Spurs Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Lemlin

therecklessone wrote:

I would urge caution on Mark Hughes, regardless of his own man management skills. Mido has had a problem with every manager he has worked under.

Anyway, back on topic...Spurs transfers!

And Craig Bellamy hasn't? The funny thing about what you say is that people said the exact same about Bellamy a year ago and just look at the season he has had under Hughes.

Like you said though, back to the topic of Spurs' transfers, and hopefully they won't include any mention of Blackburn players, particularly MGP, Reid or Bellamy.

cruiserweight

Lemlin wrote:

And Craig Bellamy hasn't?

Did he not get on okay with Sir Bobby?

therecklessone

Lemlin wrote:

And Craig Bellamy hasn't?

Not with every manager, no.

Lemlin

cruiserweight wrote:

Did he not get on okay with Sir Bobby?

I don't think he had any big bust-ups with Sir Bobby but he had quite a few with John Carver (or something like that), who was Bobby's assistant AFAIK.

Not with every manager, no.

Wow, how far Bellamy has come. Now people are actually sticking up for his reputation!

Maybe not every manager but he still has a very poor reputation, especially after the debacle with Souness last year. Of course, that's not mentioned by many of his critics now that he has proven Souness should of been starting him up front.

I firmly believe that Hughes could handle Mido. He's handled Savage, Todd and Neill pretty well so far.

Playboy

We are delighted to announce the signing of France Under-18 captain Dorian Dervitte from Lille.

WhiteWashMan

great, lets get rid of gardner now.
i know someone wanted to buy him recently!

Rollo Tamasi

charlton i think it was

therecklessone

Know nothing about the guy, but nice to see us continue our policy of buying young players with potential for our future devolpment.

Playboy

The Club is delighted to announce that it has reached agreement with RC Lens for the transfer of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, subject to a medical. Player terms have been agreed.


Born in Arras, France, the left-sided 22-year-old is one of the most highly-rated full-backs in Le Championnat.

Sporting Director Damien Comolli said: “Benoit is a young, extremely talented left-back.

He’s versatile and can play in three positions – left-back, on the left side of central midfield and left midfield. He will give Martin lots of flexibility on that flank.

“He’s regarded as one of the best prospects in French football and is an excellent signing for the Club.

“The player is ambitious and has always wanted to play in English football. He was consistent in his commitment to us in the negotiations we had with Lens despite a lot of interest from other clubs and Lens being reluctant to let him go.”

Benoit featured in 34 of 38 league games, starting 33, as Lens finished fourth in Ligue One last season.

Kicking-off last season in the Inter Toto Cup on July 3, he played in all of Lens’ games as they won that tournament and therefore secured a place in the UEFA Cup. He then played in seven of eight UEFA Cup matches as Lens went out to Udinese in the last 32.

After breaking into the first team with three appearances in 2003-04, Benoit caught the eye with 29 starts in 2004-05.

www.tottenhamhotspur.c...90606.html


Some info on our new boy

Since bursting onto the scene in 2004, Benoît Assou-Ekotto’s assured performances at left-back have installed him as Lens’ most consistent defender - and despite his young age his is one of the first names on Coach Francis Gillot’s team sheets.
Not bad for someone who never really liked football, and only considered it as a career after his brother told him he could become wildly rich.
Burning desire and raw talent may be the foundations for most professional footballers, but for Assou-Ekotto, working hard, staying loyal and listening to advice – particularly from your brother – is the way to get ahead in this job.
Having joined Lens as a 10 year-old, following in the footsteps of his older brother Matthieu, Benoît Assou-Ekotto finally got a chance in Les Sang et Or’s first team when regular left-back Lachor was injured early in the 2004/05 season. However, if Benoît had had his own way, he’d be somewhere else doing… something else.
“At 14 I went through a bad run with injuries and all I wanted to do was throw in the towel and get out of Lens,” he said. “But Matthieu persuaded me to stay and stick it out, and I’m glad I did. Lens is my team and my home.”
The next defining moment in Assou-Ekotto’s career came just 12 months later playing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Under-15s. “I had replaced the left-back midway through the match after he’d been sent off,” he says. “The Coach continued to play me there and after a few games I was going to go and tell him that my position was back in midfield but my brother talked me out of it. He said: ‘You can’t find good left-backs on every street corner.’”
Until 2004, Assou-Ekotto’s progress had been steady, if unspectacular, but his performances on the left of Lens’ defence, particularly since Gillot took over in February 2005, could not have gone unnoticed any longer. In February, Cameroon captain and former Lens defender Rigobert Song paid the Assou-Ekotto family a visit and sounded out Benoît as to wearing the colours of the Indomitable Lions at next year's World Cup.
After another eye-catching game in Lens’ 2-0 victory over PSG soon after, Cameroon Coach Artur Jorge, made the official proposal but while Assou-Ekotto refused to accept the call-up due to personal reasons, he has vowed to wear the colours of his parents birth country - if he gets another chance.
“I spoke to one of Artur Jorge’s assistants and Rigobert and explained that it was a personal problem that needed sorting out and they understood. As far as I’m concerned my choice is made, it’s Cameroon for me.”
For someone who doesn’t really like football, he really is very good

