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What's so bad about nufcblog? If "professional" journalists get to make up their own rumours on the back pages of tabloids then why not some random blogger on the internet? If he has decided that a mystery midfielder is on the verge of signing, then fair enough. At least his imagination doesn't hide behind imaginary "unnamed sources" and ulterior motives. The truly woeful part is that his bullshit gets laughed at while the next SWARFEGA TO TOON??? headline in the Sunday Sun will somehow merit a 10 page thread, complete with optional 5 page meltdown about the inadequacy of the board and Dennis Wise if and when he signs a new contract (or for Spurs). ok... i've been lurking around these parts for a good year or so now, posting occasionally for the last 6 months, and i see constant references to this Swarfega character. It's obviously a long running gag but could anyone enlighten me as to how it came about??

don`t know how they got him for such a low price too. 13m euros is a bargain in todays market for a player of his quality Wasn't there something in his contract allowing him to go for 1.5m euros next year, hence them selling him this year?

I bet it was...for Mort who did it. Pretty sure it was actually Ashley, the press picked those quotes up and got them wrong, Niall Quinn said Chairman but meant Ashley... I may be wrong though...

So your point of complaint is just a random complaint not directed at anyone on this thread, more at the forum at large, for no apparent reason? Why exactly?

Who is 'spouting off'?! One person has made a gag about him falling over on a video they were watching and someone else has said they've seen him play 6 times...!

What's your point? We should only sign players we've all seen? One would hope our scouts have seen him play a fair few times, hence the interest. Or maybe we should be trying to sign back Bramble, after all at least we've all seen him play.

Yep, and Kluivert really went on to prove that he was the better striker / worthy of a place ahead of Shearer following his release from SJP, didn't he?

top class world established stars?! Come on, before the start of last season not a great number of people even knew of Modric or Arshavin. I'm not saying they weren't good players but they were a long way off world established stars and neither of them are 18 or 19 and bursting through. Yes, they have both had quality seasons and i think both have the potential to make big impacts. What i wouldn't be comfortable with is us replacing 5 of our 6 front players (if Berbatov goes) from last season. They would be playing Bent or A N Other up top who would be like a new player as Bent played so little last year and never on his own, then Jenas would be the only other player who was there last year. It will indeed be 'lucking out' if all of the new players, dropped in a team together, gelled quickly and formed a cohesive attacking unit whilst simultaneously learning to defend, which none of those players could do last season. Your top 4 breaking theorem is the one that failed us under Souness. Yes, I would like us to buy a few big name players, but i'd like to see them integrated and combined with the current squad and then built upon in January, not just completely replacing and stripping out our current team, which is what it looks like Spurs are doing. Put another way, would you be happy if we sold Owen, Martins and Viduka and signed Arshavin and Modric, leaving Shola to play up front on his own? I know that Bent is better than Shola, but it's equivalent 4th choice striker from January (Defoe, Berbatov and Keane ahead). I certianly wouldn't be. To be honest, I don't know where to start with that response. If Arshavin and Modric were not established stars, particulalry after the Euros then I don't know what qualifies - I'm not saying they are a Messi or Ronaldo but top class in their respective leagues and international teams, yes. I agree that bringing in a number of players in one go definetely brings a risk they will not gel but since they were available and in my eyes improve the squad, I would have bought them and if some needed more time than others, so be it - Ramos is a damn good coach and will know what he is doing there - though on reflection see my point below about Modric and Arshavin. The failure of Souness - I fail to see the relevance given the proven history of his incompetence as a manager full stop. I don't think the comparision with the 4 strikers is fair, Bent and Defoe vied for that 3rd berth. Additionally, why would we have to do what Spurs have done and can Arshavin not play in the attacking midfield role so the need to sell 3 strikers would not apply here? I actually would only want one of the two between Modric and Arshavin (probably Arshavin if pushed) given our current squad but the fact that Spurs are actually going out and getting them makes me envious. So, what you're saying is you would like us to have bought the players Spurs have but not let any of our best players go? No s***... We'd all have liked that... You've not actually addressed the point i was making, which was i wouldn't be happy for us to have shipped out our best players and replaced them with players, some of whom have no experience in the league. Top class in their relative leagues? Russia and Croatia? Not exactly what i would deem the best league. Yes, they can only do the best where they are but that's my point about them being relatively unproven, hence being a risk (see teams signing players from Senegal and the likes following successful tournaments). Jonas and (hopefully) Collocini have been playing rather well in the Spanish league, which gives me more optimism of them performing week in week out in the Premiership. Obviously not always the case (see: luque) but i think it gives a slightly more revealing insight. Agreed, the Souness thing does fall flat because he was a s*** manager, but my point was that i'm happy IF we're now being sensible and gradually building on what we have rather than throwing cash willy nilly and changing our whole squad around. I bet it's very exciting being a Spurs fan now and not so exciting being an Everton or Arsenal fan, but those teams have had results through gradually building, adding to their youth set up and making a team, rather than continuously chopping and changing players and manager as Spurs and we previously have. I'm just saying i'm actually more content now, if we're making the effort to be more stable and build gradually. I won't be able to tell you if that's the case or whether we are just being useless / cheap until August 31st. Cop out i know. Right, missed the point slightly - would I like to have shipped say Oba, Owen and potentially Viduka to get in Modric and Arshavin? Well put it that way, probably not and in theory I agree wholeheartedly with the building gradually. I still think we are building gradually with unproven players of potentially a lesser quality than Spurs and despite them playing in poorer leagues, Modric and Arshavin have proven themsleves in Europe and internationally. I would be happier if were at least in for some of these types of players, particularly in the area of creativity. Granted, your point is valid and thus buying 4 or 5 of them at one time may not be sensible. (Sometimes it takes a little while for it to sink in ) Hehe, so essentially, we agree, we just missed each other in the crossfire... I love the internet

