To Dare is Too Dear

Good (Van Dyke) comparison but if we are above or close to Utd come Jan there is no way Utd will sell us Martial unless we bid a six figure sum which of course we won't!

 

Tig! All of us on this forum are entitled to our opinion. Our opinions on hear have no effect on the players and game time and I would rather people vent on hear than the terraces. Can you believe even my own opinions have been disagreed with many times! Plus I have disagreed with others. But the best way to go about it on any forum like this, imo is if you don't agree with a certain opinion do 1 of 2 things...

Ignore it or counter it with a well constructed reply without patronising accusations/insults.
You immediately lose Tig! I get how the frustration makes you react when you think someone has got an opinion that seems "negative" and so way off from to your own because I have responded previously in a certain way too! Your length of support for our club may rival many on here, but the reasons we all contribute is equal. We all are passionate, love and want we think is the best for THFC.

COYS!

 

Great article Josh.. love the title

You raise a lot of poignant questions

A couple of points..

Status quo was the bare minimum this window in my opinion.. the club has achieved that.. so far (still plenty of time to lose some key players)

Maintaining a team is not necessarily 'standing still'.. continuity brings improvement in itself.. young players get better.. do nothing though and at some point you do hit your ceiling.. hopefully Spurs have not arrived there yet

You're spot on about Levy's greatest flaw.. buy low/sell high is a great mantra for the stock market.. for any trade really.. doesn't necessarily translate as well to building a football team though.. you need quality assets and you can't expect to always get them cheap

I'm as disenchanted as the rest about our record breaking window.. it is fundamentally indefensible to not even bring in a single prospect

But now the dust has settled.. am I disappointed we didn't buy Grealish for 35-40 million? Or Zaha for 60-70? No

I think as the team stands there is potential to improve on last season's output.. there is still a few weeks for all that to change of course so we'll see what happens

 

I would have been okay spending 60-70 on Zaha or Martial, Zaha especially...he's proven and driven. With Poch's nurturing...he'd really add to and challenge our starting 11. One thing to consider though, the so called small clubs now; can also afford to hold and not sell players whom they value highly or are needed to stay in the prem. Southhampton did so for a while with Van Dijk, Leicester with Mahrez, and I believe Palace is doing the same with Zaha.

I am hopeful that in January we can add-on some players, but all in all...I believe the fans are entitled to really question where this club is going. This isn't the kind of record we should be breaking. Nevertheless, the seasons begins tomorrow; bring on Newcastle!!!

COYS!

 

Zaha is a good player.. a wonderful athlete.. but he didn't last long at United.. Lucas is better and he cost 25M.. is Zaha really worth us spending 60-70M?

Martial would have been a good acquisition.. but he doesn't appear to be for sale.. not to us anyway

Kovacic to Chelsea does disappoint me.. but that was most likely tied up with the Courtois sale

One thing is certain.. the club has placed itself under enormous scrutiny with this window.. jettison any of Rose, Alderweireld or Dembele before September and we deserve nothing but contempt

 

I would have liked Kovacic as well, but definitely that was a sweetener for Chelsea; he's highly valued and will be playing for Madrid when Modric leaves or regresses. I do like Lucas, but they are different players. I believe Lucas will have a good season!

On Zaha, comparing him with the kid who couldn't cut at United is completely wrong. Timing is everything in life, not to mention the chaos that was United at the time; this guy has shown tremendous mental strength to overcome that experience and kick on the way that he has. He has almost singularly saved Palace from relegation by himself. The prices are inflated, he's more of a 40-50 range but in today's market...that goes up to 60-70, hell maybe even more. I believe that he too, wasn't for sale.

 

I do realise Zaha was only 21 when he joined United.. and that he is a considerably better player now.. rightly or wrongly though his short time at a big club does not reflect well.. until proven otherwise

I rate him.. but as you suggest at a lesser price.. it's true that in Kane's absence he would be a better option up top to what we have.. but at full strength.. and with a front four of Kane.. Alli.. Eriksen.. Lucas.. that 60-70M would be better spent elsewhere.. even if that's next year.. and on someone like de Ligt

Looking forward to the season opener!