Playboy

The Club can announce that agreement has been reached with Birmingham City for the transfer of Stephen Kelly to St Andrews.


The 22-year-old Irish international graduated through our Academy system and, after loan spells at Southend, QPR and Watford, made his Premiership debut in December 2003 against Charlton at the Lane.

The Dublin-born defender went on to make 43 first team appearances in our colours, scoring two goals.

We wish Stephen every success for the future

www.tottenhamhotspur.c...90606.html

Spider_Baby!

So, according to the Man Utd transfer thread, Utd will sign Carrick for a fee of £7m after the world cup... Really hope it isnt true, i would hate to see him leave.

Pepe LeFrits

Ahhh, Dorian Dervite, Championship Manager legend.

Assou-Ekotto was linked to Arsenal and Spurs a few days ago, I guess they got it right. Another forum's resident Frenchie was spitting blood at the prospect of him joining Arsenal, purely on the basis that he went to school with him and thinks he's a d1ckhead, so he'll be delighted with this news! Apparently he's a good player though, but pretty lightweight.

Playboy

Spider_Baby! wrote:

So, according to the Man Utd transfer thread, Utd will sign Carrick for a fee of £7m after the world cup... Really hope it isnt true, i would hate to see him leave.

I would be shocked if there was any truth to that rumour. First of all why would we sell him for a crappy 7 million. Second of all Carrick is at the world cup so is unable to discuss any details of a move. Third of all why would we want to sell one of our best players who Jol considers essential to the progression of the team? It just doesnt add up. I will believe it when either Spurs or Man U confirms it.

Playboy

A new development in the last few minutes. Tottenham just turned down a 10million pound bid for Carrick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/5066204.stm

Playboy

We have reached agreement for the transfer of Mounir El Hamdaoui to Dutch team Willem II.


The striker arrived at the Club from another Dutch side, SC Excelsior, in January 2005.

Mounir, 21, had terrible luck in terms of injuries - typified by dislocating his shoulder during what was a promising loan spell in the Championship with Derby County last season – and wanted to return to Holland.

We wish Mounir all the best.


http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/mounirreturnstoholland090606.html

therecklessone

Playboy wrote:

A new development in the last few minutes. Tottenham just turned down a 10million pound bid for Carrick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/5066204.stm

The best source for rumours on Spurs site FTL says this will happen, Utd came back in with a £13million bid. Bo**ox! :mad:

Pepe LeFrits

With Davids seemingly on the way out too, that'd leave a fair sized gap to plug.

Mind you, not sure I want to see what Comolli does with another £13m really.

therecklessone

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

With Davids seemingly on the way out too, that'd leave a fair sized gap to plug.

I don't think we'll miss Davids TBH. I expect Huddlestone to step up to the 1st team in the absence of any big signings to replace Carrick (if he leaves), I've been very impressed with him any time I've seen him. He's earned rave reviews for the stiffs.

PHB

Huddlestone is a top quality player, one of the reason I respect Jol so much was the purchase of Huddlestone

WhiteWashMan

15m and rooney for carrick

eirebhoy

Well as predicted, the market is at it's peak thanks to the money teams are now getting for television rights, etc. While I think Carrick is a good player, I would not have put him in the £13-15m bracket.

besty

Seconded. He isn't worth £15m, but I'd love to see SAF taking the plunge and bringing him to United. His passing is second to none in the league and would be a much needed creative catalyst in the heart of the team. Carrick-Scholes. Not too shabby!

therecklessone

Just curious, what price would either of you put on his head?

eirebhoy

therecklessone wrote:

Just curious, what price would either of you put on his head?

£7m. We don't know what £15m is worth to clubs now though compared to even 2 years ago.

therecklessone

eirebhoy wrote:

£7m. We don't know what £15m is worth to clubs now though compared to even 2 years ago.

