The Footie Thread

[clubchamp98]

Well no...our original bid (which matched Leipzig's demands) was rejected...so we have gone back with an improved offer.

I do wonder if Newcastle and Man Utd communicate with each other over this sort of thing so clubs can’t play them off against each other.

Or is it a proper auction.?

 

[nickjdavis]

Yes think wife/girlfriend has a big impact on players and where they move.

Fixed for you.

I always remember an observation about the International Olympic Comittee members when they were voting for where next to host the Olympics...apart from various brown paper bags/envelopes, the biggest driver was where their spouse would prefer to go for a months holiday....Birmingham and Barcelona bidding in 1992....can you imagine Mrs Samaranch telling hubby to vote for Birmingham?

 

[Pin-seeker]

Interesting take on Cunha and Mbeumo.

Last season they were getting nothing but praise (apart from when they were elbowing staff members of other sides), and made many fans Premier League team of the year.

Now they've gone to Man Utd. Suddenly, it's only for the money, and none of the bigger sides who can pay more would have wanted them. Note, there seemed to be a lot of excitement when news spread Mbeumo demanded £450,000 a week to go to Utd. Seems like that figure was just £300,000 higher than reality.

Given that most of the established top players are clearly not for sale, it would be interesting what higher level players these top clubs are looking for? Isak perhaps, albeit he'll cost best part of £150 million and demand a big salary. Or maybe they are looking for the next Darwin Nunez, currently playing in some European league?

Classic case of people reading something & believing it because it fit a narrative.

Flip it and it gets dismissed as paper talk/rumours.

 

[Swango1980]

I suspect one of Levy's failings, looking from the outside, is a failure to communicate well with the fans. If the people in charge speak to fans, in the way he has here, they can often diffuse unrest by simply explaining what they are trying to do, the thought process. Not everything will work, but if you explain why you are doing something, and it makes sense, fans buy into it. An information vacuum is often the problem.

Might be true for some people.

But, for many, it isn't the case. If an owner or manager don't speak to fans enough, fans will simply use that as a reason to criticise them. However, if that person then starts to communicate, the same fans will hammer them just as much, and rip apart everything they say. Ultimately, if Spurs are not winning trophies or competing for the league, there will be many loud Spurs fans that will bash Levy to bits. Because they think they are entitled to be at the top, playing beautiful football, no excuses.

Has Levy been the victim of his own success? The fact that he has helped build a club that has been in the "Top 6" and made it financially sound, many Spurs fans now have that entitled feeling that they need to be in the Top 2/3 and winning trophies, and therefore ignoring the fact that that means getting the better of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and City over the many years, not to mention other clubs going through purple patches.

 

[Swango1980]

Classic case of people reading something & believing it because it fit a narrative.

Flip it and it gets dismissed as paper talk/rumours.

I don't know how anyone ever believed the salary Utd would give any player would be remotely near £450,000. Given that this is significantly higher than the crazy salaries we paid the likes of Rashford and Sancho under previous ownership model, what the new ownership model have done to cut costs, and the sorts of salaries given to players in the last year.

I can imagine people going crazy on twitter, simply because that platform is full of idiots. But to be reported on mainstream media is ridiculous, with these so called pundits / journalists clearly being more interested in hyping up stories than actually taking things seriously and earning any sort of credibility.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I do wonder if Newcastle and Man Utd communicate with each other over this sort of thing so clubs can’t play them off against each other.

Or is it a proper auction.?

Reports are that Newcastle have increased their bid and that Utd have not actually placed any sort of bid. No bidding war taking place, Newcastle needed to increase to meet the release clause.

Back to your point, that's an interesting one. It makes sense but I wonder whether it happens?

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Bottom line, the only people who know for sure why Cunha and Mbeumo went to United are the players and those closest to them, and by that I mean their families. Perhaps not even agents know the full rationale.

As for their salaries? Again, the players, their legal advisors and those involved in the negotiations will know. And their bank managers will have a decent idea. The rest of us know nothing.

And finally, the same goes for any interest from other clubs. None of us here know what interest there may have been. Even the press can only speculate.

So really, it’s all pie in the sky. And no amount of back and forth here will change any of it.

