Saturday Chat and Tottenham Transfer Talk
Saturday Chat and Tottenham Transfer Talk
Yes this is the long winded way of producing content, yes it is slower than video and podcasting, but it also means I can add more and delve into the areas others don't have the expertise to do.
I'm a dual qualified coach and therefore see more than the fan in the street, played cricket against plenty of Test Match players from around the world (Indian, West Indian, South African, English, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and New Zealanders) as well as organising major events.
Other studies. such as into success body language, psychology, marketing, all combine to give me an advantage over the everyday fan.
I write these pieces for nothing more than fun on my part and informative on your part and who I upset along the way I couldn't care less.
I'm better than the anti crowd and I know I am, as are you, my regular and intelligent readers.
What shall I discuss with you today?
It is Saturday, which means breakfast in a cafe and a cuppa on the seafront where Mum can sit and people watch in the sunshine.
She is 92 next month, still fit and enjoying life, well, she would with me around, I have her sense of humour.
We both like murder mysteries, quiz programmes, cycling and she laughs when I spot possible anomalies in adverts, like the disappearing hedge in the Halifax Ad (UK), the one where the non-footballer kicks a football along the path.
You can tell he is a non-footballer because his body shape is all wrong, we footballers would never kick a ball like that.
What I'm going to talk about seems to be turning into a chat itself.
Get on track man.
OK.
You do not build a football team (or try to) and then build the infrastructure to go around them, as fans would do.
That is backward.
It takes money to build a winning football team and as owners can't just give money for players today, it has to come from club generated funds, building the infrastructure to generate it comes first.
Yes you can generate it through commercial sponsorship as Manchester City did or build mechanism to generate money, as we did with the stadium and ability to earn from non-footballing activities.
To complain about a chairman who knows how to build such a vehicle and has done an excellent job so far in working towards becoming a club who can afford be mix it with the elite on a level playing field, demonstrates a lack of understanding as to how success is built.
We have a world class manager who will be backed, but he can only be backed if the stadium is generating the money and we are doing well in the commercial sponsorship market.
That is an area we still need to improve, thus raising the fanbase and pushing into the unchartered waters of USA is demonstrating foresight.
There is gold in them there hills, we just gotta mine it.
The groundwork has been too slow for some, indeed many haven't recognised it at all and even now the stadium has only just started generating money, after Covid set our plans back by, I estimated at the time an absolute minimum of three years, probably more.
I figured it would take two years of a full stadium to steady the ship and start to push forward, after Covid that is, once fans returned.
Looks like we might be ahead of schedule on that which deserves praise.
This will be our first complete season with fans in the stadium when it is complete, I think people forget that.
My recent posts have talked financial and everyone who wants to see will have seen and understood the implications and difficulties that presented.
The next step, while continuing to grow off the field, is improving the squad.
Peter Crouch said in his post match assessment that he thinks Conte is bringing a winning mentality, which is as much about what you do off the field every day to prepare for on the field and then put it into practice.
A winning mentality is a complete package, it isn't just going onto a football field to try and win, that's Sunday morning football attitude.
What you do leading up to a game, what you do after a game affect what you do each game.
As Conte says regularly, he has found a set of players who want to improve, that is a pre-requisite for a winning mentality.
What one moment from the Leicester game indicated a winning mentality to you?
To me it was first Steven Bergwijn but the more importantly Harry Kane, who both immediately went to get the ball out of the net when we equalised with 12 seconds left.
Kane didn't let Kasper Schmeichel have the ball and waste time, no, Kane almost pushed him out of the way, grabbed it to return it to the centre-circle.
And you know what, it worked, we scored the winner, which we wouldn't have done had Schmeichel been able to waste time.
It;'s the little things that make a difference, not the big gesture, not the show signing in a transfer market.
Harry Kane after the game, yeah it's always nice to hit landmarks but I should have had another couple out there and I'll be thinking about those tonight.
That's what a winning mentality is, going over everything in your own head, analysing your own performance, your teams performance, what you can do better and how you can help them be better.
No different than my teammates leaving me along for 15/30 minutes after every game we lost as I went through it in my head while it was still fresh.
The little things, the difference of a winning mentality.
Off the field self-analysis to constantly look at how you can improve yourself, not just try and win a football game, the mentality is worlds apart.
Try it with your golf game.
Harry couldn't wipe the smile off his face, a happy environment is an environment where you improve, where you want to work to improve, where you want to learn.
Creating the atmosphere for success helps bring success which is why slagging off the chairman all the time does absolutely nothing to help the club win anything.
Diego Carlos
Tottenham have made an enquiry for 28-year old (29 in March) Brazilian centre-back Diego Carlos.
Newcastle United are chasing him heavily and Sevilla have rejected two bids from them.
However, despite indicating he was keen on a move, he said after the 1-1 draw with Valencia that he expects to be at Sevilla for a while yet.
That seemed to be confirmed by Sevilla Assistant Manager Pablo Sanz who said:
"I think Diego Carlos will be here until the end of the season."
I understand Newcastle have bid £30.10m (€36m - US$40.82m - AUS$56.79m) but the LaLiga side expect much closer to £41.78m (€50m - US$56.69m - AUS$78.79m).
Hugo Lloris
As both sides expected, Hugo Lloris has now reached an agreement over a new Tottenham contract.
Our captain has signed another two-year deal on top of his existing 6-month contract.
Tanguy Ndombele
Tottenham are trying to offload Tanguy Ndombele to PSG, where he would be a homegrown player and they suggested a straight swap deal.
PSG offered Spurs Leandro Paredes, a 27-year old (28 in June) Argentinian international (41 caps, 4 goals, 5 assists) defensive midfielder.
Paredes has turned down the suggestion and Paratici, I believe, has countered the PSG offer by asking for 31-year old (32 in November) former Liverpool player Georginio Wijnaldum.
PSG have been offering a selection of players that they don't want, but we don't want them either.
Matthias Ginter
Tottenham have long followed Garman international (46 caps) centre-back Matthias Ginter, who was included in the centre-back list I posted in the summer.
Simply because we didn't sign a player and a new season starts doesn't mean we stop following an individuals progress, it helps build up a better picture, or it should.
Ginter is a 28-year-old (29 next January) right-footed defender for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, whose contract is up in the summer.
Adama Traoré
Adama Traoré will be a Spurs player soon, the stories suggesting he wants to join Barcelona and complete rubbish, Barcelona are not in for him, that was just rubbish leaked by his agent and of course journalistic lap all that up, gullible lot.
I look forward to seeing how Conte develops him, if he can improve his crossing and end product, particularly in front of goal, then his speed would make him a potent weapon.
Spurs will only make an official bid when we have rough agreement on the price, which will end up probably as £20m (€23.89m - US$27.10m - AUS$37.73m) + bonuses.
COYS
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COYS
Previous Articles:
Wednesday is Michelangelo and NdombeleDele Alli & Arsenal dishonesty
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COYS!!