Summer Targets & Plan

[StartingPrice]

I assume that is why we were targeting Remy (before we became a UEFA cup team and lost our £40m). He would have been competition for Lennon and back-up forward.

Because some of us remember Gerry Francis - the Moyes of his day.

What? You mean Gerry Francis assembled a decent squad (without too much money to spend). Played some decent football, and attained CL football. And then, year after year, watched the squad he had assembled being ruthlessly asset stripped, with no compensatory financial input to replace the outgoings. This usually had a negative impact on their start of season, and yet, year-after-year, managed via team-spirit and work-rate to finish the season with one of the best recordds in the division and attain a very good league position.

Sorry, but that just does not sound like Gerry Francis at QPR at all.

 

[bigpalacios]

I assume that is why we were targeting Remy (before we became a UEFA cup team and lost our £40m). He would have been competition for Lennon and back-up forward.



Because some of us remember Gerry Francis - the Moyes of his day.

I dont understand comparisons like this, surely Moyes is his own man and deserves the chance at a club like Tottenham. I know you wanted AVB dan, so who would you compare to him?

 

[HappySpur]

Do you actually watch Monchengladbach or just play Fifa Career mode like me? I always sign him but have never seen him play in real life.

I haven't seen him play but here are his numbers a little after the half way point, which was the most recent I could find.

Keeper Games Conc Saves GAA Save %
Friedel 22 24 77 1.091 0.762

Neuer 18 13 30 0.722 0.698
Weidenfeller 17 12 43 0.706 0.782
ter Stegen 18 12 57 0.667 0.826


Save % and GAA better than Neuer and Weidenfeller. I threw in Brad for comparison


sorry for the offset. Editor really destroyed the format.

For your assistance, you may look at the numbers @ http://balancedsports.blogspot.com/p/premiership-goalkeeper-stats-valid-may.html

 

[tobi]

How has Sahin got on at Madrid, mate? Have watched too little La liga this year.

He was injured initially but he's been fit for a while now and barely plays.

 

[GoldstarYid]

Do you actually watch Monchengladbach or just play Fifa Career mode like me? I always sign him but have never seen him play in real life.

Hes average on fifa online i know, seen him play and he looks the real deal.

 

[fridgemagnet]

I would like us to go back to DOF, get all our ducks in a row and done early, if we have to take a hit on releasing or selling certain players then so be it, if we end in the europa cup then we should either try and win the thing or i'm fine with using youth for as far as possible.

I have no idea how you cut it out but our mentality has to change from the board to the tea lady, get some guts and ruthlessness into the place there's a reason we haven't won bugger all over the years and it's time it was dealt with.

I would like a proper fitness coach (one of two things i actually liked about the Wendy era) if the players don't like it shift them on if they don't like it, i'm fed up with the attitude of everything being too difficult.

Lastly i don't want to see us top of the fair play league tables, it's admirable and yes it is nice to be a team that doesn't crowd officials but we are too f**king nice it's got us nowhere, nice guys don't look like finishing in he top 4

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

What? You mean Gerry Francis assembled a decent squad (without too much money to spend). Played some decent football, and attained CL football. And then, year after year, watched the squad he had assembled being ruthlessly asset stripped, with no compensatory financial input to replace the outgoings. This usually had a negative impact on their start of season, and yet, year-after-year, managed via team-spirit and work-rate to finish the season with one of the best recordds in the division and attain a very good league position.

Sorry, but that just does not sound like Gerry Francis at QPR at all.

I'm not sure if it can be argued in any way shape or form that Everton play good football.

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

I would like us to go back to DOF, get all our ducks in a row and done early, if we have to take a hit on releasing or selling certain players then so be it, if we end in the europa cup then we should either try and win the thing or i'm fine with using youth for as far as possible.

I have no idea how you cut it out but our mentality has to change from the board to the tea lady, get some guts and ruthlessness into the place there's a reason we haven't won bugger all over the years and it's time it was dealt with.

