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Taking stock for 5pm...

he has done the bare minimum and what was expected with the income from the new stadium starting to come in from this season. He got Harry to sign a 200k a week contract and for a player of his talent and status that is a bargain and comfortably affordable to us.

we will offer increases to other players too and at the end of it still have an overall wage to turnover ratio of less than 50%. Very safe, sensible and efficient

I think it's pretty obvious that we've given a significant uplift in wages over the past 2-3 seasons, a process that is almost certainly still ongoing. No doubt, it's commensurate with our changing circumstances - which in itself suggests Levy adapting and changing.

As I said in another post we have no idea of the true situation involving our targets for this transfer window. Given his overall performance over 15 years plus in getting us to this point, I'm more than inclined to hold off on criticising the man over matters that we have far less than full information about.
 
I would rather keep or money for when the right player becomes available than spend it on also rans for the sake of it.

De ligt
Pulisic
And bailey for instance, are 3 players we are tracking who have said that they will move in the near future.
If spending nothing now gets us 1 or 2 of them in the next 18 months then that will do me.
 
What we need is unsafe crazy and inefficient

Well stated. As always, we will do a Leeds if we spend more than exactly 0 pounds and 0 pence in any given window. Our approach is so cerebral and so calculated, you see, that spending a single pound over the zero limit will destroy everything - the players will all instantly forget how to play football with each other (reducing our much-vaunted cohesion to zero), and will all angrily hand in transfer requests because the person we buy will end up replacing Luke Amos, who is beloved of the whole squad.

Sigh.

On the whole, at least we didn't buy Grealish, and at least we didn't sell Toby to United. We put our foot down on the latter, and that is literally the only positive move we have made this window. That's worth commending, if nothing else.

So 2/10.

Other than that, I'm done getting angry. I'm just tired, and hopefully one day we have different owners and people stop being frightened of ambition.

Levy's done an adequate, somewhat above-average job, and deserves a decent sendoff with the profit ENIC want to make on us. But until that happens, nothing will ever change, and nothing on the field will ever matter more than constant, unending penny-pinching.

So I'm done hoping anything changes. Maybe I was the fudging fool for believing it would change all those months ago, when it seemed that we were on the verge of really kicking on and doing something - being brave.

But that Kane contract didn't mark the start of anything - it marked the end of our ambitions with respect to the squad. That was the height of what we wanted to do this summer.

And I was the fool for thinking differently, or for posting here thinking we would do things differently back when the season ended.

I'm tired, and I'm just done. Levy can go do whatever the f*ck he wants now, I just don't care.

Just roll on the season, and Let's hope Poch can work his miracles again on a tiny budget.
 
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Out of the players we were linked with that I would have liked us to sign and were potentially attainable, Sessegnon/De ligt/martial, it was made clear we weren't getting them no matter what.
I would have liked us to to sign a couple of youth prospects, but then at what price to our young players coming through?
I do think we need to cut down the squad a bit, we've got too many to keep happy, so maybe some will still go out on loans.
Finally, with hindsight, would we have considered it a good window if when we sold Berba/Modric/Bale, we had kept them but not bought anyone? I'm not sure enough has been made of Kane (and Poch?) knocking back Madrid.
 
In pre-season we got a few injuries before a ball was kicked and then lots of injuries in games, so we ended up playing D and E team, let alone B and C team players

Onomah and Foyth and CCV and others had a huge chance to make an impact and show they are ready, but before you know it, injured. Lamela too. And others I forget. As for Wanyama, sheesh. Injured within milliseconds.

We played those players because the first team (almost entirely!) was in the latter stages of the WC, not because of injury. But yeah, I get your point.

Personally I still think we would let him go for a good offer. An allegedly large salary off the wage bill, a chuck of cash in the bank and room for the next gen to come in as needed.
 
He did so because of the insane amount of injuries we were carrying there, Winks, Dembele and Wanyama out for very long periods.

We would be very unlucky to have that again, and if we dont - do you see him playing much?

For a good offer Id ship him, give Skipp/Amos a chance if absolutely required and clear a non-HG from the books.
Two of the three first team squad players you mention are currently injured and the other is rather injury prone.

