8,200,000

2007/08 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic Jun-07 £16,500,000

2007/08 Adel Taarabt Lens Jun-07 Undisclosed

2007/08 Yuri Berchiche Athletic Bilbao Jun-07 Undisclosed

2007/08 Gareth Bale Southampton May-07 £5,000,000

2006/07 Ben Alnwick Sunderland Jan-07 Undisclosed

2006/07 Ricardo Rocha Benfica Jan-07 £3,500,000

2006/07 Mido AS Roma Aug-06 £4,500,000

2006/07 Pascal Chimbonda Wigan Athletic Aug-06 £4,000,000

2006/07 Steed Malbranque Fulham Aug-06 £3,500,000

2006/07 Dorian Dervitte Lille Jun-06 Undisclosed

2006/07 Didier Zokora St Etienne Jun-06 £6,000,000

2006/07 Benoit Assou-Ekotto RC Lens Jun-06 £3,500,000

2005/06 Hossam Ghaly Feyernoord Jan-06 Undisclosed

2005/06 Danny Murphy Charlton Jan-06 £2,000,000

We don't know precisely the distribution of authority within the management team: who initiates the process; who has the power of veto and under what circumstances; who conducts the negotiating process and where Comolli's role starts and ends in relation to Levy.

A wider question is of course the players we have not signed and the positions we have not filled. How far this is down to Comolli is again unclear. Were some players lined up and vetoed by the manager on playing criteria or Levy on financial ones?

I don't think that Comolli can be held responsible for the sale of players as the initial decisions on this would presumably be the manager's or Levy's responsibility.

You can obviously pore over this and draw your own conclusions. I hold no brief for Comolli but I am always suspicious when so many people are quick to attribute blame, especially at a time of collective stress and disappointment.

Of the 31 signings only 5 it seems to me are doubtful.(Gilberto,Boateng,Kaboul,Rocha,Murphy) and of these Kaboul's transfer was probably premature. You can add Taarabt and Zokora if you like, but Zokora has been our best player on several occasions and has useful flexibility. Taarabt is only 19, and Boateng 21 and should be given time before final judgements are made.

Ghaly and Chimbonda are on many fans' hate list but neither in my view were poor footballers. Their temperaments perhaps should have been an issue in the scouting process.

But if you include all these that makes 9 out of 31. I have ignored all the ITK stuff about Jol spotting Berbatov before Comolli arrived, he'd been with the club 7 months before Berbatov was signed and we just don't know.

If you are going to blame Comolli for all the bad signings and praise the manager and Levy for all the good ones you are clearly not going to be swayed by sensible argument.

My view of this is that it is by no means a poor record, particularly since Ramos arrived. I would only question, on playing merit, Murphy, Gilberto and Rocha, in the sense that we could have signed better quality players. Some might want to add Bent but mainly on the grounds of the fee paid.

Other players are young or have not had time to settle and I include Bentley,Giovani Corluka and Modric in this category. Others have been bought for the future; Rose, Dervitte, Alnwick,,Bostock
Berchiche.

But, fellow fans, there are the facts make of them what you will.

[Azrael]

Why is it that there's a certain type of fan out there who've taken to posting threads like this decalring "the facts" as if their post is the be all and end all of discussion?

I've noticed that often people who post "the facts" often leave out other facts that harm their argument....

[Japseye]

While many have demanded heads should roll, that as your argument argues, should not necessarily be the case as we the fans do not know the inner workings of any deal nor do we know who has input, and to what extent.

However we currently lie bottom of the table and while i am a half full kinda chap, i feel that something needs to be done changes need to be made, and someone or maybe a group need to be accountable....

Over the past 4 transfer windows we have failed to sort in my opinion the left midfield and defensive midfield positions, and in the last window we sold £50M worth of striking talent and have not filled the 40-50goals a season void.

I don't think JR should be shown the door... would we get a better manager in at this point? I don't think so.

I don't think DL will leave just now, he runs the club as a business and I have not had too many complaints with this. We are well run and he will only sell once either a) he is made an offer he cant refuse b) he has built us a new stadium and feels he can add no more value c) television contracts get re-negotiated and he wants to cash in on inflated club valuations as a result.

