How good is Harry in the transfer market?

[dontcallme]

When HR first took over the normal talk of him being a wheeler dealer was pretty dominant.

He made a lot of big changes straight away by giving Sir Les and Tim Sherwood part time coaching roles and appointing Bond and Jordan as coaches. Nothing flash and some questionned Bond's appointment but from an outsider's point of view the coaching has been successful.

Also players who were already here are becoming huge players in our team. Gomes, Dawson, BAE, Bale, Modric, Lennon and Huddlestone are playing a huge part in our success.

But the transfer market has been different. HR took over with us bottom and despite having a talented squad there were clear holes in in.

Cudicini, Chimbonda, Palacios, Keane and Defoe were brought in HR's first transfer window. This gave us a backup keeper, a right back when Hutton was out and Corluka could potentially be moved into centre back if we got injuries, Palacios was the work horse we lacked in centre mid and the old Keane/Defoe problem was welcome after seeing us without a strikeforce for the first half of the season.

Bassong is backup, the right backs HR has bought haven't played a part yet, Palacios is being questionned and out strikeforce isn't looking great again.

Harry saying yes to VDV when others said no is probably his biggest success in the transfer market so far for us.
In my opinion Harry taking us from bottom to a CL place has meant many of his signings which were needed at the time are now looking a little weak. Not disastrously but not great at the same time.

It's not easy making the transition from saving a struggling, albeit talented, club to competing with Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea.

How do SC'ers feel Harry has done in the transfer market?

 

[brett.spurs]

I'll back him no matter what, but sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't realise where the club is now and is still looking at the kind if signings that would've been decent for us a few years back when we weren't so good.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I'll back him no matter what, but sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't realise where the club is now and is still looking at the kind if signings that would've been decent for us a few years back when we weren't so good.

This.

Our star is on the rise we should sign players to reflect this.

 

[gibbs131]

I'll back him no matter what, but sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't realise where the club is now and is still looking at the kind if signings that would've been decent for us a few years back when we weren't so good.

:clap:

 

[chinaman]

I'm sure he would also like a couple of superstars, but unless the club changes its wage policies, liking and wishing is one thing, but realising the wishes is out of the question.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Valide points from both Brett and chinaman to be fair

 

[gibbs131]

This is probably the pundits first choice:

-----------------Defoe---------------
---------------VDV-------------------
Bale-----Modric--------Hudd---Lennon
BAE-------King/Wood--Daws---Hutton
---------------Gomes----------------

That that one player that HR signed, is the weakest link in the team.

He has done OK from a depth aspect. But since he spent around 90 million, that isn't great business IMO.

VDV fell in his lap. It wasnt his target. He specifically said he was "surprised" on deadline day, and said 8 million was too good to pass up.

I personally like Corky, Kranj and Palacios more than HR does. Which is ironic.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

This is probably the pundits first choice:

-----------------Defoe---------------
---------------VDV-------------------
Bale-----Modric--------Hudd---Lennon
BAE-------King/Wood--Daws---Hutton
---------------Gomes----------------

That that one player that HR signed, is the weakest link in the team.

He has done OK from a depth aspect. But since he spent around 90 million, that isn't great business IMO.

VDV fell in his lap. It wasnt his target. He specifically said he was "surprised" on deadline day, and said 8 million was too good to pass up.

I personally like Corky, Kranj and Palacios more than HR does. Which is ironic.

I know you'll say Harry didn't sign VDV, but in fairness I understand there were essentially a list of players he'd like of which DVD was one

So in reality he did sign him

 

[chivers!]

The signings mentioned above were tactical additions to the squad, and known quantities. What we're not seeing is the signing of young unknowns (to plebs like me) like the players that Comolli turned up for us.

 

[dontcallme]

VDV was offered to several clubs and Chelsea admitted to turning him down. HR saw him as a great player and took it.

The fact that he didn't find out personally that VDV was available doesn't mean HR didn't sign him.

 

[nicdic]

This notion that Harry didn't want VDV and had nothing to do with the signing is rubbish. Please top propogating it. He was on our list of players at the beginning of the window, we were told it wasn't possible, then last minute Real got in touch and Dan got it done.

 

[gibbs131]

VDV was offered to several clubs and Chelsea admitted to turning him down. HR saw him as a great player and took it.

The fact that he didn't find out personally that VDV was available doesn't mean HR didn't sign him.

Does luck = skill?

Where does it say Chelsea were offered him? And at what price? I remember a German team being mentioned, but that turned out to be BS.

