The January Transfer Scouting Thread

[Hotspur33]

The whole point of bringing in Fabio is his ability to find top players on low contracts, or out of favour and convinces them to come. So whilst money will inevitably need to be spent it shouldn't need to be in the realms that the other bigun's are spending. Let's be honest Poch worked miracles but those miracles had long since faded before he left. If he came in now we'd basically have to completely reboot again, which takes more time and money.

Would certainly be interesting seeing Poch work with Fab P. But I’m one of those sad sack Poch lovers.

 

[McFlash]

Would certainly be interesting seeing Poch work with Fab P. But I’m one of those sad sack Poch lovers.

Would that be the same Poch who didn't want a DoF when he was here?
I'm not sure that his spell at PSG would've changed his mind either.

The point of having Paratici is that not only is he here to find players, he also has a say in the managerial appointments.

If Poch were to come back it's all down to a bromance between him and Levy.
I can't see it happening at all.
If levy fucks over Conte for Poch, he's also fucking Paratici off.

 

[chrissivad]

Scouting thread.
This should be about players, not Conte/Levy/Poch

 

[McFlash]

Scouting thread.
This should be about players, not Conte/Levy/Poch

Sorry gaffer, got a bit sidetracked by the recent itk and got swept up in the flow of conversation.

 

[Conando]

I loved what Poch did, but I never want to see him back, we were absolutely dire in the final 12 months of his tenure, even with the run to the CL Final.

 

[Trix]

Levy certainly seems to listen to the match going fans when it comes to firing managers. There have been a lot of boos this season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Levy is weighing up his options and keeping Poch sweet before pumping in a ton of money to try and possibly fail to make Conte happy.

Not so sure about that. Levy reacts more to where it looks like we will finish and what that means financially than what the fans think. Obviously the two usually coincide which might make it look that way, but trust me Levy is 100% not the type to bow to peer pressure. Even the Gattusso u-turn was more to do with the bad media PR we were getting and how it would affect sponsorship etc, rather than the fan reaction itself. If it makes you feel better you can believe you have a voice if you like, but trust me it's nowhere near as much as you think you have.

 

[Hotspur33]

Not so sure about that. Levy reacts more to where it looks like we will finish and what that means financially than what the fans think. Obviously the two usually coincide which might make it look that way, but trust me Levy is 100% not the type to bow to peer pressure. Even the Gattusso u-turn was more to do with the bad media PR we were getting and how it would affect sponsorship etc, rather than the fan reaction itself. If it makes you feel better you can believe you have a voice if you like, but trust me it's nowhere near as much as you think you have.

Mate, I’m not even a match going fan, I’m under no illusion that Levy gives a hoot about me. Cheers for the reply though.

 

[Hotspur33]

Scouting thread.
This should be about players, not Conte/Levy/Poch

Apologies…..Weston McKennie, unless he is the answer to RWB, I don’t see what he brings that we don’t already have. It’s a no from me.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

The whole point of bringing in Fabio is his ability to find top players on low contracts, or out of favour and convinces them to come. So whilst money will inevitably need to be spent it shouldn't need to be in the realms that the other bigun's are spending. Let's be honest Poch worked miracles but those miracles had long since faded before he left. If he came in now we'd basically have to completely reboot again, which takes more time and money.

And I’d imagine Kane for one would be straight out the door. Especially with Bayern seemingly very keen. Wouldn’t be a good look for Levy.

 

[SpursSince1980]

Not so sure about that. Levy reacts more to where it looks like we will finish and what that means financially than what the fans think. Obviously the two usually coincide which might make it look that way, but trust me Levy is 100% not the type to bow to peer pressure. Even the Gattusso u-turn was more to do with the bad media PR we were getting and how it would affect sponsorship etc, rather than the fan reaction itself. If it makes you feel better you can believe you have a voice if you like, but trust me it's nowhere near as much as you think you have.

Much like any large business.

Back to scouting…

I hope Spurs scouting set up looks closer at the US market. There are so many talented kids in the 15 to 19 bracket that will surpass the existing national team players. It would seem that teams in Germany have figured this out. So, I hope the investment made in the scouting network includes someone in the States, as there are some rough diamonds that are worth investing in.

 

[brasil_spur]

Would certainly be interesting seeing Poch work with Fab P. But I’m one of those sad sack Poch lovers.

Yeh can't wait to see all the players that Fabio finds that Poch doesn't want.

 

[The Scarecrow]

All this points to ENIC’s sole focus being on revenue from CL qualification and not on winning things. This will ultimately be what finishes Conte off.

