leffe186

This referee .

So of 20 Premier League teams, nine are sponsored by gambling and three are basically sponsored by their owners?

It's the 22nd of July mate Kaka never sleeps.

Uh huh. Good job we have these rules in place, eh? Completely separate point but why aren't Spurs spending money or being linked that heavily with anyone bar Barkley (who probably wouldn't make your team) this summer? A bit of a mixture of things. There are no glaring holes in the first XI for a start, and a couple of kids on the fringes, so Poch might be looking to bring them through and not place obstacles in their way. Ideally you want to bring in somebody to improve the first team, but our first team is really good, so we end up competing with people who can pay twice as much in wages, and most targets are non-starters. We were in for Martial, Batshuayi, Willian etc and then just got blown out of the water by clubs that can afford to pay a shit-ton of money to somebody who's not first choice. We have been in pole position for a young Argentinian centre-back, but supposedly now PSG are interested, so that's probably the end of that. Then you factor in the new stadium and the potential risks. It's a combination of things. From our point of view, we've been careful for years, have a strong squad, and have a manager who places great emphasis on continuity and togetherness. External factors - there are ten or more clubs with greater resources competing against us in the same market, and we are building a new stadium. Many of the natives are getting restless, but not everyone. I'd be a lot more confident if we hadn't made the utterly baffling and deeply concerning decision to throw money at Sissoko. Most of our decisions are justifiable, even if I disagree, but that was so obviously wrong-headed it makes me nervous.

I think so too, although I haven't been watching him regularly enough to say so more definitively. When he first came on the scene I thought he had the lot.

Uh huh. Good job we have these rules in place, eh?

There are not enough Partridge shrugs in the world.

Supposedly Man U offered 60M for Dier.

Would be absolutely staggeringly awesome. Not going to happen in a million years, sadly, because he's allegedly getting paid more than double our top earner, and wants more.

That would be some fucking chair.

Good, that.

The fact that Spurs arguably already have a better RB is mental. Did Walker get dropped or was he injured? I like Trippier and he is good, but he didn't play that many games last season. He was performing well in a good team, but how he'll do over the course of a whole season is the real question. He does create a whole lot of chances and the amount of assists he has in the low amount of games he played in is very impressive. I think against Watford last season, he created about six clear opportunities that could have been goals. 50 Mil is good business for them. Spurs are smart with their money, they'll stretch that out. Re the "drop", I think it was a few things. I thought Poch wanted to do a bit of rotation anyway, but supposedly Walker had been tapped up and the word was that his "head had turned". Poch had a chance to give Trippier some minutes while at the same time sending a message to Walker. There's a consensus at Spurs that Trippier is ace going forward against teams below the top level, but struggles a bit defensively against really good sides. In contrast, Walker"a strength and speed make him effective in the big games. Walker just seems to be up-and-down going forward. Every once in a while it seems to click and he plays the early ball, then the next game he reverts to that weird indecisiveness in the final third. Trippier was apparently struggling first half of the season because he had a newborn and was sleep deprived! Pereira looks really good, and we have a youngster coming through - both of whom can supposedly do a job at LWB too. Walker for 50M and then Pereira for the reported 22M would be some business.

The fact that Spurs arguably already have a better RB is mental. We may be getting Pereira in as a replacement, which would be kinda ace.

Yes.

Hoping it encourages me to get off my fat arse and start playing again before I keel over. Thinking of getting SEMTEX to order "Hoddel 10" for the back.

My wife's in London right now and our shirts just got released. Texted her to "suggest" our away shirt as a Xmas present. I'm too old for this shit now, aren't I?

Also, if that Palace transfer is confirmed I believe we're the only team who still haven't bought anyone. Given the amounts flying round that's a bit surprising.

At these prices and with the comedy wages West Ham are wont to pay? Go for it.

Maybe even to 30 points?

I can't shake the feeling that I heard this last year.

Where has that come from? I mean, I get that they might spend a lot on fees if they sell Lukaku, but there is no way on Earth they can afford wages like that.

And also, ironically, could be omitted and would make exactly the same point.

£40m would be great piece of business from Man U, Matic is class. Means Dier staying, I presume.

False narratives are built up and maintained by fans and opposing fans all the time, good and bad. It just becomes particularly tiresome when you hear pundits regurgitate them. As you well know .

Don't really think that was the crux of the Twitter rage against RR mind. I've not seen the Twitter stuff but I do know that we've been erroneously called bottlers for a couple of years now by fans of the usual suspects. Seeing a false narrative parroted in the national media would have pissed me off too, although obviously I wouldn't react in quite the same way.