The Daily ITK Discussion Thread 1st December 2018

[thebenjamin]

The thing that perplexes me, slightly anyway, is that we should be a seriously attractive proposition now, and not just for young up and coming players, but seasoned pros as well.

We have come a long way in the last five years, playing a style of football that has most neutrals drooling over, and a manager who improves just about everyone he works with.

We have the long term infrastructure slotting into place with the new stadium/training facilities and the overall landscape surrounding the Club looks pretty as hell.

All we need is a few Quality additions to make that final step and we're potentially there.

Obviously it's never easy trying to improve a very good squad as it is, and I know we're hamstrung to an extent with the new stadium and what monies we're prepared to pay - although we'll never know the intricate detail on such - but I'm at a loss as to why we only ever hear negative snippets regarding potential signings.

Should we not be trying desperately to ride the crest of this wave before we're dismantled by our so called rivals?

We don't pay enough money. Really is no explanation other than that.

 

[Hercules]

This is where we find out what Poch and the club are made of

 

[Blackrat1299]

My understanding of the Rabiot situation based on what I've read and the ITK......

The expectation is that he will still go to Barca (JJ confirms via ITK), however, Barca came out yesterday stating there was no deal in place - which I personally found a bit odd. The suggestion also is that they don't want him AND De Jong but the latter would naturally cost a lot of money to sign whereas Rabiot is effectively on a free. With that said Rabiot's camp have been demanding a big signing on fee, intially 10m, now asking for 15m which has put Barca off a bit. They would offer him 10m per year in wages.

The player's preference is naturally Barca, however, Spurs have made their interest clear and will pay the player 8m per year in wages but with no signing on fee. Difference being that we would pay a fee to PSG to sign him in January whereas Barca would prefer to wait til summer. The player likes Spurs and if Barca pull out then he would be happy to move to us.

To my mind this all swings on what Barca decide to do. They haven't enjoyed dealing with Rabiot's mother and haven't liked the way they keep upping their demands. PSG want to deal with Spurs because we will pay a fee and they can move player on immediately, plus we have a good relationship with them on previous deals (Aurier & Lucas).

If Barca pull the plug (unlikely as it's still a good deal for them) then we might end up being the next best option for him (Herc's ITK). I guess the trick for them is if they sign Rabiot then they won't go for De Jong and he's very highly thought of and would potentially be their preferred choice between two players but De Jong will be very pricey.

He is quoted as saying 'We are not good enough for him'

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Seems like we're caught between a rock and a hard place. Our first team and squad are strong, meaning we're going after higher quality targets. Unfortunately, this puts us in direct competition with the likes of Barca et al, meaning we have a situation like the summer, where we refuse to skimp on quality (understandable) to avoid having an Nkoudou 2.0 situation.

The problem is that I can't see a way out of this. We can't compete with the stature nor the finances of these teams, so the only option is seemingly to accept that we can't attain the likes of De Jong or Ndombele so we don't waste our time, and go for youngsters instead; need to find some youngsters in the lower leagues and hope we strike lucky.

Are we? I’m just not sure that’s right. The ITK suggests we’re struggling - I do get it, but I worry that our scouting just isn’t good enough any more.

I get that it’s difficult for us to get the very best - whether they be established or even youngsters. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good buys out there.

I’m not going to name names cause I know this isn’t the thread, but our purchases have either faltered because we haven’t been bold, early enough, or seem second rate. Or we’ve decided against some players who really turned out to be pretty damn handy

There are excellent players out there who with coaching could be fantastic and I’m sure we’re an attractive club to many. But we need to smarter and bolder.

The ITK is again, while appreciates, far from encouraging

 

[Hercules]

The scouting is excellent! It is the rest that isn’t. My opinion on closing statement.

 

[Blackrat1299]

Sorry for dampeners. Aside from my first post yesterday regarding possible loan backs. I am told very firmly that our preferred targets have much different preferences, and are prepared to hold out for them. Both January, and in the summer.

It would appear that our stock is not as high as some would like.

 

[robertgoulet]

This where we find out what Poch and the club are made of

Get them to buy in to the program. Actually, this may well be a tell on Poch's plans as far as whether he's going to entertain Man U/Real this summer or not. If you see someone like Rabiot or another player who's had eyes on a bigger club sign with Spurs, then Poch has sufficiently convinced them to buy in to the program and that he's in for the long haul.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

The scouting is excellent! It is the rest that isn’t. My opinion on closing statement.

Which is gutting really. Surely that’s the most difficult bit!

We’ve got to be bold. It’s false economy scrimping on good players

 

[Primativ]

Man united had six Academy players in their multi cup winning team.