Less than half what it cost Chelsea for Mikel, one third of the cost of Essien (and less than Everton paid for a striker with 1 season's PL experience), cheers for the giggle.

besty

I would reckon £10 million would be good business for United

therecklessone

besty wrote:

I would reckon £10 million would be good business for United

Ah, so you're not so much convinced he's over-valued, just want Utd to do save a few quid...;)

PHB

Chelsea are not to be used as examples in transfer costs.

That should be a charter rule

I think a fair evalutation is 10 mil, so I figure United will pay 13

eirebhoy

therecklessone wrote:

Less than half what it cost Chelsea for Mikel, one third of the cost of Essien (and less than Everton paid for a striker with 1 season's PL experience), cheers for the giggle.

You can't seriously be using Chelsea as an example? It's slightly more than Newcastle paid for Parker and the same as Spurs paid for Jenas. As I said though, maybe £10m this season is the equivalent of £7m last with the increase in fixed income. Count yourselves lucky to be able to get bids of £10m, there's not a chance of any Celtic player ever getting close to that price in the near future.

Lemlin

therecklessone wrote:

Less than half what it cost Chelsea for Mikel, one third of the cost of Essien (and less than Everton paid for a striker with 1 season's PL experience), cheers for the giggle.

Not great comparisons. After all, you could just as easily turn round and point out that Spurs paid as little as about 2 million for Danny Murphy, a former international who has more caps than Carrick (I'd presume anyway), Blackburn got Bellamy, a proven Premiership and European striker, for 5 million and Liverpool paid 10 million for Alonso, a superior player to Carrick with more experience.

Let's not forget that Spurs bought Carrick for 2-3 million just a season or two ago too.

I'd back up what the others have said too though, Chelsea are in a league of their own when it comes to transfers.

WhiteWashMan

the transfer market mabe one thing, but to spurs, i think he is worth 15m.

if he went to utd for that amount or more, i woudlnt have a problem. while his passing is awesome, i also think that if we wanted, we could play king in that position.

therecklessone

eirebhoy wrote:

You can't seriously be using Chelsea as an example? It's slightly more than Newcastle paid for Parker and the same as Spurs paid for Jenas.

I thought we were'nt using Chelsea as examples (who was Parker playing for before Newcastle?) Difference with both of the transfer you've mentioned is that nobody in their right mind would describe either of the players who moved as an integral part of the side they left, both selling clubs got their good value for the player sold (though in Parker's case, I'd have gone higher than £6 million). In the case of Jenas, Newcastle replaced him with Emre and made a tidy profit of £3 million on the side. The Jenas transfer is a good point though, Carrick is a much better player than Jenas.

The comparison with JOM is valid in that he hasn't kicked a ball in England yet. And nobody's mentioned Andy Johnson...;)

eirebhoy wrote:

As I said though, maybe £10m this season is the equivalent of £7m last with the increase in fixed income.

At the end of the day the important factor is how much Spurs value the player. Every player has a price, its just a matter of how high others are prepared to go to meet that price. Carrick is an integral part of our side, the midfield is built around him, and to replace him will be a bloody difficult task. Taken on his own he's probably not worth more than £7 or £8 million, but as a component of an improving side he's worth more than that.

Snake Plisken

This will be a real test of Spurs bottle, so far they are playing hardball, which is good to see, but if we want to be seen as one of the big clubs in the Premiership we should not sell him.

Snake

therecklessone

Bent 'Arry in for Defoe?

Portsmouth have had a £12million offer for Jermain Defoe rejected by Barclays Premiership rivals Tottenham, according to a Portsmouth News report.

Good business at £12million+, so hopefully 'Arry will be back with his pockets bulging.

Lemlin

therecklessone wrote:

Bent 'Arry in for Defoe?



Good business at £12million+, so hopefully 'Arry will be back with his pockets bulging.

I don't think Defoe would move to Pompey. He'd only be up for signing for one of the larger clubs IMO.

WhiteWashMan

you never know, carrick for a few quid and RVN?
could be a good reason to sell defoe for 15m....

id do it. i like defoe, but i dont like him that much!

therecklessone

WhiteWashMan wrote:

you never know, carrick for a few quid and RVN?
could be a good reason to sell defoe for 15m....

id do it. i like defoe, but i dont like him that much!

Don't think so WWM, isn't Berbatov our 6 yard man? Could him and RVN play together?

