Spurs sign Luka Modric

[Mick]

Does Jol ever post here when we beat Spurs or when things aren't going well for them? Don't seem it...

 

To be fair to him he did when we beat them last month.

[McCormick]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

[Dave]

Don't give him ideas.

[Thespence]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

[johnnypd]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

[McCormick]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

According to the papers it seems we didn't offer enough and left him to the clawing hands of spurs who were more than willing to shell out an extra few million.

 

Just playing devils advocate here, i've full confidence in the board its just that this seemingly  'not willing to spend', 'lack of ambition', is something Ne5 pounces on and runs with in his mouth.

 

 

Don't give him ideas.

 

aye sorry

[Taylor Swift]

Tbf, we were reportedly offering to break our transfer record so if that's not backing the manager, what the fuck is?

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

 

What if we don't think he's worth what they want?

[Cajun]

£25m is a huge gamble and I don't blame them if its true. Wouldn't be the first top/world class player to flop in this league.

[bobbydazzla]

for £25mil we could sign 5 decent players who would strengthen the current squad and give us more stability.

 

whilst we undoubtedly need a creative midfielder I'd have been worried about us shelling out that sort of cash on a 22 year old who isn't playing in a very strong league.

 

if he wants to go to Spuds then let him. We want players who are desperate to play for us, not lads who are only here for the money.

[Taylor Swift]

for £25mil we could sign 5 decent players who would strengthen the current squad and give us more stability.

 

whilst we undoubtedly need a creative midfielder I'd have been worried about us shelling out that sort of cash on a 22 year old who isn't playing in a very strong league.

 

if he wants to go to Spuds then let him. We want players who are desperate to play for us, not lads who are only here for the money.

 

KK's said that we don't want squad players anymore; we have enough of those, and I agree with him.

[johnnypd]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

 

What if we don't think he's worth what they want?

 

you have to pay a premium for quality. if keegan wanted him the board should've shelled out for him. i'd rather we spend an extra one or two million in excess of what a player is worth just to get them in the squad, than miss out altogether and see the player go to a big rival, all for the sake of saving a couple of million. money sitting in the bank isn't going to do us any good. if it was Keegan who pulled the plug then that is a different matter but it doesn't seem to be the case, and even then he should have enough backing to not worry about one or two million here and there. £15.8m is a reasonable fee anyway, the rest that spurs will be paying is probably performance related add-on fees which should be no problem - if the lad fails they don't pay these add-ons, if he succeeds then they're well worth it.

 

so far the board's track record on Keegan transfer targets is - Kalouda - haggled over price so missed out, Woodgate - entered negotiations too late and missed out to big rivals, Barnes - haggled over price so didn't buy in Jan, Modric - haggled over price and missed out to big rivals. mix that with allardyce's comments about Mort being naive leading to us missing out on a number of transfers last summer, and it is clear the board have everything to prove this window. this is not exactly the best of starts.

[Cajun]

The window hasn't even opened yet. I agree this is the time when the board really need to prove themselves but maybe (and I know this is a crazy concept us being Newcastle fans and all) we should wait until the end of the window and then judge how well they have done?

 

We have missed out on a player who is reported to potentially cost £25m, maybe our bid of £20m was a few million over our valuation of him? From what I have heard the lad does sound a bit special and it is a shame we didn't manage to get him in but again he is still a big gamble and maybe the board took this into consideration when deciding how much they would bid.

 

I wouldn't say a £20m bid is failing to back a manager.

[bobbydazzla]

at least they are managing the transfers like a proper business though. think how much money we've pissed up the wall on wastrels like Boumshite and Luque etc

 

you have look at a player, decide what you think he's worth, set a budget and stick to it. if someone pays more then tough shit.

 

like buying a house really.

[Newcastle Fan]

at least they are managing the transfers like a proper business though. think how much money we've pissed up the wall on wastrels like Boumshite and Luque etc

 

you have look at a player, decide what you think he's worth, set a budget and stick to it. if someone pays more then tough s***.

 

like buying a house really.

 

Well said

[johnnypd]

at least they are managing the transfers like a proper business though. think how much money we've pissed up the wall on wastrels like Boumshite and Luque etc

 

you have look at a player, decide what you think he's worth, set a budget and stick to it. if someone pays more then tough shit.

 

like buying a house really.

 

sure, if you think that Keegan will spend money as badly as Souness. I don't.

 

Gejon - agree that the time to judge is the end of the summer, but all we can go on so far is what they've done since arriving and it hasn't been good. i fully expect us to spend a lot this summer and for the new set-up to prove its worth, i'm just eager for us to start getting deals tied up before the Euros commence and this was a fantastic opportunity but we let it slip.

[Thespence]

like buying a house really.

 

Your right & we just got guzzumped

[bobbydazzla]

he didn't want to come, we wouldn't pay what they wanted (a fee that would have smashed our club record).

 

best to dust ourselves down and get on with finding some decent players who do want to join us.

 

[Guest float one in]

Surprised Ne5 isn't having a dig at the board for this 'fiasco' tbh

 

Why? NE5 only ever wants his managed backed & he has been backed the deal didnt come off.

 

we were in pole position, had them at the training ground and didn't offer them enough, apparently. doesn't reflect well on the negotiating team if true.

 

What if we don't think he's worth what they want?

