Martin Lol

Rumour going around that King Kenny will be taking Comolli's job at the end of the season and Rafa will be returning like the Prodigal Son. Probably total boll*cks but thought I'd share anyway.

Vertonghen has previously said that the most important criteria for him is for him to be starting on a regular basis. As King, Gallas and Nelsen are coming to the end of their shelf life, and Caulker is likely to have 1 more year at Swansea, Kaboul and Dawson are the only remaining options. Though I tend to agree that Arsenal would be his preferred destination, they have got a lot of CB's already so I'll keep my fingers crossed that he sticks to his criteria.

Hope Sky aren't making the quotes up ........................ Vertonghen reveals Spurs talks Ajax star believes Tottenham deal is close Ajax star Jan Vertonghen has dropped a huge hint that he is set to join Tottenham this summer. The Belgian defender was talking after being winning the Dutch Golden Boot presented by De Telegraaf to the Eredivisie Player of the Year. Arsenal were believed to be heading the chase for the 25-year-old, whilst Manchester United have also been linked. But now Vertonghen has suggested that he could be on course for a move to White Hart Lane. "I owe much to Ajax, I have always given my whole heart and soul for them. My appreciation for the club and the fans is great," said Vertonghen, who has encouraged his current employers not to stand in his way. "It would be terrible if my departure would be a long and distorted situation as Ajax would keep asking for a great price 'till the bone'. "Of course I want Ajax to become financially better, but the amount Tottenham are willing to pay, maybe with a little bit extra, is very reasonable. "In a year from now I could leave the club for free. I hope Ajax are aware of it as the situation of Maarten Stekelenburg's transfer was very harsh. He only arrived at the end of pre-season at AS Roma. I want to flow in fluently, directly with the other Spurs players. "Tottenham is a fantastic traditional club who play football in a way I like. "Ajax was the perfect club for me, but Spurs will be very close in nearing that already. They buy young, eager and offensive-minded players." Spurs' Rafael van der Vaart has already revealed he has encouraged Vertonghen to move to White Hart Lane, whilst manager Harry Redknapp confirmed his interest earlier this month. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/7739167/Vertonghen-reveals-Spurs-talks

My number 1. Out and out skill beaten by 2 goals which depended on a fair amount of good fortune that they went in to go with high skill levels. They weren't lucky but I wouldn't rate them higher than HBA.

He's strongly being linked with Arsenal. If he does go there, it will be another big statement of intent from Wenger to RVP but it definitely wouldn't be for £30m.

Spot on. The Spurs players responded to Redknapp because none of them could understand Ramos' tactics and that regime brought in rules that would never work in England no matter how good it was, you must eat one portion of chicken with 125 grams of pasta 3 hours before a match, no you cannot eat tomato ketchup with the meal etc, etc..... Any English manager would have got a positive response from the majority of the players. I honestly believe Hodgson would have been more successful at Spurs than Redknapp.

I wanted Redknapp to get the England job. I'd just like him out of Spurs, leaving Jordan and Sherwood behind, and getting some compensation would have been icing on the cake. What the players have achieved is in spite of Redknapp, not because of him.

