The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - The Weekend Edition 3/4 August 2013

[Parkie]

The paradox is that Gareth Bale is now a player that should be playing at the highest level, competing to win the Champions League, and Spurs will potentially only get to that level by selling him. Good luck to the boy.

WILL. NOT. BELIEVE. THIS.
With the players we are buying and the squad we are assembling and the manager we have, keeping Bale would give us the potential. It would give us far more than potential as major holes (striker for one) that have held us back in previous seasons where the difference has been a couple of points over an entire season have been filled. Keep Bale, top 4 is a minimum expectation. Bale leaves, there is still a chance but I would be less confident.

 

[ross the saint]

Agree with Indisguise there, there could be justification to every one of those points that suggest he is leaving.

Bottom line is STILL that we don't know.

I think people are starting to read too much into everything. Although I am firmly in the camp that has accepted that he will be gone, so if he stays it will be a bonus.

 

[Mullers]

Beaten to it by everybody.

 

[Gib14]

Have I missed something? I don't see anything in the ITK read only, has Bale said he wants to leave?

And Mer Fantastik made a great point yesterday "One thougt, if Bale was on the market why wouldn't we invite PSG, Monaco, City, Chelsea etc to a bidding war?
It is very odd that there is only one bidder in the market"

PSG and Monaco could probably pay it all up front

 

[only1waddle]

Beaten to it by everybody.

I was more concerned we were on the same wavelength

 

[13VanDerBale13]

A lot of people saying Lamela but the ITK on him is very weak at best and doubtful Roma will sell.

Yea, but they are about to sign Gervinho = he has to come

 

[ross the saint]

And Mer Fantastik made a great point yesterday "One thougt, if Bale was on the market why wouldn't we invite PSG, Monaco, City, Chelsea etc to a bidding war?
It is very odd that there is only one bidder in the market"

PSG and Monaco could probably pay it all up front

It has struck me as odd that no-one else has come in for him.

As far as we know. Maybe others have, but are just going about it in a gentlemanly fashion.

 

[fatpiranha]

The press have it all lined up. Bale to Real Madrid followed by Suarez and then Man Utd buy Ronaldo. Let's screw with their plans. Levy needs to tell RM to do one and go for the premiership title instead. If Bale stays i'm confident that we will get CL football next year at the very least ahead of a Ronaldo-less Man Utd and a Suarez-less Liverpool and Arsenal. Sell Bale and we may well be looking at 5th again and miss out on £35M worth of CL.

 

[arthurgrimsdell]

I love the optimism involved boys, but I have to say, outside of the hallowed ITK thread, you could only conclude that he is off this summer.

1) The fact he doesn't travel to Monaco
2) The fact he hasn't come out and publicly committed himself to WHL even just for another season
3) The fact that EVERY newspaper in the land, broadsheet or tabloid has reported a desire to leave (which presumably comes from his camp)
4) The fact that in a the wake of a serious bid from RM neither DL nor AVB have spoken on the subject
5) The fact that his holiness JJetset hears he will be off
6) I'm sure there's a sixth

Sorry to say it but there seems to be a strong case of wishful thinking around here.

Really there's no need to fret. He's been with us six years already, we've seen him transform into one of the top 3 players in the world and since he blew away Inter so dramatically in the Champs League, he's consistently given us something to smile about and be proud of culminating in last season when he just blew the league away.

If he really wants to leave we should respect it, get the most of out of his transfer and move onwards and upwards.

Don't feel bad when he leaves just remember all the times he made us cheer and whoop and say thank you for the memories Gareth, to us you'll always be a Yid.

Oh and cheers for the world transfer fee

I, for one, am waiting until we get some information rather than propaganda.

Your point 1 is covered by the fact that Bale is injured.
Your point 2 is contradicted by the fact that he has come out and said that he's happy to stay at Tottenham, AVB has said he's not for sale and Levy has said the same. Furthermore none of those people have come out and said anything different to that in light of changing circumstances as one might expect if the circumstances had indeed changed.
Your point 3 is covered by the fact that every news outlet in the country is regurgitating the same Spanish-based propaganda.
Your point 4 is as incorrect as your point 2. All that can be said is that they have not reiterated what they have already said on a regular basis. This could be for a number of reasons including boredom and irritation.
Your point 5 is covered by the fact that JJetset has contradicted himself using his other incarnation of LLM.
Your point 6 marks your desperation.
Bale may go. He may stay. I don't know. You don't know. Harry Redknapp doesn't know. Only Bale and Levy might know for sure, and we can't even be sure of that.

