Tottenham will get 3rd BOTTOM next season

Premier said:
I heard rumour we were in for Capel of Sevilla but i cant see them every selling anyone to us cause of the way we snatched Ramos off them.
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All players in Spain have a buy-out clause. Assuming his is something sane, Sevilla wouldn't have a choice.

Personally I don't rate him though. He's not that much better than Lennon.
 
JohnnyG said:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9745097
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Stag said:
Big 4 now the Big 5?
In the past seasons 4 clubs have dominated the English Premiership, partly due to the huge amounts of cash that the Champions League provides. With the increased influx of domestic television revenue and rich investors many clubs are seeing a new dawn of financial muscle. The gulf in spending power will still be there but not to the same extent that it has been.

Before a mid table club could look forward to the end of the season where they banked on their manager to make one big signing to swing their clubs fortunes, now a mid table club can make many multiple million pound signings and it not cripple the club if they do not work out. Of course it is still a result business but now just surviving in the Premiership is now as lucrative as winning it was 10 years ago.

Mourinho has been quoted recently as saying he believes Spurs to have the potential to fight for the title. If a manager had uttered this line just 3 years ago everyone but the most deludedly optimistic Spurs fan would have laughed their arse off. Now for me this is quite a statement, if he is just trying to unhinge his rivals by making them look over their shoulders instead of up at Chelsea then we can give him his a scout badge for mind games (I'd suggest he was artifically inflating Spurs fans hopes but he would be wasting his breath).

Spurs have certainly been narrowing the gap for the past 3 years, with some highly astute signings and decisions. Most notably Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, and with difference in behaviour between the two emphasising the raising of expectancy and reputation just a year later.

When Carrick joined Spurs (£2.75m) they were a perenial midtable team, never having finished in the top6 or the bottom6 since the inception of the Premierleague. 2 seasons later and Spurs just missed out on a Champions league place after holding 4th from Christmas right till the last day. However the lure of Manchester United drew his eye and after a protracted transfer was sold for a fee of up to £18.6m (£14m upfront).

His loss from Spurs midfield was catastrophic being the lynchpin that held our midfield together. It took untill October for the club to get back to form, but still managed to finish 5th for a second season in row. Now the best of the rest after two 5th placed finishes Spurs are looking to progress to challenging the Champions League places. The only way that is going to happen is if Spurs keep Berbatov.

Berbatov the current gem in the crown but unlike Carrick looks like he will stay at Spurs and shun the overtures of bigger clubs, at least for the coming season. With Berbatov staying and the reinforcements payed for with the influx of TV revenue Spurs are in pole position to challenge the top4's dominance.

Is this finally the season when the top 4 is broken, another 5th placed finish for Spurs, a gap to open up between the top 5 or will the revenue influx boost the nearly boys and create a superleague filled with top teams and prove the Premiership is the best league in the world?
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My infamous post last year was always misrepresented.....

I think my line about the superleague was somewhat proved correct with English teams dominating Europe. A significant increase in the ability of the top10 sides was clearly evident last season and time will tell if the best players in the world wanting to ply their trade here.

With regard to the top 3 predication; there is certainly a renewed optimism about the club with good reason. Yes our finishing league position was something we were more familiar with before Jol's reign but the club have move forward in big strides. The club had little to play for after the Cup win with European Qualification guaranteed, and the player's workrate and determination clearly fell.

This season promises an invigorated pre-season compared with previous with players starting fresh out of the blocks in prime condition. In previous seasons the mixture of fitness, determination, ability and ambition were all lacking in one form or another. Ramos has added tactical genius with a no nonsense approach and highstandards to take the club up a notch. Poyet has added a steely determination and helped form a team from a bunch of players wearing the same colours.

Some exciting signing are being made and the creative midfield players we were clearly lacking have been added in the form of Modric and Dos Santos. The goalkeeping position is the only major worry for me, with Robbo seemingly bereft of confidence. A replacement or addition is clearly needed with the exit of Cerny which IMO will be Ramos' most important decision for the future of THFC. Would SAF have taken Man Utd to their present heights if it wasn't for the addition of Schmeichel in 1991?

Of course there are question marks over the fitness of some key players but I am hopeful that they will get over their worries and remove the sicknote tags.

I feel more confident with the situation than I was 12 months ago and no longer consider the dent catastrophic if Berbatov were to leave. However he is a top class player and we are far stronger if he stays. The reputation and pulling power of Spurs will have a large indicative boost if he is convinced to stay because in my mind he would make the first team of any other club.

One or two more signings, with GK and to a lesser extent a tenacious DM the key ingredients will IMO push Spurs back into 5th and the gap between 4th being down to the wire.

Similar prediction to last season but a completely different Tottenham, time will tell.
 
To be fair they have bought 2 very good players....

I really dont understand why every year Tottenham fans love their own **** but they may have good reason to this new season, with the new manager and good players coming in...

Wish the same could be said for newcastle
 
Gilly said:
It's really a big three now, and that's only if Arsenal improve again.
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I'd say that's a fair assessment, Liverpool are typically the side most likely to be caught. I'd still class them as making it a big 4 (And still a cut above Spurs), but if we're talking teams that make a genuine title bid, it's true to say that it has come down to 3 teams.

And people, stop stealing my bet. That £40 is mine. :D :p
 
You're right, it's been quite a while since they made a sustained title bid. They still do just about enough for me to class them in the top tier of prem sides........just about.

They always have the potential, but it always seems to be so near, yet so far.
 
meh id eat my hat if you got 3rd, you always struggle against the other europe contenders on the day, they play to beat you, whereas they just hope for a win against the top4 teams.
Us and arsenal are bound to have bad patches, but lets face it you will too, and we'v got a much better squad.
 
skippi90 said:
We were ridicuously unlucky in 2005. Will never forget that end of season game. :(
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I think it would have been too premature to qualify for ECL at that stage.


Jazz said:
Going by that argument Birmingham could argue they are closing the gap despite being relegated, they drew with us twice, Chelsea had two narrow wins against them, Man utd even had two narrow wins against them and Liverpool drew with them home and away ;)
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Can't argue with that :)
 
Gilly said:
Didn't think in title bid terms it had ever been 4. When have Liverpool done so?
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I said in the summer break last year there are only 3 title contending big clubs at the minute, before that, there were only two in the prem and liverpool have never been one of them.

I doubt they will be any different this year.

As for spurs, any team that counts woodgate and king as their two best defenders are going nowhere.
 
atpbx said:
I said in the summer break last year there are only 3 title contending big clubs at the minute, before that, there were only two in the prem and liverpool have never been one of them.

I doubt they will be any different this year.

As for spurs, any team that counts woodgate and king as their two best defenders are going nowhere.
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:rolleyes:
 
lol at 3rd :D

Yes Spurs are a decent outfit but so are Everton, Portsmouth, Man City, Aston Villa... and arguably even Newcastle.

We're in our own little mini league with these teams... The top 4 are quite a bit infront, Man Utd and Chelsea especially.

Only way Spurs could finish 4th is if Liverpool fall to pieces in the league, which has been coming and totally possible... but it's more more likely Spurs will fall to bits surely??
 
atpbx said:
As for spurs, any team that counts woodgate and king as their two best defenders are going nowhere.
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Woodgate is a quality defender. He is always injured but that has nothing to do with his talent. He's Spurs' best defender and one of the best CBs in the league (when he actually plays :p).

Spurs have only signed Modric and dos Santos so far so I don't see where the sudden optimism is from.

As for Ramos, Jol still has a higher win % so apart from the Carling Cup win Ramos has hardly set the world on fire.
 
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