As Chelsea prepares to spend £20million on Bayer Leverkusen’s André Schürrle, Spurs must brace themselves for tough times ahead. Despite not being guaranteed Champions League football, the Russian backed club are signalling their intent for next year early. Whether or not they finish in the top four will have no bearing on their ability to […]
Mo Money, Mo Options
As Chelsea prepares to spend £20million on Bayer Leverkusen’s André Schürrle, Spurs must brace themselves for tough times ahead. Despite not being guaranteed Champions League football, the Russian backed club are signalling their intent for next year early. Whether or not they finish in the top four will have no bearing on their ability to write the cheques that we can’t match.
We have been fortunate for the last few seasons to count ourselves amongst the great and the good of the Premier League, but for how much longer? Through astute purchases and two consecutive managers who have managed to galvanize us at points, we have carried the fight, but as the season winds down, we must not lose sight of the big picture.
[linequote]We have been fortunate for the last few seasons to count ourselves amongst the great and the good of the Premier League, but for how much longer?[/linequote]
Even securing Champions League qualification over Arsenal or Chelsea will not guarantee that a player will wear our shirt in 2013-14
Chelsea’s much revered attacking trio of Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard are all players who could have joined us, instead they opted for Chelsea because unlike us, the Blues aren’t affected by wage budgets, transfer fees and a fear of Financial Fair Play.
Schürrle, a decent player with potential is not signing for Chelsea’s starting XI, he will instead join Victor Moses and Marko Marin as squad players. Take a cursory glance over our bench at any time this season; do we have even one player of similar quality let alone three?
This season Spurs have managed, when injuries have been at their lowest, to string a decent run of results together. Through December to early March, when Europa League games were not taking their toll, we cruised into third, but the moment our schedule became heavy, our squad was unable to cope.
This isn’t Andre Villas-Boas’ fault, or even Daniel Levy’s, it’s a sign that unlike Chelsea we are unable to rotate quality for similar quality. Ponder for a moment our backup players Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Scott Parker, Kyle Naughton? These are decent players but would they get anywhere near the other top Premier League team’s starting XI?
Chelsea last night played their 60th game of the season, but were able to call upon two players who have captained England and a £50 million striker, all of whom never started the FA Cup Semi against Man City on Sunday. Therein lays the difference between us and them.
[linequote]Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Scott Parker, Kyle Naughton are decent players but would they get anywhere near the other top Premier League team’s starting XI?[/linequote]
We have to stay realistic and most importantly positive. Thanks to good management and a stable atmosphere we have capitalised on Liverpool’s fall from grace and last year the backroom chaos at Chelsea.
This season and last, with our first choice starting XI, we have shown on countless occasions that we do possess that something extra, but currently shorn of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon; we are good, but not great.
Manchester City arrives this weekend on the back of what has been a disappointing season. They are 2nd in the league and have only a FA Cup Final left to play for, that is what one billion pounds does to your seasons expectations.
At Spurs we can not compete on that level. We are a club that is sustainable and as our latest accounts show we are operating within our means. Great credit must go to management staff, both Redknapp’s and AVB’s that has seen us outperform teams who have either spent more, or paid more in wages.
As we lack the oligarch or Sheikh injecting a constant stream of money into us, we need to rely on AVB, a good scouting system and his charges doing something special on the pitch. However “Special” is not a quality that is on tap. Bale has on occasions done this, but you can’t rely on just one man, we need alternatives. Unfortunately though, alternatives cost £15 million upwards, not £6 million from Fulham.
Last summer the Spurs scouting and management staff pulled off some masterstrokes. We signed the Ajax captain, the French captain, a striker that had scored and assisted in double figures the previous year, but for some that wasn’t enough. What did they expect? Leo Messi? Radamel Falcao? Genetic clones of Alan Gilzean or Danny Blanchflower?
[linequote]We signed the Ajax captain, the French captain, a striker that had scored and assisted in double figures the previous year, but for some that wasn’t enough[/linequote]
We have to realise that there are very real budgetary constraints on us. Our stadium, our lack annual CL campaigns and boardroom mantra not become the next Leeds or Portsmouth. These are factors taken into consideration every transfer window, yes I want my club to spend, but not at the risk of its very existence.