The 'scape goat' is DC. The problem us fans have is the club have not made it clear this mans remit, what is his invlovement in deals??? if it was black and white we could either blame him or not, but it is all shades of grey! I say offer him up as a sacraficial lamb, and put him in charge of scouting or some other job title (just like Chavski did to Arnasen).

Then pass responsibility of all transfers onto the sholders of the manager - to pick his wish list, and the board - to go get them.

We will then know the players we are liked with are the palyers JR wants, and we will know when they drag on for ever and dont come on deadline day it was down to DL.

At least then we know, and they cant hide in the shadows like they are at the mo.

Just my two pence worth.... :whistle:

[ultimateloner]

While many have demanded heads should roll, that as your argument argues, should not necessarily be the case as we the fans do not know the inner workings of any deal nor do we know who has input, and to what extent.

However we currently lie bottom of the table and while i am a half full kinda chap, i feel that something needs to be done changes need to be made, and someone or maybe a group need to be accountable....

Over the past 4 transfer windows we have failed to sort in my opinion the left midfield and defensive midfield positions, and in the last window we sold £50M worth of striking talent and have not filled the 40-50goals a season void.

I don't think JR should be shown the door... would we get a better manager in at this point? I don't think so.

I don't think DL will leave just now, he runs the club as a business and I have not had too many complaints with this. We are well run and he will only sell once either a) he is made an offer he cant refuse b) he has built us a new stadium and feels he can add no more value c) television contracts get re-negotiated and he wants to cash in on inflated club valuations as a result.

The 'scape goat' is DC. The problem us fans have is the club have not made it clear this mans remit, what is his invlovement in deals??? if it was black and white we could either blame him or not, but it is all shades of grey! I say offer him up as a sacraficial lamb, and put him in charge of scouting or some other job title (just like Chavski did to Arnasen).

Then pass responsibility of all transfers onto the sholders of the manager - to pick his wish list, and the board - to go get them.

We will then know the players we are liked with are the palyers JR wants, and we will know when they drag on for ever and dont come on deadline day it was down to DL.

At least then we know, and they cant hide in the shadows like they are at the mo.

Just my two pence worth.... :whistle:

The DoF concept might just be that - creating a scape-goat to safeguard Ramos/Levy in tough times. Levy's a smart guy - he knows how to build a smoke screen.

[davidmatzdorf]

Why is it that there's a certain type of fan out there who've taken to posting threads like this decalring "the facts" as if their post is the be all and end all of discussion?

I read his last paragraph as if "the facts" ended at the end of the list of players. The rest is obviously his opinion, as there's a phrase like "I don't think" or "my view" in virtually every paragraph, and I don't reckon he intended it to be taken otherwise.

[pablo73]

The DoF concept might just be that - creating a scape-goat to safeguard Ramos/Levy in tough times. Levy's a smart guy - he knows how to build a smoke screen.

my thoughts exactly. In my opinion, Levy like the waters as muddy as possible to make it almost impossible for him to be held accountable by the fans. This whole 'joint responsibility' actually = 'no responsibility' except for whoever Levy decides to make the scapegoat. last time it was Jol, this time who knows, but you can be sure it won't be DL? This 'gang of four' stuff is a joke as well - death by committee is what i would call it.

and before anyone replies that I have no right to blame Levy or anyone else for that matter because I do not understand the workings of the club - well, that's the whole point right fucking there.

[JimmyG2]

Sorry if its unclear.The facts are the list of signings. The intro and the comments after are my take on the facts . I tried to make this clear as davidmatzdorf says. I was trying to give the facts about Comolli's signings a bit of context.

[DanNolan]

Lets not dress it up for gods sake....the fact is our squad is good enough to challenge and be in the top 6 by talent alone so the problem surely lies with the playing and coaching staff. It has been pathetic this season, however its obvious to me that we're not playing as badly as this time last season....just missing the goals. We dominate most games which supplies hope that when we win one we'll go on a run...... i still fancy us top 9 this season....early days

[DanNolan]

However if we dont win in the next 3 games we're in huge trouble admittedly

[berbie38]

I read his last paragraph as if "the facts" ended at the end of the list of players. The rest is obviously his opinion, as there's a phrase like "I don't think" or "my view" in virtually every paragraph, and I don't reckon he intended it to be taken otherwise.
Take a careful look at that list the only players there who look genuine value are woodgate,Bale and Gunter maybe. The amount of money spent is astronomical!!!

