Martin Lol

Do keep up. :lol: Having arthritic fingers is a bastard tbh.

Superceded by breaking news..................

Absolutely no doubt in my mind Berbatov would be sensational at Man Utd. Far from convinced that Keane will have anything like the same success at Liverpool. No doubt Keane's best football at Spurs was been played alongside Berbatov, it was more usual for him to be average/fairly good alongside either Bent or Defoe.

TBH, I'm not doubting that Ben has Corluka's phone number. I believe he picked him up from the airport and I know for a fact he was with him at Holly House for the medical. Don't know what Corluka would have said but no doubt in my mind Ben would have asked for his number. It's fairly common knowldege that Veloso was the DM Ramos wanted though I would have preferred a no nonsense hardman in the Poulsen mould. Anyway, the move for Veloso seems to have stalled so they may have moved on to the next best alternative, whoever that may be. I don't think they are having to restrict themselves on price, we're in the black on dealings this window having shifted some deadwood for really good money. Convincing a player to move to a non CL team seems to be the hard bit.

That's what most spurs fans feel. Ramos looks like he's going to adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation and Arshavin will suit that formation far more than Robbie keane would. I've made it known both on here and on GG how much i dont rate Keane, and im pretty confident Arshavin will be a success in this league , once he gets used to it. --------------------Jenas-----Modric-------------------- ----------Bentley--------Arshavin-------Gio----------- ----------------------------Bent---------------------------- It's looking increasingly likely thats the line up Ramos will adopt. Once Berbatov leaves, we'll need another front man in, and a cb cover, and we're good to go. Not forgetting the DM! Keeps on being rumoured as getting closer but no one says it's got so close as to be nearing completion! There's a South American striker rumoured to be coming in to be the striking alternative, aged 20-23, but those that do no more aren't giving clues as to who it is, or even if he's already in Europe. Even if the rumour is accurate, it doesn't mean there will be a signature on the dotted line.................

According to Spurs' OS, there are 13 British players in the first team squad. There would have been 14 earlier in the day but Gardner has now gone. According to Newcastle's OS, there are 9 British players in the first team squad. Add Guthrie to that, 10 in total. And how many of them came through your youth system? why does that matter? 1 if you really want to know. Well the point was made about English players, now you clame you have more than us, and yet they have all come from other teams. Lennon, Huddlestone, Bostock etc. Therefore your not really producing them just reaping the benefits of other smaller teams, whereas Newcastle a fair few which saw first team action Huntington, Taylor, Edgar, Ramage etc. Actually came through our ranks and if you were to look at our actual full squad list there is five or six more youth players that have come through and are in the squad. I wasn't including those that went through the Academy, played in the first team and then departed, such as Marney, Ifil, Kelly, Jackson and Yeates to name but a few. I also stuck to British players, Edgar is Canadian I believe.

Significant upgrade based on what evidence? And in his most important international, the Euro 2008 semis, he might as well have not been on the pitch. Based on all the Euro games with the exception of the semi-final and the fact that Keane disappeared in as many matches that he starred in. Keane is talented but if he starts armwaving in the first 10 minutes, the manager might as well substitute him there and then because he won't do anything of any note. The CL match against the Belgians was a good example of that.

I bet he flops. He may need time to settle coming from a lesser league, just like Modric may need time to settle for the same reason. But I don't honestly think either will be a flop.

Reason to be optimistic about signing Arshavin. http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/301380 Basically, direct quotes from the Zenit president saying negotiations have recommenced, there are now only small disagreements, Zenit have decided to reduce Arshavin's price (they don't say to what) and it should become clear on Friday night (which hopefully means it should be finalised). Significant upgrade on Keane imho. Not tested in a major league but shows up well in most internationals.

According to Spurs' OS, there are 13 British players in the first team squad. There would have been 14 earlier in the day but Gardner has now gone. According to Newcastle's OS, there are 9 British players in the first team squad. Add Guthrie to that, 10 in total. And how many of them came through your youth system? why does that matter? 1 if you really want to know. O'Hara went through our Academy even though he did start out in the scum's.

