This has been the story of Spurs in the transfer market for the last 20 years or more, though; there's always a vital piece of the jigsaw missing. Plug one hole, and open another; provide an answer, but at the same time, change the question. It's a cultural disease at the root of it, I believe. The inexorable spread of a corporate and business culture at the expense of one of football. It began with Sugar, and ENIC have continued it, because it's all they understand and all they're really interested in. Hence, we've ended up with one-size-fits-all solutions supplanting the footballing quest for horses for courses. One player is much the same as any other, after all; we're just haggling over price. If one of them seems to do well, and attracts media attention, his price goes up. If someone else is willing to meet that price, regardless of the impact it might have on the team, the board will cash in. I've always thought it rather ironic that a culture that places so much ostensible emphasis on team-building should have so little inherent appreciation of the subtleties that may be involved. They're more-or-less incapable of reflection though; it either works, and they are experts deserving of their success, or else it's someone else's fault and they're out on their arse and the next fall guy comes in to take his place. Unfortunately, the level of inflation in the market has all but made it a self-fulfilling prophecy, and placed a very high premium on the pursuit of purer strategies. AVB won't like having to play the hand he's dealt, of course, but you won't hear any dissent from him. He's a loyal wee middle manager at heart, and too sold on the importance of playing his part in the bigger picture.