Barca was built on Academy kids too.

Yes, there are examples of it in history but it doesn't mean we have a golden generation coming through right now and I’d rather not bank on that as a feasible strategy to win titles.

The odd player coming through to supplement our squad is fantastic but stocking the first team squad with kids instead of going out to buy top tier talent will see us decline as a club not improve.

If I was to pick the best players at Spurs, only Kane came through the academy and is truly world class. He is an exception. Once in a generational talent. In fact, multi generations actually.

The rest of our best players are all foreign. What does that tell you?

 

[spud]

The scouting is excellent! It is the rest that isn’t. My opinion on closing statement.

Interesting point.

So we are aware of the up-and-coming players but have made mistakes in which we go for. N'Jie, N'Koudo and Janssen are clearly talented footballers who we thought would work for us but they didn't. Kante - who we were, by implication, equally aware of - went to Leicester. Predicting which talented footballer can develop and benefit your club / team is clearly not an exact science, and perhaps begs the question about who is evaluating the talent, character, potential and suitability of players.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

The scouting is excellent! It is the rest that isn’t. My opinion on closing statement.

My only question is whether they upgraded to FM19, or kept FM18 as it was "good enough"?

 

[Mr Pink]

It is starting to feel like groundhog day (window)

We have a transfer MO, that has served us well, but it comes to a point where need to identify key areas and get them sorted.

Of course we should always be scouring the market for the next Dele but it's hard to ignore what Liverpool have done, which is addressed two areas of weakness comprehensively.

It just feels like we'll never deviate from our MO, where now is the time we need to in order to keep all the great work we've done to date together.

But it comes back to the stadium and it's associated cost.

I'm still really optimistic about our direction, what Spurs fan wouldn't be, but would love the Club to make a real statement in the market. For Poch, the players and the fans.

What a feel good factor that would generate.

 

[SpartanSpur]

The scouting is excellent! It is the rest that isn’t. My opinion on closing statement.

Sounds about right. We need to put some faith in this scouting and go all out. It's what Liverpool did.

Although does seem like we are now shopping amongst the big boys which brings it's own set of problems. Barca and Madrid would usually let someone like De Jong move to a club like us first, but after struggling to sign players at good prices recently are now trying to cut out the middle man.

In hindsight we did very well in getting Sanchez.

 

[spursfan77]

This where we find out what Poch and the club are made of

Yep. Poch needs to persuade players. I can’t imagine him being bad at that though.

 

[Joeyboey]

In the league we’re obviously top 4 and have been for a short while but where are we within the football industry.
I’m so perplexed as to where we stand and how attractive we really are. On paper we have everything but we’re clearly not enough for the top tier players (Isco (obvs), Ndombele, De Jong) but then we also failed to signed from the Championship last summer too.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

Yep. Poch needs to persuade players. I can’t imagine him being bad at that though.

Until they ask him: "Will you be here next season?" And Poch responds: "You know me, I can't discuss rumours..."

 

[$hoguN]

It is starting to feel like groundhog day (window)

We have a transfer MO, that has served us well, but it comes to a point where need to identify key areas and get them sorted.

Of course we should always be scouring the market for the next Dele but it's hard to ignore what Liverpool have done, which is addressed two areas of weakness comprehensively.

It just feels like we'll never deviate from our MO, where now is the time we need to in order to keep all the great work we've done to date together.

But it comes back to the stadium and it's associated cost.

I'm still really optimistic about our direction, what Spurs fan wouldn't be, but would love the Club to make a real statement in the market. For Poch, the players and the fans.

What a feel good factor that would generate.

At some point the way we approach windows does need to change though. If we are serious of backing up the huge infrastructure investment We do need to be willing to match other clubs. Otherwise we have to accept trophies won’t come our way

 

[Ron Burgundy]

At some point the way we approach windows does need to change though. If we are serious of backing up the huge infrastructure investment We do need to be willing to match other clubs. Otherwise we have to accept trophies won’t come our way

It feels like this is the roadblock

How different were we to Liverpool 12 months ago?

They went out and bought top class players and look at them now

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

It feels like this is the roadblock

How different were we to Liverpool 12 months ago?

They went out and bought top class players and look at them now

They over-paid, relative to the market. You can argue that they did not over-pay, since they are leading the league - but we would have to take the same approach - and pay what teams are asking, and pay wages that players are asking.

We would also need to sell one of our key players to fund those transactions.

None of those scenarios seem likely right now.

 

[Zippy1980]

He is quoted as saying 'We are not good enough for him'

He is not good enough of us in my opinion. I rate Skipp higher.