Football 2011-2012

[The Nal]

I'm not in favour of goalline technology though.

Edited August 23, 2011 by The Nal

[ralph250]

Spurs midfield were f**king shit.

Jones looks like he could be the real deal though. Very impressive.

[eFestivals]

Oh, and I lean more towards Ralph's way of thinking - IMO Levy knew months ago Modric was off - all he has done since is attempt to get VFM.

he'd get value for money by accepting the inevitable and negotiating around it. Saying "he's not going anywhere" is merely burying his head in the sand.

Levy has already shown with Berba that his methods don't do good things for the club. He's making the same mistake over Modric.

[TheGayTent]

he'd get value for money by accepting the inevitable and negotiating around it. Saying "he's not going anywhere" is merely burying his head in the sand.

Levy has already shown with Berba that his methods don't do good things for the club. He's making the same mistake over Modric.

[TheGayTent]

Good night all round. Jones was immense. Smalling impresses more and more. Rooney looks lean and sharp whereas usually he's hit the chicken nuggets over the close season. Welbeck struggled a bit first half but exploded with confidence once he got the goal, and the clean sheet for De Gea will do him good. Made the slight mistake on one cross and big aerial tests with Bolton away, Chelsea home and Stoke away coming up, but improved performance all the same and his distribution is excellent. Was his quick throw that lead to the second goal which was a bit sexy. Really nice to see Anderson in on the goals. Scored 3 in his last 2 competitive games last season (Schalke x2, Blackpool), another couple in pre-season and the one last night.

[TheGayTent]

You got a prediction for tomorrow's game? With the way we've started you should get at least 5.

[The Nal]

Agree on the most part...still think Evans has yet to prove himself mind.

[eFestivals]

Piffle.

If he said "Modric wants to go to Chelsea and there's nothing we can do about it bar negotiate a decent fee", he'd be committing a massive PR gaff and would get less money for him from Chelsea. Saying "he's not going anywhere" is not burying his head in the sand. It buys him time in case he can get the player to change his mind, and it gets him the biggest fee.

Had Levy/saggy face equivalent at Man Utd/Man City not done previously as Levy is doing now...they'd have looked pretty stupid when Rooney/Tevez actually stayed...

If Levy's public statements were just that with a negotiation happening behind them, then that would be fine - but that wasn't the case with Berba and nothing looks different this time around.

With Berba it didn't get Spurs the biggest fee they could have got, and it also left them cash-rich but player-poor. Nothing is looking different with Modric, tho of course that might just be the public perception (but I doubt it).

As for that last line: Spurs aren't Utd or City. There's very good reasons why a great player that says he wants to move might stay with them, while it's hard to see how that applies to Spurs.

(BTW, I'm not at all trying to knock Spurs here, I'm merely stating the reality for any team aside from the 'top' ones. But I am knocking Levy, for taking an 'upfront' good angle for Spurs but which causes greater background damage).

[Jaybles]

With Jones looking as good as that Evans wont be playing again anyway so it doesn't matter. Can remember the last time I saw a defender with so much promise.

Agree with you about Evans though.

[Wooderson]

I heard Scott Danns the other day. How good is Coates? Ive never heard of him

[The Nal]

This tackle from Jones was amazing last night. Very promising player

Edited August 23, 2011 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

This tackle from Jones was amazing last night. Very promising player

is that Bale he's gone screaming past to make the tackle (it's not too clear in that gif)?

If so, mightily impressive!

[Jaybles]

is that Bale he's gone screaming past to make the tackle (it's not too clear in that gif)?

If so, mightily impressive!

[eFestivals]

Daglish isn't taking any prisoners. Kyrgiakos, El Zhar, Aquilani, Jovanovic, Cole, Konchesky, Poulson all gone/going.

He didn't think too much of Woys transfer policy seemingly!

all but the last two of those (and maybe Cole? I forget) were Rafa's doings, not Woy's.

[The Nal]

all but the last two of those (and maybe Cole? I forget) were Rafa's doings, not Woy's.

[TheGayTent]

Bale. This year's chip paper - no more than above average.

[eFestivals]

We're they?

Right. Rafa's late era Liverpool dealing were as bad so.

I'm not sure he can be blamed too much for most of those. Perhaps, but perhaps not.

Aquilani was a bad baaaad buy, no doubt. But there's stuff there which makes me see why someone might have paid that amount for him, even if it turned out to be a cock-up. He's not the first manager to make a very expensive mistake.

El Zhar was a kid, presumably with potential. Rafa's not the first to sign a kid who's not lived up to expectations. He wasn't a 'late stage' Rafa buy either (not entirely sure when he arrived, but he played quite a few times under Rafa).

Jovanovic was a freebie at a time when (near to Rafa getting sacked - he actually joined after Rafa had gone) there was no money for players. On paper he was a decent signing in those circumstances, and he didn't look too shabby when he played. He never really got a chance to prove himself under Woy, and his motivation might have gone by the time Kenny took over.

I can't remember the circumstances around Kyrgiakos now, but have a feeling he was bought more as a stop-gap buy than "he's a player I want" (I think he cost £2M). I can't think who it was, but have a feeling they'd just lost an important defender and needed someone sharpish before the window closed, without time for any window shopping.

There's a lot been said about Rafa's buys. A year ago the blame was easy to heap on him, but after what went on with the forced sale of the club and how H&G acted like c**ts, I'm personally hesitant to point the finger too much until things become a little clearer - perhaps things will become clearer over time.

Whatever else, after having been reminded of his very last act as manager in something I read the other day - the personal donation of £96k to the Hillboro campaign - there's more class to his actions than some like to credit him with.

[The Nal]

Aquilani was a bad baaaad buy, no doubt. But there's stuff there which makes me see why someone might have paid that amount for him, even if it turned out to be a cock-up. He's not the first manager to make a very expensive mistake.

Edited August 23, 2011 by The Nal

[ralph250]

If Levy's public statements were just that with a negotiation happening behind them, then that would be fine - but that wasn't the case with Berba and nothing looks different this time around.

With Berba it didn't get Spurs the biggest fee they could have got

[TheGayTent]

Levy's decisions regarding selling Berbatov were so bad he used the money received to immediately strengthen the squad by buying back first Defoe and then Keane...

Let us not forget Tottenham qualified for the CL without Berbatov, not with...

[ralph250]

Ralph - I've tried not to think of this f**king deal recently but... whats the latest on Sneijder? He hasn't trained with Inter since he missed the friendly against Olympiakos for "personal reasons" and nobody seems to know where he is?!

[eFestivals]

Levy's decisions regarding selling Berbatov were so bad he used the money received to immediately strengthen the squad by buying back first Defoe and then Keane...

Let us not forget Tottenham qualified for the CL without Berbatov, not with...

immediately?????

those deals were done in the next transfer window.

there wasnt time to spend the berba money in the same window, the deal was done at the last minute.

[pink_triangle]

Daglish isn't taking any prisoners. Kyrgiakos, El Zhar, Aquilani, Jovanovic, Cole, Konchesky, Poulson all gone/going.

[TheGayTent]

immediately?????

those deals were done in the next transfer window.

there wasnt time to spend the berba money in the same window, the deal was done at the last minute.

[TheGayTent]

Hmm Arsenal have made an approach for Parker...could be an interesting window...