Well not suprisingly it has taken me several days to recover from this loss. I always see things a different way to most and I feel this was a game we could have maybe should have won. Yes Manchester United controlled much of the game, but apart from the goals they scored how many other clear cut chances did they have. The question is what would have happened had we not been penalised for Berbatov's dive, had we been given a penalty for the foul on Crocuh in the penalty box, had Vidic been sent off for the many fouls he commited, I point to the deliberate trip on Lennon which the referee missed and the elbow in the face. There was also the headbutt from Evra on Corluka which was also missed.
Peter Crouch had two relatively free headers which one went just wide and the other came off the crossbar. Robbie Keane also had a near certain goal blocked, so this was hardly a game we did not have the chances to win.
I don't like to criticise Harry Redknapp too much, because he has done a great job since taking over, but bringing on Hutton has ultimately cost us. His defending is poor is a tight situation and to leave him to not only join in the attacks but also to mark Wayne Rooney was a pretty bad decision. He is only our third best right back and I certainly hope that Kyle Naughton will be given the chance soon to prove that he should be in front of Hutton in the pecking order.
What I don't understand is why we always struggle to impose ourselves when we have the man advantage. This happens so often to us, we should have walked over Arsenal last year when they had a player sent off and likewise with United.
I am still in the mindset that we are a match for anyone and we must still believe we can mount a challenge this season. It was encouraging to see Jenas fit, there should now be some competiition in the middle. Woodgate will also be a key returnee now he is back in training hopefully he will make his return in the coming weeks.
So chin up boys, it's a long season.
COYS!
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Thursday 10 September 2009
Thursday 3 September 2009
The Chelsea decision.
Well this is a little off base but I thought I would put my two pence in. I am sure there alot of Chelsea fans that feel victimised, but I am all for this ruling. It is well time that Clubs were held accountable for their flagrant abuse of the rules.
So what is it all about? Chelsea were found guilty of enticing a player, Gael Kakuta, to break his contract with his club, Lens, back in 2007. The player has been fined £682,000 of which Chelsea are also liable for and banned for four months. Chelsea have also been banned from any transfer dealing in the next two transfer windows. They have also been fined £114,000.
On Sky Sports News there have been many claims that this was tapping up and that it happens all the time. There are also alot of fans who think that Chelsea are being targeted, there was also a claim that this is unprecedented. Well this is not unprecedented. FC Sion have had the same judgement against them for enticing goalkeeper Essam El Hadary in 2008 before his deal with Al-Ahly had expired. Interestingly this has been appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and a ruling will be given later this year. Chelsea should be in a better position to know their fate after that ruling is made.
I don't know the full details of what happened and what the nature of breach of contract was. Facts are facts though and that Chelsea had approached the player before he was 16. Kakuta had been contracted to Lens since he was eight years old. This had amounted to a serious investment in the player. Lens are obvioulsy not happy as I am sure a large amount of their business model will include the ability to train and nuture young players to promote to their first team or selling to other clubs. There is also a moral issue as his club are unable to protect the player from the advances of richer clubs.
Seb Blatter and Michel Platini have given their concerns recently to what amounts to trading of minors. Now I am sure the player had been happy to make the move but what sort of advice was given to him by his legal representatives, his club and his family. I think though that the morality of whether clubs are able to approach youngsters is a little off base.
If we are able to look at the tapping up issue in isolation, then Chelsea have a degree of culpbility as do many clubs. Chelsea have not exactly been the most Scrupulous of clubs in the past. I can vaugely remember their very public pursuit of Didier Drogba a few years ago and their approach to Frank Arnesen. But of course Chelsea aren't the only guilty party by playing out this process in the media. There was the Manchester City pursuit of Lescott, Real Madrid's chase for Ronaldo, Barcelona trying to grab Fabregas, Manchester United's attempts to get Berbatov and recently Tottenham's pursuit of Downing and to a lesser extent Defoe and Crouch.
The ruling bodies must define the rules and enforce them. There is no longer the sanctity of contract as they only stand until a better offer comes along. Club chairmen are no saints as they seem to sack managers these days for virtually no reason. All these things involved in the administartion of the game only help to devalue this great game we love.
