brummie

Dawson £4m Huddlestone £1m Lennon 500k Routledge £1m Reid £4m Gunter £2m Routledge - 4 years ago Huddlestone - 4 years ago Lennon - 4 years ago Reid - 4 years ago Dawson - 4 years ago

You just don't get it do you. From the top. Shorey - didn't feature for much of the season, then did very well at the end. Hutton cost TWICE as much as Shorey, how's he done? Curtis Davies - called into the England squad this season. Cost a lot less than Bale did. How's Bale done so far? James Milner - yes, he was expensive and we paid too much, but he produced the goods and has been called into the England squad. For a direct comparison, how's David Bentley done for you at half as much again? Reo-Coker - come back and look at this post this time in a week or so, he'll be a Tottenham player, so you can choke on that one yourself. Marlon Harewood - see my point earlier about Pavyluchenko who has made the same number of PL appearances for you as Harewood has for us, and scored exactly the same number of goals as him, despite starting 20 times more games than Harewood has, and despite costing 14 MILLION POUNDS. If you're going to be throwing stones, I suggest you step out of the glass house first. I'm not trying to put our transfer activity in the bracket of Everton's at all, I said it was much more impressive than ours. However, for all your listing of transfer purchases you think were too expensive, we've finished in a European place, and spent much of the season in the top four. You spent similar amounts of money on players who performed considerably worse (Bale? Hutton?) and had you spending large tracts of this season in the bottom reaches of the table. I'd suggest you're in no position to laugh at our transfer activity (which has taken us from relegation certainties to two successive top six finishes in three years), whereas we - and the rest of the country - are in a perfectly good position to laugh at yours. Which is why we do.

You can only judge players on how they perform. Bentley has had a nightmare (I still think he's a good player, he just went to a career graveyard of a club), Young has been an inspired signing. Spurs wouldn't go near players of the type Neil listed, people like Jagielka or Cahill, because they think they're not flair enough. Everton do, though, with the result that they're the best side outside the top four, whilst Spurs remain buoyed almost entirely by hype.

I hadn't noticed this bit. David Bentley - 15m, Ashley Young 9m Except signing players from Watford is probably "boring ass" by your weird definition of what the point of football is. I thought it was to sign players who contribute to a productive teamt. You also mentioned Marlon Harewood. Well, he's a good example, so let's compare him to another expensive, flop of a show pony, Pavyluchenko. Both have played 29 league games for their club, and both have scored 5 goals. Except Payluchenko, who cost a lot more than Harebrain and probably earns twice as much, started 19 games, whereas Harewood has only ever started 1. The Spurs approach seems to be to go for players with fancy foreign names or absurd haircuts. Or players they only sold about 3 months before. I've demonstrated to you why our approach works better than yours, by any measure you like, other than the fact that we havent won the League Cup for 15 years, whereas you have.

And exactly why Everton are far more of a challenge to the top four than Spurs, whilst Spurs continue to live in this bizarre Fantasy Football transfer world - which will go on for a while longer as they now have a manager who loves that kind of thing.

There you go, perfect example of why Spurs are so laughable, not stopping to think about how those players have performed, but having a laugh at the fact they don't have fancy foreign names? I judge on how the players do, myself. Of that list, Davies has been called up to the national team this year, as has Milner, Heskey starts for the national side, Luke Young has been brilliant for us all season, probably our most consistent player (talking of which, how did that really expensive Scottish full back you signed last year do for you? Or that Welsh one?) As for Reo-Coker, I wouldn't be taking the piss on him, mate, as strong rumour has it he's signing for you next week (bit of a comedown from Robben, Huntelaar and co, but needs must). As for "giving up like spineless cowards", we ran out of steam, not having a strong enough squad. That's not quite the same as "giving up". As for Mate, your team has done nothing worthwhile for years and years. That's the Spurs delusion, right there, that is exactly my point. Still, I'll leave you to pull your "Glory Glory 2008 League Cup Winners" bedspread over your head and pretend things are different.