top class world established stars?! Come on, before the start of last season not a great number of people even knew of Modric or Arshavin. I'm not saying they weren't good players but they were a long way off world established stars and neither of them are 18 or 19 and bursting through. Yes, they have both had quality seasons and i think both have the potential to make big impacts. What i wouldn't be comfortable with is us replacing 5 of our 6 front players (if Berbatov goes) from last season. They would be playing Bent or A N Other up top who would be like a new player as Bent played so little last year and never on his own, then Jenas would be the only other player who was there last year. It will indeed be 'lucking out' if all of the new players, dropped in a team together, gelled quickly and formed a cohesive attacking unit whilst simultaneously learning to defend, which none of those players could do last season. Your top 4 breaking theorem is the one that failed us under Souness. Yes, I would like us to buy a few big name players, but i'd like to see them integrated and combined with the current squad and then built upon in January, not just completely replacing and stripping out our current team, which is what it looks like Spurs are doing. Put another way, would you be happy if we sold Owen, Martins and Viduka and signed Arshavin and Modric, leaving Shola to play up front on his own? I know that Bent is better than Shola, but it's equivalent 4th choice striker from January (Defoe, Berbatov and Keane ahead). I certianly wouldn't be. To be honest, I don't know where to start with that response. If Arshavin and Modric were not established stars, particulalry after the Euros then I don't know what qualifies - I'm not saying they are a Messi or Ronaldo but top class in their respective leagues and international teams, yes. I agree that bringing in a number of players in one go definetely brings a risk they will not gel but since they were available and in my eyes improve the squad, I would have bought them and if some needed more time than others, so be it - Ramos is a damn good coach and will know what he is doing there - though on reflection see my point below about Modric and Arshavin. The failure of Souness - I fail to see the relevance given the proven history of his incompetence as a manager full stop. I don't think the comparision with the 4 strikers is fair, Bent and Defoe vied for that 3rd berth. Additionally, why would we have to do what Spurs have done and can Arshavin not play in the attacking midfield role so the need to sell 3 strikers would not apply here? I actually would only want one of the two between Modric and Arshavin (probably Arshavin if pushed) given our current squad but the fact that Spurs are actually going out and getting them makes me envious. So, what you're saying is you would like us to have bought the players Spurs have but not let any of our best players go? No shit... We'd all have liked that... You've not actually addressed the point i was making, which was i wouldn't be happy for us to have shipped out our best players and replaced them with players, some of whom have no experience in the league. Top class in their relative leagues? Russia and Croatia? Not exactly what i would deem the best league. Yes, they can only do the best where they are but that's my point about them being relatively unproven, hence being a risk (see teams signing players from Senegal and the likes following successful tournaments). Jonas and (hopefully) Collocini have been playing rather well in the Spanish league, which gives me more optimism of them performing week in week out in the Premiership. Obviously not always the case (see: luque) but i think it gives a slightly more revealing insight. Agreed, the Souness thing does fall flat because he was a shit manager, but my point was that i'm happy IF we're now being sensible and gradually building on what we have rather than throwing cash willy nilly and changing our whole squad around. I bet it's very exciting being a Spurs fan now and not so exciting being an Everton or Arsenal fan, but those teams have had results through gradually building, adding to their youth set up and making a team, rather than continuously chopping and changing players and manager as Spurs and we previously have. I'm just saying i'm actually more content now, if we're making the effort to be more stable and build gradually. I won't be able to tell you if that's the case or whether we are just being useless / cheap until August 31st. Cop out i know.