Conte can get CL qualification of course, but Poch did it cheaper..

Depressing.

But that really doesn't make sense from an investment company's point of view. ENIC could sell the club now and make a fortune as it is, but nothing points towards that being the case. Which means they are aiming to increase the value of the club further, which at this point in our trajectory is possible mostly by elevating the club another level (to a level where trophies are won regularly).

 

[brasil_spur]

Not so sure about that. Levy reacts more to where it looks like we will finish and what that means financially than what the fans think. Obviously the two usually coincide which might make it look that way, but trust me Levy is 100% not the type to bow to peer pressure. Even the Gattusso u-turn was more to do with the bad media PR we were getting and how it would affect sponsorship etc, rather than the fan reaction itself. If it makes you feel better you can believe you have a voice if you like, but trust me it's nowhere near as much as you think you have.

Whilst this is great insight I'd say Levy hasn't really had to deal with protesting fans yet though. It's one thing to ignore some media and forum chat, along with a bit on in-stadium booing, but if fans actually start protesting regularly before and after matches it will be a different story IMO. Yes there's been Levy out and ENIC out rumblings, but full Levy and ENIC out protests will hurt them, if like you say, for no other reason than the corporate image (and therefore sponsorship) reason. You've also got to think that the media are just itching to dig into Levy if he fucks this up now, the media generally has a hard on for having a pop at Spurs and if we lose Kane (more so than Conte) because Levy doesn't invest then the media will have a field day, IMO (especially if the club that buys him is Bayern).

The other thing that's a big issue here is that if Levy doesn't back Conte in Jan and then he leaves in the summer, Kane will be right out the door after him. Now suddenly the fans are really getting on Levy's back, plus you've got a £100m+ striker and club talisman to replace in the team.

 

[Dunc2610]

Scouting thread.
This should be about players, not Conte/Levy/Poch

See above!

 

[phillipjpalmer]

Seeing links to Rabiot make me feel like another Ndombele scenario.
Difficult character, how if he doesnt hit the ground running will just end up fading away

 

[the lad]

I'll just remind you of the mess "the board" made of replacing Jose, another manager who was told who he had to integrate into the team rather than get rid of them. Turns out Jose's opinion was completely shared by Conte in regards to Dele and NDombele and we had to get rid anyway.

And to think that some would still defend those that run the club

Levy will go if it falls apart with Conte. Surely his is his last throw of the dice?

I miss the optimistic rating so very much.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Seeing links to Rabiot make me feel like another Ndombele scenario.
Difficult character, how if he doesnt hit the ground running will just end up fading away

Rabiot, to be fair to him, is actually having a really good season. One of Juve’s best players this campaign. But not only do I agree that he’s too much of a risk, but he is also another CM and we really don’t need one at the moment.

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

My one big takeaway from this is that i hope we don't start referring to Pochettino as 'the ex' on this forum until the conclusion of this saga.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Dumfries would be good to solve our RWB issue if Inter need to sell

 

[Freddie]

Aurier was a good signing for us at the time. The club outgrew him, not the other way round. It wasnt/isn't that he was mediocre, its that we got better as a team meaning he wasn't at the level to match changing expectations. Not his fault, and he was a very good signing where we were when he came in.
Doc was statistically the best in the league in his position, in a poor Wolves team. He hasn't met those levels with us, but he wasn't a mediocre signing when he came in - everything pointing to it being a canny deal. Didn't work out, thats just football.
Emerson was signed for a different manager, in a different position. Despite his obvious shortcomings, he's cemented the first choice spot (whether people like it or not.) and works/worked bloody hard by all accounts.

None of them, in the context of when we signed them were 'mediocre' signings.

We are also not a club that will 'just pay the money' - nor, in fact are 99% of clubs in the land.

Have to disagree with all of that I'm afraid! I thought Aurier was a decent signing but it turns out he wasn't as good as we thought (although also not as bad as many make out). We really didn't improve as a team after he came so not sure you can say we outgrew him. When you end up releasing him on a free mid-contract despite not having any decent cover in his position it's gone badly.

With Doherty many people were seduced by highlights but most Wolves fans were fine with selling him, even at the 'bargain' price of 13 million. Furthermore we ended up playing a back 4 for most of his early Spurs career. It was another poorly scouted/thought-through decision. He's never been a top 4 level player regardless of what the stats tell you.

Emerson, whichever manager, whichever system, isn't worth 25 million. We were done.