I am currently watching the BBC4 reruns of the Danish crime thriller ‘The Killing’. Episode nine was aired as this summer’s transfer window came to a climax last night; so as I turned my phone off, switched channels from Sky Sports News and closed down twitter, rather than hearing another 60 minutes of bluster, I was watching the lead-detective discuss the idea that a certain aspect of her murder case needed to be examined in more detail in order to solve the larger problem.
When looking to assess what are the key ingredients to successfully competing at the highest level in football, there are clues littered all over the place, left behind from the success achieved by those we seek to emulate: a long-term manager trusted by the board; a successful youth academy that develops children from their primary school years; a consistent stream of revenue from both merchandise and a big ground that not only brings in healthy matchday revenue, but can also generate other income streams; the ability to make the occasional top quality purchase in the transfer market; and of course, a great coach that now only plays good football, but has tactical nous.
If we focussed in on one area of Tottenham’s activity from the recent transfer window for an indicator as to our future plans and prospects, I think it would be interesting to start by looking at the players that we have offloaded.
Every departure was at the behest of the Club rather than a player leaving against the Club’s wishes; releasing them of course achieved the aim of not paying players that would struggle to make the final 25 man squad, but the ultimate reason that led to that situation was, of course, because they were surplus to requirements.
In all cases, players that were once bought as big assets are now no longer fancied by the Manager.
A far cry from the previous policy of making a profit on transfer fees, no money was made of the six players that left; in some cases this is not really relevant, as the player has served their purpose, like an insurance policy that has now run out without a claim being made. With others though, it is hard to view their initial outlay as anything other than largely dead money, where the Club has now had to cut its losses to get them of the wage bill.
In this window, as a Club, we tried to off load eight first-team squad players, six of whom went. And when looking at them briefly as to whether the initial transfer was worthwhile, it is worth remembering it was Spurs who agreed to pay what they did to buy the player, rather than the player himself, who was just the party that agreed to the move.
Defenders
Sebastian Bassong
Bought: c £8m
Didn’t leave
Bassong was a Redknapp signing, as he begged for another centre-back at the start of his first full-season, citing injuries to Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate, and being down to the bare bones. Bassong had a good debut partnering Michael Dawson, scoring the winner at home to Liverpool, and looked to be a good squad player in his first season, playing his fair share of games when King was injured. But his defensive frailties became more costly in his second season, and Redknapp soon fell out with him. If a deal could have been done, it would made sense to get Gary Cahill in, a better player, with better prospects, and let Bassong leave; when he does go it will be for a financial loss, although for a seemingly panic buy, his contribution in the first season may have made the initial transfer fee worthwhile.
Alan Hutton
Bought: c £9m
Sold: c £4m
No problems in getting takers for Hutton, an attacking right-back highly thought off by Glasgow Rangers and Scotland fans, and originally purchased ahead of predicted interest from Manchester United and despite reluctance from the player. He suffered primarily due to a change of Manager. Though hit by injuries, and publicly derided by Redknapp, pragmatism on the Manager’s part enabled Hutton to get back into the first-team last year, initially after positively affecting a game as a substitute. He then had a run of 23 games in 25, which included both games against Internazionale in the Champions League. Redknapp loves a scapegoat though, and Hutton was the chosen one after his last performance against Fulham in the cup, and with the emergence of Kyle Walker it was inevitable one of the other right-backs would leave; ultimately, Redknapp never fancied Hutton, and he leaves for less than half the price he was bought for, without delivering value for the money that Spurs spent on him.
Midfielders
David Bentley
Bought: c £15m plus add-ons
Sold: One-year loan to West Ham United
It is not just hindsight that leads me to say, pound-coin-for-pound-coin, Bentley is one of the worst signings in the club’s history. The fee was ridiculous, and was reportedly going to involve Aaron Lennon being a make-weight in the deal; had that happened it is very probable Spurs would never have qualified for the Champions League the following year, and it sums up the disastrous transfer policy that summer. Bought by Damien Camolli, Juande Ramos quickly realised that Lennon was much more effective, although he tried to use Bentley’s right foot as a weapon where possible; but he was undermined by Bentley’s poor attitude. That attitude was also not tolerated by Redknapp, although Redknapp used him well as part of the squad in the run-in for Champions League qualification and an FA Cup run in 2010. Despite that contribution, and his wonderful goal against Arsenal on an unforgettable night at The Emirates, his purchase will be judged as millions of pounds down pan.