 

[GlennHoddle]

I am resigned to Bale going, and as much as I loved watching him in a Spurs shirt, instinct tells me that he is not in the Ronaldo and Messi class and £90M+ is just way too much to turn down, I am more excited at the prospect of a team lining up like the following ...
Lloris

Walker Vertonghen Kaboul Coentrao

Paulinho Sandro Dembele

Chadli/Lennon Soldado Lamela

Addition of creative midfielder & one more striker.

I know we need to consider Bale's commercial impact, positioning us as a global brand and all the other stuff talked about on here. But that looks like a youthful powerful side that will physically dominate sides, just lacking the unexpected that Bale gave us. Posters on here who made the point about how abject we looked last season without Bale are 100% right, but I felt this was a combination of not replacing VDV or Modric to unlock the door and sometimes others would stand back and wait for Bale to deliver his magic, it became a bit like the kid in the playground all always had the ball, others not needed to win the game (I am in no way dismissing Bale as anything but a truly wonderful player), players like Sigurdson actually stood up more when Bale was not in the side.

Looking at last season from an on the field football sense, and what the impact of losing GB will have on this season, some points to note
Lloris - 2nd season in league
Kaboul back in defence - will provide alot more stability
Verts - 2nd season in league - again should provide alot more stability to defence and will become even better
Walker - some mares last season, hopefully will have learned lessons
Left Back - was a bit of a problem last season, itk suggests mgt looking to improve on this position
Sandro's return - will be immense and provides the hard work and guile we need in central midfield
Paulinho - difficult to see if he will hit the ground running, but having Sandro should def help (no matter, will be an improvement on Thudd)
Dembele - could become alot more influential, he is v creative, and v skillful, so can see him becoming the player to open up these blanket defences running at them, think he suffered last season with the uncertainty and change in our midfield and had to play alot deeper as a result
Lennon - keep playing as you are
Chadli - haven't seen enough of him to comment, but posters seem excited by him
Soldado - finally a proper world class striker we can all take to our hearts, will get goals
Ade - can he have such a terrible season again if he stays?
Defoe - like Ade surely he will improve on last season

Add in players like Dawson, Sig, Andros, Carroll and so with or without Bale, we're not far off
Without Bale, we just need the other players to step up this season which i don't doubt they will
Add 1/2 quality players (wide cover/LB) and we'll still be strong enough
With Bale, happy days, shows club has real steel to a worldwide audience and people will sit up and take notice

 

[mabizela]

I still don't think Bale will be sold. The last we've heard is that he won't be sold and I think Levy will stand by this. AVB has pretty much said in every interview that he's not for sale. Will look very bad on us if we give in this season.

 

[SteveH]

Agree with Indisguise there, there could be justification to every one of those points that suggest he is leaving.

Bottom line is STILL that we don't know.

I think people are starting to read too much into everything. Although I am firmly in the camp that has accepted that he will be gone, so if he stays it will be a bonus.

A rare glimpse of common sense on this subject.

Real are just besotted with our Gareth. What's really worrying for Gareth is the pressure the Real fans will put him under - the are very unforgiving.

 

[Sarsipius]

1 - He is injured
2 - Our policy is not to comment on rumour
3 - They are a business and need to sell copy..
4 - Our policy is not to comment on rumour, and there is no actual proof of a bid being made yet.
5 - Against the grain of other ITK, good or bad news, pinch of salt required, none of us know what GB is thinking or feeling.
6 - he love chicken badge

edit:beaten to it by Indisguise

That's fine dude, we could argue these points all day but it still wouldn't affect the outcome of this transfer story.

Really I'm just saying that we shouldn't try to convince ourselves of something that may or may not come to pass and was offering some counter points to the 'Gareth's going nowhere' debate, which seems to be the accepted line around here. As was pointed out in the previous critique of my post, JJetset has said only a few people know what is really going on, which I'm sure is actually true of most transfers, especially such high profile ones as this. If it happens that he does leave it will just make the acceptance harder.