Thanks to the draw at the Emirates on Tuesday night, CL qualification is back in our own hands. This is a fact that every Spurs fan should be proud of, we are competing on a playing field that isn’t close to be level, yet still come May we are in the mix. On Sunday let’s show City something that money can’t buy passion, belief and Love for The Shirt.
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
20 Comments
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18/04/2013 @ 1:50 pm
Our owner (Joe Lewis) is quoted as being worth £3.8 billion. Why does he never put his hand in his pocket. Why do Chelsea get the generous jews and we get the stingy ones? We are a selling club. If we has signed a decent striker in August or January we would have been assured of CL football now. Over the last two or three windows our ambitions have been limited to Nelson, Saha and Dempsey. I would see Lewis/Levy sell to a load of rich Arabs and us compete at the top level.
18/04/2013 @ 2:00 pm
While I agree that we haven’t capitalised in January windows to secure a decent striker. I don’t agree that out ambitions have been limtited to Nelson, Saha and Dempsey. Like the article quite correctly says, we’ve signed Vertonghen (the Ajax captain), Lloris (the French captain). But also the article quite correctly points out, and you’ve done well to highlight this, that some peopl ewill never be happy. I for one, am proud that we are running the football club as a ‘proper’ club, eve if it does mean we get hit with disappointments along the line. Would rather be a Yid than a Chav any day of the week.
18/04/2013 @ 3:11 pm
oh im sorry keith, i had no idea you knew all the ins and outs of our financial situation. I thought stuff like that is only known by our board members and bank manager but clearly i am wrong. Seeing as we are flush with money as you suggest then i absolutely agree, damn them for not spending it on better players. There i was thinking we didnt spend it because we didnt have it, what a mug.
Although Joe Lewis is indeed worth billions he doesnt own the club, ENIC do, so i guess he wants it to stand on its own two feet rather than have him bankroll it. Seems sensible to some but i agree with you, what an idiot, put your hand in your pocket old man !!!
18/04/2013 @ 1:52 pm
Bring in the Arabs!! COYS
18/04/2013 @ 2:06 pm
We are a selling club and our owners show no true commitment .
A lot of bull and spend peanuts year on (1m net spend each year. )
Levy done a crap job, no strikers, no no creativity .
Him and Lewis are there just for the money and hope to sell for mega profit.
They have no love for Spurs as us suckers.
18/04/2013 @ 3:12 pm
utter moron, get out of my club you idiot.
18/04/2013 @ 5:29 pm
The apathy that you show sums up what a fool you must be.
In two decades we have two half penny cups the worst
in our history since the Great Depression.
Are you levy’s son, or on the bankroll to sum up such stupidity.
18/04/2013 @ 6:33 pm
I take it you are one of the Boo boy’s. You forget that before Levy we were bankrupt (twice!) you idiot. Since Levy we are a consitant top 5 team rather than mid table, or worse. I will also remind you that this season we matched an unbeaten run that was the longest in our 130yr history! We did buy a striker, he just hasn’t repeated what he did last year. The same could have happend if we purchased a different one.
18/04/2013 @ 6:44 pm
We win nothing,
Spurs is a about Glory.
Not levy and Lewis bank balance.
The uneducated philistines pro Levites have been
brainwashed over many years of No Silver.
The ethos of the club is being destroyed by
people who are hand in glove with the owners
mentality.
Blanchflower’s words still remain true.
20/04/2013 @ 1:16 am
Are you telling me that you didn’t just absolutely KNOW that Adebayor was gonna be a total waste of space this year? Because I did, and everyone I spoke to at the time did. If we all knew, why didn’t Levy? I appreciate all he has done and is doing for the club but he isn’t infallible, and in doing that he seriously dropped a bollock as it was so foreseeable. As foreseeable as us being likely to miss out on CL again if we didn’t sign a striker in January, and if we do miss out don’t try and say that it was still the right thing to do, because you will be talking rubbish. Even Levy would admit he got it wrong.
19/04/2013 @ 11:30 am
Confirmed. You’re a complete moron with absolutely no understanding of the modern game.
