This summer is looking grim

[ginola99]

With reports of

- Man utd having a war chest estimated to be between £100-200m
- Arsenal having another £70m available
- Liverpool's Champions League windfall and possible more
- The usual blue and light blue billionnaire bull sh!t

it has to be asked where does that leave us?

We all know that this league is stupidly competitive with money being the main instrument but this, if true, could our down fall. I don't want to exaggerate anything but I really am struggling to find anything that would make any good, let alone world class, players want to pull on our jersey because we're currently a laughing stock and, depending on who you believe, don't have much to spend.

As we search for manager 8492 the options in this area are beginning to dwindle too. It's been nice these few months seeing being linked with some of the biggest names in the 'resignation at the ready' list but even the likes of De Boer now seem like a massive coup as our stock takes its usual end of season tumble. It gets worse when you take a glance at the odds and see that David Moyes is the current favourite.

Whilst I wouldn't go as far as to say we're relegation candidates for next season it has to be said that we are a million miles away from our rivals and for me that even includes Everton, especially if they qualify for the CL. Our only hope to seeing a return to those Glory Glory days, or at least success, is the new stadium but we have the never ending saga of Archways Steel CPO.

In many ways I don't see it to be all that bad but at the same time when thinking about it I can't even see fives yards infront of me. If the above figures are true then we could be left rueing last summer for a very long time.

 

[kythg]

You say all that but don't consider that we ourselves spent £100 million last summer. Money doesn't buy you instant success, but with that in mind our signings should start to settle into the prem, and we should get in 2-3 important first team players (LB, CB, ST).

IF we get in a decent manager, we could start shaping into an interesting proposition. Man Utd may end up having another transitional season.

Knowing us, we'll probably sell Hugo and Jan and be left with fuck all and Tim Sherwood as manager, but let's see where we are come the end of the season before jumping any conclusions about where the teams around us are going to be.

If we focus on improving ourselves and our own results, we don't have to fucking worry about them anyway.

 

[spurs9]

With reports of

- Man utd having a war chest estimated to be between £100-200m
- Arsenal having another £70m available
- Liverpool's Champions League windfall and possible more
- The usual blue and light blue billionnaire bull sh!t

it has to be asked where does that leave us?

We all know that this league is stupidly competitive with money being the main instrument but this, if true, could our down fall. I don't want to exaggerate anything but I really am struggling to find anything that would make any good, let alone world class, players want to pull on our jersey because we're currently a laughing stock and, depending on who you believe, don't have much to spend.

As we search for manager 8492 the options in this area are beginning to dwindle too. It's been nice these few months seeing being linked with some of the biggest names in the 'resignation at the ready' list but even the likes of De Boer now seem like a massive coup as our stock takes its usual end of season tumble. It gets worse when you take a glance at the odds and see that David Moyes is the current favourite.

Whilst I wouldn't go as far as to say we're relegation candidates for next season it has to be said that we are a million miles away from our rivals and for me that even includes Everton, especially if they qualify for the CL. Our only hope to seeing a return to those Glory Glory days, or at least success, is the new stadium but we have the never ending saga of Archways Steel CPO.

In many ways I don't see it to be all that bad but at the same time when thinking about it I can't even see fives yards infront of me. If the above figures are true then we could be left rueing last summer for a very long time.

A positive way to look at it would be:

- Everton & Liverpool both have small squads and European football to deal with next year.
- Everton's main striker is on loan and they can't afford to but him.
- Everton have a further 2 players on loan that they will need to sign or replace.
- If Chelsea don't win anything this year, there will be more pressure on them and Man City to succeed which could get to their managers and players.
- Money doesn't guarantee success.
- We might hire a manager that can get the best of the hugely talented squad we already have.
- CPO might get sorted in the summer and stadium plans remain on schedule.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

We have an excellent squad that is easily at the top 4 level. We need to buy a starting LB, LW, and perhaps a CB. Fortunately we did our spending last window and they have had a year to acclimatize now.

We have one big priority: a top class manager. If we can get someone in who really knows what they're doing, then we can compete with the big boys. We are finishing 6th this season despite having two clowns as managers.

