|
The transfer window
has closed and with it, you feel, so have Tottenham's chances of getting
a place in Europe.
With only the year
long loan signing of Toda, the opportunity to capitalise on our good
season so far by bringing in a forward or two, has been lost. Any
impetus we had will mean that the push up the table that should take
place between now and the end of the season will be limited to the odd
win, because we fail to convert the majority of the chances we
make.
It is hard to believe
that the club have been linked with so many players and they have not
made a clear effort to get any one of them. What goes on behind
the scenes, we are not privy to, but the rumours linking us with some
players (Ricketts and Morientes [still]) have been given some
credibility by the club, but with the knowledge that there would be one
month to bring someone in and the need for players, they still failed to
boost the squad.
While Rebrov was a
strange case, in that Hoddle refused to bring him in even when the
situation cried out for a forward with class and we have taken a big
loss on him, it is no surprise that he has gone. The surprise is
that he might yet come back after his 18 month loan at Fenerbache
ends. No one can be surprised that Les has moved on either.
Nor Sherwood. The loss of Freund at the end of the season might be
a decision that comes back to haunt us, as another year might have been
ample to provide cover in this area. However, Hoddle might see
Toda as a straight replacement for the popular German midfielder.
Clemence's move to Birmingham probably came about through frustration,
as he wanted a regular place in the team, which would not happen if
everyone was fit. Stephen would have been a squad player at best
and the move is probably best for al parties concerned.
The one thing that
rankles is that the players have been allowed to leave without being
adequately replaced. Great for bringing the wage bill down, but
not great when we get an injury in that area ... as we did at home to
Newcastle, with Robbie Keane getting a knock that left us with
Sheringham and Doherty in attack for the rest of that game and Ted and
Iversen up front against Chelsea. We needed another forward before
Les and Sergei left. Now we need two and can't get them until the
summer !! I hope that the board and management will be doing their
homework on that now in preparation for August.
Does this show that
the club and ENIC at the helm lack ambition ? Or does it imply
that they are being financially prudent in not splashing out money on
players Hoddle doesn't want and that they are protecting the future of
the club ? We have been down both roads before. We don't
want tog o back to the dark days of the early 1990's when we looked like
going out of business. Neither do we wish to see the return to
spending big money on players who never repaid their fees. Gerry
Francis perhaps set Tottenham back a few years by bringing in players
who didn't do it for Spurs and not bringing in those who might have done
(Bergkamp, Zola, Effenberg).
It is not very
heartening for Spurs fans though, knowing that the playing resources we
have at the moment are not good enough to beat SCBC twice, Newcastle
twice and Charlton during December and January. The draw with
Chelsea today was a good result in the circumstances. If there are
real ambitions to move forward into the European places, these are games
that have to be won to progress. It is no compensation to play
well and lose. While West Ham might be claiming they are too good
to go down, we are looking like we play too well to move up !!
Out of both cups and
having dropped too far back in the league, the rest of the season is
about consolidation and hopefully, a chance to blood a few
youngsters. That might help give the fans something to look
forward to, as the future is all we have to look forward to. The
likes of Ricketts, Blondel, Jackson and even Marney or Malcolm might see
some action and I am certain that the crowd would get behind them.
Knowing the club's reticence in spending out on players, these might be
the ones who make up the Spurs team of the future as the Academy is seen
as the focus of a production line of new players.
The marketing
potential of Japanese midfielder Kazuyuki Toda was realised straight
away. "Spurs welcome Toda" read the message on the
opening page of the official site. "Click here to order your
shirt" read the banner underneath. The drop down menu for the
Spurs Store section even featured a small icon of the Japan flag next to
the option for Toda souvenirs. He's only been here five minutes
and already has his own range of scarf, pennant, shirt, T-shirt.
Whatever next ? His own range of Sushi ??
We have players who
we could have cashed in on in the past, but they have not had such
attention. Someone told me that there was a deal struck up with a
Japanese company to have merchandising rights for shirts, etc, that
amounted to £3 million. I suspect there is a hope that the gravy
train of Japanese TV coverage and lots of ticket sales to visiting
tourists (as Fulham have experienced since they signed Inamoto).
This money will hopefully be put towards his signing should he prove a
hit. One wonders if the proposed signing of "Kevin" Qu
Bo was one of necessity or of an income generating reason.
Whatever happens
before the middle of May, I hope that we see some passion in the team's
play. Remembering the flop in form after the Worthington Cup Final
last year, the games seemed to mean little to the team. Whatever
game they turn out in wearing a Spurs shirt, they should turn in a
decent performance. With everything that has happened, it is the
least we can expect !!
Keep the faith.
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE
AND THE SPURS GO MARCHING ON.
BRUCE
CASTLE |
