If I'm gonna start repeating every bit of nonsense I hear throughout the Summer, there might as well be a place for it (and the truth, even, should it arise) that doesn't clog up the rest of the board. Certainly a bloke's barber's mate shouldn't qualify as 'news wire' worthy, should it? Anyway, we can put any of the player-transfer-related stuff in here. I'm guessing there'll be a bit this window. We can't go with what we've got ... surely?
Honestly mate, I - like all Spurs fans - can't wait for this season to be over ... but when it is, I'm gonna be eating the off-season shit up more than I have in yonks. And I'm not saying I'm happy about it. I mean, I just know it's going to happen. This is all but certain to be our biggest shake-up off-season since Bale left. We have to look different next year. I'm not confident we'll look better, mind you, but things are going to happen; and I'll be excited to see them (and to move as far from our present reality as possible). Bringing in 'the magnificent seven' may not have worked out well ... but it was a helluva fun Summer, wasn't it? No matter what wretched shit we bring in, I won't believe they're poor until I see it for myself on the pitch. So I'm looking at 2.5-3 months of disappointment-free Tottenham Hotspur ... if I can just get through tomorrow.
Well, then lets get the off to a proper start: Down at a local restaurant, a guy I was talking with who I know knows about Spurs because he was wearing a Bale Spurs jersey from 2008, said Spurs will sell Kane to Barca so they can afford the wages to pay Messi. So there you heard it - Messi to Spurs. Next....
And now begins the summer of our discontent. Looking at our squad, we should start by dumping the players who are a waste of space: Dier, Aurier, Sanchez, Doherty, Sissoko, Winks (Rose and Lamela will be out of contract so they are no-brainers). Skipp and Foyth had good seasons on loan, they should be recalled. Hopefully Tanganga and Rodon will develop and feature more. Still, we need to reinvest massively in defense. The issue we have in midfield is we have never replaced Dembele and Eriksen. With a returning Skipp and improvement from Lo Celso and Ndombele (who have played most of their Spurs career under a negative manager and a neophyte coach). Hopefully the new manager can sort out the midfield. The big if is in attack. If we lose Kane it will be hard to find a replacement and Bale is due to return to Real. These of course are issues everyone sees with the squad, except the man at the top, who has his own agenda. The new manager is going to have a helluva mess to sort out.
My favorite rumors have us getting Sklinar and Sabitzer. Joachim Anderson would be good, too. I don't think Foyth is coming back, the Spanish team have an option to buy and he seems to be happy there. Skipp should be a boost, I like him better than Winks. And from what we've seen out of Reguilon lately, I think Sessegnon could compete at left back.
Kane leaving in inevitable. No CL, not even a contenting squad for the league...yeah, he's gone. And teams will pay for him. Of the other names listed, the only one I would be okay keeping in Sanchez. Yes, he makes errors, but his speed and recovery are hard to beat. Was always iffy about Aurier, and and wouldn't mind him either way. But it will depend on who else is in defense. Get a good back 3 and Aurier is a real threat down the right. But he is a liability in the current Spurs set-up. I like Winks, but he just doesn't have the forward vision Spurs need. Honestly, I like a team with Kane, Son, Lo Celso, and Ndombele, and who ever the 5th horseman might be (Dele?). With an attacking mentality, that could be very formidable. Spurs also need a new 'keeper. And I have in my mind Son leaving next summer. Or this summer is Kane stays.
Perhaps this one should be in the 'next victim' thread, but how's this for quality rumoring: From someone called si_yidarmy at SC: He's magiccccccc you knowwwwwwwwwww My friend is a property owner of over 200 houses in London. Someone, not naming any names, has just taken up the rental that he once had in 2019. There you have it. It's Poch. Glad that's sorted, then.
According to ESPNFC, we've contacted Poch regarding a possible return. Why he would leave PSG as they stand for us as we stand is a bit of a puzzler. It does make sense as a sop to Kane though. Or better put, a potential ingredient to lure his gaze back from beyond what Spurs have to offer. Having said that, and as well as he and Poch supposedly got along, things were pretty bad when Poch got the sack, and you've got to think that if Harry'd had a serious problem with that (his sacking), it might not have happened. Whatever. It's all just part of the mill.
