Tottenham risk missing out on top 4 finish due to late transfer dealings

[gusrowe]

There is a big element of truth in this as you look Levy's previous seasons transfer dealings. It is frustrating for us fans.

Read the full article at Evening Standard

 

[SteveH]

Tom Collomoose is a toad who keeps regurgitating the same article season in season out

 

[shao]

Is this a surprise? #levytime

 

[dominguezmonkey]

Nothing radical being said here but Tom Collomosse isn't a Spurs fan so I don't expect him to cut us any slack in his reporting. I think that he gets frustrated by the lack of access he has to players and staff, hence articles like this. We run a tight ship these days when it comes to reporting just about anything (hence less ITK than the old days) and for a journalist who primarily covers Spurs for a London newspaper, that must be pretty constraining.

 

[Sweetsman]

Tom Collomoose is a toad who keeps regurgitating the same article season in season out

Why is he a toad? He has stated what is known to all, but it must be said that many teams are in the same boat. My problem with Levy is that he is very reactive, eg experienced players didn't work out, so go for youth. What is missing in our team is someone on the pitch who can read the game and act on it. I think Bentaleb will become that player, but we need someone else now.

 

[pablo73]

Whatever his motivations and whether he is a toad or not, the article is spot on. It's hard to believe that Levy is unaware of the concept of opportunity cost but you do have to wonder sometimes. For every penny he has saved in haggling over last minute deals, how many millions have we lost in potential revenue, both in terms of Champs league qualification and league placings?

 

[Japhet]

Don't have any problem with the article but the headline makes it sound like missing out on top 4 would be a failure, whereas, in the real world, equalling last years final placing would be a pretty decent achievement.

 

[Mattspur]

We risk missing out on top 4 because of late dealings?

I thought the reason we risk missing out on a top 4 finish was because we are competing against 5 other teams with far greater resources than ourselves who can pay much larger transfer fees and 3 times the wages we can pay.

For a club like ours, at the current time, top 4 should never be an expectation. The best we can hope for is to be in the right place to pick up the pieces should one of the top 4 have a bad season. Like we did before.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Can i ask all those who get infuriated that Levy is leaving business until the last minute - do you all honestly think that's his intention? Do you think he sets out to wait out as long as possible and definitely miss targets?

Stop all being so short sighted - a transfer depends on thousands of factors, it's not entirely down to one director and the way they operate. Levy will likely have been making calls on day one of the transfer window but, as time has gone on, factors have meant the top of the list can't be got, so they start the process again with the next one they want.

You want him to just blow huge wads of cash on players? Ok, we tried that, it didn't work. Huge wages? We tried that, we end up with players hanging around on contracts because they can and costing us a great deal. He simply cannot win in the eyes of the fans, and i'm sure he knows this and it passes over him like water over the proverbial duck, but if you're short sighted enough to think that "more money" is the single answer to our pushing the top four, you're in for a frustrating time as a Spurs fan.

 

[DOX]

Well, that's kind of stating the obvious. Obviously.

 

[SteveH]

Why is he a toad? He has stated what is known to all, but it must be said that many teams are in the same boat. My problem with Levy is that he is very reactive, eg experienced players didn't work out, so go for youth. What is missing in our team is someone one the pitch who can read the game an act on it. I think Bentaleb will become that player, but we need someone else now.

You think? bet that thicko Levy never thought of that!

 

[Sweetsman]

You think? bet that thicko Levy never thought of that!

I'm not ever sure what he thinks.

 

[yiddopaul]

Can i ask all those who get infuriated that Levy is leaving business until the last minute - do you all honestly think that's his intention? Do you think he sets out to wait out as long as possible and definitely miss targets?

Stop all being so short sighted - a transfer depends on thousands of factors, it's not entirely down to one director and the way they operate. Levy will likely have been making calls on day one of the transfer window but, as time has gone on, factors have meant the top of the list can't be got, so they start the process again with the next one they want.

You want him to just blow huge wads of cash on players? Ok, we tried that, it didn't work. Huge wages? We tried that, we end up with players hanging around on contracts because they can and costing us a great deal. He simply cannot win in the eyes of the fans, and i'm sure he knows this and it passes over him like water over the proverbial duck, but if you're short sighted enough to think that "more money" is the single answer to our pushing the top four, you're in for a frustrating time as a Spurs fan.

Or the fans that compare our 'lack of activity/signings' to other teams.... like Chelsea, Man City, ManU etc, it seems to blow their minds that we can't get deals wrapped up as quickly as those teams do! All those teams around us in the top 6/7 either have a bottomless pit of money, or can offer CL. We have neither. Even Liverpool are more attractive in that they have a recent CL pedigree and more money on wages.

 

[guiltyparty]

I take particular umbrage with the Liverpool comparison. All that early spending has done them fuck all good for five of the last six seasons. And to try and use it this season as a pattern, when they've fluked their opening games after dire performances and offside goals, is just tired.