 

[jambreck]

With reports of

- Man utd having a war chest estimated to be between £100-200m
- Arsenal having another £70m available
- Liverpool's Champions League windfall and possible more
- The usual blue and light blue billionnaire bull sh!t

it has to be asked where does that leave us?

We all know that this league is stupidly competitive with money being the main instrument but this, if true, could our down fall. I don't want to exaggerate anything but I really am struggling to find anything that would make any good, let alone world class, players want to pull on our jersey because we're currently a laughing stock and, depending on who you believe, don't have much to spend.

As we search for manager 8492 the options in this area are beginning to dwindle too. It's been nice these few months seeing being linked with some of the biggest names in the 'resignation at the ready' list but even the likes of De Boer now seem like a massive coup as our stock takes its usual end of season tumble. It gets worse when you take a glance at the odds and see that David Moyes is the current favourite.

Whilst I wouldn't go as far as to say we're relegation candidates for next season it has to be said that we are a million miles away from our rivals and for me that even includes Everton, especially if they qualify for the CL. Our only hope to seeing a return to those Glory Glory days, or at least success, is the new stadium but we have the never ending saga of Archways Steel CPO.

In many ways I don't see it to be all that bad but at the same time when thinking about it I can't even see fives yards infront of me. If the above figures are true then we could be left rueing last summer for a very long time.

More than a bit melodramatic, fella.

We will have plenty of money to spend but, after the difficulties assimilating all the new players this season, we'll probably choose to spend it on only two or three signings. We could also have one or two youth graduates making a breakthrough.

We will / do have plenty of good options for new manager. Even if Spurs isn't as big a draw as Man Utd, it's still one of the top 20 managerial jobs in world club football. Whether Levy makes the right choice is another matter altogether.

We'll be nothing like relegation candidates. Why would you even mention it? We're 6th, in case you hadn't noticed. Not 16th. Twice as close to being top than we are to being in the relegation zone. And no, we're not "miles away from our rivals" either. And while some of them will be doing well to match their achievements this season, we really ought to be able to improve markedly.

Chin up.

 

[Spurz]

I rather have a grim summer and get surprised then a super summer and end up underwhelmed

 

[jambreck]

This thread:

 

[Spurger King]

As @Misfit said yesterday, the outlook is so bleak (or at least, not particularly optimistic) that it actually has quite a calming effect. For the first time in ages I feel at peace with the club, because my expectations have been lowered so far that they're starting to feel the heat of the earth's equator.

I'll concentrate on just cheering on the team, and not being shocked or angry if we lose to West Ham for the third time this season, or end up selling all our good players. I'm not going to waste my time thinking that we'll be a big club, or dare to dream only for those dreams to be inevitably crushed in the most painful ways (thank you Bayern).

I'll certainly miss being excited and nervous about every single game, due to the significance they have. I'll also miss that special feeling of knowing I support a team that includes players that are the envy of the world, as we play exciting, entertaining football. I can already feel myself devolving back to my late 90s era state (back when we had little to cheer, but still created a better atmosphere than we have done for several seasons).

 

[ginola007]

We have an excellent squad that is easily at the top 4 level. We need to buy a starting LB, LW, and perhaps a CB. Fortunately we did our spending last window and they have had a year to acclimatize now.

We have one big priority: a top class manager. If we can get someone in who really knows what they're doing, then we can compete with the big boys. We are finishing 6th this season despite having two clowns as managers.

Problem is: with Levy's record of sacking managers, what "top class" manager would want to come? After the firing of AVB, Brendan Rogers was quoted as saying he had dodged a bullet by not coming here. We had two "clowns" as managers simply because we couldn't attract any decent ones. Many may well view our club as a manager's graveyard. I pray I'm wrong, but I can't see the situation improving on this front. I am not a fan of TS, but one silver lining is that he gives youngsters a chance, and restores Ade to his best form. If the likes of Saldado and Lamela could achieve even a fraction of the form that brought them to us, we still could have a "decent" season no matter who is in charge. The top four may be too big an ask, though.