In regards speculation these days there are plenty of solid sources out there now

If a club is genuinely interested in a player and has some “discussions” with players then it’s very very rare that one of those sources won’t know about it

It is a pain as it was good in the days when the first you know about a player signing was when it was announced

But if clubs were interested to the point they held talks etc with Cunhas team then we would know about it

There is no mystery any more with signings

 

[pendodave]

The fact that he has helped build a club that has been in the "Top 6"

Top 16, Shirley... ;-)

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Reports are that Newcastle have increased their bid and that Utd have not actually placed any sort of bid. No bidding war taking place, Newcastle needed to increase to meet the release clause.

Back to your point, that's an interesting one. It makes sense but I wonder whether it happens?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1952704621689937959

United have come in now

Interesting to see how it plays out

 

[Orikoru]

Spurs and Levy suffer from a bit of Arsenals - the expectation that they should be challenging and winning the biggest competitions based on spending and building a massive new stadium but as with many other clubs they don’t have the right people in the right places away from the pitch

Many clubs have lots of money floating around but you still need to spend it well and buy the right players

A club needs to get the right manager to work with those players

Levy at times has just hired and fired at will

They were building under Pochettino but during a poor period binned him out , sacked Mourinho just before a cup final

They have had 5 managers since they sacked Pochettino in 2019

A club won’t be successful if they don’t ever allow someone to build and some owners never have the paitence to allow that to happen

I believe Poch was jaded and had taken the team as far as he could - I didn't disagree with his firing. Wouldn't be surprised if it was genuinely mutual at that time, because he's always expressed loved for the club and a willingness to come back.

The timing of Mourinho's sacking was ridiculous, and one of Levy's biggest mistakes. But I don't think sacking the last handful of managers were mistakes, it was hiring them in the first place. Mourinho and Conte were never suited to the club. Nuno should have been given more time in hindsight, but they never really wanted him in the first place, he was 4th or 5th choice. Ange had to be sacked as he was proven to not be a Premier League level manager. I now believe we have the right man, finally, in Frank. Of course I might be proved wrong, but right now, I have no doubts about him being the man to take us forward.

 

[Swango1980]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1952704621689937959

United have come in now

Interesting to see how it plays out

Well there are two options:

He goes to Newcastle because he is ambitious and wants to play in Europe, rather than going to the shambles of a club at Man Utd

Or, he goes to Man Utd for the money.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I believe Poch was jaded and had taken the team as far as he could - I didn't disagree with his firing. Wouldn't be surprised if it was genuinely mutual at that time, because he's always expressed loved for the club and a willingness to come back.

The timing of Mourinho's sacking was ridiculous, and one of Levy's biggest mistakes. But I don't think sacking the last handful of managers were mistakes, it was hiring them in the first place. Mourinho and Conte were never suited to the club. Nuno should have been given more time in hindsight, but they never really wanted him in the first place, he was 4th or 5th choice. Ange had to be sacked as he was proven to not be a Premier League level manager. I now believe we have the right man, finally, in Frank. Of course I might be proved wrong, but right now, I have no doubts about him being the man to take us forward.

Pochettino had only been there 4 years , he built up well and then had a dip , the minute the dip and he is under pressure and gone - that’s not going to help a team grow , all managers and teams have dips but modern owners etc don’t have the paitence to deal with the dips

Conte and Mourinho both trophy winning managers who clearly are top class managers - proven it , both had issues at Spurs

Nunes again a good manager , even Ange a good manager who won a European trophy

Maybe the issue isn’t the managers its the guy in ivory tower and the expectations of the fans

 

[Orikoru]

Pochettino had only been there 4 years , he built up well and then had a dip , the minute the dip and he is under pressure and gone - that’s not going to help a team grow , all managers and teams have dips but modern owners etc don’t have the paitence to deal with the dips

Conte and Mourinho both trophy winning managers who clearly are top class managers - proven it , both had issues at Spurs

Nunes again a good manager , even Ange a good manager who won a European trophy

Maybe the issue isn’t the managers its the guy in ivory tower and the expectations of the fans

Yeah the issue was that they're used to buying a whole new team of players that already know how they want them to play. We don't do that at Spurs. Hence they were totally the wrong appointments.

Ange did well in the Europa - against a pretty poor string of teams. He was not Premier League level though, that much is patently obvious. Out of his depth.

 

[Aztecs27]

I believe Poch was jaded and had taken the team as far as he could - I didn't disagree with his firing. Wouldn't be surprised if it was genuinely mutual at that time, because he's always expressed loved for the club and a willingness to come back.

