The Daily ITK Discussion Thread POST MORTEM

knowlespurs said:

the concern is Trix he is not spending as he is off in the summer
if it is tactical then fair enough Poch knows better than all of us, the worry is that he hasnt bought as he cant tell players he is def staying

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I think if you read the transcripts of his latest conferences he isnt going anywhere

wrd said:

I'd argue that if I was logical in that way then I wouldn't be a football supporter at all as I have 0 control over any of it. So it stands to reason that I'm curious about how the affects of it will impact us on the pitch.

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We're all experts on everything, after a while I care less about what happens in a boardroom if I am honest. Once you go there, you become bitter and twisted.

knowlespurs said:

the concern is Trix he is not spending as he is off in the summer
if it is tactical then fair enough Poch knows better than all of us, the worry is that he hasnt bought as he cant tell players he is def staying

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AHH well guess these concerned people will just have to continue to piss thier pants for the next few months. Short of getting a tattoo on his forhead saying he's staying, some people will continue to think the worst despite what the manager himself has been saying.

Unsurprised we haven’t bought anyone this window - the stellar players who would go in the first XI aren’t available typically in this window, and we don’t need young players with potential given Poch’s faith in the youth players. We’ve lost a few talented players from our academy, maybe Poch felt that if he couldn’t show them a path to the first team squad then more would leave? Getting in some talented 18-20yos would only frustrate our own talented 16-17yos.

Big question is - what will happen in the summer when those stellar players will be available, at a price? Will we go big? Will be aiming for players who actually can and will go to the likes of Barca, Real, even a Chelsea? Would love to see us get someone signed sealed and delivered a la Modric when he signed before the season finished, all ready to start day one of pre-season

Levy must have been truly crestfallen to hear that Poch didn't want to make any signings this window. I imagine he was genuinely inconsolable.

All the little fella has ever wanted to do is spend loads of money on transfers, and now Poch won't let him.

It's just not fair.

We should all look on the bright side. This summer should see plenty of transfer activity. A year without signings, senior players seeing their contracts running down, there’s going to have to be an overhaul or... a bunch of contract extensions. Something, however, HAS to happen.

Vinny_Sammways_left_peg said:

Dunno why people get so upset about the NFL link, it's just business, which football is.

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I can only speak for myself on this, my opinion, No Fucking Likee

Insomnia said:

I can only speak for myself on this, my opinion, No Fucking Likee

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Yeah I have read this a lot. At least it'll only affect the stadium on Sundays.

It's still confusing and maybe even slightly contentious to say that Levy was ready to spend, if he was only ready to spend for targets up to a certain level, and not to the level which Poch was asking. If this wasn't the case, then I'm not sure why Poch would have even mentioned the fact that there were "options" a few days ago. It seemed like Poch was expecting, or hoping for something to happen.

If keeping our powder dry means we can go slightly bigger in the summer, then great, but although I am a dyed in the wool optimist, I am not massively confident in our ability to land these larger targets seeing as we have no real track record in getting them in the past.

I'm not quite sure why there is a lot more noise that it was Poch who didn't want to spend money this window? I am sure I heard him say that the was open to improving the squad and he was optimistic last week that there would be additions? But over the last few days we are being told money was there but Poch said no. As I read it, he wasn't keen on those offered to him but somehow it's on Poch and it's his fault if we screw up the rest of the season.

I didn't expect a signing in January and not so fussed about it to be honest and not a fan of signings for the sake of it, but the club royally fucked up in the summer and now they are putting pressure on Poch with all these leaks it is totally out of order.

I wonder how much of a bonus Levy will give himself for his performance over the last year.

Too many reasons to be cheerful to worry about who we didn’t sign. We are in a great position. Urgently holding our own against big spending teams. We have unrivalled harmony in our squad. And we are about to embark on some great times with our club. I know patience is a dirty word in the FIFA/FM world we live In where you can buy and sell with a click of a mouse. But I still believe we have a plan. And we are working towards that. Good times lie ahead.

Thanks to all the admins and mods who made this very quiet thread tick along nicely. See you all In The summer!

Trix said:

AHH well guess these concerned people will just have to continue to piss thier pants for the next few months. Short of getting a tattoo on his forhead saying he's staying, some people will continue to think the worst despite what the manager himself has been saying.

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It's stunning how people are still resigned to him leaving. Everything he's said has completely contradicted that. Do i think he'll stay if the club continue to struggle to bring in the main targets? Maybe. But it's clear that him and Levy are on the same page when it comes to long-term strategy and that the club have it in place and Poch doesn't intend on abandoning it yet.

SC: we need the chairman to trust the manager’s judgment.

Also SC: why doesn’t the manager want to sign players?

Trix said:

AHH well guess these concerned people will just have to continue to piss thier pants for the next few months. Short of getting a tattoo on his forhead saying he's staying, some people will continue to think the worst despite what the manager himself has been saying.

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If we do go down the route of taking everything he says at face value, it was only a week ago that Poch was saying he was hopeful of incomings wasn't it? which then changed after Watford to saying he wasn't confident.

That would indicate to me that there were players he wanted to bring in, and he wasn't blocking everything?

I think a large majority of the supporters were expecting this January window to be fairly quiet, maybe we were secretly hoping for some positive movement. Whilst we don't know for sure the names Poch has in mind, I think it's safe to say from his recent comments he is looking for quality, not quantity in filling squad spaces for the sake of it. As we have seen with the difficulty in shifting 'dead wood' blocking up wages and space etc.

