The Weekend ITK Discussion Thread - 25/26 August 2012

[Greenspur]

Modric was widely recognised as one of the best up and coming youngsters in European football so if that constitutes Lidl then God knows where you shop!

I wasn't talking about the goods. I was talking about the shop. Apparently you can get some good products in Lidl.

 

[Hoopspur]

Jeez - I've been on here most of last night (and today) and really can't bring anything to the party. Just hope (and expectation) for next week.

 

[Colonel Dax]

Sandro had been called up to play for Brazil and was part of a team that won the south american equivalent of the champions league. Being the third highest scorer in the bundesliga isnt exactly the sign of a world class player.

World class player? Who mentioned that term? I didn't. I said players below the top level.

And correct me if I am wrong, but we signed Sandro before Inter won the Copa Libertadores.

 

[Breezer]

If Willian is not the Shaktar squad tonight then i expect him to sign for us within the next few days. However i can honestly say that doesn't really excite me. We need minimum 3 quality signings but i just can't see it happening

 

[Danners9]

Aye, Gerd Muller would be a fucking God send for this team!

i was in Munich last week, Thomas Muller is the highest earning German player through advertising and they have him and Gerd Muller advertising chocolate milkshakes by Muller. Mullermilk.

I realise I have written Muller a LOT. And Mullermilk could be something very different to a chocolate shake.

 

[Blackcanary]

Jeez - I've been on here most of last night (and today) and really can't bring anything to the party. Just hope (and expectation) for next week.

Hope? Expectation?! GET OUT!

 

[Pringle]

World class player? Who mentioned that term? I didn't. I said players below the top level.

And correct me if I am wrong, but we signed Sandro before Inter won the Copa Libertadores.

He was in the team that was in the comp, we then signed him and he finished the season off winning it. The fact he had been called up to the Brazil squad shows he was a player with huge potential. Just because you hadnt heard of him doesnt make this any less the case. Vertonghen would also fit into this category.

 

[Breezer]

Looking at itk, interviews with players etc, my predictions are: willian, m'villa, and Lloris. All have said themselves they are interested in joining, which is a good start. Leandro to arrive in January. Not ideal, but could be a lot worse. I would rather wait till jan for leandro then end up with some chump, as long as its confirmed this window.

You're probably right! But if we don't replace Modric with a like for like type of player we're screwed! M'Villa should come in and replace Livermore. Still need a creative CM.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Looking at itk, interviews with players etc, my predictions are: willian, m'villa, and Lloris. All have said themselves they are interested in joining, which is a good start. Leandro to arrive in January. Not ideal, but could be a lot worse. I would rather wait till jan for leandro then end up with some chump, as long as its confirmed this window.

I really wish Remy/Aubameyang would be one of our sought-after targets. Aubameyang especially given his expected fee, upside, and he's scoring a ton of goals of late.

Aubameyang (to replace Damiao - I'm tired of that bull shit), Willian, Isco/M'Vila/Dembele would be enormous for squad depth/upside.

 

[Colonel Dax]

He was in the team that was in the comp, we then signed him and he finished the season off winning it. The fact he had been called up to the Brazil squad shows he was a player with huge potential. Just because you hadnt heard of him doesnt make this any less the case. Vertonghen would also fit into this category.

As I said, not in my book. Berbatov for £11m in 2006, Modric for £16m in 2008. These were ambitious, expensive (at the time) marquee signings when we made them. Sandro was and is a great prospect but he wasn't a marquee signing.

 

[GetSpurredOn]

It's been a while since we bought a Berbatov or a Modric. A foreign midfielder or striker just below the top level that has huge potential. For the past few windows it has seemed like Levy/ENIC have been content merely to tread water with regards to player acquisitions. Whether that's down to the stadium financing (which Levy has already refuted) or the realisation that competing with the CL big boys is futile, I don't know. We were led to believe that it was Redknapp that was holding us back in the market. That somehow we would adopt a new strategy and start spending again with a new head coach at the helm. However that theory has proved to be incorrect.

Just what exactly is Levy/ENIC's objective? As things stand, it seems unlikely we will improve on last season's league position.

In my opinion, Levy/ENIC should either shit or get off the pot.

Agree pretty much totally with this, though out of sheer hope I'm hanging on to the belief we will actually spend this coming week.

I thought we should have gone for someone like Rondon as the number two striker. Not necessarily top drawer, but young enough to improve, and already accomplished in a big European league. Went pretty cheap too.
I think we should have gone for players like that early, and had our squad together in time to gel, rather than last day deals.
Similarly, Moutinho, for the prices the Porto chairman is insisting on, I'd have activated Dembele's release fee instead, still young, talented, and proven in our league. He was class yesterday.
Let's go with realistic targets for realistic prices, those just under the top tier but with time still to improve as they mature, much like Berbatov and Modric did.
Technically Damaio falls into that category, but Internacional have proved reluctant to sell, and difficult to deal with. Good as he may be, I think we'd have been better to move on earlier, secure someone else, and maybe go back when we're not backed into a corner.
Who knows, maybe Levy will pull a couple of rabbit's out of hat this week. We have to believe that, don't we....