So what is it all about? Chelsea were found guilty of enticing a player, Gael Kakuta, to break his contract with his club, Lens, back in 2007. The player has been fined £682,000 of which Chelsea are also liable for and banned for four months. Chelsea have also been banned from any transfer dealing in the next two transfer windows. They have also been fined £114,000.
On Sky Sports News there have been many claims that this was tapping up and that it happens all the time. There are also alot of fans who think that Chelsea are being targeted, there was also a claim that this is unprecedented. Well this is not unprecedented. FC Sion have had the same judgement against them for enticing goalkeeper Essam El Hadary in 2008 before his deal with Al-Ahly had expired. Interestingly this has been appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and a ruling will be given later this year. Chelsea should be in a better position to know their fate after that ruling is made.
I don't know the full details of what happened and what the nature of breach of contract was. Facts are facts though and that Chelsea had approached the player before he was 16. Kakuta had been contracted to Lens since he was eight years old. This had amounted to a serious investment in the player. Lens are obvioulsy not happy as I am sure a large amount of their business model will include the ability to train and nuture young players to promote to their first team or selling to other clubs. There is also a moral issue as his club are unable to protect the player from the advances of richer clubs.
Seb Blatter and Michel Platini have given their concerns recently to what amounts to trading of minors. Now I am sure the player had been happy to make the move but what sort of advice was given to him by his legal representatives, his club and his family. I think though that the morality of whether clubs are able to approach youngsters is a little off base.
If we are able to look at the tapping up issue in isolation, then Chelsea have a degree of culpbility as do many clubs. Chelsea have not exactly been the most Scrupulous of clubs in the past. I can vaugely remember their very public pursuit of Didier Drogba a few years ago and their approach to Frank Arnesen. But of course Chelsea aren't the only guilty party by playing out this process in the media. There was the Manchester City pursuit of Lescott, Real Madrid's chase for Ronaldo, Barcelona trying to grab Fabregas, Manchester United's attempts to get Berbatov and recently Tottenham's pursuit of Downing and to a lesser extent Defoe and Crouch.
The ruling bodies must define the rules and enforce them. There is no longer the sanctity of contract as they only stand until a better offer comes along. Club chairmen are no saints as they seem to sack managers these days for virtually no reason. All these things involved in the administartion of the game only help to devalue this great game we love.
Now that the dust has settled.
It was a very intersesting transfer window and very much unlike the most recent transfer windows. The weak pound, the 50% tax rate and worries about overstretching club finances forced most clubs to only sell to finance purchases. Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal all look weaker now than they were at the end of May.
Perhaps this is now the time for Spurs to take advantage of the stagnation of the top clubs. Tottenham have made some very good signings and at the same time managed to move on some players who were not of the standard we require.
First team players Darren Bent, Pascal Chimbonda, Kevin Prince Boeteng and Didier Zokora were sold for a combined fee of around £25 million, while we brought in Sebastien Bassong, Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton for a combined fee of around £28 million. 
Full backs Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker were signed from Sheffield United with the latter returning on loan. Naughton played a half against Barcelona and looked quite impressive. It will be tough for him to get a look in this season with Hutton and Corluka ahead of him in the pecking order. He looks a better defender than Hutton for me and I wouldn't be suprised if Hutton is moved on as soon as Naughton moves ahead of him. 
Finally on deadline day we secured the services of Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth. It's remakable the amount of business that has happened between Portsmouth and Spurs over the last few years. It appears Kranjcar comes as back up to Modric, though he would deny this.
Perhaps this is now the time for Spurs to take advantage of the stagnation of the top clubs. Tottenham have made some very good signings and at the same time managed to move on some players who were not of the standard we require.