 

[jambreck]

Problem is: with Levy's record of sacking managers, what "top class" manager would want to come? After the firing of AVB, Brendan Rogers was quoted as saying he had dodged a bullet by not coming here. We had two "clowns" as managers simply because we couldn't attract any decent ones. Many may well view our club as a manager's graveyard. I pray I'm wrong, but I can't see the situation improving on this front. I am not a fan of TS, but one silver lining is that he gives youngsters a chance, and restores Ade to his best form. If the likes of Saldado and Lamela could achieve even a fraction of the form that brought them to us, we still could have a "decent" season no matter who is in charge. The top four may be too big an ask, though.

Brendan Rodgers was just saying shit to ingratiate himself to Liverpool fans. He joined a club with new owners that had sacked two managers in the space of a year - which gives the lie to the hogwash he spoke about turning down Spurs.

And to say that we only appointed AVB and then Sherwood because we couldn't attract anyone else is, frankly, hysterical nonsense.

 

[ginola007]

As @Misfit said yesterday, the outlook is so bleak (or at least, not particularly optimistic) that it actually has quite a calming effect. For the first time in ages I feel at peace with the club, because my expectations have been lowered so far that they're starting to feel the heat of the earth's equator.

I'll concentrate on just cheering on the team, and not being shocked or angry if we lose to West Ham for the third time this season, or end up selling all our good players. I'm not going to waste my time thinking that we'll be a big club, or dare to dream only for those dreams to be inevitably crushed in the most painful ways (thank you Bayern).

I'll certainly miss being excited and nervous about every single game, due to the significance they have. I'll also miss that special feeling of knowing I support a team that includes players that are the envy of the world, as we play exciting, entertaining football. I can already feel myself devolving back to my late 90s era state (back when we had little to cheer, but still created a better atmosphere than we have done for several seasons).

A little pessimistic. Nonetheless, you are right: we don't have what it takes to compete for the top four. Difference between Liverpool and ourselves is that Liverpool told Suarez he won't be let go under any circumstances, and was willing to pay him and back him up when he was creating shit load of problems for the club; whereas we let Bale go without too much of a fight. We spent the Bale money on seven players but unrealistically expect them to gel instantly. The same scenario is about to repeat itself with Lloris and Vertonghen itching to leave. I'd love Levy to tell these two exactly what Liverpool told Suarez, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[ginola007]

Brendan Rodgers was just saying shit to ingratiate himself to Liverpool fans. He joined a club with new owners that had sacked two managers in the space of a year - which gives the lie to the hogwash he spoke about turning down Spurs.

And to say that we only appointed AVB and then Sherwood because we couldn't attract anyone else is, frankly, hysterical nonsense.

Who then do you think we can attract?

 

[Spurger King]

Brendan Rodgers was just saying shit to ingratiate himself to Liverpool fans. He joined a club with new owners that had sacked two managers in the space of a year - which gives the lie to the hogwash he spoke about turning down Spurs.

And to say that we only appointed AVB and then Sherwood because we couldn't attract anyone else is, frankly, hysterical nonsense.

Yeah I'm not too worried about attracting managers. We're based in London, and pay our managers very well.

 

[jambreck]

Who then do you think we can attract?

We looked nailed on to attract LVG until Man Utd sacked Moyes.

There'll be plenty of other takers.

 

[jambreck]

A little pessimistic. Nonetheless, you are right: we don't have what it takes to compete for the top four. Difference between Liverpool and ourselves is that Liverpool told Suarez he won't be let go under any circumstances, and was willing to pay him and back him up when he was creating shit load of problems for the club; whereas we let Bale go without too much of a fight. We spent the Bale money on seven players but unrealistically expect them to gel instantly. The same scenario is about to repeat itself with Lloris and Vertonghen itching to leave. I'd love Levy to tell these two exactly what Liverpool told Suarez, but I'm not holding my breath.

This again???

Gaaaaah!!

 

[ginola007]

Yeah I'm not too worried about attracting managers. We're based in London, and pay our managers very well.

We had George Graham, Glen Hoddle, a French guy

We looked nailed on to attract LVG until Man Utd sacked Moyes.

There'll be plenty of other takers.