 

I wonder how much the brainwashed will continue to talk up Jack Grealish at Villa now , telling us all what a player he is now that the move is off???
Or is it because we were interested they felt the need to massively overate a bang average player???
See what blind faith & delusion does....

 

I can only imagine that the aggression all too evident in the posts of the 'Support, Don't Criticise' brigade are proof of the old adage of sport being war without (usually) the killing, because there seems to be a barely disguised accusation of treachery against critics of Levy/ENIC/Pochettino - this isn't 1940, and we're not fighting for survival against Klopp's Hunnish hordes or Mourinho's multinational mercenaries - it's just a game of football, and people are entitled to hold differing opinions, surely? Those opinions might not necessarily be expressed in the most polite terms, but it's the 'you're not real Spurs fans' tone of the self-appointed 'loyalists' that gets me - they don't just sing that Spurs are 'by far the greatest team the world has ever seen', they really believe it, and woe betide anyone who says different!

 

Love me some Cheshunt.. or something along those lines

When are you going to get an official account gaffer?

Everybody loves a guest.. but as with all guests there is always the danger of overstaying one's welcome

 

I'm very far from the sharpest awl in the toolbox, as my all-too-frequent mis-posts and errors testify, but I honestly don't understand your response - we're both guests (albeit often unwelcome ones), but you want me to love you some and then leave? Not even the empty promise to call me sometime? I feel used! Or did I misunderstand your somewhat cryptic reply?

 

Haha.. you're priceless Cheshunt

My apologies.. 'love me some' is American slang for 'I love a bit of'.. or something like that.. sorry if that got lost in translation

And yes.. of course! that's the joke.. both of us have overstayed our welcome as guests.. time to sign up?

These Levy hardnuts you speak of.. I have yet to see them.. are they phantoms? then again I have never visited ' Dear Mr Levy'.. something about the name of that blog I guess

 

I should have known you were just teasing - oh well! As for the 'Levy hardnuts', I thought several had been in evidence on here over the past couple of days, but perhaps I'm too sensitive; I can disagree with someone without denying their right to believe whatever they want, but I don't feel that the 'loyalists' return the favour - you HAVE to accept their shibboleths, especially about Levy and Pochettino being above criticism, otherwise you're the enemy, and it's total war so far as they're concerned (and don't get me started on 'Dear Mr Levy', though it's probably better than it was a few years back, when AVB was its hero).
Are there any benefits to being a member? Can I get discounts at coffee shops or tyre outlets? If not, I think I'll pass (and we're 2-1 up at the moment, so I'll finish on an uncharacteristic high note!).

 

If someone backs Spurs though does that immediately make them a loyalist?

People generally don't appreciate gratuitous criticism.. it's too easy

Don't get me wrong.. there's no defending this record setting window

Top win nevertheless.. not the most fluent.. but an opening day victory at St James' is not an easy result.. Mauricio is looking pretty fit as well

No perks for signing up that I can tell.. other than the right to post your own article.. now that is something I would like to read Cheshunt

 

Loyalist, protagonist, defector or detractor, as long as any negativity is confined to this forum and not the terraces then say what you like, I say!!

 

Love this forum! I am with Tig, but so are all elder posters here.

I am surprised no one of Levy backers would try to answer Josh questions asked in the original article.
Why? Levy simply screwed up. He overplayed his hand with Villa new boss. The old chairman wanted 25 mill for Gerlish. Levy negotiated and thought he won. Then AVFC itself was sold. New guy wouldn't accept 25 Levy finally agreed to. That was another failed deal. Bruce wanted to keep the lad. They did not have to sell it. Levy went out empty handed. Same thing happened to Ed Woodward. Levy did not need to sell Toby. He can give him a new contract, eliminating 25 million clause and raise his pay to Toby liking, still paying less than Harry.