I'm staying open minded on this one, but trust me when I say I'd love it as much as the next Spur if he did stay for another season (or more!).

 

[gibbospurs]

All of what you have said is sense, until this part.

I cannot see them bidding more than £60m TBH.

Unless Ronaldo is off to Yanited.

If we sell him for that I would hate levy! He is worth more than that to us. Whether he is worth that much as a player is regardless. He has 3 years on his contract. Make him stay and sell next year on an open bidding war.

 

[WorthATry]

And Mer Fantastik made a great point yesterday "One thougt, if Bale was on the market why wouldn't we invite PSG, Monaco, City, Chelsea etc to a bidding war?
It is very odd that there is only one bidder in the market"

PSG and Monaco could probably pay it all up front

How do you these teams haven't contacted Bale's agent and been told he only wants to go to Madrid? What would be the point of bidding if this was the case?

 

[SpartanSpur]

I genuinely don't get all this exciting times if Bale leaves opinion such as that in the scout info. Maybe it's part of a coping mechanism but it's really gonna be trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

I'd much rather keep Bale and sign a LB than add 4-5 more players. Here are the many reasons for this:-

- It's not like there are enough weak areas in our first XI that can make a significant improvement apart from depth. After LB, LF is the only weak position for me. I do think Chadli could be a suprise package though.
-Depth is great but we have already built some this season and although it should help our consistency we are likely going to begin with a weaker first XI. (Than on this day)
-LB and CB should be doable from (non Bale) outgoings alone
- Lamela looks bloody fantastic but would currently probably be a downgrade on Bale. Could turn out better but could struggle
-No guarantees we spend all the money or manage to get the players we want at sensible prices. Concerns already when JJ mentioned Soldado as one of his replacements (not having that!)
-ANOTHER transitional season! This is a big deal.

I'm hopeful we'll use the funds well and improve overall but until the Bale deal becomes official (looking that way) I'm not gonna look forward to plan B with excitement.

 

[smalltownhero]

Wow I hope Levy has more backbone than some of you (I'm putting it down to saturday morning hangovers).

This is RM tactics wear them down through rumours in the press or wherever, tell them the figures involved and who they can spend it on to make it seem 'better' for the team in the long run.

If you don't want Bale to go then some of you need to man up. Tactics for selling are not just club to club but the fans play a big role in it as well - alienate them and the team is left with little choice but to sell. Look at Modric last year, Suarez this year.

Hold firm fellow SCers and don't let the bastards wear you down

 

[Greenspur]

Think we have to be careful about who we look to move on at the moment. Sounds silly because we'd like to see the back of a number of players such as Parker, Hudd, BAE (and for me Defoe), but with Bale looking more and more likely, we definitely need to keep a degree of stability and a bit of Premier League 'know-how'!

And people worrying about freeing up wages - no need. If Bale goes, coupled with those who have already gone (Bentley, Gallas) and now Dempsey (who'd have been on at least 50k), all potential signings will be covered easily. It's not like the players we've been linked to are already on a 100k. People like Lamela, Chichriches, Coentrao are nowhere near that.

Also, weren't we planning to give Bale something like 150,000 per week? There must have been a contingency there for that. So that's more money available for wages.

 

[pablo73]

Re Bale, I think there is some serious burying of heads in sand going on. I was reasonably confident that he would stay for one more year until AVB's demeanour and rhetoric completely changed when answering questions about Bale. He went from stating we would not sell Bale for any amount or under any circumstances to saying, 'so sorry, I can't comment on speculation' and looking pretty downbeat about it. I don't think that's a coincidence and if the same situation was occurring at another club I think we'd all see the situation for what it is. Tabloids will just regurgitate Marca's bilge but the BBC and pretty much all the broadsheets have said he wants to go, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't state that in black and white without very solid sources in the Bale camp. The only scenario I can now see him staying is if Real can't/won't stump up the cash.

 

[tiger666]

Also, weren't we planning to give Bale something like 150,000 per week? There must have been a contingency there for that. So that's more money available for wages.

There was a fair bit of ITK about giving Bale a new contract yes. Was also something from the Goat about a new contract for Sandro. Hope that's still being taken care of.