Ironically, Ramos DID try and sign him.

 

[gibbs131]

This notion that Harry didn't want VDV and had nothing to do with the signing is rubbish. Please top propogating it. He was on our list of players at the beginning of the window, we were told it wasn't possible, then last minute Real got in touch and Dan got it done.

Then why did HR recently state in how own words, that VDV was a "surprise" and that "He didnt know where he would fit in, but for that price it was obviously a good deal"

Are you are telling me he was on our list of players he will find it hard to fit into Spurs.

Him saying he admired him AFTER buying him, is not proof that he had made an inquiry.

Not a SINGLE ITK broke the story before the end of the transfer season. Nothing was brewing.

 

[mil1lion]

I think he's very good. I also disagree that he doesn't realise where we are and is going for players of less quality. If that were the case we'd have signed more players in the summer and would sign several in this window too. But of course people believe what they read in the papers and the sort of players we're linked with to be true. Even though Harry has signed fewer players the better we've gotten, and he has said we will only buy players who are good enough to improve the squad.

He goes after the right type of players too. He signed Palacios at a time when we really needed that type of player. Maybe now he is being left behind because our football has changed to a more expansive type, but this style of football only started to come to fruition last year. So a lot has changed since we signed Palacios. Nobody can deny how important Palacios' role was when he first came in.

He signed Bassong at a time we needed more cover at centre back. He proved to be a very useful centre back and worked a good partnership with Dawson. He's still young and needs to work with an experienced centre back for a couple more years. Just like Dawson did at the same age. He has also signed Kaboul back because he realised his true potential when he had him at Pompey. Another great move because Kaboul looks like he has world class potential.

Add to that the leadership and experience of Gallas to cover for Woodgate and for when King is out injured aswell. Speaking of leadership and experience, he has also identified this as an important area for us too. He has been actively looking at getting Parker in and now looks set to bring Beckham in. These are exactly the type of players we need. I always got frustrated with previous managers not seeing what was needed in the squad, but the same cant be said of Harry.

At the end of the day he is identifying exactly what is needed in the squad. While Daniel Levy is doing his best to bring in the players we need. Harry has said we need a special striker and as yet we haven't got one. Which says to me that he means what he says. The fact is we do need a special striker to improve on what we have. He could easily have just accepted a decent striker, but he understands that we need more than that.

Strikers he has signed have been Defoe and Keane, both of whom helped us out of danger at first. Followed by Crouch, who worked a good partnership with Defoe at Pompey. Also giving us a new dimension to our attack. Something we didn't have at the time. He probably expected more from Keane tbh, but Defoe and Crouch have helped us into top 4.

You have to consider that Harry wouldn't have known we were going to make top 4 aswell. So the level of player he could get was never going to be the highest quality. We're still not a massive club across Europe, and we're only now starting to turn heads. VDV was a masterstroke and the first established world class player we've signed under Harry, and it comes as no surprise that it came off the back of a top 4 finish.

Lets wait and see who else we bring in now that we're in the top 4. Dont believe all the players we're linked with are in fact our targets. But it does sound like Harry wants the likes of Suarez and Marin, both are very high quality players. While some may not be crazy about Beckham or even Pienaar, those 2 are still improvements to our squad too. Beckham is the leader/character Harry spoke of at Christmas, Pienaar is the technical player he spoke about a few months ago and he's going real cheap.

I love the style of football Harry has got us playing, and i'm confident he'll add the right players to keep us playing that way but also add a cutting edge to our attack.

 

[gibbs131]

This notion that Harry didn't want VDV and had nothing to do with the signing is rubbish. Please top propogating it. He was on our list of players at the beginning of the window, we were told it wasn't possible, then last minute Real got in touch and Dan got it done.

Who is saying he didnt want him? All I'm saying is that HR did not make an enquiry.

Come on, it's obvious he fell in our laps. It's no masterstroke.

Lol. It was such a surprise, the FA had to bend the rules for us to get him in. There would have been no drama deadline nonsense if it was done via usual channels.

 

[mil1lion]

This is probably the pundits first choice:

-----------------Defoe---------------
---------------VDV-------------------
Bale-----Modric--------Hudd---Lennon
BAE-------King/Wood--Daws---Hutton
---------------Gomes----------------

That that one player that HR signed, is the weakest link in the team.

He has done OK from a depth aspect. But since he spent around 90 million, that isn't great business IMO.

