Spurs Lose Direction
When I heard that Tottenham had signed an ageing goalkeeper with a large amount of Premier League experience, I assumed we would be unveiling Kasey Keller, or maybe Neil Sullivan. Anyone really, who had previously stood between the sticks at the Lane, as our current transfer policy is based upon re-signing players previous managers had got rid of.
There is nothing like going backwards to prove that a club isn’t going forward. Never has Tottenham’s notoriously hit-and-miss transfer policy been exposed as under-managed.
We have effectively spent £6m to get Jermain Defoe to sign a new contract and re-signed the disruptive Pascal Chimbonda without making any profit. It is instructive that we are now recruiting players who helped us achieve fifth-placed league finishes a year and half after such achievements were considered insufficient.
That is not to say that I believe Defoe and Chimbonda to be bad signings. Both served the club with relative amounts of distinction (with relative amounts of crowd popularity!) in their first spell at the club and can be expected to immediately settle in as Spurs start the relegation battle run-in.
The prospective immediacy of their impact is the key factor in their acquisition. Harry Redknapp knows he cannot plan for the long-term yet, so Chimbonda’s purchase became a necessity, despite Alan Hutton and Vedran Corluka’s presence on the staff. Hutton’s injury might otherwise have been coped with. We all know that no one at the club really wanted to lose Defoe in the first place.
Redknapp identifies Wilson Palacios as his most significant January signing and the Honduran will undoubtedly add much-needed energy and bite to our often lethargic midfield.
However, the signing of Carlo Cudicini, the sole representation of Redknapp’s famous ‘wheeler-dealer’ transfer market reputation, might prove to be his most astute piece of business.
The 35-year old Italian has excellent pedigree and will be a calm presence in a dressing room unaccustomed to relegation trouble. He is proven as a perfect deputy if forced to sit on the bench, but there must be a suspicion that he is now the first choice goalkeeper. Another example of short-term thinking being forced onto the manager.
The re-signing of former players is not a bad thing in its own right, but it is hoped that Daniel Levy and co. realise that it proves how the club has lost direction over the last two seasons.
There is nothing like going backwards to prove that a club isn’t going forward. Never has Tottenham’s notoriously hit-and-miss transfer policy been exposed as under-managed.
We have effectively spent £6m to get Jermain Defoe to sign a new contract and re-signed the disruptive Pascal Chimbonda without making any profit. It is instructive that we are now recruiting players who helped us achieve fifth-placed league finishes a year and half after such achievements were considered insufficient.
That is not to say that I believe Defoe and Chimbonda to be bad signings. Both served the club with relative amounts of distinction (with relative amounts of crowd popularity!) in their first spell at the club and can be expected to immediately settle in as Spurs start the relegation battle run-in.
The prospective immediacy of their impact is the key factor in their acquisition. Harry Redknapp knows he cannot plan for the long-term yet, so Chimbonda’s purchase became a necessity, despite Alan Hutton and Vedran Corluka’s presence on the staff. Hutton’s injury might otherwise have been coped with. We all know that no one at the club really wanted to lose Defoe in the first place.
Redknapp identifies Wilson Palacios as his most significant January signing and the Honduran will undoubtedly add much-needed energy and bite to our often lethargic midfield.
However, the signing of Carlo Cudicini, the sole representation of Redknapp’s famous ‘wheeler-dealer’ transfer market reputation, might prove to be his most astute piece of business.
The 35-year old Italian has excellent pedigree and will be a calm presence in a dressing room unaccustomed to relegation trouble. He is proven as a perfect deputy if forced to sit on the bench, but there must be a suspicion that he is now the first choice goalkeeper. Another example of short-term thinking being forced onto the manager.
The re-signing of former players is not a bad thing in its own right, but it is hoped that Daniel Levy and co. realise that it proves how the club has lost direction over the last two seasons.
Written by Philip Oliver, a Tottenham Hotspur supporter and professional sports writer who blogs about football betting.
2 comments
Cuducini is a fantastic transfer. He'll breed confidence back into our defence.
Looking forward to seeing Palacios shake things up in midfield. I think him and Jenas could form a decent partnership. Lennon on the right, Modric on the left.
Hope we can get Fred. He'll bring something different to our attack.