[eViL]

We need stability, not more chopping and changing.

If you look over the years it's the period after change that costs us dear EVERY year.

Let's just stick at it.

[westlondonyid]

Sometimes I think that people on here watch different games to me cause peoples opinions on players seem to be way off he mark to me.

Only 5 signings doubtful? :rofl:

Lets look at whether any of the players signed represent either top four potential or value for money before we claim that players like Zokora have been a success.

Out of that list I would say that only 5 came into that category

Malbranque - never a top four player but good value for money and performed well at left mid.

Hutton - To me looks very very good, expensive and seems injury prone but def a top four player

Woodgate - Expensive but great player and would be great alongside King if he wasnt injured all the time.

Bale - Expensive, Injury prone but like Woodgate looks quality, little out of form at the moment

Mido - Never top four player and most of his good work was done when he was on loan still represented good value seeing that we sold him on for more.

Not gonna comment on this years signings as too early to judge their quality.

[nidge]

We need stability, not more chopping and changing.

If you look over the years it's the period after change that costs us dear EVERY year.

Let's just stick at it.

We only need stability if we believe we have the right people making the important decisions at the club. (By we I mean "the club")

[Stoof]

I think the most poignant thing to come out of this is the higher echelons of our club once claimed our structure was implemented to give us greater stability, in both staff and performance. Consistency.

Yet with our DoF structure, working in whichever capacity you believe it to, we've had a higher turnover of managers and players with it rather than without. It does beg the question of how exactly our Board defines stability. I certainly wouldn't want to go on a Tottenham Hotspur branded Rollercoaster. I'm not sure I'd live through the experience; I'm struggling as it is with the tame, and supposedly stable one.

[jimmy_the_yid]

Bale - Expensive, Injury prone but like Woodgate looks quality, little out of form at the moment




Injury prone? i dont think he is, he had one bad injury but that doesnt make him injury prone.

Owen is injury prone, King is injury prone....

[BringBack_leGin]

good article, refreshing to read something that does not look to attribute blame.

one question though. why is berbatov not on that list? surely he stands out as by far the best signing since comolli began at spurs (not just that we have made, but that any club in the league has made). world class footballer, one of the top three strikers on the planet, for less than each of bentley, modric, pavlyuchenko and bent, who just so happen to be the 4 attackers at the club on whom the most responsibility for getting goals shuold be falling.

[bigspurs]

Basic calculation:

+ The 'Director of Football' setup not working at Spurs
+ The pig-headed, hard-nosed (bite it off to spite your face) business prowess of the chairman
+ A decent manager, but with no Prem experience and a small grasp of English
+ The ongoing King problem and the Dawson dip in form bull-crap
+ The infamous 'Mr Tottenham' betrayal
+ Not signing all of the right players and selling some of the wrong ones
+ Fans getting on the player's backs
+ Pressure of not performing etc
= Most humiliating period of my 3 decades supporting Spurs!!!

[JimmyG2]

good article, refreshing to read something that does not look to attribute blame.

one question though. why is berbatov not on that list? surely he stands out as by far the best signing since comolli began at spurs (not just that we have made, but that any club in the league has made). world class footballer, one of the top three strikers on the planet, for less than each of bentley, modric, pavlyuchenko and bent, who just so happen to be the 4 attackers at the club on whom the most responsibility for getting goals shuold be falling.

Well spotted. he should be .He was signed in May 2006 for just under £10million. Lost in transmission fromTopspurs Archive to Spurs Community via my computer.
Amazed at how few players some fans rate. Berbatov,Woodgate Bale,Hutton,Gunter,Gomes,are surely all first class players. Modric,Corluka,Bentley,Pavlyuchenko are all internationals who though not performing to their expected levels yet are still first class buys which is what the article is about. How well has Comolli done his job based on the players signed.

