Agreed on Sessegnon. Other suitors and paydays aside Spurs seem like the best destination for him. Poch is the most likely manager to give a player like Sessegnon real time on the pitch and a legitimate shot to take over the starter role. I’m kind of done with Rose, for whatever reason – and I know there are many – he’s just not recovered from his injuries, both the physical and the self-inflicted. If Levy can get £50m for him I’d take the money and run.
I wouldn't give up on Rose yet. He was in great form when he got injured. It was worth waiting on Lamela.
Shaw I believe is also 5 or 6 years younger than Rose. I think the signs are there that Rose will go in the summer. Poch didn't play him in the NLD at the New Library or in either leg against Juve. That is how Poch sends messages to the players - If you don't improve your attitude, you don't get the big games. Remember last year, he left Walker on the bench for the last NLD at WHL. Also, a lot of people forget this, but I remember at the beginning of his tenure, Poch played Vertonghen in the Europa and cup games and sat him in the PL because he was talking in the press about wanting to go to a CL club. Jan got the message.
A word of caution about Shaw: Poch, who had him at Southampton, mentioned him in his book and questioned his committment and dedication to the game, the same issues that are irking Mourinho.
More bad news. It looks like Toby is heading out of the club as Daniel Levy will not go beyond £100K a week (he wants 160-180K). This has been reported by a couple of reliable sources, Neil Ashton in the English press and Kristof Terreur in Belgium. This is a worrying development for a number of reasons. Of course, Toby is an excellent player and we are almost unbeatable when we play a back 3 with him and Jan on either side of Sanchez. We have seen this season and last that our defence is not as impenetrable when he is absent. One of my big questions about going into the new stadium was whether our billionaire owner Joe Lewis and his chairman Daniel Levy would adjust our wage structure as a result of the move. On first evidence, the answer seems to be no. If the club is going to be run like it was at WHL, then what was the point of going into a new stadium? Are we going to become a smaller version of Wenger FC or a bigger version of Newcastle? It won't be long before Poch leaves and it would then be a question of "Would the last one out please turn off the lights?". Unless of course ENIC is planning on selling the club to a sugar-daddy, but it will have to a be a hell of a sugar-daddy because ENIC wants £2 billion pounds.
We haven't even secured a name sponsor for the stadium yet. We're likely to remain on same level for a while. It has to be paid for as well. It's a long term investment. Levy has said the club always is for sale as Enic is an investment company. In the meanwhile they run the club as good as they can and do it better than anyone else in the world who isn't just throwing money to solve stuff. Think Arsenal is a good comparison for where we will be in coming years, financially, that doesn't mean we have to deliver similar sporting results and be as negative a club as they are. But we'll still have to out think our rivals rather than out spend them.
I suspect the club will be run like it was at WHL, with all the revenues being plowed straight back into the club - but not living beyond our means, which would jeopardize the club, itself. the catch, of course, is that we will be carrying rather a lot of debt for a while, and it won't be until more of that has cleared that we'll be able to spend significantly beyond what we did at the old ground. so I suspect we'll see more than one or two want away before we can be genuinely competitive with some other big spenders. And we'll never be financially competitive with the clubs on sterioids (city, Chelsea, etc.) - that's just that.
He has been a good player, but his negotiating position has been hurt this season as the team are coping quite well without him.
Alderweireld isn't just a good defender. He's the very best there is. This is a weak era in world football for centre backs. Some of the best of the last decade like Chiellini and Ramos are at or past the age tipping point, and some of the younger players like Varane haven't quite made it yet. Alderweireld might not stack up against the all time centre backs, but of the current competition he's as good as anybody.
if Levy and Pochettino are on the same page, they need to do whatever with regard to Toby ... or Rose ... or Kane ... or whomever ... in order to maintain that smooth working relationship. it is the key to this chapter in the history of THFC. ... ok, maybe Kane's a bit different; but you know what I mean.