According to Spurs' OS, there are 13 British players in the first team squad. There would have been 14 earlier in the day but Gardner has now gone. According to Newcastle's OS, there are 9 British players in the first team squad. Add Guthrie to that, 10 in total. And how many of them came through your youth system? Not sure of the significance of that, but 2 were in the Academy. Isn't the most important point the fact that Ramos gave a debut to O'Hara rather than buy abroad? Ramos gave a debut to Adam Smith against Roma and he officially is still in the Academy. With other players such as Rose, Townsend, Archibald-Henville, Mason, Bostock and Parrett coming through the Academy, some to the reserves, some on loan, it can't be argued that English (British) youth isn't being given it's opportunity, even if some were recruited from other clubs to join our Academy.

According to Spurs' OS, there are 13 British players in the first team squad. There would have been 14 earlier in the day but Gardner has now gone. According to Newcastle's OS, there are 9 British players in the first team squad. Add Guthrie to that, 10 in total.

yes he is. Seconded.

Interesting that you throw that last line in there. So the first 4 lines are ultimately pointless? Having the ability and producing it are two different things. Even the most ardent Spurs fan will tell you that Keane (or would have before he left) was their key player and an all-round better player than Berbatov. This ardent fan won't. Berbatov is streets ahead of Keane in all areas except petulance where Berbatov and Keane were neck and neck. We robbed the scousers blind getting £19m for Keane, selling Berbatov for £25m would be letting him go on the cheap.

Robbie Keane has made the difference! :lol:

Bouma is a better player than Shorey, but his right foot currently points in the wrong direction, hence the need for another LB. When Bouma comes back, we'll have two LBs instead of one at the club. The other obvious improvement is that we now have a right back. Mellberg did ok there defensively, but was awful coming forward. We've now got Luke Young to play there. If you can find me a single Villa fan who thinks Mellberg is a better option at right back than Luke Young, I'll eat my metaphorical hat. Luke is a very solid RB, not brilliant, but won't get slaughtered by a winger. He's also respectable at going forward and playing CB if necessary. Another one Pleat flogged off thinking he was no better than an average Championship player.

I actually thought we were pretty good to watch going forward last year, Young and Agbonlahor breaking from midfield. I know we scored a lot of goals from free kicks, too, but lest we forget, only Man United (and maybe Spurs) scored more goals than we did. You don't go to Stamford Bridge and score four goals without having a go, although that match highlights what our main problem was last year - keeping clean sheets. Second half of the season, we paid for Carson's Croatia nightmare in practically every match, we didn't keep a clean sheet for months and months. If we'd have had a decent goalkeeper, quite a few of those draws would have been turned into wins. Also, re Barry - he's not pivotal to us. A lot of opposition fans tend to take the "he's their best player" route because they just assume he is. He might be our highest profile player, but he went missing for big chunks of last season, and Young, Laursen and Bouma all had better seasons than he did. If he goes, he'll need replacing, but I'd be far more worried if it were Young going. You're obviously closer to see how the team functions but I would have put Barry at Villa in the same category as Carrick to Spurs, the most important cog in the machine, not just the part that's good because it's shiny. I also said that Villa weren't the most flamboyant, I wouldn't dispute they looked good going forward, but like a well oiled machine, not with a moment of genius. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just how I perceived them. In Young I thought Villa had the player that made the whole forward play tick. If you remember, Spurs were bidding as well but dropped out at £7.5m. At the time I thought that was too much and paying £9.6m was near lunacy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing tbh!

He turned Spurs down.

Almost all fees are paid over the term of the player's contract. Man Utd offered £16m for Carrick spread over the contract, the fee agreed was £14.4m over the contract plus add-ons for a further possible £4.2m. The add-ons have been paid but the £14.4m is still paid over the contract.