Oh yes, LVG. We were linked to many even more prestigious, but who did we actually get? Our managers for the past 15 years or so: George Graham, Glen Hoddle, David Pleat, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos, Harry, AVB and TS. Only Harry provided us with truly exciting football, but he was dismissed as well.

 

[ItsBoris]

United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all rich. Thankfully, not all of them are smart. In fact only Liverpool have really done smart business lately, and it wasn't that long ago that they purchased Andy Carroll for 35 million.

Unfortunately, we're probably the dumbest of the lot. But if we manage to change that, we don't need to have the money that they have if we can counteract that with intelligent scouting and signing of players to take us forward.

Remember that despite not having the financial resources of our rivals (though we aren't that far away), we're still one of the wealthiest clubs in world football. Clubs that are 5th-6th in Spain, Germany, and Italy don't make even close to the amount of money that we get as a result of being in the Premier League, yet clubs in those leagues have managed to assemble good teams with enviable players. If they can do it with those resources, then we can too imo, and on a greater scale. The Premier League TV deal is worth something like 2.2 billion euros, while the next closest ones are Italy and Germany at 900 million and 700 million.

 

[Bobbins]

With the Moyes incident and the likelihood of LVG to United, pretty much our last hope for someone to come in and drag us up to where we were a couple of seasons ago has gone.

I can't see any other manager who could possibly come in and have the required positive effect. We're not a top drawer club at all - there really isn't a queue of top managers desperate to be sacked at a moment's notice by Levy. There are a small handful of 'ok' managers who might be interested, and below that group is unmitigated dross. LVG was our only chance at eating from the top table.

Liverpool are gone. In one season, they've left us so far behind we might not catch them for another 5-10 years at least. They've already said they will massively recruit this summer with CL football - as we should've done when we had it, and had the chance to shut them out of the top 6 for good. United simply cannot and will not be as bad again. Arse, Chelsea and City will all spend big again. I expect us to be competing with Everton for 6th (which a few seasons ago would've got a lot of people quite excited, so probably not such a bad thing).

Luckily, it doesn't seem quite yet that any of the lower tier teams are able to push on and catch us up, so we shouldn't be looking at slipping out of the top 8 or so.

What I can see is players wanting to leave. Hugo, Vertonghen, and eventually, inevitably, Eriksen. We'll replace them with more players who see us as a stepping stone to the big clubs, and might see us having to aim slightly lower in future now that we won't realistically be able to offer any prospect of CL football.

It'll be interesting to see if any of our other new players up their performances next season. I'm almost resigned to Lamela never playing for us again, and my favourite striker of the last few years Soldado having been broken by us and probably never being the same player again, so I don't expect it to be one of those two. But Paulinho or Chadli have got the potential to push on from this season and do well, so there's that to look forward to. Hopefully they won't get too knackered having played in the WC.

I expect Levy to continue Project Player Exchange, making as many changes to the squad as is legally possible, mainly for the sake of doing it rather than to address any specific weakness. With any luck the inevitable transfer nonsense will see Danny Rose out of my club.

Sounds a bit doom and gloom but I think it's pretty realistic. Might be good for us too. Less stressful for all of us not having to worry about which new and exciting way we're going to get screwed out of the Champion's League at the last possible moment again. Might bring some people's expectations back down to earth again as well, possibly get rid of some of the tourists and plastics who have started to become regulars at the Lane and improve the atmosphere. It'd be nice to be able to go to a game and really enjoy myself with my mates again, not worrying about the importance of the result so much, just enjoying singing and supporting, whatever the result.

Not actually feeling too bad about being back down in the slightly lower positions for the next few years. In a way I don't think this summer will be that awful - it'll be painful every window until Hugo, Jan and Eriksen are gone, but if people keep their feet on the ground and don't expect too much, hopefully the press will eventually stop treating us like a top club (because we're not) and be a little more respectful and realistic in their views on us. And without really top players like the above, there'll be a hell of a lot less speculation about us every day, and less of the likes of Jamie Redknapp trying to sell our players out from under us.

Yeah, just feel a bit 'no worries' about it all really. Cool.