First team players Darren Bent, Pascal Chimbonda, Kevin Prince Boeteng and Didier Zokora were sold for a combined fee of around £25 million, while we brought in Sebastien Bassong, Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar, Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton for a combined fee of around £28 million. Bassong has already looked a good signing and he will provide very good support in central defence to the number one pairing of Woodgate and King. There was a story that he was up for the challenge with his first team place not guaranteed, but with the injury record of Woodgate and King, I would be very suprised if he doesn't start at least 25 games this season.
Peter Crouch returns to Spurs more than a decade after he left for QPR. He was a member of a successful youth team at Spurs that featured both Carr and King. He looked very dangerous against Brmingham last Saturday and I think he should get the start ahead of Keane if Keane is not playing in Modric's role.
Full backs Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker were signed from Sheffield United with the latter returning on loan. Naughton played a half against Barcelona and looked quite impressive. It will be tough for him to get a look in this season with Hutton and Corluka ahead of him in the pecking order. He looks a better defender than Hutton for me and I wouldn't be suprised if Hutton is moved on as soon as Naughton moves ahead of him. 
Finally on deadline day we secured the services of Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth. It's remakable the amount of business that has happened between Portsmouth and Spurs over the last few years. It appears Kranjcar comes as back up to Modric, though he would deny this. It will be interesting if we do get a full squad to choose from how exactly we will line up. Kranjcar would probably appear with Modric in a five man midfield, or maybe against a weaker team with Modric taking a more central role, this would be unlikely though unless things are going wrong for us.
Some other departures from Spurs last season included Chris Gunter, Ricardo Rocha and Gilberto. There are also a number of players gone out on loan with the most notable: Jamie O'Hara, Adel Taarabt, Jake Livermore, Andros Townsend, Steven Caulker, Ryan Mason and John Obika. I would hve liked us to keep hold of Livermore and O'Hara because central midfield is where we are at our weakest, however I think the loan moves with benefit both players and club in the long term.
The two players who remain at Spurs of which I am most suprised are David Bentley and Giovanni Dos Santos. These guys have four months now to show to Harry why they have a future at Spurs, I for one will not be unhappy if they can force their way into the reckoning as I believe both are very gifted players.
Overall we have done well and the stability of the team has been maintained. There is good competiton for places in almost every position which should bode well for our challenge this season.
COYS!
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Kranjcar in, Bentley not going.
The summer transfer window has been relatively quiet for Spurs this year with a few to come and go, although the last few days have been frantic for us. Much of this has been due to the injury to Modric.
Last Friday we saw Kevin Prince Boeteng move to Portsmouth and also O'Hara going on loan to the south coast club. O'Hara was looking for more first team football, which you can't blame him for that. I would just wonder about the thinking there as we are very short in midefield with only Huddlestone, Palacios and the injured Jenas being the only senior players available. At this time it doesn't look like we are bringing in another central midfielder, so no Muntari, Sandros, Sissoko or Veloso.
All the talk on Monday was around Kranjcar, James and Petrov coming in and Bentley leaving to go to Manchester City. I was expecting Giovani to leave but nothing has materialsed as yet. It seems the only done and dusted deal is Kranjcar coming in and Bentley is now not going to Manchester City on a season long loan. There may be the possibility of Petrov coming the other way as it has been alleged he spent last night in a London hotel.
I am really hoping there will be a late deal to bring a defender in, we desperately need cover as we are down to the bare bones with only Corluka and Bassong fit and if we were to lose to suspension or injury, well it would mean Huddlestone at the back! I was hoping we would hijack Villa's move for Dunne, but not very likely.
So this window we have seen the end of Zokora and Bent. I wish Zokora all the best of luck at Sevilla, he served us well in is three years. As for Bent, I have nothing but contempt for him after his Twitter outburst. Good riddance. We also saw the end of Chimbonda after a short return he is off to Blackburn. Other's to go include: Gunter to Nottingham Forest and the release of Rocha and Gilberto, none of these players had any real impact at the club, but I wish them well. There are a number of players loaned out to the lower divisons and I will watch them with interest. I have seen Jake Livermore and Andros Townsend recently in action and I have very impressed with them in particular.
So we come to the end and we will have to make do with the players we have until January. We have a very good squad, so lest see how everyone beds in.
COYS!
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