This week's recap [R]

[Danners9]

Been a bit quiet here recently, anyway..

Yesterday Spurs were unlucky to lose to Chelsea, we were denied a clear penalty for handball and couldn't finish some of the chances we did create. Their goal had a suspicion of offside, but i think he was level, Hasselbaink tapped in a Duff cross. Redknapp went off with a nasty cut to the lip, had to go to hospital for surgery. But we certainly weren't outclassed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2093-1062479,00.html



Last night there were rumours that the following were done deals:
MVB for £4m,

Mourinho to Spurs (Portuguese press),

Peter Taylor and Antic to Spurs (The People - http://www.people.co.uk/sport/tm_objectid=14115171&method=full&siteid=55768&headline=taylor-well-suited-for-tottenham-name_page.html),

Roger Lemerre to Spurs,

Matt Taylor (Portsmouth left back/left mid) to Spurs after he admitted on tv he's a Spurs fan,

Kanoute will leave because the management are annoyed at him missing the beginning of the season for Olympic qualifiers,

Poyet to go and play in Qatar for a bit before retiring,

Capello could be our manager (Independent - http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/tottenham/story.jsp?story=508237)

Oh, and something that is definitely true... our next game is against Everton on friday at 8pm UK. It's on Sky PremiershipPlus, so you have to pay extra for it.

[sendorange]

Taricco had a dreadful game, again. A new left back is essential, I'm confident the club will sign one though. They have no choice really and Matt Taylor has a lot of potential, good pace and skill and he can defend. If Pompey get relegated I'd imagine the club would have a good look at him, club actually tried to sign Taylor from Peterborough before he joined Pompey, he chose Pompey because at the time the club had just signed Ziege and wanted him to only be a young backup. That transfer I think was initiated by Pleat, although I suppose like most things it's all dependent on the new manager and whether there'll be any continuity.

The team also lacks creativity, but I think a good bit of that has to do with Pleat's tactics and team selections (no Ricketts? No more Dalmat?). Getting Davies fit and getting that left winger to balance us will help a lot to sorting this out. Then of course there's the strong possibility of the boy Diego. Even without him there's the makings of a decent team, get more control in the centre of midfield (Van Bommel) to take pressure off the defence, and then get more support up to Defoe and Keane and things will be looking very promising.

Kanoute has been well off form since he came back from Mali, I do feel there's something up with all the strikers continuing to be linked to the club, and if he is off to the olympics, then it wouldn't surprise me if the club were going to push him out. Worth bearing in mind that it was Hoddle who insisted on signing Kanoute, Levy and Pleat were apparently not so keen on him. His form early on the season should be enough to attract a bid from another club. If the club can get their money back, they should take it. Usually when a new manager takes over, they always sign a striker within 6 months of taking over, I think just about every new manager seems to do that so the club might not be any different.

I think Levy is after a top quality coach with a decent name, I like Taylor as a coach of young players a lot, and he's Spurs through and through. But I would reckon Lemerre is more likely than him as a possible candidate.