[davidmatzdorf]

Take a careful look at that list the only players there who look genuine value are woodgate,Bale and Gunter maybe. The amount of money spent is astronomical!!!

I don't agree with you, but how does your post relate to mine? Did you actually read what I wrote, or just skim it and go off on an unrelated riff?

More evidence that I should be spending my time elsewhere.

Anyone who follows Spurs with half-a-brain's-worth of attention will know that the club has made a substantial profit from its player dealings over the past 4 years (since Arnesen arrived), so what's your point?

I think there are several other players on the Comolli list who look like good value (one Dimitar Berbatov springs to mind), but that isn't really the point. The point is that your post is ignorant and thoughtless.

EDIT: Hang on, where is Berbatov on that list? He was a Comolli signing. And I won't have any of this "they knew about him already" nonsense. They knew about plenty others as well. Comolli did the deal, under considerable pressure from other clubs.

[spurdownunder]

Why is it that there's a certain type of fan out there who've taken to posting threads like this decalring "the facts" as if their post is the be all and end all of discussion?

I've noticed that often people who post "the facts" often leave out other facts that harm their argument....

:clap::clap: Well said son. Any chance of you sitting in Park Lane for the next few games, so there's one less negative nancy to listen to?

Rep, rep rep.

All the nega(fucking)tivity isn't helping anyone.

COYS

[gaganelov]

David, you wrote" "...the club has made a substantial profit from its player dealings over the past 4 years..." and I believe everyone should agree. Have you counted the overall profit and most importantly - have you or has anybody else compare this profit to the profit we would have had if played a season or two in the CL?

[eddiebailey]

S
Of the 31 signings only 5 it seems to me are doubtful.(Gilberto,Boateng,Kaboul,Rocha,Murphy) and of these Kaboul's transfer was probably premature. You can add Taarabt and Zokora if you like, but Zokora has been our best player on several occasions and has useful flexibility. Taarabt is only 19, and Boateng 21 and should be given time before final judgements are made.


It would seem Ramos has already made his final judgement on Taarabt and Boateng, and Alnwick as well. All were excluded from not just the first team squad and first team training facilities, but more significantly the UEFA Cup squad, where they were left out in in favour of those Academy players who would not otherwise have qualified.

Ghaly, who has been banished to the same outer wilderness, is also unlikely to go down as Spurs legend. Nor is Assou-Ekotto come to that.

With those signed at the start of this season it is too soon to tell, though our league position is hardly an endorsement.

With youngsters such as Bostock and Parrett it is far too soon to tell. Remember how excited we all were by Leigh Mills?

[glenda]

berbatov was scouted before commolli arrived.

im not gonna waste my time talking about this crap anymore,but forreal this is the worst shape ive known spurs to be in since my first game in 1980.

so someone is to blame!!!!!

[wolff]

Thread closed. Cmon you Yids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[davidmatzdorf]

...have you or has anybody else compare this profit to the profit we would have had if played a season or two in the CL?

It's a good point. Your first. Makes a nice change from "Levy out". But you have a hidden assumption, which is that we would have qualified for the CL by now, had we retained Martin Jol as our manager. It's a flawed assumption, as we certainly would not have done so had we left MJ in charge last year, after the start we had.

OK, arguably, we would not have had that start if the whole managerial structure had not been destabilised by the public courtship of Ramos. But I do think people are rather free-and-easy about CL qualification. It's a monumental task, involving far more than just assembling individual players of quality.

My main contention is that Levy is not the devil incarnate. He's done a great deal of good for the club over the past 5-6 years and should take a good deal of the credit for the improvement in our level of aspiration, after the bleak, aimless years throughout the 90s.

But he either panicked or he got greedy or he got impatient or a combination of all of them. ENIC had a clear business strategy: get the club into the CL as soon as possible, use that as a lever to generate finance to build a new stadium and then, with CL status in one pocket and planning consent for the new stadium in the other, sell the club for a sensational profit.