Because Utd will never offer what Spurs want up front. Quklaani has got the concept worked out fairly accurately. If you assume that Man Utd will win more Premier League titles, Cups etc, it's logical to get something added on for that eventuality when it happens rather than if it happens. Spurs have received the full £18.6m for Carrick, the last payment came with the CL success, but that method of payment does usually, produce more than the basic flat fee. It really depends on who the player is being sold to and the expectation of achieving the trigger for the payment of the add-ons. The details should come out when the transfer goes through and the LSE are informed (I did say should, not will). FWIW, I also generally agree with Quklaani with his thoughts on Villa. Defensively, they are always a tight unit which is always necessary when meeting the Big 4, something that Spurs haven't done in the past. With that in mind, I still think at the present time that Villa will be ahead of Spurs at the end of the season. If, however, the 4 signings still being discussed (2 strikers, 1 CB, 1DM) actually happen, I think that maybe Spurs could be ahead of Villa this season irrespective. Agree with you on this, defeating the top four at their own game, in other words outplaying them is very hard. Something we have found out in our games against Man Utd etc. Teams like Bolton under Big Sam who played 11 men behind the ball have found some success against some of the top teams. But with a team like the one at spurs right now you are perhaps more geared towards getting points from the rest of the teams. If you get enough points from the bottom teams that could be enough to break the top four without actually having that great of a record against them. Problem for Spurs right now is that the middle teams are that much better than when we got into the Champions League, you need a really balanced team to consistently get points from teams like Villa, Everton, Newcastle, Portsmouth etc. Villa is overrated btw:) I wouldn't have said Villa are overrated tbh. They're always organised, got a top quality manager, very hard to beat. They may not be the most flamboyant going forward but results are what count at the end of the day. Barry is pivotal to Villa though, if he did make the move to Liverpool, he would be hard to replace. The balance of the Spurs team isn't quite right just now but losing Berbatov isn't so much of a loss when he's not interested. He hardly contributed anything to the win against Roma (and went home at half time when he was told he was being substituted) and I think his goals will be replaced with the added creativity in midfield. It doesn't seem as though Berbatov will be going until his replacement is sorted out. Arshavin to replace Keane, Corluca to bolster the defence and a DM expected to be coming in and I think there should be enough options for Ramos to provide a better balanced team this season than last. The only problem for Spurs right now is that the other clubs know we're awash with money 9(in spite of the signings, we've still spent less than we've received even before Berbatov's departure) and the prices keep changing, and it's never downwards.

Because Utd will never offer what Spurs want up front. Quklaani has got the concept worked out fairly accurately. If you assume that Man Utd will win more Premier League titles, Cups etc, it's logical to get something added on for that eventuality when it happens rather than if it happens. Spurs have received the full £18.6m for Carrick, the last payment came with the CL success, but that method of payment does usually, produce more than the basic flat fee. It really depends on who the player is being sold to and the expectation of achieving the trigger for the payment of the add-ons. The details should come out when the transfer goes through and the LSE are informed (I did say should, not will). FWIW, I also generally agree with Quklaani with his thoughts on Villa. Defensively, they are always a tight unit which is always necessary when meeting the Big 4, something that Spurs haven't done in the past. With that in mind, I still think at the present time that Villa will be ahead of Spurs at the end of the season. If, however, the 4 signings still being discussed (2 strikers, 1 CB, 1DM) actually happen, I think that maybe Spurs could be ahead of Villa this season irrespective.

The only dispute seems to be whether it's £25m plus add-ons up to £28m or £28m up front as the Times says. Levy's love of an add-on makes me think the former. What's held it up is getting another striker in. Arshavin was in London today so I hope a fee has been agreed with Zenit otherwise the price will another couple of mill upwards.

Hope that doesn't go through too quickly. Don't worry, he's been walking through pre-season when he's had the mind to do anything,

Being said that Berbatov might well be on his way tomorrow. Could well be Bent and Arshavin replacing Berbatov and Keane.

There has been alot of reports about us being interested in other centre halves such as Ferdinand, Burdisso, as well as reports of Faye on his way out. Chances are that we are after two. Wouldn't mind Kaboul but as with every ITK, i'll remain sceptical, no offense. No offence taken, I'm only passing on what I've been told. FWIW, I think he's got the potential to be a good CB, I've said before here that I would prefer him to go on loan rather than sell him. Ramos wants shot, you have to trust that he knows what he's doing.