Fair shout, i've been the first to bitch about an OBNB debate kicking off in every thread... Apologies

Owen was 25, Emre was 24 & only £3.8m, and Duff was 27 and only £5m. Don't let that get in the way of your argument though. They have all had their best years behind them though and considering what they've done here they have been "relatively expensive". What he said. In all three cases, these players had been at a considerably higher level at least two yeras prior to us signing them. In all three cases, the players had a long list of prior injury problems/recurrances, with one of them being badly off the boil for at least 1.5 years prior to joining us. In Duff and Emre's case, we offered higher wages than the competiiton just to land them or attract them in the first place. According to reports, they would have signed for Spurs and Everton respectively had we not jumped in (can add Parker to that list too, again if reports are to be believed). In Owen's case, we reportedly offered double the transfer fee and considerably higher wages just to freeze Liverpool out of the equation and force Owen's hand. I dont think theres anything particularly wrong with either scenario on their own - signing a player who has gone off the boil for some time or had injury problems, or overpaying in wages to beat off competition/attract someone. Its when we combine both that the alarm bells should be ringing and we should be open to the possibility of shooting ourselves in the foot if we do sign that type of player using those means. Which one had been off the boil for 1.5yrs prior to joining us?? Also, think it's pretty harsh to judge on hindsight - saying their best years were behind them is all well and good now, but when we signed them i'd say most were pretty confident we could still see some pretty amazing players. Duff. As for their best years behind them, yes thats a view made in hindsight, but thats not really my point - im more referring to the fact that by the time we signed them they had shown themselves to be nowhere near the player they a few seasons before. As an example, SWP is 26 and has been "off the boil" compared to his City form for nearly 3 years now. If we were to offer Chelsea 20mill for him, or conversely £5m but 100k per week in wages, would you be happy? And if not, and three years later it turned out he was an average signing at best, would it be fair for someone else to state that your displeasure at the signing overall is purely in hindsight? There are some players who show a very clear dip in form, and that that dip is permanent. Its usually down to injuries or not playing for a long time, and therefore its fair to say that theyve peaked earlier, even if theyre still in their mid 20's. Obviously its also fair to have a belief or faith that this player's dip in form is not permanent and they can get back to a previous level with a run of games/increased confidence/etc, but the point being made is that we should be wary when it comes to signing someone like this and paying over the odds in either fee or wages in order to get them. Hence why this transfer policy of not overpaying for players with a considerably bigger reputation than performances in recent years seems sound, if it does exist. Maybe it doesnt as Dave is suggesting. I just think that it's a bit harsh to say they had all "shown themselves to be nowhere near the player they a few seasons before". Owen was treated badly at Madrid, scored more goals than he got starts and was really unfortunate. Certainly didn't look to be off the boil at all. Duff had a disappointing season the one before joining us but the year prior was quality. Admittedly Emre seemed a gamble but £3.8m was not exactly a huge gamble. Now, i'm not trying to say i agree with transfer policy past / current, i am saying though that I think the example used, especially Duff / Owen, is a bad one - we all wanted these players when they signed, it can't now be used as a stick to beat the previous regime with, especially when there are other far better examples!

top class world established stars?! Come on, before the start of last season not a great number of people even knew of Modric or Arshavin. I'm not saying they weren't good players but they were a long way off world established stars and neither of them are 18 or 19 and bursting through. Yes, they have both had quality seasons and i think both have the potential to make big impacts. What i wouldn't be comfortable with is us replacing 5 of our 6 front players (if Berbatov goes) from last season. They would be playing Bent or A N Other up top who would be like a new player as Bent played so little last year and never on his own, then Jenas would be the only other player who was there last year. It will indeed be 'lucking out' if all of the new players, dropped in a team together, gelled quickly and formed a cohesive attacking unit whilst simultaneously learning to defend, which none of those players could do last season. Your top 4 breaking theorem is the one that failed us under Souness. Yes, I would like us to buy a few big name players, but i'd like to see them integrated and combined with the current squad and then built upon in January, not just completely replacing and stripping out our current team, which is what it looks like Spurs are doing. Put another way, would you be happy if we sold Owen, Martins and Viduka and signed Arshavin and Modric, leaving Shola to play up front on his own? I know that Bent is better than Shola, but it's equivalent 4th choice striker from January (Defoe, Berbatov and Keane ahead). I certianly wouldn't be.