It's all a bit more complicated, Tom, old bean

 

[Alfitness1]

Can i ask all those who get infuriated that Levy is leaving business until the last minute - do you all honestly think that's his intention? Do you think he sets out to wait out as long as possible and definitely miss targets?

Stop all being so short sighted - a transfer depends on thousands of factors, it's not entirely down to one director and the way they operate. Levy will likely have been making calls on day one of the transfer window but, as time has gone on, factors have meant the top of the list can't be got, so they start the process again with the next one they want.

You want him to just blow huge wads of cash on players? Ok, we tried that, it didn't work. Huge wages? We tried that, we end up with players hanging around on contracts because they can and costing us a great deal. He simply cannot win in the eyes of the fans, and i'm sure he knows this and it passes over him like water over the proverbial duck, but if you're short sighted enough to think that "more money" is the single answer to our pushing the top four, you're in for a frustrating time as a Spurs fan.

I have you spot on. Levy needs to keep the books balanced for the new stadium. Hopefully 2 in 2 out with bolasie one of inns and lamela out

 

[ItsBoris]

We risk missing out on top 4 because of late dealings?

I thought the reason we risk missing out on a top 4 finish was because we are competing against 5 other teams with far greater resources than ourselves who can pay much larger transfer fees and 3 times the wages we can pay.

For a club like ours, at the current time, top 4 should never be an expectation. The best we can hope for is to be in the right place to pick up the pieces should one of the top 4 have a bad season. Like we did before.

I think our goal should be to build a team from the ground up through good scouting and good business that one day can compete with the top 4 or even win the league.

We still have a way to go of course, but I'm more concerned about missing out on targets like Berahino due to penny pinching than I am about getting them in late, because I don't think this is our season to truly challenge.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Tom Collomoose is a toad who keeps regurgitating the same article season in season out

Daniel levy is a toad who makes the same mistakes every season.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Can i ask all those who get infuriated that Levy is leaving business until the last minute - do you all honestly think that's his intention? Do you think he sets out to wait out as long as possible and definitely miss targets?

Stop all being so short sighted - a transfer depends on thousands of factors, it's not entirely down to one director and the way they operate. Levy will likely have been making calls on day one of the transfer window but, as time has gone on, factors have meant the top of the list can't be got, so they start the process again with the next one they want.

You want him to just blow huge wads of cash on players? Ok, we tried that, it didn't work. Huge wages? We tried that, we end up with players hanging around on contracts because they can and costing us a great deal. He simply cannot win in the eyes of the fans, and i'm sure he knows this and it passes over him like water over the proverbial duck, but if you're short sighted enough to think that "more money" is the single answer to our pushing the top four, you're in for a frustrating time as a Spurs fan.

He waits as long as possible to try and get players cheap.

I'd rather he moved on to the next targets as soon as it became evident he isn't getting plan A.

 

[paxton_soul]

Can i ask all those who get infuriated that Levy is leaving business until the last minute - do you all honestly think that's his intention? Do you think he sets out to wait out as long as possible and definitely miss targets?

Stop all being so short sighted - a transfer depends on thousands of factors, it's not entirely down to one director and the way they operate. Levy will likely have been making calls on day one of the transfer window but, as time has gone on, factors have meant the top of the list can't be got, so they start the process again with the next one they want.

You want him to just blow huge wads of cash on players? Ok, we tried that, it didn't work. Huge wages? We tried that, we end up with players hanging around on contracts because they can and costing us a great deal. He simply cannot win in the eyes of the fans, and i'm sure he knows this and it passes over him like water over the proverbial duck, but if you're short sighted enough to think that "more money" is the single answer to our pushing the top four, you're in for a frustrating time as a Spurs fan.

It depends on one factor - having the money available to spend decisively on high fee and wage and for neither of those to matter to long term stability of a club. We are not in that category. But we try and pretend we are. We really should have gone out early and spent £3m on a promising kid no one has heard of and £7m on a hardened old lag like rickie lambert who can lead a line. But we hang on for a fashionable but just below top drawer name as ever. Right now I would have preferred a full pre-season with a 12-15 goal a season second stringer there to carry the weight. For all his many faults - Harry new how to balance an attack. Our lack of nous is painful.

 

[TonyK]

I'm sure many SC'ers have seen this link on Twitter before but it disproves the myth that Levy gas blown loads of cash on players:

http://theboyhotspur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Screen-Shot-2015-08-18-at-09.26.16.png

For a club that with any ambition of CL qualification those stats are pretty shocking especially in the current era of massive global broadcasting revenue for PL games. Where is the money going??? Certainly not into the football club. If it is headed towards the stadium build then that fact should be communicated to us fans but I doubt that is the case anyhow. The healthier the bank balance, the higher the price for any potential new owners.

Stoke, WBA, Palace etc are now competing with us in the transfer market. Liverpool have moved ahead in terms of the calibre of player they are willing to recruit. And we are still haggling to save a couple mill here or there whilst dropping 5 crucial points from strong positions 2 weeks after the season has started.

I'm beyond fed up with it year after year.