What Would Represent a Satisfactory End to the Window?

Acknowledging that I am probably part of the problem, being the internet forum version of a man who lets one off in a lift then gets out leaving everyone else to suffer and blame each other, I thought it might be a good idea to diffuse the tension on the Transfer Rumours Fiction or Fiction thread by shifting the beef over here and posing a straight-fire question:

What, to your mind, would constitute a satisfactory end to what has been a rather tense window?

Objectively, I think not getting targets in early has been a massive failure yet again but as that is one that can no longer be rectified, I don't think there is much value in discussing it. After mulling things over for a good few days, I'd have to say that the following is the absolute minimum I'd like to see in order to retain faith in ENIC. And, given how pessimistic and apocalyptic I usually am on the main thread, I'm a bit surprised at myself when I say that:

Scenario A) Sessegnon in, Eriksen new contract.
Scenario B) Sessegnon in, Eriksen sold, Lo Celso or Fernandes in.

Either of those two needs to happen imo. Sessegnon's arrival should not be contingent at all on Eriksen's future. It shouldn't even be contingent on Danny Rose. Buying an easily affordable young player who our manager has admired for 2 or 3 seasons irrespective of what's happening elsewhere in the squad/market is in my opinion a marker that the owners care about the long-term well-being of the team and have ambitions for its success stretching into the distant future.

If, however:

A) Sessegnon in, Eriksen runs down contract or leaves without being replaced...

I will for the first time in my life nail my flag to the "ENIC Out" mast.

I am intrigued to hear others' thoughts, as my perspective is that more and more fans are losing patience with the way things are run.

 

I'm not going to be happy now, regardless of what happens, to be honest.

We've taken too long to bring players in, so they'll take time to adjust and fit in, disrupting the start of the campaign.
We'd have to sign and sell about 6 players and sort out a bunch of contracts too, which just isn't going to happen.
It remains to be seen just how unhappy I'm going to be, basically.

 

I think it’s odd that we made two early moves and then have sat on our hands for a bit. I think there’s been a sense in waiting for the market to move that has affected a lot of players this summer at many clubs - for us most notably the lack of being able to find a buyer for Eriksen at any acceptable price. But dithering over Sessegnon seems like a weird decision because you’d have thought he’s a bit of a no-brainer of a transfer.

I can also see why further outgoings haven’t happened. Vic has his injury problems and I just imagine that the likes of GKN’s agents are struggling to find moves their clients will accept. We did manage to get decent fees for Janssen and Tripps though, all things considered.

As for remaining incomings, I’d like to see Lo Celso. I think he’s a better fit for what we want - I view him as basically a younger Eriksen with a dash of Lamela’s abrasive play to his game - than Fernandes, who I also suspect would benefit from a move to a more competitive league than the Portuguese league before coming in to a top 6 PL club. The situation at RB may force our hand in that position as well, though I suspect that if Foyth wasn’t injured and there wasn’t so much uncertainty around Aurier then we might have just waited for next summer to try and go back for Aarons.

All in all I’ll reserve judgement until the window closes, it’s frustrating we couldn’t make more moves early but I also accept that having splashed a record fee on NDombele and spent a bit more on another promising youngster that we may have been anticipating the sale of one or both of Eriksen or Toby in order to make other moves earlier. Maybe Levy is trying to rustle up the cash from Uncle Joe that a Toby sale would have bought in so we can bridge the gap on the GLC valuation, if that really is the issue. It’s conjecture past a certain point after all.

 

Lo Celso and Sessegnon signed and it would be a good window but only if we keep Eriksen and Toby.

Eriksen can not leave unless we sign a replacement.

Any thing else will be a disappointment and tbh I would not understand why we failed.

 

I can’t see us selling Eriksen for any money once our window shuts, that would be an absolute disaster both for the fans and on the pitch. If he’s here pat our deadline then he’s on a free next summer, no two ways about it, for me.

 

Keeping everyone we have now would be satisfactory but far from ideal.

Signing Sessegnon and one of Lo Celso, Fernandes or Coutinho would be better.

If we lose Eriksen then we need two signings.

Perfection would be getting Dybala or Bale in addition.

 

Sorry @PowerSpurs but disagree re Bale.
He has a history of muscle problems and would not (in my opinion) be able to play a high intensity pressing game.

On a totally immature note I would prefer not to help him escape the **** stained bed of his own making when he treated us with contempt in 2013.

 

Have to agree with PNP.

