Cole to sign on Monday

[Neil_Vaughan]

Carlton Cole is expected to sign for Spurs early next week.

Some quotes from Mourinho included on Cole's future...

http://tottenhamhotspur.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=897&p=2&stid=8411903

[MACCSPURS]

Before everyone starts knocking Cole have a think about why we might be buying him.

Berbatov at £10M is not going to be sitting on the bench and the way Keane has been playing I think that is our front two. However, if one of the other is injured where does that leave us?

There were some rumours a few weeks ago that there was a bust up with Mido and he threw a stroppy and that was that and he has not played anymore and prehaps the injury is a cover up.

I have a strong feeling we are listening to offers for Defoe so he will be going.

With that in mind, we need replacements and I for one and glad to see another British player join our ranks.

I'd like to see SWP join us along with Glen Johnson and Bridge but I doubt that will happen.

[Jol's Yid Army]

From what i've seen of him I dont think much of him. When he went to Villa he scored on the opening day of the season and then didnt score again.

[Chinaman]

I hope he's real cheap. Don't want to spend more than 2million on a reserve striker. If Mido is not worth 5, he cannot be worth more than 2.

[Chinaman]

Oh, and how I wish it was the other Cole from Chelsea.

[Danishspurs]

I don't think he can replaces defoe, so in my opinion we need another striker if defoe's leaving...

[shoot_ffs]

i don't think defoe will leave. he might want to play more, which he may or may not get at another top club. And the england situation is more about the type of player he is than any doubts about his ability. With a new england manager in the seat, he may be back in favour and not need to move. I atleast think he'll see how this year goes,and he'll have a chance at a trophy hopefully.

[Chinaman]

If Defoe does go, we'll have to sign agood little one.

[shoot_ffs]

any suggestions? or if he wants a player for the hole maybe he'll use hamdaoiu. Just think defoe has everything going for him, no bad injuries, young, clever, quick and two good feet. be very hard to replace.

[Chinaman]

Is that young lad Dixon a real deal?

[shoot_ffs]

dunno mate i don't think he's even played for the academy yet, i think he got picked for the ireland squad on his u17's performances which must have been good. It's even more remarkable than walcott in some ways. I'm guessing eire will be playing some friendlies prior to the world cup so hopefully we'll get a look at him. The lad pekhart is very well thought of, but again so is barnard but it doesn't mean he'll make it.

[Chinaman]

So if Defoe really goes, we'll definitely have to buy at least a second string small manwho has a bit of senior experience and wait for the quartet of Hammy, Barnard, Pekhart and Dixon to develop. At least the 2 senior ones, Barnard and Hammy should be given a few games to see where they stand.

[TomMcLaren]

We've been linked to him a couple of times before and it hasn't come off, so he's obviously someone we'v e had our eye on (or his agents used the same tactics more than once!) I have to say he hasn't done enough at his prior clubs to get me excited, but he must have talent for people to take him and if we don't overpay he may be a good squad player...

[Hayes Massive]

One of the other players getting the boot at Chelski is Gudjohnson ,personally i think he would give us better choices than cole.He can play behind the striker and also play as an attacking midfielder thus covering for both Keane & JJ . He also scores goals.

[neilmcnab]

carlton cole a good signing for us if we get him, he young has a lot to prove... athletic strong... good in air can go it alone why u think chelsea hold on to him 4 so long if he wernt good nd always loan him to rubbish teams so he wont shine... when he first played 4 chelsea he was scoring regularly .. has lost confidence since... any1 would lose confidence having been loaned out season after season... look at forsell... and seein ur team buy striker after striker .. somtimes two 4 20+ million each... beleive me if we get cole we,ll have a very good striker... and with our creative midfield he,ll thrive more than with villa,s midfield... coys and please lets keep defoe...next season will be even brighter 4 all of us all 4 strikers too...

[Chinaman]

Our midfield as it is , is anything but creative.

[mjbmedia]

well it does create, ........chances for the opposition

[shoot_ffs]

i think that's why he bought murphy but he's found people close us down real quick, well if they've got any sense they do, and he's looked below par. there are already two quality players in malbranque and gera, but i think he'll stick with solid centre mids and out and out wingers.

[Chinaman]

Leaving just Carrick and Jenas in the middle will be a bit light weight and lacking ral tackling and ball winning capability.

[highlander]

Davids and Tainio often play in the midfield and they both have ball-winning capabilities so i think we're fine with them, and Ghaly is supposed to be quick a big, strong lad so i dont think we will have a lightweight midfiled or a problem with it.