Jermaine Jenas
Bought: c £8m
Sell: One Year Loan
Bought ahead of what was then to be Tottenham’s most successful league campaign of 16 seasons, Jenas was a favourite of both Martin Jol and Juande Ramos. A constant, like a man who knew the bodies were buried, he paid his dues over five seasons, and was arguably his most consistent on the pitch last-term when he was just a squad member, rather an automatic first-team starter. He often produced in big games, particularly against the Arsenal, but never fulfilled his potential, and if he was to be sold to Villa for a reported £6m at the end of his loan spell, it would be good business.
Wilson Palacios
Bought: c £12m
Sold: c £6M
A Redknapp signing, Palacios definitely served his purpose, adding a real bite and energy in midfield to a struggling side that was still in a relegation battle when he joined in January 2009. No doubt affected by the loss of his brother at the end of the season, he never recaptured his form, and his technical limitations meant a move made sense for all parties. In the circumstances, his original outlay was justified.
Forwards
Peter Crouch
Bought: c £10m
Sold: c £10m
Another Redknapp signing, it was good business to recoup the money for Crouch now. His goal ratio of less than one in three sums up the problem of the squad last season, although he was a good foil at times for first Defoe, and then Van Der Vaart. His late winners at Eastlands and the San Siro contributed to two of the greatest nights in recent Tottenham Hotspur History, and a move now is best for all parties.
Robbie Keane
Bought: c £12m plus add-ons
Sold: c £3.5m
The sharp and dramatic loss in transfer fees mirrors the Keane’s loss in form in the space of two and a half seasons, but the outlay should be viewed in context of his original transfer fee received from Liverpool, and at the time it was an understandable buy by the club. I have looked back at Keane’s time at Spurs in both spells in more depth here.
Giovanni Dos Santos
Bought: c £5m plus add-ons
Didn’t leave
Not given a squad number, Dos Santos is still with us at the end of the window. A real talent and a product of Barcelona academy since the age of 11, just last summer Dos Santos was named in the official FIFA top three young players at the World Cup Finals, but only started two games for Spurs last season – once out of position on the right-wing of a 4-4-2 away at Young Boys, and then given 45 minutes as a forward in a midfield that provided no service, at home to Arsenal in the Carling Cup. In three seasons at Spurs he has been loaned out three times. Like Hutton, simply, he was bought by a previous regime, and Redknapp doesn’t fancy him.
Summary
At the end of last season, one-third of the players in the first-team squad were out-of-favour. The reasons, as outlined above, are not always the same, but show issues with previous buying policies, and also the problem of a Manager wanting to bring in his own players.
Few people expect Harry Redknapp to be the Manager come the start of next season. The ideal scenario is Spurs have a very good season, he gets the England job, we get compensated by the FA; meanwhile, Daniel Levy appoints a Manager he has faith in, and will be with us for the long-term. And he will need to be backed in the transfer market. Continually changing managers doesn’t work.
With that in mind, it is perhaps understandable that a Board that has previous spent heavily is now slightly reluctant to spend with a change of Manager in-sight. Some of the players out-of-favour show the issues of an ill-thought through spending policy. ENIC clearly have the funds, but there is nothing wrong with coupling ambition with a sound structure, a structure that should be more effective under the new Fair Play Rules. And now we have a bit of money from player sales ready to spend.
The current squad isn’t bad, although it is one quality striker short.
Adebayor can lead the line, but we are now reliant on him to not be out for any length of time until January, particularly while Defoe and Pavlyuchenko are yet to find form. There is cover in most other areas, although Jose Enrique, Gary Cahill and Charlie Adam would have all been welcome, and seemed to be attainable, yet went amiss in this window.
As I have written and said many times previously, Scott Parker will be a great addition. If his name ended in “o” or “i”, or maybe if he was a controversial figure, or maybe if we had paid over the odds for him, perhaps he may have sparked more imagination, but he is good signing; exactly what we needed last season and certainly in the two games we have lost in this campaign.
The most important business in this transfer window by the Club was not losing any of our best players; despite the willingness of lazy journalists and pundits, we were not bullied by players, agents or other clubs, and have set the stall out for future moves on our biggest assets.
We all got a bit excited last night with Sky Sports News’s claim that Spurs could make a dramatic big-name signing. And while a number of Redknapp’s comments can be taken with a pinch of salt, his suggestion that we were “overloaded” in the forwards department suggested we may bring another striker in. When he drove away from Chigwell last night, Redknapp deflected the question about a big name player to talk about Gary Cahill instead. Perhaps we missed out once again.
But nevertheless, as Redknapp may say one his more positive soundbites, “we are not a million miles away”.
Player-for-player, our better players could get into nearly every team in the country. It is now down to the Manager to get the best out of decent squad.
MG
MG
 |
| My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup is now available to buy from Amazon and Smashwords. |