Owen was 25, Emre was 24 & only £3.8m, and Duff was 27 and only £5m. Don't let that get in the way of your argument though. They have all had their best years behind them though and considering what they've done here they have been "relatively expensive". What he said. In all three cases, these players had been at a considerably higher level at least two yeras prior to us signing them. In all three cases, the players had a long list of prior injury problems/recurrances, with one of them being badly off the boil for at least 1.5 years prior to joining us. In Duff and Emre's case, we offered higher wages than the competiiton just to land them or attract them in the first place. According to reports, they would have signed for Spurs and Everton respectively had we not jumped in (can add Parker to that list too, again if reports are to be believed). In Owen's case, we reportedly offered double the transfer fee and considerably higher wages just to freeze Liverpool out of the equation and force Owen's hand. I dont think theres anything particularly wrong with either scenario on their own - signing a player who has gone off the boil for some time or had injury problems, or overpaying in wages to beat off competition/attract someone. Its when we combine both that the alarm bells should be ringing and we should be open to the possibility of shooting ourselves in the foot if we do sign that type of player using those means. Which one had been off the boil for 1.5yrs prior to joining us?? Also, think it's pretty harsh to judge on hindsight - saying their best years were behind them is all well and good now, but when we signed them i'd say most were pretty confident we could still see some pretty amazing players.

I suppose there were threads like this on the Spurs board 1 or 2 years ago when we pipped them to Duff et al. Didn't exactly work out that well for them. Whilst i'm not saying i'm overwhelmed by our current transfer activity, lets actually wait until the season starts and we've seen the team Spurs put out and how they play before we judge. Lets also wait until the winter when Spurs travel to Bolton or Wigan or somesuch and see how much Modric and Arshavin (if he actually signs) impact the game. I'm aware they don't exactly come from the warmest of climates but i'd also bet they aren't used to being pummelled and cropped in a way that only particular teams from the North-West of England seem cabable of. What's sad about this thread is it will give those Spurs fans visiting the site a warm glow. Fuck that, they should be bricking it, they've lost their best players (if Berbatov goes) and replaced them with unknowns. Whilst Man City lucked out last year, there's nothing to say Spurs will this year.

In what way are they similar? Under 21 internationals, 70 games in their respective top flights, played for relegation fodder the season previous... Don't get me wrong, not saying they're similar players, just the stats... Just saying i'll take Bassong over Cattermole any day!

Just read this, quite scary parallels, just with one English and the other French, not sure i'd be pleased if it was he we were signing... http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3882662,00.html

http://teledyski.emuzyka.pl/teledysk/22063.html

Surely all games fall into these 2 categories? Or do we have games we expect to draw coming up after August?

Reyes best position is AMF/SS. Not a typical winger in my opinion. I think we waste his qualities if he's used on the wing. Wenger wins. You lose. Reyes was a terror on Arsenal's left side before his mommy started missing Spain. Tell you what is a waste on the left side, it's Damien Duff. Whilst I completely agree Wenger is a genius, i do think he plays a lot of players out of their best position, no matter how well they play in the position they're put...

Thing is, and i know it doesn't really hold a great deal of relevance, all of you guys know a hell of a lot about the club and through this must realise why you both have the views you do, even if you don't agree with them? It's not like any of you are WUMs (notable exclusion of NE5 on a few occasions from an outsider viewpoint) and you all (NE5 included) want to see us do well. Some people will be cautious, some people optimistic, that's more due to the nature of the person than anything we know about the club. It's like anything, history and stats can be used in anyone's argument as there is so damn much in just the last 15 years that any view can be argued / defended, it's all about perception. I guess the one thing it does make me realise is what a damn difficult job the club has on it's hands, as people rarely agree on everything and with the set up we have there now any disagreement will be convoluted and then magnified if the press catch hold of it, even if said disagreement doesn't actually exist.

Certainly wasn't having a dig at you, was just cruising through a few of the threads and everything seemed to be going down the same path. Looking at the above line, I think you actually agree with me. But fair play, totally understand it's your view and it's a message forum designed for people voicing opinion...You add a lot more value than me as i say a collective amount of fuck all 90% of the time - would rather be reading your views than none at all, just be nice to have a topic without some of the backbiting. We do all want the same thing after all!

So, does every thread on here now just end in a row between 2 people from the old board / new board camps?!

Yup. Like our best run last season happened when Milner was out of the team. Bit harsh, think it was more the coinciding of Smith not being in the team... Think he's worth a go there, more than anything because i can't really see a great deal of attacking midfield options on our current budget. Be interesting to see if Keegan pulls someone out the bag though...

Just seems to be his agent getting progressively more desparate. He's gone from Barcelona, to Arse / Chelsea and now Spurs... Give it a couple more weeks and his agent will suddenly be welcoming Newcastle interest...

That's the easy option. Every year people think the same 3 that come up will be relegated, doesn't often happen that way. Bolton Stoke Sunderland