 

[Spurger King]

We had George Graham, Glen Hoddle, a French guy

Oh yes, LVG. We were linked to many even more prestigious, but who did we actually get? Our managers for the past 15 years or so: George Graham, Glen Hoddle, David Pleat, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos, Harry, AVB and TS. Only Harry provided us with truly exciting football, but he was dismissed as well.

We've definitely had some poor managers, but I don't think they have always been poor decisions...at the time.

Santini was highly rated at the time. I liked the idea of Ramos too, and could see the logic in bringing him in. AVB, despite what happened at the chavs, was regarded as one of the most exciting new managers in Europe. All three of them would have had a lot of options.

We're simply not a successful or rich enough club to bring in people like Klopp or Ancelotti, so we're after the next tier of managers. People laugh at us being linked with Moyes and Benitez (not saying I want either), but at the same time they are realistic candidates; ones that wouldn't join most clubs.

We won't be going for the likes of Owen Coyle.

 

[ginola007]

With the Moyes incident and the likelihood of LVG to United, pretty much our last hope for someone to come in and drag us up to where we were a couple of seasons ago has gone.

I can't see any other manager who could possibly come in and have the required positive effect. We're not a top drawer club at all - there really isn't a queue of top managers desperate to be sacked at a moment's notice by Levy. There are a small handful of 'ok' managers who might be interested, and below that group is unmitigated dross. LVG was our only chance at eating from the top table.

Liverpool are gone. In one season, they've left us so far behind we might not catch them for another 5-10 years at least. They've already said they will massively recruit this summer with CL football - as we should've done when we had it, and had the chance to shut them out of the top 6 for good. United simply cannot and will not be as bad again. Arse, Chelsea and City will all spend big again. I expect us to be competing with Everton for 6th (which a few seasons ago would've got a lot of people quite excited, so probably not such a bad thing).

Luckily, it doesn't seem quite yet that any of the lower tier teams are able to push on and catch us up, so we shouldn't be looking at slipping out of the top 8 or so.

What I can see is players wanting to leave. Hugo, Vertonghen, and eventually, inevitably, Eriksen. We'll replace them with more players who see us as a stepping stone to the big clubs, and might see us having to aim slightly lower in future now that we won't realistically be able to offer any prospect of CL football.

It'll be interesting to see if any of our other new players up their performances next season. I'm almost resigned to Lamela never playing for us again, and my favourite striker of the last few years Soldado having been broken by us and probably never being the same player again, so I don't expect it to be one of those two. But Paulinho or Chadli have got the potential to push on from this season and do well, so there's that to look forward to. Hopefully they won't get too knackered having played in the WC.

I expect Levy to continue Project Player Exchange, making as many changes to the squad as is legally possible, mainly for the sake of doing it rather than to address any specific weakness. With any luck the inevitable transfer nonsense will see Danny Rose out of my club.

Sounds a bit doom and gloom but I think it's pretty realistic. Might be good for us too. Less stressful for all of us not having to worry about which new and exciting way we're going to get screwed out of the Champion's League at the last possible moment again. Might bring some people's expectations back down to earth again as well, possibly get rid of some of the tourists and plastics who have started to become regulars at the Lane and improve the atmosphere. It'd be nice to be able to go to a game and really enjoy myself with my mates again, not worrying about the importance of the result so much, just enjoying singing and supporting, whatever the result.

Not actually feeling too bad about being back down in the slightly lower positions for the next few years. In a way I don't think this summer will be that awful - it'll be painful every window until Hugo, Jan and Eriksen are gone, but if people keep their feet on the ground and don't expect too much, hopefully the press will eventually stop treating us like a top club (because we're not) and be a little more respectful and realistic in their views on us. And without really top players like the above, there'll be a hell of a lot less speculation about us every day, and less of the likes of Jamie Redknapp trying to sell our players out from under us.

Yeah, just feel a bit 'no worries' about it all really. Cool.

You hit the nail on the head on many fronts. But then, the implication is that TS may be the ideal person at this point, because he gives youngsters like Bentaleb and Harry Kane a chance, and blend them into the team to minimize the negative effect of the eventual loss of Vert, Lloris and Erikson. Too bad we have come to this.