Were the transfer deadline day bids a PR stunt?

[pablo73]

Sorry to hark back to this, but I am referring to the deadline day bids for Rossi, Aguero, Negredo & Llorente (I am forgetting anyone), all of which would have smashed our transfer record.

I was suspicious at the time as the bids were made at a point when it would have been all but impossible to complete any of the deals. If we had been serious, surely we would have lined up any one of these players with a big bid as soon as this transfer window opened. I'm not saying we would have necessarily got them at that point, if at all, but surely that would have been the logical thing to do had the initial bids been serious.

It just smacks to me more than ever of being a big pr stunt to be able to say to the fans 'well you can't say we didn't try.' Perhaps I am being too cynical and I will happily change my mind if we chuck in a £30 million plus bid for any of these players over the next few weeks but I can't see it. Other than a few hours before the deadline when we know it won't happen, obvously.

 

[brett.spurs]

I think so.

Personally I don't think we have anywhere near as much money as most would like to think.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Didn't Villareal confirm that we made a 35m bid? If they did then it was more than a PR stunt. Levy isn't the sort of guy to make a 35m bid for someone without having worked out whether it is affordable and he certainly wouldn't make a 35m bid for someone that he didn't want if there was any risk that the bid would be accepted.

So it was a bid that came too late after a window of dithering, but I don't think it was 'a PR stunt'.

 

[kaz Hirai]

considering we didnt bother again and we are quickly approaching mid july makes me think it was too.
from the looks of things we are happy for Rossi to sign for Juve without even lodging a bid

i know people will say its too early but im already resolved to the fact that we will not be signing any big name 20 million pus striker. would not at all be shocked to see us start with crouchy in a mere 33 days time

 

[brett.spurs]

Like these laughable claims that 3x £20m-£30m players are set to walk through the door, seriously some people need to get real. You only need to look at our signings over the past 5 windows and our recent free/cheap transfer targets to see we're not exactly flush right now.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I don't believe it was a stunt and I am disappointed that some people have such a low opinion of Levy.

 

[Mr Pink]

I think a lot of people are missing the point...it may not have been a deliberate stunt, but how likely was a massive deal, like any of those reported, going to go through with so little time.

Thats what I took from it anyway, if you have thought about spending that sort of money, and Levy would think about it for sure :grin:, why would you leave it to very last second when you know Clubs like Villarreal wouldn't sell without having time to find a suitable replacement and also know that so little time would make it difficult to pull off.

The time factor should tell everybody what they need to know...a half hearted attempt to show ambition, too little to late.

 

[pablo73]

Didn't Villareal confirm that we made a 35m bid? If they did then it was more than a PR stunt. Levy isn't the sort of guy to make a 35m bid for someone without having worked out whether it is affordable and he certainly wouldn't make a 35m bid for someone that he didn't want if there was any risk that the bid would be accepted.

So it was a bid that came too late after a window of dithering, but I don't think it was 'a PR stunt'.

If we were prepared to bid 35 million for Rossi and similar figures for others and it wasn't a publicity stunt, we must have really, really wanted them. Is that fair? If so, surely we would have got something lined up for when this window opened. I just don't buy it at all.

 

[pablo73]

I think a lot of people are missing the point...it may not have been a deliberate stunt, but how likely was a massive deal, like any of those reported, going to go through with so little time.

Thats what I took from it anyway, if you have thought about spending that sort of money, and Levy would think about it for sure :grin:, why would you leave it to very last second when you know Clubs like Villarreal wouldn't sell without having time to find a suitable replacement and also know that so little time would make it difficult to pull off.

The time factor should tell everybody what they need to know.

That is indeed my whole point

 

[talkshowhost86]

If we were prepared to bid 35 million for Rossi and similar figures for others and it wasn't a publicity stunt, we must have really, really wanted them. Is that fair? If so, surely we would have got something lined up for when this window opened. I just don't buy it at all.

Like I said I think we timed it badly. I don't think we timed it badly deliberately.

The VdV transfer showed how quickly a transfer can go through. If levy wasn't happy spending the 35m he wouldn't have made a bid.

For a board that largely sees our chairman as 'stingy' I'd be very surprised if people believe that he was prepared to take such a daft risk with 35m.

 

[Mr Pink]

Like I said I think we timed it badly. I don't think we timed it badly deliberately.

The VdV transfer showed how quickly a transfer can go through. If levy wasn't happy spending the 35m he wouldn't have made a bid.

For a board that largely sees our chairman as 'stingy' I'd be very surprised if people believe that he was prepared to take such a daft risk with 35m.

Thats a bad example, we had already held talks with Madrid prior to the last minute, and they were desperate to get rid at the eleventh hour - the fee tells us that.

 

[brett.spurs]

Kyle Naughton £4m
Kyle Walker £4m
Peter Crouch £9m
Sebastien Bassong £8m
Niko Kranjcar £2.5m
Younes Kaboul £5m
Sandro £6m
William Gallas £0
Rafael Van Der Vaart £8m
Steven Pienaar £3m
Giuseppe Rossi £35m
Brad Friedel £0

 

[Mr Pink]

Kyle Naughton £4m
Kyle Walker £4m
Peter Crouch £9m
Sebastien Bassong £8m
Niko Kranjcar £2.5m
Younes Kaboul £5m
Sandro £6m
William Gallas £0
Rafael Van Der Vaart £8m
Steven Pienaar £3m
Giuseppe Rossi £35m
Brad Friedel £0

yup - spot the odd one out :grin:

 

[talkshowhost86]

Thats a bad example, we had already held talks with Madrid prior to the last minute, and they were desperate to get rid at the eleventh hour - the fee tells us that.