Perhaps Levy smelled the credit crunch coming (which is more than Joe Lewis did, so I suspect not) and decided that we needed to gamble on CL qualification by 2009 or bust. Or perhaps he just let Ramos' reputation cloud his judgment. What is beyond doubt, even if we turn this around and finish in mid-table this season, is that the decision to overhaul the squad in less than one year was an act of hubris that has backfired pretty spectacularly.

Every one of them has to take his share of responsibility: Levy, Comolli, Ramos and Alexander.

[hellava_tough]

I suppose you've also got to put the whole thing in context - a list of players doesn't tell the whole story.

A lot of great players came in this transfer window, BUT we sold a very effective strike-force and didn't replace it. Now we're bottom of the league, lacking experience, creativity and goals.

The previous season, when Jol was sacked, saw youthful potential being signed that looked good on paper, but wasn't what the team at the time needed.

As for Comolli, well he has made some great signings in the past, but they haven't necessarily been the right signings at the right time.

Should he be sacked? There are too many factors behind the scenes that we don't know about, so my answer would be: :shrug:

[hellava_tough]

Perhaps we should also compare Comolli to other DoF around the world?

I don't know any especially well, although that guy at Sevilla seems to be held in high-regard.

Just a thought from an insomniac

[adwanhussein]

Good article .Many good posts there.DM is back to his best with a very penetrating and spot on analysis that answers the woes that has Spurs in dire straits.

[SouthLondonSpur]

..... and Alexander.

Sorry David, I must be missing something, or perhaps too much wine head syndrome?

Hleb?
O'Neil?
The Great?

[sxboy]

2007/08 Gilberto Hertha Berlin Jan-08 £1,900,000

2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng Hertha Berlin Jul-07 £5,200,000

2007/08 Younes Kaboul Auxerre Jul-07 £8,200,000

2007/08 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic Jun-07 £16,500,000

2006/07 Ricardo Rocha Benfica Jan-07 £3,500,000

2006/07 Benoit Assou-Ekotto RC Lens Jun-06 £3,500,000

I would get the sack if i made buying decisions like these in my trade.

Maybe i still just cant believe the price players go for these days.

[gaganelov]

David, I don't have any hidden assumption. I agree with you that we had a solid team a year ago. Not a great one, but a solid one. And we could have build on it if it was not destroyed. And I blame Levy for that.
Obviously Spurs is for sale and they want sound financial situation, not silverware before they sell. A real fight for a place on the top of EPL means risking money. And Levy and ENIC don't want to take risks now looking for the newrich (from Russia to Dubai to Thailand).
That may be good for them, but for me as a fan it is devastating.

[Coyboy]

David means John (?) Alexander, the club Secretary spotted in Spain 'courting' (and not in a gentlemanly eighteenth century aristocratic sense) Ramos. He is part of the group of four which decides transfer issues. His main input is legal and contractual I assume.

David good posts, glad you haven't fled this site.

Gaganleov are the L E V Y O U T letters on your keyboard worn through now?

[gaganelov]

Coyboy, I want Spurs to be the Champ. That is.

[Jimbobfury]

What people must remember is where DC was before he was at Bordeaux.....
We should never have employed him in the first place with his links to them!

[midoNdefoe]

What people must remember is where DC was before he was at Bordeaux.....
We should never have employed him in the first place with his links to them!

What a wasteman!!

What about Bentley, O'hara, or Ricketts. They have all had some involvement at the scum. So what.
Do you really think he is here to try and bring us down internally?!

What a pathetic thing to suggest!!:bang:

[Coyboy]

Yea I wouldn't want anyone previously associated with Arsenal. As long as Spurs are cleansed of any previous Arsenal allies, I don't care if they go bust and get relegated.

Some fans...

[BringBack_leGin]

2007/08 Gilberto Hertha Berlin Jan-08 £1,900,000

2007/08 Kevin-Prince Boateng Hertha Berlin Jul-07 £5,200,000

2007/08 Younes Kaboul Auxerre Jul-07 £8,200,000

2007/08 Darren Bent Charlton Athletic Jun-07 £16,500,000

2006/07 Ricardo Rocha Benfica Jan-07 £3,500,000

2006/07 Benoit Assou-Ekotto RC Lens Jun-06 £3,500,000

I would get the sack if i made buying decisions like these in my trade.

