Martin Lol

If the Premier League announced a new rule that any team found guilty of tapping up players would face automatic relegation to the Championship, the problem would be gone overnight. The main problem is that the Premier League are spineless.

.......... or scumball on a freebie.

I was delighted with Roeder's appointment but it had nothing to do with how good he would be managing the team!

I did suspect that more strength to the midfield would be required. Just as well the defence and striking options are limitless at the present time. :roll:

Beckham's never been blessed with pace. Sheringham was no slower today than he was at Spurs about 15 years ago! Still think Beckham will go to the MLS although I think he could do a lot for Spurs' youngsters the same way Davids is doing right now. Okay, pure pace has never been the issue with Beckham, but at his peak he was a great athlete. His work-rate and energy through 90 minutes was a big asset. In that Champions League final where he was storming around, winning challenges right at the very end, he tipped that game in Man U's favour. He can't produce a game like that any more. But as I said, an older player can often compensate for a physical decline by a shrewder awareness of how to make a telling contribution. I just don't think that's happened with Beckham. He still seems to approach games like a headstrong teenager. The definitive modern Beckham performance for me was the Northern Ireland world cup game. He had his chance playing in the middle with Lampard and Gerrard, and just ended up banging the ball over their heads all game, because that's what he does best. That sort of performance is why neither McClaren nor Capello want him any more. Agreed he was shabby against NI but I think he still has a lot to offer wide right. Probably too much competition at international level for him, though I would still include him in the squad as the experience he offers may come in useful. If he joined Spurs as a RW, that would allow Lennon to go to the left, something Lennon would be happy with. The other alternative for Spurs is don't bother with Beckham and simply sign SWP for the right instead. As I said before, I think it's all academic as I think Beckham will join the MLS.

Robbie Keane does it and Andy Reid used to do it before he got jogged on. Medical reaction to Potato Famine so I'm led to believe.............. whistling.gif

According to physioroom.com Newcastle are again top of the list with 7 casualties. Just like the old days :winking:, except Souness isn't prattling on about devil training pitches and Lady Luck turning her back on you!

Agree far from convinced that Martins is worth £10m but thought the same about Henry in Italy so maybe time to let Martins settle in England for this season and see how he fares next. Duff is a quality player but a poor signing as there were other areas of the squad that needed improvement before another LW was added to the squad. But he arrived and is talented. I have far more belief in Duff's ability to go past an opponent than I have in the back 4 (any permutation) to keep a clean sheet. That's the real problem.

As he hasn't got a pro badge, would the premier league allow another one to waive the requirement. Southgate isn't pulling up trees at Boro and the other one is Roeder, who would prove to the Premier League that their stipulation does have merit. whistling.gif

Beckham's never been blessed with pace. Sheringham was no slower today than he was at Spurs about 15 years ago! Still think Beckham will go to the MLS although I think he could do a lot for Spurs' youngsters the same way Davids is doing right now.

Owen might miss a game or two. Prophetic words! :winking: I'm confident Newcastle won't go down even if they are scrapping in the lower reaches this season.

He was a Spurs trainee, admittedly always turning up in a manu shirt. :roll:. He came from Leytonstone which was just up the road from the bingo club. No plans to piss Lennon off, but there could be space for Beckham as Lennon often plays on the left during a game and started on the left yesterday and stayed there all match. Might not have won but Lennon's play impressed, and more importantly, Lennon enjoyed it on the left too. Plans for Lennon to play wide left regularly in the future could mean a space for Beckham or SWP, both are being rumoured currently.

The DoF enables the manager/coach to concentrate on getting right what really matters to the fans............... results for the first team. All the periferal matters, signings, academy, buying nets for goalposts, making sure there's enough footballs etc is the responsibility of the DoF.

diving or defending?

Dyer fit for the season and playing well would be welcomed in any premiership league squad. I hope it goes well for him, but sadly, I'm not optimistic.