VDV fell in his lap. It wasnt his target. He specifically said he was "surprised" on deadline day, and said 8 million was too good to pass up.

I personally like Corky, Kranj and Palacios more than HR does. Which is ironic.

We didn't need too many first team signings. I believe Harry always rated the first team and only wanted to make a few tweaks. It was the depth in the squad that needed most work. In which case Palacios, Kranjcar, Bassong and Crouch all played their part in 4th place last season. The only signing he made that never really worked out was Keane. All his other signings have played their part.

ps - Corky signed under Ramos :wink:

 

[nicdic]

Then why did HR recently state in how own words, that VDV was a "surprise" and that "He didnt know where he would fit in, but for that price it was obviously a good deal"

Are you are telling me he was on our list of players he will find it hard to fit into Spurs.

Him saying he admired him AFTER buying him, is not proof that he had made an inquiry.

Not a SINGLE ITK broke the story before the end of the transfer season. Nothing was brewing.

Who is saying he didnt want him? All I'm saying is that HR did not make an enquiry.

Come on, it's obvious he fell in our laps. It's no masterstroke.

Lol. It was such a surprise, the FA had to bend the rules for us to get him in. There would have been no drama deadline nonsense if it was done via usual channels.

He was a surprise in terms of us earlier in the window being told it wouldn't happen, hence the chase for Joe Cole, then last minute Real Madrid coming back to us and saying OK, have him, £8million. He was definitely on the list drawn up by us at the start of the summer window.

 

[danielneeds]

Harry has been quite clear though, he knows we have lots of talented players, what he is mainly looking for in the transfer market (quality centre forward aside) is some tough, nuggety winners to enable the club to further move further.

Too many people on here play too much FIFA and Footy Manager and think just because they can spot a player has 18 acceleration, or 19 dribbling that makes them a top notch scout. What our recent success has been built on is as much about mentality and team spirit as good players.

Look at these quotes by Australian legend Steve Waugh talking about the current Australian side, and what made the team he assembled so great:

"I feel privileged that I had fantastic players in my era, but the one thing I will say about what made us successful was our sense of team, our attitude, the culture within the team, working together, enjoying each other's company," he said.

"The type of players I wanted in my team were the ones you were willing to stand next to in the trenches, if you had to go into battle, the ones who were willing to sacrifice sometimes their personal ambitions for the good of the team."

This is equally applicable to football, it is exactly what Ferguson did when he went to United, and Mourinho managed to engender in a remarkably short space of time at Chelsea. That is what Harry is trying to create here.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Then why did HR recently state in how own words, that VDV was a "surprise" and that "He didnt know where he would fit in, but for that price it was obviously a good deal"

Are you are telling me he was on our list of players he will find it hard to fit into Spurs.

Him saying he admired him AFTER buying him, is not proof that he had made an inquiry.

Not a SINGLE ITK broke the story before the end of the transfer season. Nothing was brewing.

Have you got a link to that story Gibbsy?

Serious question, haven't seen it myself.

 

[alamo]

Here you go Bear.

I think Gibbsy may have taken the comment made by Harry out of context.

To me reading all of Harrys words below implies that VDV was being monitored but was assumed not to be available. The surprise on Harrys behalf was the sudden price drop by Madrid.

It has been stated many times that Harry provides Levy with a wishlist and Dan the man then goes and makes it happen.

http://www.realmadridzone.com/harry...art-availability-hours-transfer-deadline/3539

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was made aware of Van Der Vaart’s availability just two hours before the transfer market deadline, after a move to Bayern Munich was believed to have failed.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Redknapp said: “It’s still dragging on. We are just waiting to see whether it’s all gone through.”

“We are waiting for clearance. The chairman is dealing with it and Darren Eales the secretary, there is nothing more I can do now”

“I think he was going to Bayern Munich yesterday for about 18 million, but suddenly it became an awful lot cheaper.”

“He is available now for about eight million. He is a quality player. He is a Dutch international and a great footballer.”

“For that sort of money, he is a top player and he will improve us for sure. We have made the effort, whether we can pull it off or not we will have to see.”

“I am hopeful. It could happen. It was a last-minute job. When I came in this morning (Tuesday) it certainly wasn’t something I was looking to do.”

“He is a great passer of the ball, he is a top footballer. He will join in here and play the way we like to play, he would be a big plus for us.”

“He looked like he was going for 18 million but then the fee came crashing down because the deadline got close. If the chairman can pull it off, I think he will have got a real bargain.”