PHB

Ruud will not go to a team not in the CL, don't be silly.

therecklessone

Martin Jol responds:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/5068762.stm

BMJ wrote:

"Manchester United put a bid in, we turned it down and that's it.

"Michael knows I gave him the chance ahead of Pedro Mendes, another terrific player, so he owes this club."

Bid believed to be £14 million now.

Jol's point re. mendes is interesting, I was thinking something similar myself, in that Spurs gave him a chance to shine on a bigger stage when others weren't prepared to take a chance on him (much like Paul Robinson who was written off before Spurs signed him).

Alas, football is a business now, and the same principle that enabled Spurs to sign Danny Murphy from Charlton, or Aaron Lennon from Leeds, applies here. If he wants out, and it appears he's stalled on new contract talks, then the club needs to get a good price for him so that we can reinvest in playing staff. We're higher up the food chain than we used to be, just not high enough up yet.

evilhomer

Personally I would have let Defoe go for that money. you could probably pick up Darren Bent or Jason Roberts for half that and still score as many goals as Defoe did last season, if not more.

PHB

If United are smart, they will threaten to let him come on a free in two years, but are they smart?

I woulda sold Defoe for that money too, he has already been replaced imo with Berbatrov, get in a big strong CF, and then you're set.

sikes

PHB wrote:

If United are smart, they will threaten to let him come on a free in two years, but are they smart?.

Do you not think that call clubs in for a player know what the contract situation is, especially if the public knows?!! If DG went to DL and said if you dont sell we will get him for free in two years. DL would laugh his arse off. DL is the one with the decision, and is one of the smartest and shurdest (sp) men in football.

If carrick doesnt sign a new deal, he will be sold in the summer or at the very latest january. Levy is not stupid, united are desperate for a player like carrick. If carrick wants to leave, theres no point arsing about, he will be sold.

Selling carrick now doesnt show a lack of ambition, look at arse selling petit, overmars etc and their peak.

therecklessone

PHB wrote:

If United are smart, they will threaten to let him come on a free in two years, but are they smart?

If all clubs were smart they'd wait until the player was out of contract.

Can Utd wait two years to but Carrick? Who fills the position in the meantime? JOS? Ferguson wouldn't be bidding for him now if he thought he could afford another two years without him.

PHB

Can Utd wait two years to but Carrick? Who fills the position in the meantime? JOS? Ferguson wouldn't be bidding for him now if he thought he could afford another two years without him.

Yeh, but United have a serious problem with inflated transfer fees. One move like this would set us up even to get 2 quality CM's this summer, because teams would know the choices they have.

sikes

if the interest cools from united, carrick will sign a new deal. its now or never

Spider_Baby!

Met Andy Reid today in Dublin, he was a bit of an asshole!! I asked what his deal was, if he stayin or going, and his reply was an odd "eh....i think im gonna stay!"

WhiteWashMan

he was an arsehole for that reply, or for some other reason.

im wondering why hed reveal any transfer plans to anyone before a deal was done tbh.

Spider_Baby!

Nah, he was an arsehole for other reasons, i just put that in coz this is a transfer thread!

WhiteWashMan

so, im looking through the current squad,and crikey if soccernet havent let themselves down by not removing some released players.

and then i wondered. are they still there or not.....

so, lets a have a look and see who is actually there, and who isnt, and who we should get rid of.

kets tell MJ what he should be doing on the transfer market

Current Squad
G1 Paul Robinson
G12 Radek Cerny
G13 Marton Fulop
G35 Robert Burch

DDorian Dervitte
DBenoit Assou-Ekotto
D20 Michael Dawson
D3 Stephen Kelly
D16 Young-Pyo Lee
D16 Reto Ziegler
DDorian Dervitte
D22 Tom Huddlestone
D26 Ledley King
D27 Calum Davenport
D30 Anthony Gardner

M7 Paul Stalteri
M21 Wayne Routledge
M8 Danny Murphy
M5 Edgar Davids
MHossam Ghaly
M6 Teemu Tainio
M23 Michael Carrick
M25 Aaron Lennon
M28 Jermaine Jenas
M31 Dean Marney
MJamie O'Hara
M32 Johnnie Jackson

S9 Grzegorz Rasiak
S10 Robbie Keane
S18 Jermain Defoe
S19 Andy Reid
S36 Mounir El Hamdaoui
S37 Lee Barnard

WhiteWashMan

skysports reporting that stephen reid still hasnt signed a contract with blackburn, with one club (suspected to be spurs) making an official enquiry into the chaps availability.