"Let's be realistic"

[basskadet]

I'm getting sick and tired of people saying "let's be realistic" when it comes to Spurs chasing big name transfers.

No, let's be ambitious! We should be going for these sorts of players, even if a large number of them end up rejecting us. For every 10 that might say no there might just be 1 world-beater who says "yes, I've always wanted to play for Spurs!"

I know it's tough to constantly hear we've been snubbed but that shouldn't mean we automatically settle for 2nd best. Set our sights high, that's what I say.

Its not easy these days with a lack of CL football but that is not the be-all-and-end-all for every player on this planet. the trick is in finding the right player at the right time. The Premier League is a big competition also & there are an infinite amount of other reasons why a club like us might be a good proposition for a big name player. Spurs are still a huge club & we are very fondly thought of on the continent, after all, we are the 2nd or 3rd (depending on your opinion) most successful English club in European competition. We are famous for playing English football with a European flair, so naturally many foreigners have grown up to appreciate us.

I don't like this negativity where we are telling each other to 'be realistic' &, when we do get snubbed, acting like it was always going to happen & we never had a chance. That's bollox. Just because so-and-so ends up in Barcelona or Milan, it doesn't mean we never had a hope. We signed Gazza when everyone said he would go to Man U. We signed Modric more recently after he already turned down Arsenal, same with Zokora.

We have a long history of marquee signings & big name players, from Jimmy Greaves to Jurgen Klinsmann. It's no different now than it ever was.

I resent being told that I have been over-optimistic for wanting the very best in my team. It annoys me when people say "I told you so" when we fail to sign a big name, as if Spurs needn't have bothered & I am a fool for getting my hopes up. Listen, we wouldn't have held talks with these players if there truly was no hope of them coming, so I refuse to lay down and just accept that Spurs offer no attraction to these sorts of players.

[Dancubus]

Fully seconded.
If we werent being ambitious with our targets, everyone would be turning around and complaining about that. If we'd stumped up the wages for Huntelaar a few weeks ago, he'd be at Spurs. For whatever reason, we didnt. Thats a CL quality player who would have come here.
I dont think we've ever had a problem attracting high quality players to the Lane.

[P UNIT 1980]

Cant disagree more mate.

We are in a different place to where we have been for the last few seasons due to the circusmaster, his traveling clowns and the side show of Camoli.

We are in a transitional phase as a club and are at the begining of a new journey Under Arry and Levy without Camoli in his ear. We need to be patient.

I agree that we should be looking at these players but to think that we are the automatic choice over the likes of Citeh, Everton, Villa etc is folly.

We were in a relegation fight for the most part of last term and failed to qualify for any european football. We cant attract the quality we deserve.

We have to be happy with the Crouch's of this world at the minute and have to hope that Arry can weave some real magic and get us back to where we belong so we can once again attract the blockbuster names that deserve to grace WHL.

Soz mate but I am a realist. Still expectant but a realist.

[bigmartin]

exactly right bass. lets not resign ourselves to defeat before the battle has even begun. without the top players we'll find ourselves struggling to achieve the accolades that attract the other top players. if we can get a domino effect going over the signing of better players the next couple of seasons we could find ourselves with a mindbogglingly competitive squad. remember, you have to be in it to win it!

[basskadet]

I know what you are saying Unit & I am not saying that we would necessarily be favoured over the clubs you mention, I just mean that, simply because he is good, it does not make it impossible for a player to come to us. Villa, Citeh, etc might not even be chasing a particular player anyway &, even if they are, it does not mean they will go to them over us necessarily anyway as there might be some personal reason why they might prefer to come to Spurs. Look at Bassong, he turned down a big money move to Citeh so that he could play for 'Arry. I know Bassong isn't necessarily a 'big name player' like the ones I am referring to here but the principle is still the same.

Also, other than Citeh, we seem to have more money available than Villa/Everton & even the likes of Inter Milan. Sometimes these transitional phases like what you mention are even appealing to some players as they want to be part of the new project. If they look at what the plans are & agree with them, that too can be an incentive in itself. Things like our new stadium & just the fact that we are chasing other big name targets might be enough to persuade someone to sign

[contrast]

Players like Klass Jan Huntelaar and Van Der Vaart are unrealistic. I'm up for signing quality, but the word unrealistic means unrealistic, not anything about not being ambitious. . . . .

[tdw76]

villa are being linked with VDV. FFS HULL ARE CLOSE TO GETTING NEGREDO!!!! 'unrealistic' is bollox, sorry.

how anyone can call transfer speculation unrealistic is a bit rich imo, we have no clue what goes on behind the scenes or what a player wants.

