Can Harry or Santa do the business for Spurs?
Philip Oliver, who blogs about football betting at Betfair, has sent us this item:- (The views are those of the author, but not necessarily the webmaster)
There seems to be some disagreement at Tottenham regarding the club’s transfer policy when the window opens in the New Year. Daniel Levy is suggesting we should expect little more than some squad-bolstering loan signings, whereas the manager clearly feels some big money needs to be spent.
Any differences should be easily ironed-out, as it was openly stated on his arrival that Harry Redknapp would be in sole charge of recruitment; without Damien Comolli or any other director of football, internal discussions should only really centre around how much to spend on Harry’s choices.
This of course, is the difficult bit. Spurs’ courting of Stewart Downing has now extended to a third managerial reign, but it seems if anyone can persuade the board to cough up the necessary money and the Teesider to up sticks, it is Harry. Middlesbrough need to sell and appear to have withdrawn their ‘not for sale at any price’ position.
The protracted proposed purchase of Downing reveals that what Harry most wants for Christmas – some creativity – has been on the lists Martin Jol and Juande Ramos left for Santa over the last three years.
We are not short of creators – Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone and David Bentley are all capable, in different ways, of feeding the front men – but our lack of goals and isolation of Roman Pavyluchenko and Darren Bent, regardless of whether they play alone or together, means a player who can deliver balls into the box consistently needs to be acquired.
Whether this man is Downing is a different question (I for one am becoming gradually more impressed by his old-fashioned wing play and improved accurate crossing) but it is obvious that we need someone to compliment the craft, pace, string-pulling and frustrating trickery that the four suppliers mentioned above respectively bring.
Whoever Harry brings in, the return of Jermaine Jenas will be an important factor in our attempts to become more creative. No one else can join and go past the strikers like Jenas can. Indeed, his late bursts are his forte and should be encouraged at the cost of his generally unsuccessful attempts to start moves from deep.
The defence is gradually becoming more solid, although Steve Finnan would be a welcome addition to the Spurs full back merry-go-round. It says everything about our current requirements that a creative player is more-needed than a goalkeeper. Let’s hope Santa (or Harry) does the business.
Written by Philip Oliver, a Tottenham Hotspur fan and a professional sports writer who blogs about football betting at Betfair.
Premier League Results - 20-22.12.08
Blackburn 3-0 Stoke
Bolton 2-1 P'tsmouth
Fulham 3-0 M'brough
Hull 1-4 S'derland
West Ham 0-1 A. Villa
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Newcastle 2-1 Spurs
West Brom 2-1 Man City
Everton 0-0 Chelsea
Barclays Premier League
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool 18 11 6 1 27 12 15 39
2 Chelsea 18 11 5 2 36 7 29 38
3 A. Villa 18 10 4 4 30 20 10 34
4 Man Utd 16 9 5 2 27 10 17 32
5 Arsenal 18 9 4 5 30 21 9 31
6 Hull 18 7 6 5 27 31 -4 27
7 Everton 18 7 5 6 23 25 -2 26
8 Fulham 17 6 6 5 16 12 4 24
9 Bolton 18 7 2 9 22 24 -2 23
10 P'tsmouth 18 6 5 7 20 28 -8 23
11 Wigan 17 6 4 7 21 20 1 22
12 Newcastle 18 5 7 6 24 25 -1 22
13 S'derland 18 6 3 9 21 26 -5 21
14 M'brough 18 5 5 8 17 27 -10 20
15 Stoke 18 5 5 8 17 30 -13 20
16 Spurs 18 5 4 9 20 23 -3 19
17 West Ham 18 5 4 9 18 26 -8 19
18 Man City 18 5 3 10 31 27 4 18
19 Blackburn 18 4 4 10 20 34 -14 16
20 West Brom 18 4 3 11 14 33 -19 15