I highly doubt Poch will be on the move this summer to either Man UTD or Madrid for the simple reason he is a clever man, expectations at either of those clubs come thick and fast, he would not be given the time to develop and build a project in the way he has been given at Tottenham. He would be putting his head on the block for an early exit and some damage to his reputation... why take on a major managerial role when the expectations are too high, far easier to take on a mega club when they are at their lowest. He is young in his field and has time on his hands.

January windows rarely provide clubs with the opportunity to sign top quality players, presuming they are still competing in the champions league or top end of the table battles - the players we assume we are targeting will also be on the radar for other large clubs, unfortunately, the romanticisation of Barca, Madrid, United, Chelsea coupled with large signing on bonus' and wages is more attractive when compared to us, from a players perspective. What we can offer as a club is opportunities for young players in competitive fixtures and tournaments gaining some great experience and game time. I feel we are in the transition of being a 'stepping stone club' in players careers into a club where players come to us to compete. However at this moment in time, money talks and it is the language of many young players and agents...

With the uncertainty surrounding players such as Eriksen and Toby, tallied with our squad supposedly needing to be freshened up, we will be in store for a busy summer. We have ridden the wave so far this season with the negatives surrounding the stadium, injuries and no signings. Our league position and progression in the champions league has suppressed what could have been a nasty upset within the fan base, it is a strange season to say the least but as a club but we seem to be ignoring and pushing through the so-called hoodoos and endless negative media stories. Either way, by the end of summer, some of our first team players will commit to the club and provide a great deal of confidence and hopefully attract a few new quality players. Alternatively, we will see some established players move on which should surely see some movement.

On the face of things, what the club is doing, in the long run, is far more sustainable than other clubs models, with player prices rising and a constant churn of managers in the other big clubs, they are lacking the unity and stability of what Spurs seem to have. From Daniel Levy/ENIC point of view, they need the stability, top quality players and top-class facilities/stadium if they are supposedly preparing for a sale of the club. Alternatively, if there is not to be any sale of the club in the future, ENIC/Levy want the club performing at its full potential so they can reap the earnings; TV money and champs league money won't come easily without a little investment, its in their interests long term to spend a little to make a lot. It's not like they have not been investing in the club outside of the pitch, so the underlying motive to improve the club as a whole. There is nothing left to invest in, other than the team once we have moved into the stadium, it will be hard to fill a brand new stadium at the highest ticket prices if we aren't competing in the top tournaments.

As a club, we are playing the long game.

King of Otters said:

Levy must have been truly crestfallen to hear that Poch didn't want to make any signings this window. I imagine he was genuinely inconsolable.

All the little fella has ever wanted to do is spend loads of money on transfers, and now Poch won't let him.

It's just not fair.

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Post of the day mate, now fall back into line with the cult. Insanity.

dtw said:

It's still confusing and maybe even slightly contentious to say that Levy was ready to spend, if he was only ready to spend for targets up to a certain level, and not to the level which Poch was asking. If this wasn't the case, then I'm not sure why Poch would have even mentioned the fact that there were "options" a few days ago. It seemed like Poch was expecting, or hoping for something to happen.

If keeping our powder dry means we can go slightly bigger in the summer, then great, but although I am a dyed in the wool optimist, I am not massively confident in our ability to land these larger targets seeing as we have no real track record in getting them in the past.

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hakano said:

I'm not quite sure why there is a lot more noise that it was Poch who didn't want to spend money this window? I am sure I heard him say that the was open to improving the squad and he was optimistic last week that there would be additions? But over the last few days we are being told money was there but Poch said no. As I read it, he wasn't keen on those offered to him but somehow it's on Poch and it's his fault if we screw up the rest of the season.

I didn't expect a signing in January and not so fussed about it to be honest and not a fan of signings for the sake of it, but the club royally fucked up in the summer and now they are putting pressure on Poch with all these leaks it is totally out of order.

I wonder how much of a bonus Levy will give himself for his performance over the last year.

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Looking at the ITK we've had and what Poch himself has said my take on this is that there were players that Poch wanted, but he decided that they were overpriced at the moment and that we'd be better off going for them in the summer when the prices would be lower. He might have hoped that we could do a deal if the selling club lowered their prices, or signed a replacement, but it obviously didn't happen.
He could also be waiting to see which players will still be here in the summer. If Toby and Eriksen go then we'll have slightly different priorities to the ones we have now.

SirNiNyHotspur said:

Post of the day mate, now fall back into line with the cult. Insanity.

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Just because people can think logically and see both sides to everything doesn't mean they are part of a cult. It's good to know that we have the tin foil hat brigade among us though.

Keep on railing.

Summer will be huge, probably need:
New CM
Attacker to replace Eriksen
CB to replace Toby
Forward to replace Llorente
A fullback
GK to replace Vorm

Then ship out Janssen and gkn as well

wrd said:

I'd love to know how not spending this year affects our transfer budget this season especially if we make top4.

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Well seeing as we almost always spend what we make and not much more I'd say we will have the money from Dembele to spend added to whatever else we can generate in the summer.

@mill Where's the WTF in the fact that we rarely ever net spend? The OP seems to suggest that we have a window specific budget layed out and that it might roll over in a big summer bonanza. That has never been the case and we rarely ever have a net spend in a window. Therefore you would expect our summer budget to be the Dembele fee topped up with who ever else we sell.