19/04/2013 @ 8:02 am
Although i agree that we needed to have won more, please put into perspective which teams have been doing the winning. The PL title has gone to the clubs with the biggest spending power. MUFC, CFC, MCFC and a Jack Walker bankrolled Blackburn. AFC are the only other team to have collected the title, but since the arrival of the Billionaires they haven’t won it either.
The FA Cup? We have lost too many times in the semi’s but that has also been dominated by the big spenders (Portsmouth apart but even they bankrupted themselves chasing it.)
18/04/2013 @ 2:29 pm
We have some good players but not all great ones. I personally feel that it is time for some genuine quality year on year in the transfer market as we are not aiming as high or ambitiously as we could be. Yeh Yeh Levy is great, stable and all that jazz. I want us to be linked with 30+m playmakers / strikers and defenders each season. May be a long lost dream of mine but I would be made up if we sold to a middle eastern consortium as City did. Winning the title doesnt come from sustainability, anyone who disagrees is a mug.
18/04/2013 @ 2:42 pm
We are linked with 20mill + play-makers, but the point is they don’t come to us, they go where the money is. I would love for us to have signed Hazard, kept Luka and added a top class striker but the truth is we cant.
We perform exceptionally well given our constraints. LFC, MUFC, AFC, MCFC all have have greater revenue streams than us.
Regarding a consortium coming in and owning us, take note of what has happened at Blackburn, Birmingham, Portsmouth and pre Sheikh Mansour City . The grass isn’t always greener.
18/04/2013 @ 3:13 pm
absolutely spot on, well done !!
18/04/2013 @ 9:09 pm
“Winning the title doesnt come from sustainability, anyone who disagrees is a mug.”
I disagree… that must make me a mug.
The fact that Alex Ferguson took on United when they were in free fall and nearly got demoted, then built in sustainability over numerous years before finally winning numerous titles suggests that you Sir… are an utter stupid CUNT!
Look at all great sides (not the one off’s), sustainability is always a part!
19/04/2013 @ 8:05 am
Agree. Unless you have 1 billion to invest you need sound foundations. That is what we are working towards. A new stadium to increase revenue is the next logical step.
21/04/2013 @ 4:42 pm
MCFC seems little more than a billionaire’s play-thing. The oil money won’t last forever so neither will City at their current rate. The lavish spending would make for a fun ride, but it also yields petulance from top to bottom. COYS!
25/04/2013 @ 9:15 am
I fail to see the need of some people to harp on about how we failed to sign a top striker in the January window and how this had effected our season terribly.
a) Hands up all those who knew for definite that these mythical strikers were available and who they were
b) Hands up also all those who are privy to the financial affairs of Spurs and our ability to afford the price and wages of said ‘top strikers’.
Perhaps these same people would have been happy with another Saha.
The Summer break will bring the player/s we need. I trust Levy and AVB to do the right thing as, hopefully, most of us do!
30/04/2013 @ 10:54 am
“The summer break will bring the players we need”
“……. our ability to afford the prices and wages of ….. top strikers”
“I trust Levy and AVB to do the right thing”
Talk about the glass being half full. Last year everyone was talking about what a strong squad we had. By the end of this year where will we find ourselves? Just needing the odd signing or a complete rebuilding of the entire team?
Our window of opportunity to go to the next level is quickly closing. Take away Bale and Defoe’s pre christmas lucky streak this season and we would be nowhere. Next season without Bale and Champions league football but with the Europa league – what do you think our chances are?
Never mind signing a top striker in the Jan transfer market what about signing a good one before the start of the season? We would have already qualified for the Champions League – and would have therefore paid for said striker and maybe been able to keep Bale.
Too conservative off and on the pitch. I thought old ‘arry’ boy went because we needed to move forward. Doesn’t feel like it. More like lets spend a bit of money on a load of old tosh and loan out the cover we had the season before. Lets sign a world class keeper and bench him for grandad. Lets sign a footballing centre back and play him left back. Oh and I almost forgot …. what if Dawson had gone to Wolves? And Hudd to Stoke. Bleedin ell.
Bring back Harry …. let’s have a bit of F.R.R.A.LOT.
I Don’t trust em ….. not on this evidence.
And by the way I always support the boys on the pitch ….. and it’s painfull.