Well, he did vow that he would run down his contract and leave the club. In the longest, least-dramatic transfer saga in club history, Danny Rose leaves on a free.
Apparently Rose was not a complete dickhead during his year with the U23s (I would have been, for sure). So thanks and best of luck in the future, Danny. He was never the same after that last injury. https://www.skysports.com/football/...th-club-along-with-goalkeeper-paulo-gazzaniga
Zidane not at all. Poch and Conte both come with concerns. Frankly, I fear our squad might fold under Conte, though I fear our squad might fold under 1000-thread-count sheets. Poch had pretty much lost his squad before he left, and quite a few of 'em are still around. It's difficult to envision him building it up again like he did the first time, but you can say that about anyone. Of the three, I'd probably say Conte; painful as that is. I mean, I still love Mauricio Pochettino. But, crikey, watching him lose the plot once was tough enough. Normally I wouldn't factor pedigree heavily into it, but bringing in top quality might keep Kane onside. Yeah, as I sit, of the three, I'd say Conte.
Conte is an excellent coach who has a tremendous knack for adjusting his squad to the formation that best suits the team, while most managers make the mistake of playing players out of position or not at all. However, everywhere he has managed, he has quickly fallen out with the hierarchy over transfers, which does not augur well for working with Daniel Levy. Poch's return would be a boost, but the problem is most of the good players he nurtured are either gone (or will be going) and the shite players who got him the sack are still there.
I will always have a bitter aftertaste with Danny. If he hadn't become such a twat after his "I know what I'm worth" speech and just shut up and played football, he could have been an important regular and leader in the squad (seeing the shite we have in the LB position), but instead, like so many footballers, he put his own interests ahead of the club and in the end got what he deserved. When your legacy is "even Newcastle didn't want ya", you have to wonder.
HITC sport is saying that Spurs are in for Eintracht Frankfurt's Japanese attacking mid Daichi Kamada, as well as their French center half Evan Ndicka. I see my share of Eintracht, and while I can't speak to Ndicka having stood out for me (which is certainly not to say that he's not been good), Kamada I would take in a heartbeat. Two-footed, great vision, and can really pick a pass. He's very skilled with the ball at his feet, can take on defenders, and while not necessarily 'direct', is quite forward-oriented. For those who suspect a link between the start of Spurs' decline and Christian Eriksen's sudden ineffectiveness, securing Daichi Kamada would be a tonic. I've emailed my buddy from Frankfurt, Vinnie, to see what (if anything) he's hearing on it. He's a pretty good barometer of what's going on at Eintracht. I hope there's something to it.
We certainly need that type of player. We have way too many midfielders who have a lot of appearances but very few goals, assists and chances created to their names.
Well, the comments I've received on Kamada weren't at all what I was expecting: I don't see Kamada playing a significant role in any club that seriously wishes to compete for a CL starting ticket. He's not constantly playing on a high level, and depends critically on what his team mates are doing for him. He seems to have difficulties with coming to grips with changing tactical roles. A fine player for sure, but not a leader at all. Don't know how he will perform when his team captain is not a fatherly friend who speaks Japanese (presumably a reference to Makoto Hasebe) ... That doesn't gel at all with what I've seen of him. But I've obviously seen a whole lot less. That's a splash of cold water, then. As to Ndicka, however: N'dicka is still very young, and one can see his talent. I think he has what it takes to become a superstar. Was too easily impressed after making mistakes in his first year, but now he keeps playing after a stupid own goal as if nothing had happened (in other words, a mistake could affect his composure before, but not anymore). I want him to stay, grrrrrrrr ... Rather the opposite of what I was expecting, actually. I figured that Kamada was a far more central component of Eintracht's success this year, and that he would be more sorely missed. Doesn't sound like it.
Kamada seems like a PERFECT fit for us lol, he seems to have all the qualities of the modern Tottenham midfielder...
Nor unwanted. Stats may say otherwise, but he seemed like a net-zero acquisition giving up as many goals as he prevented or contributed to.