The Summer Transfer Window POST MORTEM THREAD

[StylusX]

I hope i'm wrong but in 5 years time I think we'll look back at this moment as the point it all went downhill.

What's so disappointing is that we're almost there just a couple of players away.

 

[spursfan77]

I don't buy that we couldn't manage to get a single one off Poch's list.

Without knowing his list we don’t know.

But, it’s looking like now that we could have blown all our transfer and wage budget on a single player. That would have been worth it. Maybe we will go after Martial at Man U again if the stars align.

 

[luptic]

Woken up really fucked off.

We’re getting slaughtered in the media but the worse thing is the news from VY and Herc that Poch is not happy.

What the fuck is Levy playing at?

The only ITK i believe is JJ, and he says Poch is happy. Not that i dont believe those others. But JJ is the most reliable.

 

[jay2040]

I don't buy that we couldn't manage to get a single one off Poch's list.

He only had one on the list!

 

[Hakkz]

Without knowing his list we don’t know.

But, it’s looking like now that we could have blown all our transfer and wage budget on a single player. That would have been worth it. Maybe we will go after Martial at Man U again if the stars align.

That's what I mean. Go for the most realistic one and get at least 1 that Poch feels will help improve us. According to most fans this seems to be a CM. Would have made a lot of difference imo.

 

[Ekmek]

The only ITK i believe is JJ, and he says Poch is happy. Not that i dont believe those others. But JJ is the most reliable.

Were have JJ said Poch is happy?

 

[ToDarrenIsToDo]

We finished 23 points behind City and theres people saying that we do not need to improve. We really needed to do that, if you think not you are just trying to ignore the fact that we fucked up.

Its not my job finding those players but it is someones at the club. You mean that there is no cm in any top league in Europe that cant improve us? Look outside of pl and we pay a lot higher wages then other clubs.

Skipp is 17 years old and to rely on him stepping up is quite naive.
I am sure we could have got someone and sold or loaned out some international players after pl window shut, for example Janssen and GKN we just need to bite the bullet, taking a bit of financial loss on them. If Toby stays we should loan out CCV.

You said you could name loads of players in your last comment, I was merely asking who they were.

As for our scouts, of course we should have a funnel of talent constantly coming through. They were the ones that helped us unearth the likes of Dele, Dier & Foyth and who I'm sure helped make Pochettino aware of the likes of Alderweireld hitting form, Sonny, Trippier & Davies perhaps. We've kicked on this year and our transfer strategy of being either class or nobody I think demonstrates that.

I wanted players and I make no qualms about that but I won't ignore how wonderful our team is and the potential it has this summer when I've only seen a couple of players transfer to other English clubs I'd have been remotely interested in us signing if the chance was there for us to do so.

Anyway, back to my question, let us know of all the CMs you can name that wouldn't have been a waste of money and fit within our financial means and I'll check them out

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Thing that worries me is I really don’t hold out much hope for the winter window. It’s almost impossible to sign good players in Jan unless they are listed. Beyond that, next summer, why would things be different? Can we really blame our complete lack of activity on the World Cup.

 

[MyNameIsNicolaBerti]

Were have JJ said Poch is happy?

2014

 

[luptic]

Were have JJ said Poch is happy?

JJetset 'Depends on what constitutes a disaster and a success with our current squad however I’m not too bothered either way as knowing all details and facts it’s not as it appears and Poch is fine '

 

[blackburn]

I don't buy that we couldn't manage to get a single one off Poch's list.

Well if you are able to name who was on the list perhaps we can discuss. The rest is guesswork

 

[ToDarrenIsToDo]

You're using a hell of a lot of filters in your first para for qualifications for a prospective CM. We don't move the ball quickly enough in central midfield. That's been a key issue in CM for us; a weakness in our game. It's a squad game and we're lacking in versatilty and drive in that area.

Each of Kovacic, Fekir, Lobotka, Brozovic,Ndombele would give us some qualities we don't have in that area. I wasn't even talking about replacing Dembele specifically, but there are plenty of reasons why we need to invest in the CM area.

All of the players you've mentioned would probably break our transfer record. I do agree that someone should have been signed but you're picking out potentially expensive flops that if they didn't cut the mustard would have been near on impossible to move on for a worthwhile fee.

Our model simply isn't built on that. It hasn't since the day ENIC took over. Sanchez was the exception but they clearly saw enough in him to lump their money on his class. The others if they scouted them probably didn't show enough to warrant that

 

[ohtottenham!]

All of the players you've mentioned would probably break our transfer record. I do agree that someone should have been signed but you're picking out potentially expensive flops that if they didn't cut the mustard would have been near on impossible to move on for a worthwhile fee.

Our model simply isn't built on that. It hasn't since the day ENIC took over. Sanchez was the exception but they clearly saw enough in him to lump their money on his class. The others if they scouted them probably didn't show enough to warrant that

If these are potential flops like any signing could be, you still say someone should have been signed. Who are you actually talking about?

 

[TH1239]

Any discussion of the transfer market has to begin with the radical shift in the way football clubs now generate income. The simple fact of the matter is that an overwhelmingly majority of money teams in the Premier League now make comes from television and commercial sponsorships. The days of bullying smaller clubs at the deadline for their best players at cut-rate prices has essentially been finished since the mega-television deal of 2016 kicked in. We've seen that first hand with failures to not only sign Grealish, but also in our past efforts to sign Ross Barkley, Saido Berahino, and Wilfried Zaha. In fact, it's arguably more advantageous now to go in early in the window and sign players before others have the chance to completely inflate the market by spending enormous sums.