 

you have to pay a premium for quality. if keegan wanted him the board should've shelled out for him. i'd rather we spend an extra one or two million in excess of what a player is worth just to get them in the squad, than miss out altogether and see the player go to a big rival, all for the sake of saving a couple of million. money sitting in the bank isn't going to do us any good. if it was Keegan who pulled the plug then that is a different matter but it doesn't seem to be the case, and even then he should have enough backing to not worry about one or two million here and there. £15.8m is a reasonable fee anyway, the rest that spurs will be paying is probably performance related add-on fees which should be no problem - if the lad fails they don't pay these add-ons, if he succeeds then they're well worth it.

 

so far the board's track record on Keegan transfer targets is - Kalouda - haggled over price so missed out, Woodgate - entered negotiations too late and missed out to big rivals, Barnes - haggled over price so didn't buy in Jan, Modric - haggled over price and missed out to big rivals. mix that with allardyce's comments about Mort being naive leading to us missing out on a number of transfers last summer, and it is clear the board have everything to prove this window. this is not exactly the best of starts.

 

I'd agree with this if we knew that this had actually happened with the Modric deal. What I'd like to think was that KK decided he wasn't worth that sort of money (I haven't seen Modric play so don't know whether that's likely or not). If, as you say, they did haggle over the odd couple of million then that doesn't bode well for the summer at all, and they need to realise we're not going to improve if their not willing to use Ashley's money to outbid competitors. However at the moment we just don't know why the move didn't happen - maybe he wanted to move to London, or maybe he thought Spurs was a better option for football reasons (in which case he's going to have egg on his face next year imo). You also have to consider how he's been advised - agents can have a big influence on these things. If it turns out you're right and they have haggled, I'd agree that they've let Keegan down and they'll need to learn fast.

 

About Woodgate and Baines, I wouldn't blame anyone for not signing in January as there were just too many things going on. Ashley and Mort are new to this game and I'm willing to cut them some slack for that, but I can see why people will put January down as a failure on their parts and that's a fair enough opinion really.

 

nufc.com had an interesting comment yesterday - they reckoned that with Wise and the other two now responsible for identifying players, and then going after them once KK's given the go-ahead, Keegan has effectively been taken out of the transfer negotiations. If that's the case I agree with Niall and Biffa - that is a criminal waste of KK's 'pull' and powers of persuasion. Whilst we're languishing in the bottom half of the table, we need all the help we can get to lure top players here. Once their here they'll love it under Keegan, but it's convincing them this summer that is going t be the hard part. Although Keegan's reputation might not count for as much with the likes of Modric as it did with Lee, Beardsley, Ginola etc (who could remember him as a player), he's still got to be part of the negotiations surely?

[geordieglory]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago: 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

[colinmk]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago: 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

He doesn't care about us or Spurs he just wants to see Modric do well which is fair enough.

[Guest float one in]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago: 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

Assuming it was a straight fight between us and Spurs, can we take it from this that Ramos tried harder than our lot (Mort, Wise et al)?

[Baggio]

Slaven Bilic has changed his tune from a day or two ago:   

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7369852.stm

 

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic says Luka Modric made the right choice in deciding to join Tottenham, rather than any other Premier League side.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder will join Spurs next season after they agreed terms with Dinamo Zagreb.

 

"Tottenham is a perfect club for Luka. Spurs are a better club for Luka than, for example, Chelsea," said Bilic.

 

"Chelsea could have bought him, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho and then Luka could have ended up on the bench."

 

Modric had been linked to several other Premier League clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - but Bilic said Spurs boss Juande Ramos would get the best from the highly rated star.

 

"At Tottenham it will be different. Ramos will have patience with him so he gets used to the Premier League style of play," said Bilic.

 

"I'm certain that Luka will become their main power, the star of the team."

 

Modric, who has scored three goals in 24 appearances for Croatia, said Ramos had been a major factor in his decision.

 

"It is a big thing that Ramos wanted me in Tottenham so much," Modric said.

 

"Ramos's desire was my major motivation to play at White Hart Lane."

 

Assuming it was a straight fight between us and Spurs, can we take it from this that Ramos tried harder than our lot (Mort, Wise et al)?

 

I think people are reading too much into it without knowing the details.

 

Did Modric come to the training ground? Some papers say yes and some say no. If he did you would of expected Keegan to have been there on a Tuesday afternoon so it's fair to say he met him.

 

Did Modric meet Ramos? Some papers say they went to London and others say Comolli went to Zagreb to sort out the deal.

 

I think people in this thread are looking for excuses why he went to Spurs instead of coming here when the truth is Spurs are a more attractive club than we are at the moment.

[stozo]

Fucking hell, some people on here are absolutely obsessed. He chose Spurs over us, move on. There is no need to analyse every quote that comes up.

[Jackie Broon]

Lots of people have been bigging it up but I do have my concerns about our new structure and the lack of involvement of Keegan in transfer dealings.

 

With his passion and enthusiasm for Newcastle United he could sell the club to anyone.

 

But Wise and Jimenez?

 

They have no connection to the club or the region. They live in London and I'm sure if they were required to move up here they would resign rather than leave the big smoke for a 'northern backwater' like Newcastle.

 

How are they meant to sell Newcastle United to top players?