This window is already a failure...to cut a long story short if ENIC were serious about glory on the pitch, they would have backed Poch. They would have helped him by getting his targets in earlier. Will we ever take the beginning of a season seriously? Are we in it for the glory or are we in it to high 5 each other because Del Boy saved a Mill here and a Mill there in a time where football is drowning in money like never before.

All these problems are because Levy/ENIC are penny pinching...always dithering. I bet we have just about spent the CL money Poch earned for us. World class training pitch and world class Stadium built...I couldn’t give two hoots about having a world class pub and hotel as Tottenham’s next project...give us a team to challenge!

Saving a Mill here or there does not keep us afloat it’s the financial incomings from all angles...the kind of finances that allows clubs like Lesta and Palace to baulk at offers of £80 mill for their players.

Every player we have been after has had a price tag...the rest is down to ambition of the owners. Uncle Joe got enough money to hang £90 mill paintings on his bathroom wall...yet we happen to be one of his business ventures and he has us acting like ****in tramps in the transfer market...im sick of that deep pocketed, short armed prick making us look incompetent...he has zero ambition for glory on the pitch.

Liverpool lost the CL final and the hunger of the owners prompted some serious backing...fair play to Klopp he rewarded them.

Maybe Levy/ENIC don’t trust Poch? Or maybe they are just not interested. I know for a fact when I started supporting Spurs it was because of the team not the bloke running the club and his balance sheet.

Build our team or GTFO of here

(I apologise for my loose interpretation of cutting a long story short)

P.S we will lose Poch over this kind of attitude

 

The only mitigating factor I can think of in defence of the way this window has been conducted is that there are still a lot of clubs out there still trying to do a lot of business. Other than Aston Villa, no one has had it easy shifting unwanted players and bringing targets in. The speed with which they went about signing 12 players suggests that most of them are probably ****e. The higher up the top table you dine, the fewer foods there are who can improve your menu. Getting them takes time and often requires you to fend off other gentry to get it done.

City - Rodri in as a long term heir to Fernandinho was an excellent move. Danilo and Sane still up in the air. And their failure to match United for Maguire and indeed unwillingness (or is it inability) to sign a long-term successor to Kompany and Otamendi, is under scrutiny.

City = One crucial signing, two players up in the air.

United - Maguire's capture is the headline grabber and the area they most needed to strengthen has now been strengthened. Wan-Bissaka is another top signing. But here too, the futures of Lukaku and Pogba remain up in the air.

United = Two crucial signings, two players up in the air.

Liverpool = Trying to outdo us last season it would seem.

Arsenal = Pepe could be a flop, could be a masterstroke. They still haven't secured Tierney and are yet to seriously resolve their circus act of a central defence. Koscielny is club captain and they're trying to let him leave without another tantrum.

Arsenal = One crucial signing, two still up in the air.

Everton - Gomes was there last season. Getting Juve to drop the buy-back clause in Kean's contract was a masterstroke. The lad could be the heir to Lukaku they've been looking for for 2 years now. Plenty of players moved on but looking at their squad they still have far too many senior midfielders and attackers. Silva will have his hands full keeping them all happy.

Everton = One crucial signing, bloated squad.

Leicester - Getting Tielemans in early was a smart move. Perez is a decent striker proven at PL level. But suddenly they have a slab-shaped hole in the team to fill and have 3 days to do it in.

Leicester = Two crucial signings, one huge slabheaded question mark to deal with.

Us = One crucial signing, two players (Eriksen and Toby) up in the air.

So there is a bit of a pattern emerging. Obviously the fringe signings of all of our rivals could explode onto the stage and help propel their new teams to success. But one thing is clear: I don't think any of the top 7-8 sides in the PL are 'done' as far as this window is concerned.

 

Our urgency to meet Poch’s need can’t be compared to other clubs current state of affairs...our targets have a price tag. Tbh if Levy was the owner of another club and he was bartering for one of our players...how would you want Spurs to respond? The offers need to be a bit more genuine..Levy always thinks he will wait for a chink in the selling clubs armour before he pounces. Does he think he’s the only businessman in football?

When we were snoozing...other teams didn’t think it’s ok because Spurs aren’t spending...so we will take it easy. Our lack of spending has nothing to do with Pogba.

 

How do you know that we don't have sensible views on what we are prepared to pay that Poch is perfectly happy with? What if Betis wanted £100m for Lo Celso? Should we have paid that? There has to be a limit and I trust Levy, Poch and their advisors to get it right.
There is this theory that Levy misses out because of haggling but no one can actually point to many players that this actually applies to. Sissoko and Lamela are good examples of the opposite, as are Sanchez and Ndombele.