Back to Woodward and his MUFC.
Why would MU sell Martial or even trade it to us? Mou doesn't like the kid? Jose may be fired next summer. It is the 3rd year in his tenure and it is the well known trend of his career. So the next summer MU may have the 30 years old Toby and the new manager, while 23 y/o Martial shines under Posh? I do not think such a deal have ever been in works. Just an inquiry, no more.

Realistically Poch could only get his older child from Southampton times Rodriguez. At 29 he could be bought, I am sure. He would be useful right about now. Would he really? Poch gets away from 4-2-3-1 arrangement. He played 4-3-3 in pre-season and against Magpies. Holding MF may not be as defined under it. Spurs need no Rodrigues now. Too late.

All and all Villa and MU will be more willing to sell in January, when season is half-played. If Toby will be seen as the missing peace for MU to challange for the title, we will get Martial. If Villa is out of promotion by then, we will get Grelish.

Relax supporters, just enjoy! You should be happy that the only players that can bring an improvement are the top teams stars. Spurs do not buy star players from top European clubs. They will, but not any time soon. No matter how bad Felon82 and others want to accelerate that it will take his own course. For now we have an excellent staff to develop youth. We will keep that philosophy as long as we have Poch. That is his strength.
COYS!!!

 

Absolutely superb Josh. I agree with every word you've written. We are/were on the precipice of greatness and Levy has blown it for profit. Short term greed doesn't come close. But it makes no sense. Surely NOW, when we are so close, now should have been the time to frugally speculate and push on. IT MAKES NO SENSE. So frustrating.
Ps. Thanks for pointing out supporters trust statement. Excellent article.

 

Felon what the feck is it about the 'look how far we've come' brigade? Aaaaargh!!!!
The past is irrelevant, it's the NOW and the FUTURE that matter. What's gone is gone. 'Oh but we've done so well to get to this point' FFS!!! Yes we've done well. But what does 'doing well' get you? Feck all that's what!

 

It's bizzarre, I can only put it down to the fact that all we have to really show for it is 1 lg cup and soon to be more expensive seats?????

The fact the 90s is harped back to so regularly as a starting point to this 'Journey' is an era from almost 2 decades ago seems to have evaded people's mindset completely and is now beyond irrelevant, if we're going back decades where does it stop 90s 80s 70s 1882.....

It's amazing how these same fans rewrite history aswell it's as if Redknapp never made it into the top 4 (or got us to a CL quarter final- something Poch hasn't done), I've even seen people claim results happened that didn't to help bolster an argument.

And the latest claim now is that there's no one in world football that can improve the 'Tottenham All Stars" we're now so good (despite the complete lack of silverware to back this up) that there's no room for players that can make us better (except for the obvious world class talents of Jack Grealish of course).

And people actually believe this tripe and use it for counter arguments just to come to the conclusion 'you should enjoy the ride, look how far we've come, so just be happy whatever'

The mentality of being so grateful for the crumbs, the slimmest glimmer of hope and damning anyone that dare question it is akin to a desperate victim of a Cult.

We must pay, we must clap, we must not question......

This bigger picture of theirs they've seen as brought to them by the Pro(f)it Daniel is like those Nutters you hear preaching on the streets in London , they too believe they've seen a bigger picture......

 

I think you're making a mighty big assumption there - I'm no spring chicken, and my view is the complete opposite of yours and 'Tig's'. It's precisely because I remember the days when we took on United and Liverpool as equals, and looked down on the likes of City and Chelsea, that I don't regard Levy/Lewis as our saviours, but as very sharp cookies, who recognised that Spurs were a HUGE club fallen from grace courtesy of Scholar's foolishness and Sugar's parsimony, and saw that there was the potential for a very big killing, if they were willing to play a long game. Thus we've had one trophy in seventeen (coming up to eighteen) years while the pieces have been assembled, but the on-field opportunities have been wasted - Redknapp had a great team in 2011/12, but we all know what happened there, while the collapse of the usual suspects in 2015/16 allowed Leicester in, while Pochettino was still planning his 'project, and we're now further away from the PL title today than we were then. If you've got no memories and no expectations, I'm sure the ride is fun, fun, fun, but don't expect everyone to share that pretty unthinking outlook.