[Chinaman]

But if as Shoot ffs suggests playing 2 out and out wingers, the middle 2 combo could be Carrick and Jenas, In this case we have no tackling and ball winning ability. If we play either Davids or Taino with Carrick (as Carrick will be Jol's permanent fixture), there'll be no follow-in strike from central midfield, which will be another weakness.

Perhaps we should add a midfielder with a left peg and can play wide with the ability to dribble through the middle when the chance arises. Don't tell me Porky is the man.

[highlander]

Tainio and Davids are actually quite attacking, tainio more so than davids and tainio himself has said how shocked he's been at his lack of goals this term as he usually weighs in with his fair share as im sure he will next season

[Chinaman]

That is the problem for us this year. We've been attacking most of the time but scarcely did our midfield create shooting chances for our strikers.

[shoot_ffs]

i agree in some respects as for some games he'll play ball winners rather than wingers like lennon. It's always a tough balance in the midfield, but you have to call it somewhere and i think carrick and jenas are a good balance between tackling and attacking. I would say they've been quite defensive this year so there has been loss of ball to the forwards. You don't need a ball winner to change that though. You choose between a more attacking option or having the flair come from the wings, and i just think we're going that way. We're doing it the chelsea way as much as i hate to say it, jenas is box to box like lampard and carrick sits back. The wingers create the problems. I prefer it that way to be honest, a couple of top midfielders causes real problems for the opponents, and i think we have them. Who elses centre mids would you swap for ours?? gerard, lampard, makelele and now ballack are the only ones i'd consider.

[highlander]

yep hit the nail completely on the head

[shoot_ffs]

for those after a glimpse of our young eire striker davis, they have a friendly against chile on wed 24th may. lets hope he gets a run out.

[fluke]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect half a dozen or so goals in a season from midfielders, with exception of whoever is in the defending position in front of the back four. Regardless of wether they are ball winners or ball passers we need that extra push in this area next season.
I thought Malbranque always stood out in what was a mediocre team. I'd take him over Murphy or Reid any day.

[shoot_ffs]

i agree with you there, although i still like reid for trying to use the ball well in a team of muddlers. The only problem is neither reid or murphy get in the line up so would we still need to buy malbranque for a bit part. Again i think the attacking midfielder role has gone from our game, we'll have back up centre mids and out and out wingers, and rather than pay a quality flair midfielder to sit on the bench most games, we'll drop a striker back or even play 3 with 1 behind.

[fluke]

Let me apologise for sounding untechnical but I saw too many gilt edged oppotunities missed by our midfielders regardless of their roll. If they've got themselves into a scoring position something should go on target. Our goal difference was not great last season yet the scoring ratios were good among our strikers for the first time in ages. Our defending was also much improved. So it's obviously a grey area IMO. I don't really mind what we call any of them playmakers, ball holders whatever, I just would like to see them bang in a few more to up the tally, simple as.

[Welsh Spur]

A massive NO to Carlton Cole. I will not support him if he signs I do not rate him whatsoever, and will be ashamed to see us sign such an average/poor player. He has done nothing, granted he hasnt had much of a chance but he went out on loan to someone and was shite there too. Not good enough for Spurs. Definately not.

[Spur]

But is he good enough to sit on the bench? And is he good enough considering he's cheap? And who else would we get for a small sum of money happy to sit on the bench?

[Welsh Spur]

I don't want a bench warmer, we need four striker who will bring the best out of each other, not buying shite players like cole just coz we can get him for a mill. Dont buy Cole!

[Spur]

Wouldn't you rather buy a Carlton Cole for a mil, then spend alot more on a left-winger, rather than settling for an average winger because we spent another 7mil on another striker, who won't play because we just spent 11mil on Berba?

[Welsh Spur]

I'm just thinkin about that particular players quality, which I believe is not high enough for Tottenham.

[mlburnsesq@yaho]

Is Cole any good?

[pigeonspurs]

i have heard many rumours for about two weeks now saying he would sign today for 1 million. this came about before the papers were linking us with him. i think he could be a good player and will be good back up for berbatov. martin jol could really help him progree

[Keanoldinho]

Defoe and Cole have played together before for the Under 21 team and are good friends so maybe them 2 could become class together. For 1 mil he's definately worth a go sure look at the 1 mil we spent on Lennon talk about a good investment.

[Welsh Spur]

Defoe and Cole have played together before for the Under 21 team and are good friends so maybe them 2 could become class together. For 1 mil he's definately worth a go sure look at the 1 mil we spent on Lennon talk about a good investment.

Saw a poll today and Spurs fans are split on his arrival. I'm against it as I don't see how his arrival could help us, but if it's £1million I guess Keanoldinho is right, could be worth a punt as it doesn't represent a massive loss. But definately a gamble.

