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Spurs need a centre back and another left sided player and a central midfielder in my view. Keane is going nowhere but I reckon that Defoe and Mido will be on their way. If they get 10m for Defoe from Villa they will be happy I think with the business they have done as Bent is a much better all round player than Defoe.
Is there an echo in here?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
As a Spurs fan, I continue to be encouraged by the clubs progress. Off the pitch, the Board seems to have things in order financially, with a clear vision of how they wish to proceed (backbone of young British/Irish players, supplemented by top quality foreign players).
On the field, the squad is building season by season under Jol, who clearly knows what he wants. (It was notable that when Spurs transferred Ziegler the other day, he was the last of the players signed by Santini).
In particular, youngsters like Lennon, Jenas, even Huddlestone, now have solid Premiership and European experience under their belt, the foreigners like Zokora and Lee now know the English game better and the team looks to be maturing nicely together.
In the past, Spurs always finished mid-table (or below), on account of our ability to beat the bottom teams (if not much else). Under Jol, we have been good enough also to beat the middling teams, thereby establishing ourselves as "the best of the rest" (5th in the League).
Next, we need to be consistent in competing with and beating the top teams. If we can do that, we can break into the Big Four (or enlarge it into the Big Five). Personally, I wouldn't be disappointed if this took another season or two, since it's liable to be more solid and sustainable than previous efforts by the likes of Leeds, Newcastle, even Villa.
In fact, if you look to MU as the example, when Ferguson took over, he was already an accomplished manager in his mid-40's. He inherited a decent enough team (Robson, Whiteside, McGrath etc), and was given money to spend. Yet he still didn't actually win the League until his 7th full season in charge. These days, he'd have been sacked long before then; how grateful must those MU fans who were calling for his head be, that they were not heeded by the Board!
Therefore, I feel that if we can maintain our present progress (huge "if", admittedly), I'd hope for us to be challenging seriously for the Title, but realistically not before 2010.
P.S. Someone commented on the deficiencies in Spurs' defence costing us last season. This was quite correct, but I'm sure this can be remedied if only we can get and keep Ledley King fit, our captain and arguably most important player.
No arguably here, a fully fit King is in my opinion the most rounded and verstaile centre half in Britain, quick, strong, reads the game well and is even a decent passer.Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
For some reason EG I had you down as a Utd fan.....
I reckon Bent will start on the bench at the start of the season then its up to him to force hhis way into the team
Exactly what they've got, just signed Younas Kaboul from Auxerre. Class player, strong as an ox. Definitely a better player than Dawson imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebeard