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20th August 2010 - We're the Blackpool of the
Champions League It's
been an historic week for Spurs where they took to the pitch in Berne with
the Zadok the Priest ringing in their ears, appearing in the
continent's premier competition for the first time in nearly 50
years, causing temporary terror, blindness, lack of co-ordination
and even paralysis for those in white shirts. Hopefully the
antidote will be found at White Hart Lane next wednesday. The
week has also been memorable for the links of Spurs to one certain William
Gallas, although at a reported £90,000 a week. We are still in
the silly season for transfer rumours, and business has been slower
than normal due to the fact many clubs are skint or can't get
access to cash unless Man City give it to them first, and it is noticeable
that the first summer signing for Spurs is likely to be a free transfer,
after missing out on another free when Cole joined the scousers (although
looking at his first 2 games we may have dodged a bullet...) If
the links are true and Gallas appears in the white shirt, whilst he undoubtedly
is a good player, you can't escape his playing history, the fact he is
alleged to have threatened to score own goals unless he was allowed
to leave chelsea, and the fact he had very public on-pitch
tantrums for the goons. You have to question what he is going to bring to
Spurs. You have to ask why the goons would let their ex-captain and still
current French international leave so easily. You also have to ask if his
recurrent injury problems or his reported personality are the reason he
is a free agent at the age of 32? If he plays well at the Lane,
then it's true to say that all this will be forgotten, he will be respected
but won't be loved. If however he doesn't perform, or if he upsets what
appears to be a rare united team at Spurs, then what? Should the signing
of Gallas make you question whether the quest to make the Champions League is
worth it? One
of the most eye-catching news before the season started was not
England's predictable failure in South Africa, or even the inability of
Wayne Rooney to trap a football without it rebounding 10 yards off his
shins and making Heskey appear world class in comparison, but rather the
fact that Barcelona are broke and had to arrange a bridging loan of 150m
euros to pay wages and running expenses over the summer. It's
absolutely astounding that Barcelona, the club that are held up as the model
for all others to follow should have such serious financial problems that
they could go out of business. Attached to that story was the news that in
the season they won the Champions League, with all the extra riches that is
meant to bring, Barcelona made a profit of 8m euros. If they had lost the
final against Man Utd, the presumption is that they would have made a
loss. It means that Barcelona have not budgeted for failure. Closer
to home, all the sky4 have financial issues. Liverpool and Man Utd have been
leveraged to the edge of their existence. Chelsea were hours away from
extinction just before Roman flew in and remain dependent on his good health
and goodwill, and whilst arsenal are held up as a model of financial probity,
they remain mortgaged to the hilt and their fans are asked to pay the most
expensive prices in the world for pretty but ultimately second rate football.
These issues for the sky4 are unlikely to improve with the arrival
on the scene of the Man City oil billionaires and their determination to buy
their way into the elite. It could be argued that whilst the Champions
League brings greater riches for the participants, it also brings greater
debt and greater risks of meltdown. In that respect it is similar to the
premiership and there does not appear to be one club that competes
regularly at the business end of the champions league that does not
have major debt issues. Closer
to home still, this week we have seen the debut of Blackpool in the
premiership and the move of Craig Bellamy to Cardiff. This has raised a
debate amongst supporters of teams in the championship as to whether it is
worth being promoted at all into the Premiership. The argument runs that it
is no fun being set up to be thrashed each and every week against the
premierships established teams. You can either try and have a season in
the limelight and use the cash to strengthen the long term future of the
club before the inevitable relegation whilst all the while being
patronised as plucky (Burnley). Or you can try and cash in on the
opportunity and strengthen the team by splashing out on better players and
establish yourself as a Premiership team (Wolves, Wigan), but woe betide
you if it all goes wrong (Portsmouth, Hull) where the gamble threatens the
very existence of the club. And if the truth is told if you do choose to
gamble that existence, the players you are likely to be able to sign are
likely to be not good enough having been rejected by the established Premier
League teams, so you seem to be doomed to a vicious circle of struggling
against relegation anyway. If,
for instance you are the supporter of Cardiff or Nottingham Forest you
might celebrate like mad when the final whistle goes at the end of the 2011
season and you have won promotion to the Premier League. You may even
look forward to away trips to the elite. But are you really looking forward
to being the whipping boys for the established elite and the coming straight
back down again (at the risk of unsettling the current manager and team). Or
would you like to see your club take the opportunity to gamble, make a lot of
risky and costly signings of players that are unknown or have been rejected
by the current established teams and place the clubs future existence on
the line? This is the debate currently being held in Blackpool. The
cost of the step up to the Premiership that faces Blackpool is
arguably the same dilemma that faces Spurs on their Champions league debut.
This dilemma has been brought home by the signing of Gallas. Currently
Spurs carry some debt, but this is at a level which appears to be
manageable. All summer many Spurs fans have been crying out for big
name signings to mark the clubs step up to the elite. The perceived wisdom is
that the current squad needs to be improved upon for Spurs to be able to
compete at the higher level. The club doesn't have the backing that Man
City have, and therefore cannot operate as if money is no object. The
club can speculate to accumulate and try and buy in some proven Champions
League quality. However the risk of that strategy is that the players who
arrive, having been prepared to sign for Spurs and not one of the more
established Champions League teams is that they cost a lot but
deliver little (think Jimmy Bullard at Hull or better still, Kluivert at
Newcastle). The
danger for Spurs is that if they do not sign anyone, they will be
seen as having no ambition (there is no such thing as a 'plucky'
Champions league team) and will be lucky to retain their spot in
the elite. The ambitious amongst the current Spurs players
will see it as a cue to move on, and the team will be at risk of breaking up
and regressing. On the other hand, there is a danger that they
sign a lot of champions league rejects on sky high contracts, that
place the future existence of the club at stake if it all goes wrong (a la
Leeds). It does not leave much margin for error! This
is not to say that there is not a middle way. The middle way demonstrated by
teams like Burnley. It involves gradually building up the quality of
the squad and the gradual progression of the club on the pitch
(accepting the risk that some years Spurs may not finish in the elite places
and may sometime face the odd spanking). It may be that the club will become
a fixture in the Champions League and the Zadok the Priest theme
is heard as often as Glory Glory. It may however be a
brief journey into the limelight and a rare experience for the WHL faithful. Whatever
the future holds, that for me is the issue in signing William
Gallas. Not who he has played for. He, like it or not represents a
step up in the quality of the squad, and it is a gamble worth
taking. However that quality comes at a cost. The level of his
reported wages is at a level that Spurs cannot afford across the board. If he
is followed by a band of fellow Champions League mercenaries I just hope
that in the rush to get onto the Champions League merry-go round and the
battle to stay on it, we still have a Spurs to support in another 50
years time. Barcelona show that the champions league road isn't one
of untold riches. |
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12th August 2010 - Spurs Season Preview It
is interesting to note that despite the fact Spurs and 'Arry surpassed all
predictions last year by finishing in the CL money places, the professional
pundits are all again overlooking Spurs chances this year and
are talking up their rivals, no doubt suggesting that it was a fluke or
a one-off. This
is despite being written off before the final run in, beating the goons,
destroying Chelsea who were conquering everyone else for fun, and
playing Man City off the park in their own backyard. Finishing 4th
with the qualifying games still to come means that Chairman Dan will be
keeping the Arkwright shop till firmly closed until the club's fate in known.
Until then, Arry is doing his usual stint of asking for the keys to the safe
so that he will have a chance to compete, no doubt to cover
his backside if it all goes pear-shaped this season. However
that is by the by. The
prediction for the season is the same as last year. There remains
a clear hierarchy in the league and I would expect Spurs on paper
to finish 5th-8th, subject to the form and fitness of key personnel
(and with the added demands of Europe). However if you ignore the propaganda for the sky4 media (plus Man City) Spurs have a young squad, (notably Spurs are not affected by the new 25 man squad + U21 rule), a good and proven manager, an improving squad, have kept all their key personnel and none of their main rivals appear to have properly strengthened or they have stood still. If Arry can coax more reliability and match winning performances out of the strikers, and patch up King to play more games than he misses, then it should be another good season.
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Disclaimer: Please note the words on this page are the opinion
of the topspurs columnist and are just that, opinions, not facts and are
nothing to do with Tottenham Hotspur Football club PLC. Just a supporter
having his say nothing more nothing less. Any commentary on betting is meant
for discussion purposes only and does not constitute any form of advice or
recommendation. |