[fluke]

I think it's going to be hard to find a top quality fourth striker who'll settle for being on the bench. It was hard enough keeping everyone happy last season when we were a striker short. We can't come in underweight in the striker position next season. Cole has been loaned out to some shite teams recently but I think he is good enough for cover at that price.
It's a part of the game now that someone is going to finish the season feeling they weren't given a fair crack of the whip. As much a part as being paid 40 grand a week. It's too bad that they end up whinging, pefrorm well you get to play, simple as.
Don't forget guys it's a world cup year and there is money in the kitty. We may swoop on some unknown Iranian or Ivory Coaster (Ivorian I think). Exciting times.

[Welsh Spur]

Yeah, Zokora I've been reading about it all day.

[spurs61]

Hmmm, £1 million for an England U21 striker, sounds like a bargain to me. I've seen this kiddie play a couple of times and he always impresses me. I'd ignore any negative comments by Chelsea/Villa fans. At Villa Cole fell out with O'Leary in pre-season training, added to that, can anyone name me a successful striker under O'Leary, none that I can think of?!

I can understand Chelsea fans reserving judgment on Cole but it seems to me that he has never been given an opportunity to shine in the first team. He needs to be the "first" striker with someone like Keane or Defoe behind him, whenever he played for the Russians he was played either on his own or supoporting Drogba.

Let's face it, Cole won't be first or even second choice. But I don't see any draw back to having a young and hungry striker to fall back upon, he can only learn and improve alongside Berbatov and Keane. We currently have a transfer budget of approximatley £14 million, we already know our first choice strikers next season so what would be the point in spending £3-5 million on someone to sit on the bench, especially as we need two fullbacks and at least one left footed midfielder?

[AndyHarker]

I think spurs61 hit the nail right on the head, well said that man!!!

[Welsh Spur]

Bang on with that post.

[spurs61]

Cheers boys, think of it as a public service!;)

Having said all that, wonder how much Tevez would cost us?

[AndyHarker]

Too much, i heard a quote of £80 million, but that's only 'cus Che*ski are sniffing around him

[spurs61]

£80 million, that must be a misprint. Fact is that it's probably £2.50 to everyone other than Chelsea.

Shevchenko is quoted at £30 million, are Corinthians saying that they consider Tevez to be worth more than twice the Ukrainians value? I know he's good, I didn't realise he was that good!

[AndyHarker]

Don't quote me on that, and i can't remember where i heard it! (Reliable source aren't i) but he is meant to be the bee's knees! I never seen him play myself tho!

[Chinaman]

He is at least much more mobile than Rasiak.

[spurs61]

If we are going down the "don't quote me" route, I hear that we are in talks with Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton about possible moves, does this spell the end of Edgar or even Carra?

[fluke]

I think I would start supporting Orient if we sold Carrick. He is part of the spine of the team. I'd take Nolan over Davids on account of age and Nolans ability to score from distance. I thought United were really keen on him though?

[neilmcnab]

we must realise football is about a squad of players somtimes players go off the boil... get injured have things hapen.. that they dont perform at their best... most of u guys are assuming players never get injured or lose form or tire look at van nisylerooy ... what would u guys say to alex lucky he got 3rd choice striker saha eh...who is 1st choice...1st choice is who is on form... carlton cole hasnt got time on his hands thats y chelsea have to play the winning formula they have no time to test players or even give players a chance to show wat they can do...... if cole is sellin for 1m its a bargain guys... u dont have to be a mathametician to work that out...england international...scores goals...jus like u expect from a striker...you guys dont honestly think barnard is beter? cole 1st game 4 chelsea ... he was unhappy at not scoring at age 18... he duly scored on thhe next outing... cole is quality. and wont be 4th choice like u guys think....will push other strikers all the way... coys coys coys.....

[Chinaman]

Good business at 1 million. At today's prices, anybody who can lace his boots properly is going at half a million, so no wrong could come out of such a deal. As neilmcnab says, it is a squad thing; and unless you've got hot money to launder like the Ruskie, you can't have a squad of 25 superstars.

[monachello1392]

he is actualy quite a good player he was just wasted talent at chelsea and at 1mil bargain for back up striker

[shoot_ffs]

i'd be surprised if they really sold him for that. Rasaik went for 2m. somehow.

[Chinaman]

Maybe because of the Arnsen thing, they're willing to sell at cut price.

[fluke]

let's face it Chelsea don't have to do business like anyone else. Any other club suffering their kind of financial losses would be a squash club by now. He's surplus to requirements and they want rid, that's fine we'll have him.