Questions from the uninformed

[Beernuts]

looks like a great squad being put together, but its hard following it all from where I sit - so a couple of questions maybe y'all can help me out with

Where does Teemu fit into all this? he is listed on the official site as an "attacking midfielder", which is a category I don't think they even had last year - is he the flair folks seem to think is missing? does he get left out if both Davids and the other dutch guy sign?

What are the roles of Davenport and Huddlestone this year? any? I remember last year when they signed reading these two guys were the cornerstones of center defense for years to come - is that this year, or down the road?

how does the size of the Tottenham squad compare to other top teams in the premiership - it looks huge - seems hard to figure out how you are gonna play more than 22 guys, and without european competition, that seems unlikely

one last thing - how does our current plan compare to the "famed Ajax youth system" - looks to me like we are signing a lot of young players under the theory they may never play for you, but you can sell em for a profit - just curious, most likely since Jol is dutch, whether this looks to be an effort to emulate Ajax

[Rmort99]

Hey dood thanks for the interest in the yids, i'll try to answer your questions in order.

The way i see it, though not necessarily the opinion of all spurs fans, is that Tainio and Davids will fight for the attacking midfield berth and Carrick and Mendes will occupy the defensive role. It may well be that Tainio and Davids will play together at some point but i just can't see Jol leaving Carrick out of the team. That said, Tainio can play all 4 positions across the midfield so may also be used as a utility player.

I thought Davenport was on his way out but he seems to have played well in the Peace Cup so looks like he may well stay with us. He's not bad but not amazing by any means. Huddlestone on the other hand looks immense for his age. He can play both defensive midfield and centre back and i believe he'll be ahead of Davenport in the pecking order. However, Ledley King will be 1st choice CB alongside either Naybet or Dawson. There's always Anthony Gardner as well so we're really well stocked with CB's.

Yeah the squad is a bit bloated at the moment. I'm expecting both Sean Davis and Michael Brown to leave and i think we'd let Gardner go if only he could pass a medical. Other than that, i think we'll try to bring in cover for Edman at left back. We do have a lot of players but in the past we've had terrible injury lists so spurs fans are feeling a bit reassured i would have thought.

As for the famed Ajax system, i think it's a bit too early to tell the results but the reports from the reserve and youth fixtures have been encouraging. We've been snapping up a number of good young players for minimal cost for a while now but don't expect to see immediate results other than perhaps Routledge, Huddlestone and Dawson (and they were playing 1st team football before they arrived). I expect a lot from Aarron Lennon and Huddlestone in the future.

On the whole we've got some experience in Keane, Kanoute, Davids (if he signs), Ledley King, Naybet, Edman, Stalteri and Robinson. With loads of talented youngsters it looks like we've got a bright future

[sendorange]

Teemu Tainio is a good allround midfielder. I can see Carrick and Davids starting in the middle, with Tainio being able to come in for either of them or playing out wide when the team needs to be more defensive.

Davenport was signed as a defensive prospect, but he has had a hard time breaking in so far. been supplanted by Dawson and possibly again by Huddlestone, although Huddlestone can also play defensive midfield. Now that Gardner seems to be staying I can see one or both of these two moving out on loan. Davenport most likely to be loaned and Huddlestone will probably stay with the first team for at least a season to get experience training alongside Davids, Naybet and the others.

The squad is large, but not that huge, the number of signings makes it look bigger than it is. A lot of the signed players are youngsters who won't be expected to play much, certainly not straight away. I don't know about a comparison to Ajax per se, but the theory seems to be to buy the best young talent available, then keep the ones who show they can play at this level, and loan/sell the ones who don't. Most of the deals, eg Davenport, have been for relatively small initial fees, and most of the money only coming if they make it in our first team. So the club can afford to keep making signings.

[THFC1]

Good stuff Rmorte.

I'm sure we are not buying the young players to sell for a profit i do think it is a case of buying alot of them and if we can get 2 or 3 real top players out of them then they can play at Tottenham for years, out of the young players Routledge cost the most at only £2m.

[OrlandoSPUR]

...and just to add MJ and before him FA have been successful in trimming our wage bill. And with many of the players coming in on a free or a small fee. Tottenham is in a better situation than it has been in many a year.

Anyone know where to look to see a comparison of wage's for Prem clubs?

[PoshSpur]

...and just to add MJ and before him FA have been successful in trimming our wage bill. And with many of the players coming in on a free or a small fee. Tottenham is in a better situation than it has been in many a year.

Anyone know where to look to see a comparison of wage's for Prem clubs?

...no, but we are way behind in the salaries chart.

Teams like Chelsea have players earning £92,000 (John Terry).

Arsenal have Henry on £70,000 and Judas on £80,000.

Man Utd have Keane on 80,000 and have offered Rio £100,000.