Maybe i still just cant believe the price players go for these days.

so you know as an absolute fact that Comolli was 100% responsible for every one of these signings?

Didn't think so.

And get your figures right, we only actually paid 2.5m for Prince, the other 2.5m was based on his success at the club.

Kaboul was 5m, with the rest based on success at the club.

So far for Bent we have paid about 12m, the rest is based on both his and the clubs success.

Rocha was under pressure to make a signing in January when options are thing because we needed a CB desperately.

Ekotto is actually pretty good, cost 2m, and is getting better all the time.

Kaboul, Ekotto, Boateng were bought with a long term view. The first of those was sold for a profit on what we had thus far paid, the latter has been a flop and seems not to be rated by the manager, and the middle is actually playing quite a bit and not doing that disastrously.

Bent we shouldn't have bought, it ultimately pushed Defoe out the door and he is poor. He did however score a lot of goals in the previous two seasons so his signing is as justifiable as signing Bentley on the basis of two seasons of assists.

Rocha has done little wrong in his limited appearances apart from one poor decision v Arsenal in that game. He wins most of his headers despite his lesser height, he passed as well as he needs to and he rarely gets beaten because he positions himself very well. It is beyond my why, when Dawson is playing so poorly and King's fitness is so unreliable, Rocha has been treated so shabbily. Not even a squad number.

Anyway, I already regret arguing points on all those players because that is to pander to your belief that Comolli is responsible for all of them, when in fact all we know is that the club is responsible for all of them.

Let me play your game.... say Comolli does decide who comes in.

Gomes, Hutton, Corluka, Woodgate, Bale, Bentley, Modric, Zokora, Steed, Pavlyuchenko, Berbatov....

that is a first 11 of players signed under Comolli. I'll be honest mate, I've seen worse

[cwhite02]

The reason I'm pi55ed with Comolli is due to our striker situation. Him and Levy are to blame for this. Grooming a man poo player, and only having two on our books and by the looks of them, there not to a high quality. Thats the fact, hence why were not scoring goals. I appreciate we need more from other areas but I don't feel Pav or Bent are currently good enough, I've seen Bent enough to believe he will never score the amount of goals he did at Charlton. Mainly as we play a different way and other teams play a different way against us to teams did against Charlton. Pav - Who knows, maybe he will turn out to be good enough but at the moment he looks a waste of 1.4 million, let alone ten times that......And for this reason, I blame Comolli/Levy but as Levy is not about to walk out of the door, Comolli should. By his own admission they missed out on a signing late on, which I'm sure could have done no worse than the strikers have done so far.

[Ryan]

Whether a player represents good value for money can only be based on his current form. On current form the 13 players (an unbelievable inflow of players in such a short period) on the whole do not look good value at all and therefore Comolli and Levy get the blame for bad signings.

However they can't be responsible for a players form so its not really always their fault - surely its up to the players themselves and the coaching staff to help get the best out of players.

[sxboy]

[quote=BringBack_leGin;1096104]so you know as an absolute fact that Comolli was 100% responsible for every one of these signings?

No i don't however if it wasn't him, who is responsible for the signings?

Didn't think so. ?

And get your figures right, we only actually paid 2.5m for Prince, the other 2.5m was based on his success at the club.
Kaboul was 5m, with the rest based on success at the club.
So far for Bent we have paid about 12m, the rest is based on both his and the clubs success.
Rocha was under pressure to make a signing in January when options are thing because we needed a CB desperately.
Ekotto is actually pretty good, cost 2m, and is getting better all the time.
Kaboul, Ekotto, Boateng were bought with a long term view. The first of those was sold for a profit on what we had thus far paid, the latter has been a flop and seems not to be rated by the manager, and the middle is actually playing quite a bit and not doing that disastrously.

The figures i have quoted are from the original post, i don't have inside information on the cost and payment structure of every deal. You obviously do.
I presume from what you have written re Kaboul that Pompey have paid all up front and that is how we have made a profit.
I agree Ekotto i would say was not a bad buy at £2m but the price listed was for much more and i do not think he's worth that much, the same with Rocha. Although i agree that Rocha should be given a chance ahead of Dawson as we have him anyway.