Thank you. Every expectation he will go in the next window, Chelsea still want him, Fergie wants him to replace to be Scholes' long term replacement, Man City want him to make sure Fergie doesn't get him (I'm not joking!) and an Italian club, don't know which one, all have made contact with Levy. In spite of an average season, Modric's value hasn't been damaged. Another season (or worse) like the last one and his value will plummet. As for Redknapp, an article from an iffy site but accurate in content if what I've heard is true. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/04/25/3058136/tottenham-players-revolt-against-manager-redknapp A cabal of players, including some of the most senior at the club, have communicated their frustrations via their agents over the last few weeks to chairman Daniel Levy during a run of just one win from nine Premier League matches. Goal.com understands they have complained about Redknapp’s tactics and match preparation, with one enduring theme being that training during the week is providing little preparation for the weekend fixtures. It is believed that senior Spurs figures have been so alarmed by the players’ feedback and a catastrophic run of results that they would consider replacing Redknapp as manager at the end of the season, even in the unlikely event that he does not quit Tottenham to become the new England boss. The club has abandoned plans to try and persuade the 65-year-old to stay at White Hart Lane and will not offer him the four-year £16 million contract they had prepared. Although Goal.com has learned that Redknapp is far from at loggerheads with his entire squad – reports of a bust-up with Emmanuel Adebayor are wide of the mark - a significant number of players have questioned events on the training ground. “The players feel they are not going into matches well enough prepared,” a Tottenham source told Goal.com. “For instance, they will practice all week in a 4-5-1 formation and then play 4-4-2 at the weekend. Or vice versa. “They also feel there is not enough attention to detail and tactics. One common complaint is little or no practice defending set-pieces. There are question marks about the coaching and how much the players are improving through the input of the staff.” The dressing room unrest is not just restricted to players affiliated with one particular agent who has involvement with a significant proportion of the Tottenham squad. Some of the Spurs players are feeling the effects of a 49-match campaign in which Redknapp has tended to pick his strongest available XI for every league and FA Cup game, rather than juggle his resources. Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Scott Parker, Kyle Walker, Brad Friedel, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul and Adebayor have each started at least 28 of Spurs’ 34 league matches, an unusually high proportion even though the club's involvement in the Europa League ended before Christmas. “Some of the players are exhausted and, as a result, their standards have dropped,” the source added. “If you look at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson meticulously manages the entire season and keeps freshening up the team while relying on a core of regulars. Harry just picks the best XI and lets them get on with it.” 4/6 Spurs are 4/6 not to finish in the top four of the Premier League with Sportingbet Redknapp’s January dealings, in which he sold Roman Pavlyuchenko and allowed Steven Pienaar, Sebastien Bassong and Vedran Corluka to leave on loan - replacing them with injury-prone pair Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen - has also raised eyebrows. Senior Spurs figures are coming to the conclusion that a parting of the ways with Redknapp is desirable following a run of five defeats and three draws in nine league games since beating Newcastle 5-0 on February 11, when Tottenham were third in the table and 10 points clear of fourth-placed Arsenal. The 5-1 FA Cup semi-final humiliation at the hands of Chelsea has also been a key factor in the change of thinking at the top of the club. Spurs will not try and change Redknapp’s mind if, as expected, the FA make an official approach to the club to secure him as the next England manager.

Redknapp is gone in the summer irrespective of whether the FA come calling. Not saying any more than that.

Hoping and praying he pulls through Never seen anything like it before, never want to see anything like it again. Gut wrenching

Isn't he just throwing up a smokescreen covering the fact that they luckily signed Ba for a paltry £500k and then managed to let him slip away for nothing? Useless doesn't begin to describe them.

What business acumen?? They're now down to selling tickets on discount site!! Nothing they do oozes class. http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/east-london/west-ham-united-fc/3523440?nlp=&CID=UK_CRM_1_0_0_52&a=2282

f*** the locals, eh? Not now having to pay £16m s106's but building 287 new homes and a college facility instead.

There could be reasoning for Spurs to help. Paul Barber, the Whitecaps CEO until the end of the month, was previously Executive Director with Spurs and remains a non-executive director of THFC. There have been rumours that Barber is leaving the Whitecaps to join AEG but no idea if there's any truth in it.

The rumours about AEG buying out ENIC retaining Levy as Chairman are getting stronger with the Express and the Mirror running with the story. There's also talk that an AEG executive has been "seconded" to Spurs to assist with negotiating for Naming Rights. AEG ownership with Levy as Chairman would be win/win imo. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/302685/AEG-in-talks-for-Spurs AEG IN TALKS FOR SPURS Philip Anschutz is the 34th richest man in the USA with a personal wealth of more than £4.4 billion Friday February 17,2012 By Tony Banks AMERICAN entertainment giants AEG are moving closer to a £450 million takeover Tottenham. AEG owner Philip Anschutz, the 34th richest man in the USA with a personal wealth of more than £4.4 billion, has been in talks with Spurs’ Bahamas-based owner Joe Lewis for weeks. The pair are close to concluding a deal and Anschutz wants to keep current chairman Daniel Levy in place at White Hart Lane as his man on the ground at the north London club. The agreement would inject new funds into Tottenham’s coffers and make it harder still for bitter rivals Arsenal to compete for the Champions League places, with Chelsea and the Manchester clubs blocking their path. Spurs formed close links with the AEG group last year as they put together a bid to buy the Olympic Stadium as a new home. But now Anschutz, a close friend of Lewis, is interested in buying the club itself. Spurs delisted from the Stock Exchange in January in a move Levy declared at the time was necessary to secure funding. And last September they were granted planning permission for a new 56,000-seat ground at Northumberland Park. Lewis, 75, who owns about 30 per cent of Spurs through his company ENIC, of which Levy is also chairman, has been keen to loosen his ties with the club for some time and at last it looks as if the right buyer may have come along. The reclusive Anschutz has a close interest in football, having been a major investor in the early days of Major League Soccer in the USA. Through his Anschutz Entertainment Group he, at one point, owned the Colorado Rapids, Chicago Fire and the San Jose Earthquakes. Anschutz currently owns LA Galaxy and played a key role in taking David Beckham to the club in 2007, as well as a majority stake in Houston Dynamo, plus several basketball and ice hockey clubs. AEG still own the O2 Arena in London and Manchester’s MEN Arena, as well as other major sporting venues.