KD you had a go at breaking the top four and failed. We had a go and failed (although we finished much closer to it than you last season) nobody gives a toss about the league cup anymore so crowing about winning it makes you sound like a Boro fan or something ie small time. Can you ever imagine an Arsenan fan giving it large about 'winning trophies' whilst referring to the league cup, for example. Spurs transfer dealings are hilarious every single summer, mate. The entire rest of the country is as one on that. I love the way you go on about breaking the top four as if you actually have done ( Spurs all talk no substance, right there) and then mention everton as having done it - thereby supporting my suggestion that everton are more of a worry than Spurs.

We've been linked with Miguel for ages, too. To be entirely honest, MON has some kind of mental hang-up with full backs, so I try to ignore FB related gossip and pretend it isn't happening.

I don't understand Ashley. He's an incredibly successful, self-made billionaire, so he understands business. Yet, for all his "I'm sorry, I really am" nonsense, he then does exactly the worst thing he could possibly do, in making it clear how desperate he is to sell the club, regardless of the huge hit he will take, and entirely oblivious to the massively unsettling influence on the whole club at a time when that is the absolute last thing it needs. When a club gets relegated, the key things to coming straight back up include - prominently - keeping together the nucleus of "a squad", but he's done exactly the opposite and made it clear anyone is up for grabs at the right price. Even if you give the benefit of the doubt of "well, he doesn't understand the football business", he's still a wildly successful businessman, surely he realises that if he keeps his head, steadies the ship and does the right thing, he can both get the club promoted quickly and recoup far more of his money than the 100m he's willing to accept now. It just does not make sense on either front, he's clearly not an idiot, he's clearly a good businessman even if he's got his fingers burned in football (he's far from the first or the last), so why on earth set sail on this disastrous course? I know I'm probably preaching to the converted here, but it really looks like he's determined to get the worst outcome possible, and with the instabilty he's created, I think there's as much chance you could finish bottom half of the table as there is top half next year (and I mean that entirely not in a gloaty fashion, but as a neutral observer). What a strange, strange man.

God bless him, I f***ing love that man, love him. Been shit at Juve though. Any mention of a fee? No idea. I've got a Mellberg Thanks 4 Your Support away shirt in my wardrobe. Little things like buying 3,000 shirts for travelling fans go a long way in these days of uber cynical footballers (hiya Gareth, hiya!). He's a top bloke, Olof, top bloke. And he absolutely fucking hates Blues.

God bless him, I fucking love that man, love him.

Transfers being leaked via Facebook? http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2607/naughton.jpg

re point B. The League title, the European Cup, 4 League Cups I've seen us win in my lifetime What have you seen your lot win? And "proper go at breaking the top four". What is it now with Spurs, 3 top 6 finishes in 30 years or so? As for your previous post re overrated signings that don't deliver, Milner has done very well, thanks. How did your expensive English midfielder do, the one you signed last summer? Also, on a historical note, I believe we've finished above Spurs in 11 of the last 15 seasons. i wish we had really exciting transfer windows though, I really do!

You're more optimistic than me. I have City, Villa and Everton to be certainties to be above Spurs. 8th place at best. Villa i don't agree with. They need to pull some major signings out the bag before i start thinking we can't finish above them. Everton i agree with because they're very consistant and get results even with half their team missing and City...well...it really depends on who they sign. If they continue the same formula they're using now which is to sign any half decent player who might be available irrepective of what position he plays or if they actually need him, then we can certainly finish above them. Imo we need a striker, centre midfielder and lb competition for ekotto (make lm Bales permanent position). Get rid = Bentley, Dos Santos, Zokora, Bent, and hopefully Keane (maybe even Pav to tbh...50/50 on him). That is Spurs all over, though, isn't it? Sell Keane, then buy him back in the same season, then sell him again shortly after? That'd be short termism all over. I think we're going to struggle unless we replace Laursen (Barry, despite the views of the rest of the country who see him play well for England and assume he's that good week in, week out, will be much easier to replace) and bulk the squad up, but I can't see a single thing at Spurs that makes me think we'll finish below them. I recall this exact same conversation going on this time last year and look how it turned out. Dos Santos was going to be amazing, and he ends the season on loan at, errm, Ipswich. Bentley was a stunning signing, and he achieves nothing more than a fluke goal and a particularly flamboyant haircut, Modric is going to be incredible (and he is, until someone so much as gives him a nasty look and he goes missing for the rest of the match, like a gigantic fanny). I worry much, much more about Everton than I do Tottenham - they're sensible, realistic, don't have their head in the clouds, go after players they've got a decent chance of getting and who will do them a job (can you ever imagine Spurs signing players as low key as, say, Jagielka, for example) and they've got a better manager than Spurs and Villa. To reiterate, i know a lot of this isn't Spurs fault and it largely comes through the media, but I can't help but think that ultimately, whilst bigging you up one moment (look! pics of Levy and co in Madrid! They've gone to sign 17 Real Madrid players!), they're laughing at you behind your back.

