Unbelievable

Hatem looks so happy..

Get in! Best lineup we could have hoped for.

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Reckon he can attract a club in a higher bracket (financially). Spurs/L'pool type club. I imagine he will be spoilt for choice and as a consequence, his wage demands will be through the roof.

Really? Spurs have sold for good prices (Carrick, Berbatov), but they are also near the top of the net transfer investment charts. For more info: http://www.transferleague.co.uk/ I think you're missing the point, Spurs only spend what they can afford. That they have done very well in the last 10-years in maximising their off-field revenue which allows them to afford to 'invest' in the relatively high player turnover that they've had in the past 5 years, going from a mid-table 'cup team' to a Champs League challenger. So why am I missing the point? The suggestion was Spurs got to where they are by buying low and selling high, whilst gradually trying to improve the squad (like we are trying to do now). This is not the case, as that link suggests: Spurs have a net transfer spend of over 110 million in the last 8 years, which puts them fourth only behind Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. I don't know if they are spending beyond their means or not: their turnover is certainly much higher than ours (almost double), so they must be doing something right, especially in the commercial revenue area. Anyway, to suggest Spurs got to where they are (regular CL contenders) by developing the squad through not spending more on incoming players than they got in from transfer fees for outgoing players and simply selling high and buying low is a myth.

This. Besides, if you can't stand criticism from fans than you have no place being on twitter as a professional footballer.

Really? Spurs have sold for good prices (Carrick, Berbatov), but they are also near the top of the net transfer investment charts. For more info: http://www.transferleague.co.uk/

This bit I find hard to believe, especially concerning Demba Ba's contract, which is rumoured to be heavily incentivised.

It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a right back, a left back, Simpson being sold and we send Santon out on loan to an Italian club. Why would we send Santon out on loan? to Italy no less? First of all, I wasn't very serious. And why Italy? For being homesick maybe? Happens to a lot of players.

There you go.

For the balance of the team, do you think Jonas at left back and Gosling in midfield is a better option than Santon (or even Raylor) at left back and Jonas in the midfield 3?

Toon target Maher goes close with a fantastic volley from 25 yards

Valencia lead AZ Alkmaar 2-0 after less than 20 minutes..

Going into the January 2011 window, i.e. when we still had Carroll, it was widely recognised we were one striker light. Going into the summer transfer window and presuming we don't lose the likes of Ba and Best I would say we are quite well stocked up front, although a youngster to replace Lovenkrands place in the squad would be nice.

Available for 1 million according to Dutch media.

About Park Ji-Sung: Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=689189&page=2#ixzz1rAioOsjs

I don't think we need that many at all. That squad I've put above already consists of 34 players, which is more than enough to cover for injuries, suspensions, ACON and competing in multiple competitions. I don't think another DM is required if we keep what we have and I would be interested to hear where you think we need more squad players except for central defense and attack. I would rather focus on quality than quantity this close season.

WTF?

Reminds me of Ginola. Clearly remember him taking corners with both feet. His description as a deep playing playmaker who likes to come deep to collect and build the forward movement as well as being able to play behind a lone striker plus the fact he is two footed reminds me of Sneijder. I have no idea how good the lad is though, or whether he could cut it in the Premiership.

Hmmm, decided to read up on this Jacob Butterfield character. Sounds like an interesting proposition for our new tactic:

Apart from Guthrie we have Tiote, Cabaye, Jonas, Gosling, Marveaux, Perch, Abeid and Vuckic who can play there. How many (central) midfield players do we need? That being said, I know nothing about the lad, so I have confidence in the club to do the right thing, just an observation that this is an area where we aren't particularly light as that article suggests.