Equally Villareal could have been gobsmacked by a 35m offer and rushed it all through. Transfers can happen very quickly in football and Levy knows that as well as anyone else.

I just think that it is a tremendous leap of imagination to think that Daniel Levy, a very experienced and very successful businessman would play fast and loose with £35m just for a publicity stunt. We're not talking about an Abramovic or a Sheikh Mansour here. For those guys they can spunk 35m away and not really care if it goes wrong (see Fernando Torres and Mario Ballotelli). Levy I'm sure would have needed endless amounts of approvals from various people before sanctioning a 35m bid for anyone at anytime. If he did it as 'a publicity stunt' I reckon he'd be out on his ear fairly swiftly.

 

[mattyspurs]

Equally Villareal could have been gobsmacked by a 35m offer and rushed it all through. Transfers can happen very quickly in football and Levy knows that as well as anyone else.

I just think that it is a tremendous leap of imagination to think that Daniel Levy, a very experienced and very successful businessman would play fast and loose with £35m just for a publicity stunt. We're not talking about an Abramovic or a Sheikh Mansour here. For those guys they can spunk 35m away and not really care if it goes wrong (see Fernando Torres and Mario Ballotelli). Levy I'm sure would have needed endless amounts of approvals from various people before sanctioning a 35m bid for anyone at anytime. If he did it as 'a publicity stunt' I reckon he'd be out on his ear fairly swiftly.

Spot on, we have a board, with shareholders that Daniel Levy has to get approval from. He would not just go off on a whim on the last day of the window with 35m in his sky rocket offering it to all and sundry if it had not been serious.

Some of you guys, seriously, I wonder if you live in the real world or not.

 

[pablo73]

Spot on, we have a board, with shareholders that Daniel Levy has to get approval from. He would not just go off on a whim on the last day of the window with 35m in his sky rocket offering it to all and sundry if it had not been serious.

Some of you guys, seriously, I wonder if you live in the real world or not.

If that is the case then did he get approval for all 4 bids and what if all 4 clubs had accepted? Or do you reckon it was only the Rossi one that was genuine and the rest were media bollocks? I haven't seen any of those other clubs independently verify the bids but they certainly weren't denied and I'm not really sure why anyone would make it up either. Again, if we were dead serious about the bid (which we mst have been for that money) why weren't we knocking on their door(s) with a wheelbarrow full of cash as soon as the season ended?

 

[pablo73]

Kyle Naughton £4m
Kyle Walker £4m
Peter Crouch £9m
Sebastien Bassong £8m
Niko Kranjcar £2.5m
Younes Kaboul £5m
Sandro £6m
William Gallas £0
Rafael Van Der Vaart £8m
Steven Pienaar £3m
Giuseppe Rossi £35m
Brad Friedel £0

quite. very neatly illustrated. Like I said, I will very happily change my opinion of we go in with a genuine £30 million plus bid for someone but I just can't see it. Will be amazed if we spend more than £15 million on any one player

 

[mattyspurs]

If that is the case then did he get approval for all 4 bids and what if all 4 clubs had accepted? Or do you reckon it was only the Rossi one that was genuine and the rest were media bollocks? I haven't seen any of those other clubs independently verify the bids but they certainly weren't denied and I'm not really sure why anyone would make it up either. Again, if we were dead serious about the bid (which we mst have been for that money) why weren't we knocking on their door(s) with a wheelbarrow full of cash as soon as the season ended?

Probably because on the last day of the window we knew we needed someone, anyone decent. Whereas at the start of the window, we can relax abit, from Daniel Levys view, he sees it as 3 months negotiating. He doesn't have to be gung ho until maybe mid August. He can asess the situation, see if any new targets are around, maybe get someone in a bit cheaper. There are lots of reasons why we havent spent the cash yet.

 

[pablo73]

Probably because on the last day of the window we knew we needed someone, anyone decent. Whereas at the start of the window, we can relax abit, from Daniel Levys view, he sees it as 3 months negotiating. He doesn't have to be gung ho until maybe mid August. He can asess the situation, see if any new targets are around, maybe get someone in a bit cheaper. There are lots of reasons why we havent spent the cash yet.

You may well be right and I genuinely hope you are as it would mean we are prepared to spend big. I will be surprised though as it would certainly buck the recent trend as Brett illustrated.

 

[Mr Pink]

Spot on, we have a board, with shareholders that Daniel Levy has to get approval from. He would not just go off on a whim on the last day of the window with 35m in his sky rocket offering it to all and sundry if it had not been serious.

Some of you guys, seriously, I wonder if you live in the real world or not.

How many chairman do you see sanctioning numerous massive bids in the dying hours of the January transfer window, which is notoriously difficult for doing business particularly with bigger deals.

I'm not saying it was a publicity stunt per se, but it was a bit half hearted in my opinion given that he had a whole four weeks to get this approval from the board...why would you leave it to the last second if you had made such a big decison.

I'm a massive Levy fan, but the guy wont get it right every time - Jesus.