Harry , carried the can for Levy , will be appreciatd where he is next .

[pablo73]

That is genuinely frightening. It's like he knew what he needed to do but got so wrapped up in things that he forgot all that

 

[michaelden]

tbh I'm praying for the day the FA offer the England job to HR

 

[ryantegan]

tbh I'm praying for the day the FA offer the England job to HR

Who is taking over in this prayer of yours?

 

[StartingPrice]

I think Harry was indecisive. Never mind all this talk about Suarez. He could have had Rossi for £18m last summer. He said so. As I said elsewhere, that's a hanging offence.

"But other than that I couldn't put my life on a striker who we could have took. Andy Carroll was a gamble. I think he could be a huge success but he is not going to be fit for a while. We thought the quality Phil Neville has as a character might have been as important as bringing in a striker."

But, as I said, in the Summer, no-one (NO-ONE) knew how poor our strikers returns would be this season; and it was legitimate (whether I agree with it or not), to have concerns about bringing in a top-level striker for the CL if we failed miserably in the comp. Despite our fantastic memories of the fella, I don't think any of us really want someone to come in for one season like Klinsmann did - we want someone who is going to be a key component, in a team that is going places, for several seasons. So I can, kinda, understand the reluctance to commit last Summer.

My main point was that they probably both, collectively, underestimated (or misunderestimated, if you are George Dubbya Bush:grin, how hard it would be to convince a top-line striker to join us, what with the massacre-isation of Inter Milan and all. And what I am trying to get to with that is: why are folk dividing into camps - we have the Levy camp and the Redknapp camp. I believe, collectively, they just made an honest mistake - and one I can understand (doesn't mean I am happy about it), because I, too, thought that now we had shown what we could do in the CL, and got ourselves into such a fantastic position in the Prem, the marquee strikers we were after would be falling over themselves to join.

I am not particularly happy about it, just trying to explain it without stooping to the "I blame Levy", "well, I blame Redknapp" level. If we could have had Rossi last Summer, IMHO, we should have done so - but why did he not want to come in Jan. I felt we should have taken the plunge on Suarez - we didn't. I actually felt we should have taken the punt on Carroll - but the Geordies did squeeze an exhorbitant amount out of that stone. ITK reports (Gospel truth, then:grin suggest Fabiano relaly dicked us about.

The upshot is, we lost out - let's see if Levy (and Redknapp, if still here) rectify the situation this Summer (I have a sneaky suspicion they will).

 

[jonathanhotspur]

Nobody was to know that they'd fail so spectacularly, SP, but it was still blatantly obvious that it was an area which required drastic surgery.

Harry has yet to buy a striker who has impressed me.

 

[StartingPrice]

Nobody was to know that they'd fail so spectacularly, SP, but it was still blatantly obvious that it was an area which required drastic surgery.

Harry has yet to buy a striker who has impressed me.

I know. I knew it in the Summer. I said it in the Summer. Just pointing out that no-one knew our sttrikers, who had, after all, just fired us into the CL, would fail to produce to such a shocking degree (and as we all know, like it or not, a large part of that was because we brough VDV and none of them could play with him effectively - well, Crouch can, but he ain't prolific and never has been).

I can't say he has never brought a striker that has impressed me - I can only say that up until it became apparent that none of ours could play with VDV, it wasn't really an issue with me as they had been a component part of the tema that qualified for the CL. I believe there was a point, round-about the start of December, when I was making posts about the team just adapting to VDV and then things would get better, and we were going pretty well at the time, anyway. I think it was round-about that time that it really became apparent that upgrading the strikers wasn't just an issue, as we all knew in the Summer, but something far more urgent.

That is why, really, I take it from there, and not before, as being the time to act - they failed to do so. Collectively. And that, I believe, to restate, was because they (along with myself, and I suspect a lot on here who are wise after the event) thought it would be far easier to attract a big name striker than it turned out to be. To take one example: If Rossi was all set up to come to the Lane in the Summer, it must have seemed fairly straight forward to get him in Jan. Thinking like that was clearly an error - but anyone can be wisse with the benefit of hindsight.

And, like I said, my main concern is the way SCers are falling into this Levy camp/Redknapp camp thing. They were collectively resposnsible. They collectively slipped up. It is up to them collectively to rectify it.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Nobody was to know that they'd fail so spectacularly, SP, but it was still blatantly obvious that it was an area which required drastic surgery.

