Why do we leave it so late?

[Chaydle]

It seems to me that in every transfer window we leave it so late in signing players that we need. It was obvious most of last season that we needed a decent LW, we should have had a list of players we wanted in that position and sytematically got through that list. I know Duff was the first choice but he decided to take the buck but we should surely have had this sorted by now. I can see us making another panic deadline day buy a la Raziak! Is it just Levy playing brinkmanship or do I just live in a simple/idealistic world?

[mjbmedia]

i agree, its basic football manager PC rules really

so now we're going for Downing, who they dont want to sell and who doesnt want to leave and whose home fans adore him whilst many of us dont rate him or want him (as stated on here by some)

[olly27]

your right...its brinkmanship! am a bit tired of it aswell to be honest, i get the feeling we'r so tight with our money sometimes and would rather sign b+ players as oppose to a's. I am praying that we sign a left sided player before the window closes as we are just so unbalanced at the moment. I also think carrick will be badly missed this season,although he was sold for an inflated price it's what you have to pay for brithish talent...i mean carrick was probably worth 10 million max...like downing is worth 6/7 million max..if we want him we will have to pay in excess of 10 most likely..its the way it is with british players...but finally what i cant understand, is that Levy was to give Jol 25 million to spend before carrick went anywhere

[JJ]

We're going to buy Rasiak and play him on the left wing.

[Chaydle]

Or the other side of the coin is that we have been trying to sign a top quality LW but the lack of CL has put players off.
Apart from all the usual suspects, petrov/downing/boa morte/babel/richardson, is there anyone else anybody could think of who would be a good LW signing?

[DonJolSpurano]

just to clarify the issue over duff.

chelsea offered him to us first but we turned him down.

[Welsh Spur]

It's part of a deal we have with them as part of the whole Frank Arnesen transfer, I believe.

[DonJolSpurano]

yea welsh.

we get first refusal so its curious that we decided not to pursue the transfer when we blatantly need someone like him.

btw i see u won the shirt, well done. you received it yet?

[Chaydle]

If that's the case then it's absolutely bizarre, how could they turn Duff down for £5mill and pursue Downing for £10-12mill, allegedly??????????

[JJ]

Surely the fact we have first refusal doesn't mean that he didn't turn us down. I assumed he was asking for more money than we were willing to offer.

[DonJolSpurano]

Surely the fact we have first refusal doesn't mean that he didn't turn us down. I assumed he was asking for more money than we were willing to offer.

no we actually turned down chelseas offer to negotiate with them for his transfer. it apparently never even got to the personal negotiations. my cousins wife is a city reporter and this is what her papers sports reporter was told by a spurs source so im guessing this info is pretty legit.

[Spur]

I was told a while before the story broke that we had made a bid...

[Chaydle]

Call me naive but isn't this case with all transfers-negotiations between the selling and buying clubs??

[country cock]

[QUOTE=olly27] I also think carrick will be badly missed this season,although he was sold for an inflated price it's what you have to pay for brithish talent...i mean carrick was probably worth 10 million max.

Did you go to the game last night, Zakora was every bit as good a passer as carrick, i think Yol has signed a ready made replacement without even knowing he needed one.

[choda]

What you're saying about the Duff transfer doesn't make any sense. We figured it out ages ago exactly what happened. Jol publicly stated that Duff didn't want to play for us, and Newcastle are reportedly paying him 60,000 a week. We'd never pay inflated wages like that. We offered him 45,000 (to equal Ledley and five grand more than Keane) at most at a better club and team. It's obvious he turned the offer on a monetary basis.

If it is true that we did not even talk to him then I would seriously question Jol's judgement but I can't see that having happened. Particularly in the light of the quotes directly from the parties involved. Don't always trust 'sources' they often make early judgements based on chinese whispers. A paper is not patient to waiting for the full situation to become clear. They just print an early story of what they've got.

About four days after the transfer the Duff situation became quite clear when the people involved spoke publicly and the facts came out. I could be wrong but I don't think it would make sense that it happened any other way.

[country cock]

He also wanted the guarantee of 1st team football, at Spurs you have to earn the right to wear the shirt.

[choda]

He also wanted the guarantee of 1st team football, at Spurs you have to earn the right to wear the shirt.

He's a very good player and we don't have a left winger. He wouldn't have had to do too much to get in our side. And he works hard when his teams don't have the ball. That's not an issue, he'd have walked into our side.

[olly27]

exactly choda..county cock what are you on? and by the way carrick and zokora are different type's of player...yes they can both pass..their professionals! what does that mean anyway he can pass just as good as carrick..you have seen him play 1 n half games you muppet!...he's a defensive midfielder..whilst carrick had good vision to make a defence splitting pass..like against west brom when he put robbie keane through....i am not saying zokora wont be an excellent signing but at least wait until the end of the season to be coming off with stuff like that

[olly27]

exactly choda..county cock what are you on? and by the way carrick and zokora are different type's of player...yes they can both pass..their professionals! what does that mean anyway he can pass just as good as carrick..you have seen him play 1 n half games you muppet!...he's a defensive midfielder..whilst carrick had good vision to make a defence splitting pass..like against west brom when he put robbie keane through....i am not saying zokora wont be an excellent signing but at least wait until the end of the season to be coming off with stuff like that