 

Because umpteen times in the past it comes out that we missed out due to haggling. I still recall us missing out on Suarez because Savvy Levy was haggling that last million....I know a lot of us were glad that Levy haggled and failed miserably to land that target because after all who wants someone who bites other blokes, playing for their team? Oh apart from Defoe...he’s a Yiddo, he’s allowed.

Regarding Betis wanting £100 mill...I very much doubt it...were not 45 mill off the asking price. Maybe from our end the fans and the owners like to paint a lot of whataboutery but the teams we are dealing with aren’t packing no punches. Their media outlets let us know about Levy’s shenanigans. I don’t trust Levy unconditionally.

 

I also do not trust Levy unconditionally but most (if not all) of my contempt for criticism of Levy is for the Levy out plastic morons on twatter not for those on here.

Most (if not all) of the debates on here are good so sorry if I was ott yesterday but I do think that this board should have sensible debate as vitually all the other spurs forums are either sterile of poisonous.

Levy has screwed up in the past, badly on 3 occassions for me.

1. Employing Hoddle was never a good idea...but as he had only just taken over and is a spurs fan from the 1980s I guess I can excuse that.

2. His treatment of Martin Jol was appalling ... end of ... he should still be ashamed of himself over that.

3. AVB appointment...seriously, wtf?

He has made other mistakes such as his dealing with Carrick but I think he learned from that.

We all know his positive contributions so I won't knacker my fat fingers typing them out on this baby sized phone screen

I am really pleased with Ndombele but if that is it then it is not enough, especially if were were to lose Eriksen.

Selling Eriksen to an English club is unacceptable full stop.

But it is all theoretical until 5pm Thursday so I simply can not be annoyed or happy about the window until then....but I get why people are nervous...last year's windows have left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

My one criticism of Pochettino is that he says weird things that make fsns nervous...if we win the CL he will quit/ if we had won it he would have left, change my job title, I have no say in transfers, there is no problem with me and Daniel, I am happy with my squad... if he is unhappy then stick to that, if he is happy then stop with the whining ... it gives the media an excuse to dig us out over and over again.
Not expecting people to agree and it is not a patch on the good he has done for us but I do find it irritating.

 

Things might have been very different in 2013 if :

1. Spurs had got 4th (perhaps retaining Bale)

2. Moutinho had been signed as AVB desired


But #2 brings us back to current events does it not ...

 

I don't think Hoddle was given the backing that later managers were given. He had to make do with players that were already over the hill (Ziege, Sheringham, Poyet) but this was a chairman, as you say, that was still new to the game.

Regarding transfers in general, I wonder whether trying to squeeze more money out of deals such that we save the odd 10 - 20 million is a false economy that costs us more at the back end of the season (financially) because new players not getting a full pre-season costs us a couple of league places and a cup final appearance.

 

Yeah, if only Hoddle was supported by us making significant outlay on players like Robbie Keane, Freddie Kanoute, Dean Richards, Helder Postiga...oh wait, that's exactly what we did

 

The evidence that the latter even happens is very thin. We have been prepared to pay up when we like a player....Lamela, Sissoko, Sanchez and Ndombele are good examples. You can argue that we may have the wrong price limit for Lo Celso but not having one at all would be a more serious error.
We have a very good record in the transfer market on the whole. Better than almost everyone else by the measure of value now against price paid. That could suggest we are a bit over cautious but generally the more we pay the less we get a good deal.

 

Imho his appointment was always a huge mistake.

It was him who tapped up Modric and treated us with contempt in the media as Chelsea manager ("Chelsea will not be held to ransome by smaller clubs.")

He then failed to get sny tune out of a team who then went on to win the FA Cup and CL just 8 weeks after he was sacked.

While he was our manager he threw away 4th straight after his quote that Arsenal were "in s negative spiral."

He also slagged off our fans for being too quiet while watching his turgid football.


Maybe I am too harsh on him but I thought it was an insane choice from day one and nothing that happened was unexpected by me.

 

In that case we should quickly knock transfers on the head if we're too far away from the seller's valuation and move onto our next target. The main point i'm trying to make is that we should get our business done early and then concentrate on getting everyone ready for the start of the season and by early I mean by the time everyone (tournaments taken into account) reports back for pre-season.

 

Sessegnon, Lo Celso and Fernandes in.

Eriksen out but if its to United we must get a player in return Martial Ideally, but I would take Lingard as an alternative

Rose to still be here and start the season

Toby to stay and see out his contract

This of course is complete fantasy, but would be a satisfactory conclusion to the window.

But the first 3 must happen and Eriksen must be sold

I have always been an ENIC/Levy supporter but as you say I will be also be raging if we these deals don't get over the line.