Nothing to do with Jol, everything to do with Arnesen, the DoF at the time. maybe so, but it's still good scouting. Arnesen bought his fair share of duds but even the ones Spurs let go didn't lose money for them, and the profit on Carrick alone covered the fees for Huddlestone (looking more impressive by the match), Lennon, Ekotto, Dawson, Murphy, and Zokora. Throw in the compensation from Abramovich for Arnesen's departure, and that covers Chimbonda (looking a bargain at 5m) as well. that is 2/3rds of their starting side right there and that has got to be fantastic business. mind you i don't think Arnesen can be credited for finding the likes of Carrick, Huddlestone, and Lennon. these are guys whose talents are pretty well publicized that i'm sure any half decent scout has seen them play. the fact that they cost 1 to 3.5m apiece, are young and Endlish, makes them low risk buys and if there are still a few of them plying their trade in the lower divisions, i sure hope we'll net them. Agreed, but all the other English clubs knew about them too, it was Arnesen who took the plunge and spent the money to sign them. But they cost only £4.2m for all 3 (although there's an add-on for Hudd which could take it up to £5.5m) so it could hardly be called a risk. Selling Carrick meant that we still had 2 top quality youngsters as well as £10+m sitting in the bank as well.

Nothing to do with Jol, everything to do with Arnesen, the DoF at the time.

The effect that Moniz has had on the Academy kids has been amazing, works a lot with Lennon and Ghaly a lot too. Although the 90 odd different skills were identified by a Dutchman, Wiel Coerver, the first high profile coach to use his skills techniques as part of coaching was Houllier at Clairefontaine, another good reason to have him as a DoF! As at the start of this season there were 4 skills coaches in the premiership, at Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Bolton, whether that has changed since then I don't know. This article gives a bit more information and a clearer reason why continental kids are technically far ahead of the English counterparts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5148730.stm

Bringing in Houllier as DoF and moving Roeder back to run the Academy would be a better option imho. Curbishley (I think) is possibly the best English example of an English manager who would encompass the idea of a DoF. The best options would be from the continent simply because they are more used to the concept.

The difference is like chalk and cheese, Hoddle's first choice midfield was Poyet, Redknapp, Anderton and (Rohan) Ricketts!! Nuff said! :lol: I'm not saying that all managers would be able to work with a DoF, MON certainly wouldn't and Big Sam would probably be the same. But if there is a DoF in place, all the coaches, accepting that they have to be good at their job, also have to know what their responsibilities are in relation to the DoF. It's well known that when Spurs took Alex Inglethorpe from Exeter to be the Head Coach at the Academy, the interview with Comolli lasted almost 6 hours. At the end of it Inglethorpe knew exactly what was required and Comolli knew exactly what he was getting. Unbeaten in his first 7 games suggests the right man is in the right job. The important thing though is for the DoF to have contacts and network to get done the things that need to be done, even if that needs to be changed fairly soon afterwards. Of the 23 signings that Arnesen made only 5 remain, but that doesn't mean they were bad signings. They simply provided the stepping stones to the next level. Comolli is just taking that progress onwards. From what I've said above, it should be obvious that imho Roeder is nowhere near qualified to take on a DoF job and do it properly, nor are the vast majority of manager/coaches who operate in the premiership at the present time.

Yep................... and Pompey too. Was going to say James and scumball, then changed it to the back 5, then decided on the whole team just like Bolton. Big Sam and Bent 'Arry doing top class jobs.

I'm devestated for the management of the Canning Town Bingo Club and the pond life that supports them. :obi: :obi: :obi: mackems.gif mackems.gif mackems.gif But Hey! It's not all bad news. They scored a goal and it is only 8 defeats on the spin. After Blackburn (h), Arsenal (h), Boro (a) and Chelsea (a) it'll be 12!!! :lol: :lol:

His wages with Real are reputedly £150k pw and a Spurs director told me there was no way Spurs could even think about being able to afford him. If he does leave Real Beckham will go to USA, the MLS Commissioner has already said that they would waive the salary cap for a player like Beckham to join the MLS. Beckham is only on £70kpw, the rest is made up in media rights. OK, cheers for that. Do you think FFS would be happy to give up any media rights income to Beckham? This talk may be good for the papers at the present time ut I don't believe for a moment that Beckham would move to Newcastle (or move back to the Premiershp for that matter).

.............. and to get someone in who would be qualified for that role? Possible I suppose. I don't believe for a moment that it would be too little too late though. More a case of better late than never imho.

His wages with Real are reputedly £150k pw and a Spurs director told me there was no way Spurs could even think about being able to afford him. If he does leave Real Beckham will go to USA, the MLS Commissioner has already said that they would waive the salary cap for a player like Beckham to join the MLS.