Wasn't expecting that reaction. It was a big decision for Spurs, I would put it on a par with signing Modric, if not more important for the Club. £41m of government funding secured for the project (not the stadium), £16m of s106's cancelled, as a director of Spurs at the meeting said "If these planning permissions are granted today, the Club can start finalising the bank funding and naming rights tomorrow. The permissions were all passed, the first phase could be started within weeks. Maybe not worthy of a thread but I thought worthy of a mention here. Sorry if you thought otherwise.

http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2012/02/13/192150_hazard-a-choisi-tottenham.html Wishing to join the Premier League end of season, Eden Hazard has set his sights on Tottenham. Reportedly, the Belgian international has 21 years of age agreed with the London club, which meets their aspirations, since it probably will participate in the next Champions League.As he wished to have game time and not be drowned in an overstaffing, the prodigy Lille chose the Spurs to Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, all candidates for transfer to the spring. It remains now to the two clubs to agree on the amount of the transaction. If the player has, since his last contract extension, a release clause at 40 million euros, the transfer will most likely be the subject of intense negotiations. Until everything is officially settled, other clubs may therefore try to reverse the trend. In the image of MU, who was with Tottenham the club most insistent in recent days ... (Photo-Press Sports)

The final planning application for Spur's new stadium is being considered tonight, started at 7pm This time Haringey are recommending approval.

Maybe Ashley will realise the folly of not reinvesting some or all of the Carroll money. Newcastle have put in too many good performances this season for yesterday's performance to be the norm, but if players are missing for whatever reason, there should be better options than were open to Pardew. Newcastle's starting XI (including Tiote and Cabaye) is very efficient, the results this season have shown that. But there's no depth in the squad, especially in CM (the engine room of the team), and that was never more evident yesterday. Guthrie and Perch are poor substitutes for Tiote and Cabaye and were never going to challenge Modric and Parker. But if Modric and Parker are missing, Spurs' options (injuries permitting) include Kranjcar, Livermore, Sandro and Huddlestone. Tiote and Cabaye were obviously going to be missed but the effect on the team (and performance) could have been greatly reduced with more alternatives available to Pardew. My opinion is that if the depth of the squad had been addressed in the transfer window, yesterday's performance wouldn't have happened. Pardew had the honesty to admit that the balance of the team was too attack minded but does he have a lot of options when dipping into the squad? You'd know better than me but I'm not convinced he has.

Not much to say about that. Yes, we played well but I don't honestly believe that was our best performance, you were as bad a team as I've seen in quite a while. The tactics were wrong, the players put in truly awful collective and individual performances, there was nothing to take as a positive. I said in the pre-match thread I thought you would struggle without Tiote and Cabaye, I never realised by how much. At least you will have them back soon.

Kaboul is out, so is Sandro. Lennon and Defoe are reckoned to be fit but haven't trained much so could well be they won't start or even be on the bench. The NLD is next week and Man Utd the week after, I doubt Spurs would risk bringing them back too early. I think Niko will play the VdV role. Ledley is fit. Nothing there that Spurs haven't said already.

Then it's......Hart, Walker, Dawson, Ferdinand, Cole, Walcott, Parker ©, Milner, Lennon, Rooney, Crouch/Defoe Got to make space for Joe Cole and Carrick, proper players they are, Harry's known them since they were 12. Also, tough call between Walker and Glen Johnson.

You've got the big stadium already, we haven't started yet so we're raising money. When it's built prices will still remain high as the stadium loans have to be paid. Arsenal's tickets, generally speaking, are more expensive than ours.

Thanks for that

But we pay more because we play more attractive football