Liverpool have Gerrard on £100,000.

Newcastle have a massive wage bill and I predict them being in trouble in 5 years unless they trim it. Parker, for instance, is on £55,000.

Then we have us that have Keane on £42,000 and will have Davids on £48,000.

All figures are from reports and may not be fact.

[THFC1]

It is impossible to be exact in football, it is not like American sports where you know how much players earn

[OrlandoSPUR]

...no, but we are way behind in the salaries chart.

Teams like Chelsea have players earning £92,000 (John Terry).

Arsenal have Henry on £70,000 and Judas on £80,000.

Man Utd have Keane on 80,000 and have offered Rio £100,000.

Liverpool have Gerrard on £100,000.

Newcastle have a massive wage bill and I predict them being in trouble in 5 years unless they trim it. Parker, for instance, is on £55,000.

Then we have us that have Keane on £42,000 and will have Davids on £48,000.

All figures are from reports and may not be fact.

what do you mean no? Come on Posh, the wage bill at Tottenham now, to what it was at the end of Hoddle's reign is surely less.

[Malkamus]

...and just to add MJ and before him FA have been successful in trimming our wage bill. And with many of the players coming in on a free or a small fee. Tottenham is in a better situation than it has been in many a year.

Anyone know where to look to see a comparison of wage's for Prem clubs?

We are also something like the 14th wealthiest club in the world (in the top 20 anyway) which is both a compliment and an insult because almost all the other clubs in the top 20 are in european competition.

But, the reason we can win over folks like Davids and van der meyde over Everton offering the lure of beautiful merseyside ;) and CL play lose out is we got the cash -- some decent and consistent management which I hope and pray we finally have, we get into Europe and have the dosh and location to get the big players and remain there -- Everton, despite Moyes being a very good coach (and if he beats Villareal and remains in the top six after this year, a bleedn genius) is gonna get bounced from Europe at only a slightly slower rate than Celtic and fighting for their lives in the league with a small squad trying to compete in 4 tourneys at once.

I'm not sure if we are following the Ajax model of raising young talent for profit and glory, but if Aaron Lennon or Defendi, etc. turns out to be a revelation and doesn't fit our plans and Chelscum wants to take him off our hands for 20 mil, then so be it.

A grand don't come for free,
Malk

[OrlandoSPUR]

we are the 14th wealthiest club Malk. I think the only prem clubs ahead is Man Utd, Chelski, the scum, the barcodes, and the pool. I may be a bit incorrect, but still that aint bad for a club who has not been in Europe since 99/00 season.

[PoshSpur]

what do you mean no? Come on Posh, the wage bill at Tottenham now, to what it was at the end of Hoddle's reign is surely less.

...I mean't 'no', I don't know where we are in the salary standings.

Of course the wage bill is considerably less.

[OrlandoSPUR]

...I mean't 'no', I don't know where we are in the salary standings.

Of course the wage bill is considerably less.

my bad, sorry :D

[The Double]

A grand don't come for free,
Malk

That happens to be my away message right now. Well, except for the Malk part.

[Malkamus]

That happens to be my away message right now. Well, except for the Malk part.

nice! what cell phone service you use?

[PoshSpur]

my bad, sorry :D


...no probs.

We have a columnist on THBN, his name is Sam Mollinson, aka Molsey.

He lives somewhere in Florida and is a mad Spurs fan. Do you know him?

[jumhed]

we are the 14th wealthiest club Malk. I think the only prem clubs ahead is Man Utd, Chelski, the scum, the barcodes, and the pool. I may be a bit incorrect, but still that aint bad for a club who has not been in Europe since 99/00 season.

We are the richest European club to have never played in the CL. I find that quite depressing. However, if you look at the clubs that 'bought' their way in, like Leeds and CSKA London, I'm glad we didn't. CSKA London were 48 hours from Administration before that Gangster showed up.

We'll be in the CL in time for the European League that gets set up.

[OrlandoSPUR]

...no probs.

We have a columnist on THBN, his name is Sam Mollinson, aka Molsey.

He lives somewhere in Florida and is a mad Spurs fan. Do you know him?

no don't know him, in fact I have not met any English over here; which is crazy considering how many British live in FL.

[OrlandoSPUR]

We are the richest European club to have never played in the CL. I find that quite depressing. However, if you look at the clubs that 'bought' their way in, like Leeds and CSKA London, I'm glad we didn't. CSKA London were 48 hours from Administration before that Gangster showed up.

We'll be in the CL in time for the European League that gets set up.

love it... CSKA London. LMAO :D

[PoshSpur]

C$KA London you mean....


How does he get away with owning two clubs??!!!

What a thief!

[Zak]

Can someone post what they feel will be the Spurs line up on opening day? The more I think about this Spurs side, CL is definately a possibility.