The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - DEADLINE DAY 31st August 2021

[ItsBoris]

Welp...groundhog day again

 

[THFCSPURS19]

The success of a transfer window should always be judged after 6-12 months.

In 2019, we were over the moon when signing Gio and Ndombele under Poch and the consensus at the time was that Sessegnon would be a major talent for the future. Heck, even Jack Clarke was talked up on here as a promising star. Yes, we had missed out on a striker but generally, the mood was positive - Poch had to a large extent been backed with quality, exciting players that he wanted. Fast-forward 3 years and we have yet to see a consistently good Gio and, Ndombele - bar the odd mercurial moment - has been a disaster that we have been actively looking to shift; there is little good to come from Sessegnon and Clarke - well, bloody heck!

Under Jose this time last year, people saw the logic in the acquisitions of Doherty (an experienced RB to usurp Aurier)...everyone heralded the shrewd purchase of Reguilon, PEH, and Rodon and went crazy over Bale and nodded approvingly of Vinicius and even Hart. The reality has been that 3 of those signings were a disaster, Rodon has hardly featured and even Bale could only get fit/motivated for 1/3 of the season. Only Reguiolon and PEH can be considered some form of success right now.

This year we had an absolutely chaotic start to the summer as we frantically searched for a new manager. Paratici came in and saw the magnitude of the job at hand - a bloated, tired squad and was tasked with this, now famous 'painful rebuild' only one that was 2 years over due. Whilst we all knew that almost position required refreshing, the key areas lay at the back - with Toby departing that problem was even more stark. To compound matters, Kane was causing trouble and whilst the position from Spurs was hardened, it would have been tough to turn away a mega offer - one that would help redesign the squad. So in the backdrop of all of this. we set to work...

Rather than analyse player by player all the in's and outs what I would say is there at least seems to be strategy in place. Buy young footballers with big potential upsides. Romero and Emerson may not cut it, Gil could be a Jose Dominguez regen and, Sarr may turn out to be an overrated prospect but...if in 2 years they do work out as hoped, we could have played an absolute blinder of a window. We can't fix all problems in 2 months and hopefully this initial work will make the job in subsequent windows much easier.

I am not saying it has been great, nor am I crying into my beer. Nuno, fortune and time will help define whether this summer has been a poor or inspired one. Let's face it, we all knew that certain clubs would rely on their largese to spend as if the pandemic never happened. We can not ignore the reality of the finanicial impact of the pandemic coupled with the enormity of the rebuild at hand. By all means I understand and share concerns but it may be wise to take a more balanced approach and reserve full judgement until the end of the season.

Deffo agree with some of this. Last summer window, we addressed pretty much every area that we needed to position-wise (although we could have done with a better CB) + signed Bale, and almost everyone was very happy.

And then we were wank for most of the season.

 

[Spurslove]

Why weren't we all over odsonne edouard for £15 million? Is someone going to try and tell me that Levy wouldn't have sanctioned that? He is going to score a lot more goals this season than Traore that's for sure.

Well hang on a minute here. Traore is a winger/wide midfielder and Eduarde is a striker. We all know the comparative difficulty levels between the EPL and the Scottish league, so we'll just have to wait and see how he fares down here, but I'm not convinced about him.

But you're right about Traore having a pretty terrible record for goals and assists and for the £50 million Wolves are asking for him, I'd expect much more of a player than he is.

.

 

[WhiteStripe]

We're a few severe season ending injuries to key players away from being mid table quality

…..

 

[spursfan77]

Deffo agree with some of this. Last summer window, we addressed pretty much every area that we needed to position-wise (although we could have done with a better CB) + signed Bale, and almost everyone was very happy.

And then we were wank for most of the season.

That was more the manager than the players though. I was happy with the summer transfer window last year. I thought we ticked a lot of boxes less getting rid of the players we needed to out the door. This year we have moved some of them on. I just wanted a bit more attacking quality brought in.

 

[chrisd2k]

Why weren't we all over odsonne edouard for £15 million? Is someone going to try and tell me that Levy wouldn't have sanctioned that? He is going to score a lot more goals this season than Traore that's for sure.

So a goal then?

 

[tony0379]

Any free agents out there worth a punt if Levy has hidden the cheque book?

Aurier in an hour or so

 

[Tucker]

That was more the manager than the players though. I was happy with the summer transfer window last year. I thought we ticked a lot of boxes less getting rid of the players we needed to out the door. This year we have moved some of them on. I just wanted a bit more attacking quality brought in.

I think I’d have been happy with simply getting a back up striker in. Really think we’ve shot ourselves in the foot not getting one.

 

[GobbyJJ]

So are we really not signing anyone?

#wetried

 

[THFCSPURS19]

That was more the manager than the players though. I was happy with the summer transfer window last year. I thought we ticked a lot of boxes less getting rid of the players we needed to out the door. This year we have moved some of them on. I just wanted a bit more attacking quality brought in.

Deffo agree with you, just saying that even when you address everything, it doesn't guarantee a good season. And to reiterate I'm not defending the lack of an attacker, as I've made clear earlier in the thread.

 

[Spurslove]

I think you'll find that if and when anything goes wrong on here, it's Levy's fault. I think it's a question of 'We'll give him a fair trial and then we'll hang him'.

.

...and the reactions I got confirm what I said 100%.

.

 

[Kuryakin]

He was second choice at Celtic….

No he's not lol.

 

[sbrustad]

For all the people in the "get a backup striker in at any cost no matter how shit" re: the Éduoard posts in here.. Have we all forgotten about Dane Scarlett? He's been in and around the first-team squad, on the bench in the league and starting ECL matches.

I'd much rather have a massive talent, homegrown no less, on the bench than Odsonne fucking Édouard at 15 million.

 

[philip]

Why weren't we all over odsonne edouard for £15 million? Is someone going to try and tell me that Levy wouldn't have sanctioned that? He is going to score a lot more goals this season than Traore that's for sure.

Cos we're learned the hard way that signing non top-class players leaves us with deadwood we can't move on.

 

[easley91]

That was more the manager than the players though. I was happy with the summer transfer window last year. I thought we ticked a lot of boxes less getting rid of the players we needed to out the door. This year we have moved some of them on. I just wanted a bit more attacking quality brought in.

So if it was more the manager than the players, why are those same players being ripped apart again and again? There's a certain few who come to mind that no matter what they do, they'll be hated and wanted out of the club.

 

[guy]

I think I’d have been happy with simply getting a back up striker in. Really think we’ve shot ourselves in the foot not getting one.

Even vinicius on loan again would have done, he went to psv for the season

 

[wiggo24]

Embarrassing bid tbh

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

Aurier going & The D Word remains.

Life truly fucking hates me.

 

[stormfly]

Where were we two years ago?

CL final and 4th to now accepting 5th or 6th.

I know the pandemic has effected things but I would hate for fans to accept being 'thereabouts'

We were riding high and hitting the form of our lives whilst the other teams were struggling. Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd have now got their acts together. They pay the bigger transfer fees and the bigger wages. We are always going to be the 5th or 6th best club if the other 4 perform like they should do. We just have to hope for a few of them to dip in form again.

 

[NinjaTuna]

Even vinicius on loan again would have done, he went to psv for the season

Best of luck to him. Seems like a nice bloke and will probably do well in the Eredivisie