Bent we shouldn't have bought, it ultimately pushed Defoe out the door and he is poor. He did however score a lot of goals in the previous two seasons so his signing is as justifiable as signing Bentley on the basis of two seasons of assists.

Agree, but that still dos'nt justify he's price or Bentleys.

Anyway, I already regret arguing points on all those players because that is to pander to your belief that Comolli is responsible for all of them, when in fact all we know is that the club is responsible for all of them.

Comolli is the D.O.F. you can blame the club as a whole, you can blame Levy for hiring him, but ultimately it is Comolli's job.
I wasnt asking for him to get the push i was commenting on the price of some of the player's, i could take the full list of player's and praise or pick hole's but i picked out the few that surprised me. In his job he will always take more blame for bad buy's than praise for good, as is in my job. Which is why i said i would get the sack for such dealing.

As for the good buy players you listed some are good players some are unproven only time will tell, how can you judge the unproven as good or bad buys ?

[Boaman]

Until Comolli pulls out a Santa Cruz a Benni McCarthy a Bullard a Zaki a Vieria a Fabragas a Reina a surely the jury is still out on him, no?

Basically until he signs some unknown player for next to nothing who turns out to be an absolute sensation for us then he will, quite rightly, be judged.

Although I don't believe he should be sacked, I think we need to look at our transfer policy and define the roles of each of the committee then we have a process and a structure.

And BBLG, we paid £15.5m for Bent with £1m on potential success, check our statement to the stock exchange, it's clear and correct. And we didn't make any profit on Kaboul, we got our money back.

[JimmyG2]

Whether a player represents good value for money can only be based on his current form. On current form the 13 players (an unbelievable inflow of players in such a short period) on the whole do not look good value at all and therefore Comolli and Levy get the blame for bad signings.

However they can't be responsible for a players form so its not really always their fault - surely its up to the players themselves and the coaching staff to help get the best out of players.

I think that the number of players and the turnover of players is an important fact that the list reveals,whatever their value or the return on the prices paid.
I know some changes are inevitable when you replace the manager which is one reason I dont want to change managers again. But 30 in and 29 out in three years is destabilising for the team
We are playing like strangers because to a large extent thats what we are, compounded of course by injuries.

[TheBigMatch]

Will 2007 be viewed in the future (or now) as a time when Spurs made very poor decisions?

Circa £50 million spent but only one player (Gareth Bale) making a significant contribution.

One would have expected that £50 million in the hands of a top class scout would have contributed towards achieving top 4 given that we were already an established at top 5.

Jol obviously didn't rate many of these purchases as good enough for his team.

Ramos obviously doesn't rate many of the players from the top 5 teams or those bought during that crucial time.

Looks like the buck stopped with Comolli. And it wasn't spent wisely.

Perhaps Chelsea knew what they were doing when they stole Arnesan from Spurs.

Perhaps Arsenal knew what they were doing when they let Comolli go back to France.

Perhaps Spurs (the board) hadn't a clue what they were doing when they brought Comolli to Spurs in over Jol.

[SouthLondonSpur]

David means John (?) Alexander, the club Secretary

Nice one thanks

[spurs-since-1968]

I think, my fellow spurs fans, we have to be realistic and face up to the fact that we are in real danger of being relegated.

I dont know whose fault this will be and I am not interested in pointing fingers...all I'm lamenting is the fact that we are SHIT at the moment...why???

Is it because the manager cannot communicate with the players?? Then that is the job of the assistant manager....most of the players seem to have lost confidence in themselves and each other..it is the managers job to get things right and get it right fast.

We seem to lack firepower in the front...but we have a yougster who has been blooded on the home and international stage and what do we do?...loan him out. I am speaking of Perkhart...bring him back and throw him in the deep end...he may take some time to adjust but the boy has got the ability and the talent WHY ARE WE NOT USING THE TALENT WE HAVE????

We bought Bentlet for a huge sum and then shove him on the left when he is a right sided player...WHY for God's sake?? Because we have Aaron Lennon on the right...so what?

[matt_da_yido]

Yuri Berchiche- Is the only player there I've never heard of......