Having seen the two youngsters in a semi competitive friendly against Girona last week I don’t want to see them anywhere near the first team for PL games.
 
One thing is for sure, we've got a settled squad in terms of personnel. Maybe one or two of the Sissoko, N'Koudou, Llorente, Aurier gang will improve now they're well and truly part of the club. If we can get the likes of Winks, Wanyama and Lamela fit they'll be extremely handy to have around. Then there's the quality players, Lloris, Verts, Sanchez, Toby, Dier, Dembele, Eriksen, Moura, Son, Ali, Kane. Hopefully one or two youth players get brought into League cup games and there really is a lot to be positive about. If Poch is happy which he claims he is, that's the most important thing. The new stadium will be a hell of a boost especially if we beat Liverpoo in the opening game. Us fans are just along for the ride!
 
we are not skint

the money is there but we dont want to pay the big transfer fees and big salaries for top players . Even with the new stadium i dont think our approach will change. We as fans simply have to accept this

NOT true.
Again, name me players we could've signed that would've improved us, but before you do, factor in the players we actively wanted to move on/ship out to create squad space. Perhaps also ask why those players were hard to shift; could it be because they are at their ceiling right now and the only trajectory is south (even though one of them wanted to go North! - you know what I mean ;))
I am delighted we did not sign Gomes or other mid-rate squaddies who "might" make a difference, instead choosing to develop further the likes of Amos and Skipp.
 
NOT true.
Again, name me players we could've signed that would've improved us, but before you do, factor in the players we actively wanted to move on/ship out to create squad space. Perhaps also ask why those players were hard to shift; could it be because they are at their ceiling right now and the only trajectory is south (even though one of them wanted to go North! - you know what I mean ;))
I am delighted we did not sign Gomes or other mid-rate squaddies who "might" make a difference, instead choosing to develop further the likes of Amos and Skipp.

Still have no answer to the ‘who should we sign that was realistic, a definite improvement, and would join to fit into our squad considering our current players and potential outgoings’ question.

There still hasn’t been one player anyone has suggested that has made me think ‘brick! We absolutely should have gotten them!’
 
Well stated. As always, we will do a Leeds if we spend more than exactly 0 pounds and 0 pence in any given window. Our approach is so cerebral and so calculated, you see, that spending a single pound over the zero limit will destroy everything - the players will all instantly forget how to play football with each other (reducing our much-vaunted cohesion to zero), and will all angrily hand in transfer requests because the person we buy will end up replacing Luke Amos, who is beloved of the whole squad.

Sigh.

On the whole, at least we didn't buy Grealish, and at least we didn't sell Toby to United. We put our foot down on the latter, and that is literally the only positive move we have made this window. That's worth commending, if nothing else.

So 2/10.

Other than that, I'm done getting angry. I'm just tired, and hopefully one day we have different owners and people stop being frightened of ambition.

Levy's done an adequate, somewhat above-average job, and deserves a decent sendoff with the profit ENIC want to make on us. But until that happens, nothing will ever change, and nothing on the field will ever matter more than constant, unending penny-pinching.

So I'm done hoping anything changes. Maybe I was the fudging fool for believing it would change all those months ago, when it seemed that we were on the verge of really kicking on and doing something - being brave.

But that Kane contract didn't mark the start of anything - it marked the end of our ambitions with respect to the squad. That was the height of what we wanted to do this summer.

And I was the fool for thinking differently, or for posting here thinking we would do things differently back when the season ended.

I'm tired, and I'm just done. Levy can go do whatever the f*ck he wants now, I just don't care.

Just roll on the season, and Let's hope Poch can work his miracles again on a tiny budget.

You need to get off the computer and get out into the Gatineaus for a little hiking, canoeing, fishing or, come winter, some lovely skiing near where you are. It's a spectacular bit of distraction that I've roamed for years. It'll undo what's bugging you.

Because, as I've highlighted from your well-piped pibroch, you're done.
 
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Still have no answer to the ‘who should we sign that was realistic, a definite improvement, and would join to fit into our squad considering our current players and potential outgoings’ question.