 

[ryantegan]

It's the other one, begins with b.

Seriously mate, llorente, leandro, lewandowski, mata, aguero, Marin, Oscar even arshavin at the time. None were or are gonna sign.

Because we are never pay anywhere near the price these players command

Just move to targets we can afford or trust the manager in the first place

 

[Pringle]

As I said, not in my book. Berbatov for £11m in 2006, Modric for £16m in 2008. These were ambitious, expensive (at the time) marquee signings when we made them. Sandro was and is a great prospect but he wasn't a marquee signing.

You change the goalposts more than Levy! In your original post you said about a player just below the top level with huge potential - that is exactly what Sandro was when we signed him. A 20 year old who had already won a full cap for Brazil and was a regular in the best team in South America. Now its a marquee signing you are talking about? Well VDV would fit into that category if we re talking marquee.

Anyway, before the goal posts move again - lets get back on topic!

 

[TH1239]

You mean like he's bullied CL sides like Ajax, Rael Madrid and ManC into giving us quality players for very reasonable amounts ?

Your last sentence is the only intelligent part of that post, because it alludes to the folly of your own expectations, unrealistic and illogical expectations re our position (financial & footballing).

I specifically mentioned in my initial post that the players we are currently targeting are the prized assets of those respective clubs. Adebayor and Van der Vaart were both major surplus for City and Real, and they were desperate to off-load them, which is why we were able to nab them at great prices. It would be great if we could do that again this week, but the players we are targeting are not surplus on their squads. Damiao, Moutinho, Isco, Willian, Remy and Lloris are all arguably the best players at their respective clubs and if they are to be sold, they will not go cheaply and under our financial terms.

As for Vertonghen, that deal was completed early on, which provided Ajax the flexibility to reinvest the money into their squad (though they've mostly invested in youth this summer). Furthermore, Jan's contract was about to expire, so there was more urgency for them to sell him than if he had 3 years left on his deal.

Now Willian does only have another year on his current contract, but Shaktar has a history of being completely unreasonable when it comes to selling their players (unlike Ajax, who have a long-standing history of selling their best players). Shaktar's owner is obscenely wealthy, and I find it highly improbable that we can get Willian for a reasonable deal.

As for my own expectations, they've been quite modest for some time. I know perfectly well where we stand financially, which is why all this talk of trying to lure the 25 million pound players like Damiao and Moutinho seems like a waste of time to me. We can't afford them and those clubs aren't going to gift them to us anymore than we are going to gift Modric to Madrid.

 

[WestBelfast Spurs]

We should sign skrtel more goals and assists this season than downing in the whole of last season

 

[Danners9]

We should sign skrtel more goals and assists this season than downing in the whole of last season

what do you get if you cross a ball with Stewart Downing?


a goal kick.


boom boom tsh

 

[beats1]

Seriously mate, llorente, leandro, lewandowski, mata, aguero, Marin, Oscar even arshavin at the time. None were or are gonna sign.

Because we are never pay anywhere near the price these players command

Just move to targets we can afford or trust the manager in the first place

I disagree Ryan, there are several players there that we could sign easily but because we want to play hard ball we lost out and in the next transfer window we are happy to pay the price quoted before but not the increase of price despite that player kicking ass in their league,

Good example Rossi we weren't willing to pay £18mill at the beginning of the window but were happy to pay £24mill at the end when we were desperate and they didnt have enough time to find a replacement

 

[Gbspurs]

I can't wait until January when the "who's going to sign Rossi and Villa" game goes into overdrive!

 

[shelfboy68]

Looking at itk, interviews with players etc, my predictions are: willian, m'villa, and Lloris. All have said themselves they are interested in joining, which is a good start. Leandro to arrive in January. Not ideal, but could be a lot worse. I would rather wait till jan for leandro then end up with some chump, as long as its confirmed this window.

Problem is that ade is bound to get injured and we can't afford to be without anyone if we wait until January it would be madness.

We can't score now let alone have anymore injuries.

 

[Colonel Dax]

You change the goalposts more than Levy! In your original post you said about a player just below the top level with huge potential - that is exactly what Sandro was when we signed him. A 20 year old who had already won a full cap for Brazil and was a regular in the best team in South America. Now its a marquee signing you are talking about? Well VDV would fit into that category if we re talking marquee.

Anyway, before the goal posts move again - lets get back on topic!

Sorry I don't agree. I think in your eagerness to defend Levy (God knows why) you misunderstand. I love Sandro but when we signed him he was neither a marquee signing, nor just below the top level. Modric and Berbatov were. Under any categorisation or definition, those two players made me sit and up take notice. Sandro and Vertonghen, good though they are, didn't. Sorry.