At the end of the day, it's pretty simple for me. The club have earned nearly 300 million pounds over the last two seasons from the EPL television deal. Between 2016 to 2022, the club will likely earn, in aggregate, somewhere in the neighborhood of 800-900 million pounds from Premier League television rights payments. Just as a comparison, in the 2005-2006 season, Arsenal earned 29 million pounds from the EPL television deal before their move to the Emirates. So, despite the explosion of revenue that may see the club earn over 400 million pounds this season, neither the club's wage bill (which will likely be under 40% wage-to-turnover this season) nor transfer spending has remotely kept up with revenue generated. So, that begs the question of whether ENIC is essentially using the extra television income to help pay for the stadium. Not surprisingly, this has never been acknowledged by the club, nor has the THST ever asked Levy point blank where the increased television revenue is going (it hasn't gone on wages as of yet according to our 2016-2017 financial statement, as our wage bill has only climbed roughly 37 million pounds from 2010 to 2016, while our revenue has increased closer to 140 million pounds in that same time period). If they are largely using the increased income from television rights deals to pay for the stadium, the fans of the club deserve to know that. Supporters also deserve to know when this period of relative austerity will be lifted. Will we still be forced to sell to buy even after the club is carrying zero debt? That might have seemed like a ridiculous question, but we are coming off a transfer window where we became the only EPL club since 2003 not to sign a single player.

One other thing I'll posit is that it seems a possibility that Levy and his executive team may have become a bit complacent. Pochettino has done terrific work leading us to three straight CL qualifications, the club is earning enormous sums of money, the value of the club has skyrocketed, and the manager has missed out on countless targets in the past without kicking up a fuss. Given all that, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if Levy wasn't feeling the heat to push the boat out in a major way. What is also clear is that the club likely also weren't prepared for the type of media and fan backlash we've seen the last 24 hours. It's a storm that will either pass quickly with the team performing well or build over the season with poor performances. My guess is it will pass quickly given a strong start with wins against Newcastle and Fulham.

As an addendum to the above, I very much take issue with some arguments I've seen stating that signing players who could have improved our squad was next to impossible in this market. Jean-Michel Seri was heavily scouted by Barcelona 12 months ago to be Andres Iniesta's replacement. He played in a Nice team that played fast transition, attacking football. He went to Fulham for 25 million pounds. Felipe Anderson was heavily linked with Manchester United a year ago, but an injury kept him out a big chunk of last season, so his stock went down a bit. Both of these players would've fit perfectly into our squad and would have addressed our need for depth in the central midfield and as cover for Eriksen.

 

[marion52]

Poch must have suddenly realised Levy is trolling him then as he signed a shiny new contract just what 2 months ago?
Everyone knows there was no room in the squad for non home grown unless we carry on paying wages to more players who can’t even be registered in the squad.
To me the time to judge whether it was brave or foolhardy to stick instead of twist is the end of the season.
Let’s all get behind our team who have given us a great time over the last few seasons.

 

[blackburn]

The thing that has puzzled me throughout the window has been the ITK read only section. I don't for a moment doubt the integrity or intentions of the contributors but there is so much conflicting information. A good pal of mine was a Premiership manager for a few years, he says you wouldn't believe the morals and scruples of some of the agents and hangers on. Sorting the wheat from the chaff must be impossible.

 

[Hakkz]

Well if you are able to name who was on the list perhaps we can discuss. The rest is guesswork

Of course it's guesswork. It's a forum.

I'm guessing that Zaha, Martial, Grealish were high on the list based on the amount of time we seem to have spent on them.

 

[Monkey boy]

JJetset 'Depends on what constitutes a disaster and a success with our current squad however I’m not too bothered either way as knowing all details and facts it’s not as it appears and Poch is fine '

That was quickly followed by A&Cs comment about the club watching social media like a hawk and something about don’t believe everything you hear or words to that effect. Could this be JJetsets way of masking his identity? Or have I gone ITK doolally?

 

[ToDarrenIsToDo]

If these are potential flops like any signing could be, you still say someone should have been signed. Who are you actually talking about?

Personally I though Grealish was worth signing. I really like the look of him and for the money it seemed we were willing to pay. I'd have had him groomed for a CM role, with the potential to possible play further forward if he started adding goals and assists to his game.

Aside from him I liked the look of Lobotka from what I saw on YouTube but his signing would have hindered Skipp, who I happen to rate a lot for a kid of just 17 years of age.

Replacing the Moose is so difficult, the only positive out of it is it gives Winksy a season to well and truly make that position his own.

Of all the others you highlighted, I ain't sure I'd have taken any of them. NDombele does it in a trash league and is yet to win an international cap I believe (I could be wrong on that one, I'm not 100% sure as it's a little early in the day), Fekir, even Liverpool baulked at the inflated fee they stuck on his head after they grew concerned about a knee injury he had from the past, Kovacic never left on a permanent and his loan deal has no obligation or view to go permanent so Madrid clearly don't want to sell and Brozovic I have no idea about but what's he going to cost you if he is the real deal &a playing for Inter Milan when they're trying to sign the whole Croatian national team?

I like Grealish, I wanted him at Spurs and I think £30m-£35m tops would have been what I'd have gone to but that's far more than he's worth, I just think he's got something a little bit flamboyant and special that don't grow on trees

 

[TheVoiceofReason]

I get the impression that Poch is ‘fine’, as in calm. He is resigned to the fact Levy isn’t going to surprise him. He’s fine, but he’s not overjoyed.