I would like a proper fitness coach (one of two things i actually liked about the Wendy era) if the players don't like it shift them on if they don't like it, i'm fed up with the attitude of everything being too difficult.

Lastly i don't want to see us top of the fair play league tables, it's admirable and yes it is nice to be a team that doesn't crowd officials but we are too f**king nice it's got us nowhere, nice guys don't look like finishing in he top 4

Agree with that. We're pretty much in the same position now that we were 8 years ago with Pleat finishing his caretaker spell.

We need our new Arnesen and Santini (though hopefully both will work out better this time) and a whole new culture at the club.

We need winning mentality, fitness and tactics; and to build from scratch around a spine of Kaboul, Sandro and Rafa.

 

[eddiebailey]

The truth is there is not much wrong with out squad. No one is quite on their last legs - people have been quick to criticise King, Gallas, Friedel based on a few performances where their match fitness has been uncertain, but at times they have been excellent for us this season. We also have decent players out injured or on loan, and some useful young recruits coming through.

But we need strikers, two senior players, and a good youngster if Harry Kane is not up to playing up front on his own.

We can look at goalkeepers, left backs, centre backs, playmakers, wingers, and if we can get someone who will improve us at the right price, of course we should, but the truth is that with our resources and place in the world football pecking order, we are going to struggle to do any better than what we already have. Which I suspect is part of the reason why Levy has not been flashing the cash of late. We have reached a point where improvement becomes prohibitively expensive.

 

[StartingPrice]

I'm not sure if it can be argued in any way shape or form that Everton play good football.

I'm absolutely certain that Everton play some very pragmatic football.
I am also certain they play some good stuff.
I am fairly certain that they played more good stuff before the squad Moyes had assembled and had qualified for the CL was systematically, and ruthlessly, dismantled year-after-year.
I can't speak for you, but I have a familial connection to Everton and so have always taken a keen interest in them, and watch quite a lot of their games, so I see quite a bit of them. It is a myth tht they play a universally 100% of the time dour brand of football. They are clearly not as exciting as us, but, like I said, a lot of that is down to the fact that their squad has been ruthlessly dismantled with very little being given back to Moyes.

he isn't my preferred choice to replace Hoary RouteMap, but a lot of the prejudice against him is just that.

 

[jimtheyid]

I would love a young manager to be here for 10-15 years and build a football club.

 

[RJ1882]

I would like us to go back to DOF, get all our ducks in a row and done early, if we have to take a hit on releasing or selling certain players then so be it, if we end in the europa cup then we should either try and win the thing or i'm fine with using youth for as far as possible.

I have no idea how you cut it out but our mentality has to change from the board to the tea lady, get some guts and ruthlessness into the place there's a reason we haven't won bugger all over the years and it's time it was dealt with.

I would like a proper fitness coach (one of two things i actually liked about the Wendy era) if the players don't like it shift them on if they don't like it, i'm fed up with the attitude of everything being too difficult.

Lastly i don't want to see us top of the fair play league tables, it's admirable and yes it is nice to be a team that doesn't crowd officials but we are too f**king nice it's got us nowhere, nice guys don't look like finishing in he top 4

Good point. Nice guys come last. Those two ****s Terry & Suarez have a cup final to come. The horrible bastards at Utd have trophies coming out their ears.

 

[Misfit]

I would love a young manager to be here for 10-15 years and build a football club.

Yep. Let's face it, long-term, the stadium is our cash-cow. It is apparent. Even Pool, with a slightly bigger ground, a huge "brand following" around the world and the best part of a decade of CL participation (even winning the frigging thing to boot) have found it difficult. Their ownership struggles have accelerated this of course but the point stands.

Even a fairly lengthy spell in the CL for a club without the commercial backing of a nice, corperate ticket rich, shiny stadium of 55K+ are only one or two bumps away from rapidly falling back into the pack.