There still hasn’t been one player anyone has suggested that has made me think ‘brick! We absolutely should have gotten them!’

Because of course, the members of this board are not paid large salaries to scout players or run football clubs. When people say 'well tell me who we should have bought then', this doesn't make any sense. If someone had told you Salah last summer, you'd most likely have said flopped in the English league, average scoring record at Roma, unproven at the highest level. If I'd told you Mahrez and Kante when Leicester first bought them, you'd likely have said who?

So what exactly is the point of that question? Especially because, and I mean this in the most respectable way possible, your relentless optimism means you struggle to see fault at times with our own staff ;).



I'm disappointed with the window. We have a great squad, still, with some incredible players. We still have a very good chance of top 4. But I think some people are just being blinded by a desire to see nothing negative written about the club and being overly optimistic. It isn't some master stroke to sign nobody, we aren't a unique club. Players' developments are not linear and the only possibility is not that our players will just improve on a linear basis. I worry about our central midfield as well.

To be frank, the thing I'm most concerned about now is Eriksen's contract. And probably Vertonghen's after that. I hope, regardless of everything else, we get those tied up soon.
 
If I read it correctly two players will be left out of squad completely

Janssen and N’koudou?

I assume (hope) they will be sold abroad.

Loaning them again just seems like a waste of time really and they don't exactly seem to be covering themselves in glory on loan.
 
Because of course, the members of this board are not paid large salaries to scout players or run football clubs. When people say 'well tell me who we should have bought then', this doesn't make any sense. If someone had told you Salah last summer, you'd most likely have said flopped in the English league, average scoring record at Roma, unproven at the highest level. If I'd told you Mahrez and Kante when Leicester first bought them, you'd likely have said who?

So what exactly is the point of that question? Especially because, and I mean this in the most respectable way possible, your relentless optimism means you struggle to see fault at times with our own staff ;).



I'm disappointed with the window. We have a great squad, still, with some incredible players. We still have a very good chance of top 4. But I think some people are just being blinded by a desire to see nothing negative written about the club and being overly optimistic. It isn't some master stroke to sign nobody, we aren't a unique club. Players' developments are not linear and the only possibility is not that our players will just improve on a linear basis. I worry about our central midfield as well.

To be frank, the thing I'm most concerned about now is Eriksen's contract. And probably Vertonghen's after that. I hope, regardless of everything else, we get those tied up soon.

I think because really, most of us remember what it was like to be a lower mid table laughing stock and actually trust the leadership team we have in place given the progress since they’ve been making the decisions. You’re not going to have me defending the leadership if we consistently fall back to that state, but we have the best Spurs performing team for almost...30 ish years? There are reasons for that.

And the question about signings is asked because we are at a level where anyone that could obviously improve us will be known. I just think if fans are upset about a lack of signings it must surely be because they’ve assessed certain players in particular aren’t up to standard and certain other players should replace them. Otherwise why be upset? We aren’t going to sign someone that doesn’t play in a top League in Europe, or that won’t be well known to us all in England, and we can see who other clubs are signing. So who should we sign, and who should they replace?

Some people may have thought Salah would flop, and of course there was no predicting just how good he was going to be. But he filled an obvious gap in the Liverpool first 11, and given his form for Roma there was always the chance he had matured since Chelsea. I don’t think it’s the best example. You’re also talking about Kante and Mahrez when they were unknowns. So shall we just sign some unknowns to replace...who? Why not just as easily trust Onomah to shock everyone this season? Or Foyth? Why would an unknown be more likely than KWP to be a better squad player. Or maybe we should sign an unknown to replace Dele?

So yeah, I’d still like to know. I think it’s a reasonable question. And given City signed one player, if we signed one player, does that mean the Trust would have not penned their letter? United signed Fred, a young right back, and a goalkeeper from Stoke, obviously there is no need for a letter from the Trust there because they made signings - therefore a brilliant transfer window. Arsenal moves early but had a new manager and still didn’t sign one player I would have wanted for us. But they made signings, so no letter from the Trust needed there. If we signed Grealish, would it have been a way better window? If we sold Toby and signed De Ligt, are we stronger this season for it?
 
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