- Jan 31, 2013
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I imagine it will tie in with him being announced as our new captain
Hasn't Barcas transfer ban kicked in now?Wasn't he already on Barca's radar??
But yeah, of course, no club anywhere is safe from RM/Barca if they are adamant.
But poch will give us our best chance in the circumstance imo.
Hugo will probably do the same if we don't qualify.Well that's real commitment isn't it. Jan would like to play CL football with Spurs, but if we do not qualify, he may have to consider his options next summer. This man for our captain, NO THANKS. Give it to somebody who deserves it, Step forward Hugo...
Still better he sign it than not I supposeDon't want to be cynical, but all this contract will mean is that we'll receive a bigger fee when he's sold next summer.
I agree with this and am more concerned over Hugo a go going. A world class goalie is hard to find and even harder without CL. Cannot feel angry if he does go though as he has given us a fair crack of the whip.I expect both Lloris and Jan to leave us next summer.
We could do a lot worse than Vorn and Chiriches as their potential replacements to be fair.
Not sure Vorm is a particularly long-term option, but if Hugo had walked this summer I'd have been happy with him as a replacement for now.
Vlad I fear is playing himself out of a spot in the team every time he loses the ball while trying to do 15 Cryuff turn Rabona's inside the six yard box. I hate seeing him do it, because defensively he can be SO good - his timing and ability to not over-commit to a tackle and still come out with the ball is fantastic. He's pretty weak in the air but otherwise he's got the lot - he just has to stop taking so many risks. He ain't no Benny.
Three seasons a piece for Lloris and Verts without CL, yeah. Inevitable they'll leave if we don't get CL. Even then, if the RMs and Bayerns start sniffing that will only give us a stay of execution.
We have to be realistic with ourselves. In many ways, our ability to recruit talents such as Jan and Hugo is predicated on giving them a bigger forum to flaunt their abilities and prove themselves at a level that will get noticed by the handful of extremely rich clubs above us. Nothing wrong with that. As long as you are moving towards stabilizing yourself as a fixture of the CL. They help us move up the ladder and we help them get richer. Eventually, if we do it right, we get to a point where we aren't feeding many clubs because rather than being a platform clubs, we become a final destination.
We have not been moving forward lately, but hopefully we are back on the right path and the next Jan or Hugo will have a harder time leaving us.
I think our biggest risk is if at some point these players stop believing the 'ambition/project' speech we always seem to give them. We're always hearing in interviews after signings or new contracts about players being excited to be at the club and for the future etc, but now it's fairly clear we're some distance from a top 4 place, will that still be as effective?