The timing of Mourinho's sacking was ridiculous, and one of Levy's biggest mistakes. But I don't think sacking the last handful of managers were mistakes, it was hiring them in the first place. Mourinho and Conte were never suited to the club. Nuno should have been given more time in hindsight, but they never really wanted him in the first place, he was 4th or 5th choice. Ange had to be sacked as he was proven to not be a Premier League level manager. I now believe we have the right man, finally, in Frank. Of course I might be proved wrong, but right now, I have no doubts about him being the man to take us forward.

If I recall Nuno didn't have his full compliment of back room staff at Spurs either which won't have helped him. His assistants have really played a massive part in Forest's success.

Ironically, I wouldn't put it past Marinakis to bring in Big Ange if Nuno ever gets the boot

 

[Aztecs27]

Pochettino had only been there 4 years , he built up well and then had a dip , the minute the dip and he is under pressure and gone - that’s not going to help a team grow , all managers and teams have dips but modern owners etc don’t have the paitence to deal with the dips

Conte and Mourinho both trophy winning managers who clearly are top class managers - proven it , both had issues at Spurs

Nunes again a good manager , even Ange a good manager who won a European trophy

Maybe the issue isn’t the managers its the guy in ivory tower and the expectations of the fans

I genuinely believe this has something to do with it.

Not manager related, but player related - Brennan Johnson was basically forced to delete all his social media accounts last season due to the abuse he was getting from Spurs fans.

Even now, top scorer last season (and might well have saved them from being relegated with those goals) and scored the goal that won them their first silverware in nearly a generation....and they STILL hate him. It absolutely baffles me.

 

[Orikoru]

I genuinely believe this has something to do with it.

Not manager related, but player related - Brennan Johnson was basically forced to delete all his social media accounts last season due to the abuse he was getting from Spurs fans.

Even now, top scorer last season (and might well have saved them from being relegated with those goals) and scored the goal that won them their first silverware in nearly a generation....and they STILL hate him. It absolutely baffles me.

How do you know this? Which fans are we talking about? I'm not seeing this but I must be good at avoiding the right social media avenues.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I genuinely believe this has something to do with it.

Not manager related, but player related - Brennan Johnson was basically forced to delete all his social media accounts last season due to the abuse he was getting from Spurs fans.

Even now, top scorer last season (and might well have saved them from being relegated with those goals) and scored the goal that won them their first silverware in nearly a generation....and they STILL hate him. It absolutely baffles me.

Social media is a cesspit and when players are on there people see them as targets - being very blunt a lot of it comes from “foreign” fans from far flung lands

Every club has them and some more vocal than others

When Wjnaldumn left he was very blunt about them

 

[4LEX]

I believe Poch was jaded and had taken the team as far as he could - I didn't disagree with his firing. Wouldn't be surprised if it was genuinely mutual at that time, because he's always expressed loved for the club and a willingness to come back.

The timing of Mourinho's sacking was ridiculous, and one of Levy's biggest mistakes. But I don't think sacking the last handful of managers were mistakes, it was hiring them in the first place. Mourinho and Conte were never suited to the club. Nuno should have been given more time in hindsight, but they never really wanted him in the first place, he was 4th or 5th choice. Ange had to be sacked as he was proven to not be a Premier League level manager. I now believe we have the right man, finally, in Frank. Of course I might be proved wrong, but right now, I have no doubts about him being the man to take us forward.

Poch was only jaded because Levy never backed him seriously in the transfer market unless it was after a star player had been sold.

Spurs were so close to doing something special but they just lacked a few world class players. I remember Poch being desperate for Grealish back in 2019 but Levy refused to pay £20m for him!

Levy made some bad moves afterwards and Poch himself took jobs at PSG and Chelsea which had cultures totally opposite of how he likes to work.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Poch was only jaded because Levy never backed him seriously in the transfer market unless it was after a star player had been sold.

Spurs were so close to doing something special but they just lacked a few world class players. I remember Poch being desperate for Grealish back in 2019 but Levy refused to pay £20m for him!

Levy made some bad moves afterwards and Poch himself took jobs at PSG and Chelsea which had cultures totally opposite of how he likes to work.

And there is the issue - Levy making the choices on player values etc

That’s the issue - he is looking from the money side as opposed to the players ability

The club and any club needs a football brain as the authority

 

[Aztecs27]

How do you know this? Which fans are we talking about? I'm not seeing this but I must be good at avoiding the right social media avenues.

It might mostly be a Social Media echo chamber but I know (in real life ) of two spurs fans who think he's an absolute waste of space and shouldn't be in the squad at all.