Harry has yet to buy a striker who has impressed me.

And if he'd got his number one target in January (if all is to be believed) we'd have spent upwards of £25m on the new Kevin Davies from Newcastle.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

And if he'd got his number one target in January (if all is to be believed) we'd have spent upwards of £25m on the new Kevin Davies from Newcastle.

That's just it. As far as I'm concerned, there is little or no evidence to suggest that Harry Redknapp has an eye for a striker.

 

[Spurger King]

That's just it. As far as I'm concerned, there is little or no evidence to suggest that Harry Redknapp has an eye for a striker.

Oh I dunno. When he was at Portsmouth he got in Defoe and Crouch. Then when he joined us he brought in that other famous striking partnership, Crouch and Defoe.

Oh wait...I see what you're getting at...

 

[striebs]

Yep way overpriced and too big a gamble, if Levy did veto that, then good on him.

Levy vetod Carroll at £22m didn't he ?

It only got to £35m after pool sold Torres .

Would you have wanted him at £22m ?

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I can't say he has never brought a striker that has impressed me - I can only say that up until it became apparent that none of ours could play with VDV, it wasn't really an issue with me as they had been a component part of the team that qualified for the CL.

To take one example: If Rossi was all set up to come to the Lane in the Summer, it must have seemed fairly straight forward to get him in Jan. Thinking like that was clearly an error - but anyone can be wisse with the benefit of hindsight.

It was a massive issue for me, SP. I almost went into meltdown when the transfer window slammed shut and we hadn't upgraded. Those four fuckers had me tearing my hair out last season-fourth placed finish or not. None of them did the business on anything approaching a consistent basis and two of them were out of favour with the manager.

As for Rossi, why would we sit on our hands if a player of that calibre was available? The fact that we did says that we (or someone) wasn't sure that he'd improve us.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

Oh I dunno. When he was at Portsmouth he got in Defoe and Crouch. Then when he joined us he brought in that other famous striking partnership, Crouch and Defoe.

Oh wait...I see what you're getting at...

Well, yes. But the joking aside, if you turn your nose up at a player like Suarez or Rossi, there is something fucking wrong with you.

Harry likes the big man/little man combo. That's prehistoric shit.

 

[Spurger King]

Well, yes. But the joking aside, if you turn your nose up at a player like Suarez or Rossi, there is something fucking wrong with you.

Harry likes the big man/little man combo. That's prehistoric shit.

Carroll would have been a great player. I thought it at the time, and it's even more true now. Harry at least managed to identify someone that would have been able to lead the line.

However I don't have a greta deal of confidence in his taste in strikers. Suarez would have been fantastic, and whilst he wouldn't have been exactly what was needed, he would definitely have been better than what he have right now.

Personally I'm not holding out a lot of hope in us signing the right striker, and wouldn't be at all surprised if we ended up with Heskey or Owen.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I knew a Spurs fan who was desperate for us to sign Heskey and Owen. That was two or three seasons ago. We knocked a lot of mileage out of that one. The bloke had a triffic sense of humour.

I would have taken Carroll. But only out of sheer frustration and not for the kind of figures mentioned. He'd be more effective than the gimps we have but aesthetics would have gone out the bloody window, SK.

 

[Azrael]

I knew a Spurs fan who was desperate for us to sign Heskey and Owen. That was two or three seasons ago. We knocked a lot of mileage out of that one. The bloke had a triffic sense of humour..

I would have rather had Owen this year than Defoe.

 

[stemark44]

Let's not forget that Harry brought Benjani to this country who IMO is one of the worst striker's ever.

 

[Spurger King]

He also managed to sell Darren Bent. But considering Bent has scored a mere 39 goals in 71 league appearances since leaving us, clearly that was the correct decision :roll:.

 

[Azrael]

To be fair we never really had players to feed Bent when he was here.

 

[Spurger King]

To be fair we never really had players to feed Bent when he was here.

Yeah I know, and it was unfortunate as he would have fitted in well with our current team, IMO. However I was always a fan of him when he was with us, and considering who we kept, it was a pretty poor decision.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

harry has spent upwards of 70million since he joined. How is that not being shown support by Levy???????