Young is never going to go to Spurs, for two reasons. Firstly - why? What would be the point? Secondly - you couldn't afford him. Agree totally with the first reason, disagree with the second, there is money for the right signings. It's widely reported that AY hasn't settled in the area and his family are Spurs ST holders but that's no reason to expect him to sign. I agree with you, Young is never going to go to Spurs. Not having a go at you, MJ, but there are two of the most tiresome, continually trotted out London club cliches of the transfer market there. Firstly the "widely reported he's not settled in the area" / "wants to return to London" line (despite being from, err, Stevenage). Widely reported where? On every football forum on the internet, that's a phrase that gets trotted out when there is a rumour of a London club after a non London club player. I've not seen it yet in relation to the NRC / Spurs link, but I bet you what you like we hear it in the next few days. Secondly, the boyhood Spurs / boyhood Arsenal fan line. Spurs and Arsenal must be the two greatest supported clubs in the world, given the number of families of footballers they have supporting them. We heard that story when we signed Curtis Davies (boyhood Spurs fan) and he didnt go there, and we heard the same when we signed Young (didn't go there). On the price of Young, if MON thought Barry was worth 20m when he had two years left on his contract, how much do you think he'd rate Young (signed four year contract 6 months ago) at?

Because we need creativity in the middle.

One would very much hope not.

Rumours that Reo-Coker is going to Spurs as part of some deal involving two of Jenas / Huddlestone / Bentley. I fucking hope so. Great tackler, totally incapable of passing the ball to someone in the same colour shirt no matter how close they are, box to box midfielder in the sense that he gets to the other box then runs into someone and loses possession.

That home kit. It is supposed to be black and white stripes. With that massive white patch, it isn't. Does anyone give a shit about tradition any more?

Young is never going to go to Spurs, for two reasons. Firstly - why? What would be the point? Secondly - you couldn't afford him.

Playing in the middle. Isn't Bentley naturally a central player? Keep Milner on the right and have Bentley in the middle for a bit more creativity alongside Petrov. It looks as if O'Neill is going to play Milner through the middle. Either that or he has finally realised it is quite useful to have >1 player in each position.

I transcend mere boundaries of state, I make it my business to keep my finger on the zeitgeist in several European countries. Oh yes. I don't want to know where your fingers have been. Honest, you don't

And you didn't post it? Don't shout at me like that time over the banners.

I transcend mere boundaries of state, I make it my business to keep my finger on the zeitgeist in several European countries. Oh yes.

Oh, and in approximately 1988, I was in WH Smiths in Eldon Square, and saw Mirandinha with his Mrs. Mira was wearing a black leather jacket, had very shiny hair (he looked like he was in Boys II Men or something), and was smiling an awful lot. His Mrs looked a bit odd, though, vaguely transexual, but it was probably just excessive make up. Although, having said that, they are Brazillians, and that lot do provide 95 percent of Europe's transexual prostitute supply (viados, as they call them in Italy). We've got Mirandinha He's not from Argentina He's from Brazil He's fucking brill. I led what seemed the whole of that pub in the Bigg Market (Old George? Something George?) in a chorus of that whilst standing on a table on my 21st birthday, shortly before getting thrown out, and subsequently having my friends trying to actually throw me through the window of McDonalds on Northumberland St. Happy days. i think.