[slimboydim]

Good Evening, I think we could sign bigger players, but the
way Daniel The Plank goes about doing business can make
it difficult.
Seriously though, in the past I have always thought, and I know
most fans agree, that our policy of not paying too higher wages
and keeping the books (relatively) balanced is right.
Now I am wondering if in keeping with other teams we should
maybe increase our serviceable debt without going crazy, and
possibly pay a bit more. I always thought we paid enough, but
now I think we could lure bigger stars, with more funds.
In the recent past we could probably have signed Arshavin, rather
than Pav, and the capture of him, may have then lead to bigger
names arriving. Huntelaar instead of Crouch. Van Der Vaart?
I know people will say these signings are not realistic, but if
players see someone like Arshavin come, who with the right
negotiation we could have signed, others would follow?

[P UNIT 1980]

Spot on slim.

And that Transitional phase we are in is in its conception so we will have to achieve with good football and hard work and the posibiltiy of unearthing a gem like we did in Berba.

We need to be patient and trust in Arry as he is the man to captain the good ship Yid.

[Dancubus]

Players like Klass Jan Huntelaar and Van Der Vaart are unrealistic. I'm up for signing quality, but the word unrealistic means unrealistic, not anything about not being ambitious. . . . .

I'm sorry but if we had stumped up the wages for Huntelaar a few weeks ago, he would be playing against Liverpool on Sunday. Huntelaar was not unrealistic atall.

[stroud_jm]

it aint like we've been chasing Kaka.

many of the players we've been linked with, especially KJH, were on the outs at Real Madrid, who was desperate to get rid of them. these were realistic targets that (so far) we haven't closed the deal on.

I agree we're in somewhat of a transitional phase, and if we broke the bank on some big name just to sell shirts I'd be none too happy, but I don't see most of these fellas as unrealistic

[yidno1]

Im with Unit on this one, people arent being negative Bass you just have to remember where we are right now and thats out of Europe and a wage structure that cant compete with the big boys until were in our stadium.
I dont think you can over look just what a draw CL footy is to players im afraid it is the be all and end all in todays scheme of things.
I hate the fact were linked with every player under the sun but sign none of em, the Tottenham of old would have signed who it wanted just on its name but not any more, you gotta get real mate.

[basskadet]

I know what you're saying, Yidno.1, & with 90% of players that is probably the case but we cannot paint every player with that brush & dismiss them, every case is different. It might just be that somebody has always wanted to play in England & (like we did with Pav & modric & even Ossie & Ricky) appreciates the fact that we have flown out to speak with them face to face. Seriously, back when we signed Ossie & Ricky, now THAT was unrealistic as England was not the world-renowned league it is now & we were a newly promoted team signing 2 WC winners!!!

If we can do that back then, we can surely do it today if we went about things in the right way, we target the right player/s &, as Slim says, I do think I wage cap has become a bit of a problem. We could easily raise it to somewhere just under the £100kpw level & be financially OK. Birmingham have been offering wages of £100kpw to attract players & the likes of WHU & Pompey have players on that sort of money also. As long as we're sensible then it shouldn't be a problem. However, with our new stadium on its way, if we did up the wage cap a little, I would hope we don't "do an Arsenal".

Also, you might not mean to be negative but some other people have come across that way & there is no need to feel like that as I still believe that Tottenham will always have its attractions to particular people

As has already been mentioned, Hull City are on the verge of signing Negredo & I don't hear Hull fans telling each other to 'get real', they're excited about the prospect. I thoroughly agree that we get linked to far too many people & end up with none, altho half of that is the press who just seem to love to link us with anyone. The Figo one earlier this summer was the best! Harry goes to a golf match & chats with him in the crowd & suddenly he's coming out of retirement to play for Spurs!!! Now that was unrealistic!!

[Spurs4life93]

Good thread. I think itz great to be linked to such quality players of van der vaart and Huntelaar, but the problem is we never seem to go for them or make an approach for them.

Also, the Negredo situation has really gotten to me. Excellent striker who imo is better than Crouch but yet we still opt for the giraffe.

Mabye the club officials are the ones being unrealistic?

[tdw76]

^^ i dunno bout that, key word in your first sentence for me is 'seem'. as mentioned before, we have no clue how far or how hard mr levy has been trying. we aint got a scooby! he could have offered more than he initially intended for KJH but it still wasn't enough - we just don't know. i think its safe to say we went for VDV and KJH, but for whatever reason it didnt happen. Im gutted bout KJH but at the end of the day im confident with our squad, and think a top 5 finish is certainly possible. KEY WORD THERE IS POSSIBLE, IM NOT SAYING THAT IS WHERE WE WILL FINISH LOL PLEASE DONT BITE MY HEAD OFF