Now, we can keep going the short-term route with managers, and to be fair it seems this could have worked but for everyone's best efforts (managers included) we haven't found that man. If we had found a manager who was as talented as maximising every last asset available to them as the board has been,we'd be top 4 for the last 3 seasons - and that is not to denigrate the efforts of Harry. So, he isn't perfect, big whoop.

Let's face it, in a fair world, not that such a thing exists, Chelsea wouldn't exist as a viable football club and Citeh would still be finding their feet in the top flight after several yrs fumbling around in the championship and even league 1. We'd have been part of the gravy-train, without having to extend ourselves and shred our nerves in the first place, for the last 6/7 yrs.

All that said, we've been bloody close to bucking the odds anyway, and great credit should be allowed for that. We have had no right to even be this close, all things being equal.

But now, short-termism, at the same time not throwing everything away on a massive gamble, is probably best left behind. Even if it means we lose out on truly credible challenges for top 4, and there's nothing to suggest that will happen but let's just accept that it likely could/would, giving a guy a proper platform onto which he can step and lay foundtions for the club as a whole is the only real chance for reaching the promised land. In anything approaching a tangible sense anyway.

It might be a case of taking 1 step back to go 2 or 3 (even more if we truly hit the jackpot) forwards.

The only thing jeapordising that, sad to say, is us fans.

 

[TH1239]

Too many of you are working on the presumption that we will spend significant sums of money this summer on incoming transfers. After spending 25 million pounds in the last 4 windows, there is certainly a case to be made that we shouldn't expect massive investment this summer, especially without Champions League football.

Even if Modric is sold, there is no guarantee that a like replacement will be bought in the same window. Berbatov's transfer fee wasn't immediately re-invested, so it wouldn't surprise me if we held onto our capital for whatever reason and opted to sniff around for free transfers and bargains in the short term (something the likes of Moyes would be comfortable doing). That would likely mean we wouldn't be a top 4 side next season, but it is what it is.

Quite frankly, the biggest obstacle to us obtaining any of the players on the various lists on this thread is the fact that we have recently adhered to a policy of waiting until the last minute (at least in the last 3 windows) to launch bids and finalize deals for players. That's not going to work for guys who are in-demand, like Krul, Eriksen, Remy, Leandro, or even someone like Samba.

This summer is going to test Daniel Levy in ways he's never been tested before. He will have to make decisions on selling elite players, installing a new manager, and deal with transfer strategy, all while dealing with the potential media fallout that Redknapp's likely departure will bring (if you think Redknapp is going to leave quietly, and not try to scapegoat Levy to a degree, I suspect you'll be in for a surprise come May).

 

[Spurvert]

Apparent deals for Hazard and Damiao surely show we have a strategy (albeit providing we finish top 4 and qualify)

We will need to:

Appoint a manager asap after Harry naffs off.
Sell Modric early in window when/if he pushes to move.
Get our deals sorted early so we can get on with pre-season.

But, knowing Spurs...

 

[eddiebailey]

Make of it what you will

Bullshit?

 

[not_tenth-again]

Lennon is still a starter for me. He stl has lots to learn but his problem is walker not form. When corluka was playing lennon had less defensive work and more space in front of him. It'll take a while for him to adapt and a while longer for the partnership to really become a menace. Hes got 1more season for me.

s for the rest. Our goose is cooked in regards to most of our targets. lets hope we had back up plans...

 

[DJS]

I would sex wee my pants if we got Hazard and Leandro (having qualified for the CL).

It would even prevent me from being upset about Modric leaving as I feel we need top play two more solid players centrally anyways.

 

[punkisback]

Worst case scenario, Woy gets the England job Redknapp repents and stays. We sign P Nev, T'rrifc Joey Cole, Top lad Distin and the evergreen CB pairing of Weir and Stubbs to fire us to Championship glory.

 

[DJS]

Worst case scenario, Woy gets the England job Redknapp repents and stays. We sign P Nev, T'rrifc Joey Cole, Top lad Distin and the evergreen CB pairing of Weir and Stubbs to fire us to Championship glory.