Vital Spurs Debate Section

Spurs U-Turn Is Welcomed But Now It’s Really Over To The Players

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Regular readers of Vital Spurs will already know my thoughts on Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to furlough non-playing staff at the club, particularly doing so prior to coming to an agreement with the playing staff so they could rightly share the burden and show some solidarity – so naturally, I applaud the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust and their ongoing efforts to see the move reversed (which it now has been).

The full statement, as they explain their reasoning and their hopes, make perfect sense to me as football as a whole should be coming together at this moment in time, and not just protecting a club in isolation, but also ensuring the industry as a whole is in a position to come through this intact.

Sadly, given the self protectionist guff we’ve seen from Gordon Taylor at the Professional Footballers’ Association, and Richard Masters’ response from the Premier League, that thought is the furthest from their minds at the moment as they focus solely in on their own renumeration.

With the players themselves setting up their charitable NHS fund, whilst the move should be applauded, it’s left a lot of fans – like me – further disgusted with the wider attitude of footballers.

I should quickly say not all footballers and there are those who have sensible stayed quiet, but the fact it has been used by some to bite back at valid criticism in the direction of footballers and even worse, when you have the likes of Robert Snodgrass suggesting footballers should ‘earn respect’ for simply paying their taxes – the clueless bubble that Premier League football lives in is painted even more starkly.

Football’s response was never about the NHS or taxes, it was about playing their part in firstly, protecting normal club staff who make their lives possible, their club and then – for me – helping out fellow clubs and playing colleagues (who were, in turn, playing their own part and protecting normal staff).

Given the wide-ranging opinions offered up so far, I expect not everyone will agree – but given I’m so steadfast in my thoughts here, I’d certainly welcome the opposite perspective.

I wasn’t actually going to have another mini-rant like this given the topic had been well covered, but our friends over at Vital Villa had their say over the weekend, and not only was I pretty much in 100% agreement, it got my own juices flowing.

So given this isn’t quite ‘furlough’ related and comes at things from a different angle, I thought it was worth raising.

Given the announcement made by Spurs earlier this afternoon, I have had to rewrite some of the above, but I can only applaud the Board for listening to the concerns raised, and although some may question why it took so long to reverse the decision, at least it has been reversed.

I can also only applaud the following announcements.

Now, over to the players, Spurs have played their part.

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  • Niall D says:

    May be right B 108. I just know the ordinary fans loved him. May be he did want to move. I just thought re HK10 he was Spurs to the marrow. Its probably down to this situation we’re focusing on what people are doing or not doing. I would’ve preferred if Harry had taken the Jordan Henderson role in this being England captain, MBE and all that. Perhaps its not in his persona to do this. But as I said I feel we as a club made him. (he’s one of our own) I just expected more. As I said if he leaves and I hope he doesn’t I wish him well.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    HK10 wants to win trophies, and so do we.. the fans. Now look at the recent history of spurs players. CL Final we lost, domestic cups semi finals & one final lost… PL season best position (2nd) lost out to Leicester. If they are good enough to get to 2nd in PL and top 3, with numerous semi finals, and qualify 4 times CL and the top European Final and not win… Who is to blame??? is it the manager poch… Levy… the fans… mainly 90% is just the players on the pitch for those games. In CL Final we all saw their heads drop after the very early penalty, and basically allow Liverpool to win.

    HK10 has caused one of his bad injuries by a reckless tackle with Man City player moses, harry knows he is the biggest target for fouls and deliberate attempts by defenders to get him off the pitch. So he must keep himself out of trouble as much as poss. (sonny is another one for intimidation fouls and wind ups).

    Now we have a manager who has won trophies (25) in top european clubs, and PL Chelsea, Man Utd so HK10 should stay a year longer. Going to Man Utd is just moving sideways as they are the same as spurs now. So HK10.. the future is bright .. its lilywhite at WHL (not R Madrid) … COYS

  • PompeyYid says:

    My opinion on “Our Arry” is if he moved, say to MU or any other Prem club he would become hated by the same fans that worship him now, so for me it would be to RM or Barca, which would be forgivable.

    On winning trophies, I believe he would find them more valuable to him if he won them with his home club, which I think that is what he wants, plus there is a massive chance of him becoming an all time Spurs Legend by beating Jimmy to be come Spurs all time record goal scorer, which will always be remembered and in the record books.

    Just my thoughts, I could be wrong. KEEP SAFE ALL YOU YIDS. COYS 4 ever

  • Niall D says:

    I think PY and B108 we’re saying a similar thing in different ways. It was just the John Barnes piece which suggested that HK10 was laying the blame of lack of success on others rather than taking his share along with other players. PY this is my problem if he leaves for another Prem club is he still our “Arry.

  • PompeyYid says:

    ND….to be honest if “our Arry” went to another Prem club I would never ever forgive him, even with what he has done for us, no never forgive, go to Barca or RM, fair enough with thanks and all the best, not!, lol!

    Am at an age now that the media and esp’ pundits, all left wing tripe, I take with a pinch of salt everything they say, they all latch on to a subject and like my Jack Russels with rats will never let go, it’s about filling pages and look at me how intelligent and know all I am with their generally crap opinions, they twist everything a “star” player says esp if they play for Spurs, just my opinion. You and your kin keep safe mate.

    All you fellow Yids keep on keeping safe. COYS 4 ever.

  • 123spurs says:

    Sadly spurs won’t win anything even with Jose in charge, If HK wants to go then he wants to go

  • PompeyYid says:

    123spurs….you said “if HK wants to go then he wants to go” unless I am wrong I have not read anywhere that “he wants to go”, if my memory serves me right, he said in that interview with the Redcrapp prick! that “if I feel Spurs are not TRYING to win silver wear then I might have to move” note the word trying! that does not necessary mean “I want to leave” or actually winning, of course I could be wrong, but that’s my opinion. COYS 4 ever with or without “our Arry”

  • Niall D says:

    I know this isn’t maybe the right forum for this post. However I’m gonna post it whilst it stays in my head. (I’m getting to that age). I recently read a report (may have been Spurs web) about the Wanyama and Dembele partnership in midfield and how vital it was to Spur’s success. It struck a chord with me that the demise of these two players was/is the reason we have been so poor. I have seen a post linking us with a player called Kendogbia anyone know much about him and would the Kendogbia/N’Dombele
    Partnership prove the new way forward. (PROVIDED WE GET A NEW RB). Anyone any opinions.

  • PompeyYid says:

    ND….spot on with them 2, Wany and Dembo, one wouldn’t even let his granny have the ball, as in takes no prisoners, while the other was “am so controlled try taking the ball off of me as I charge forward” perfect combo, I think we have one of those already, as in N’Dombele but we desperately need a modern Wany.

    As for Kendogbia, sorry I have no bloody idea, will have to google him lol!

    Keep on keeping safe everyone. COYS 4 ever

  • PompeyYid says:

    ND….did my googling bit, Geoffrey Kendogbia, new then who he was, age you see lol!, is very much like what we already have, that is N’Dombele, so do not think we will be looking at him, though I could be wrong, I normally am lol!

    Other than the RB pos and a new striker, I know what we need! a “totally defensive take no prisoners/will kick my own granny” central midfielder, who takes all the pressure off of our CB’s, just as Wany did in his hey day for us.

    Keep safe all you YIDS. COYS 4 ever.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    It was a top class MF moussa / victor / dier / with rose & Trippier (walker) as wing backs. Now we are struggling as Sissoko injured for months, I thought him and tanguy would be awesome in DMF with tanguy moving forwards into attacking MF.. or swapping with sissoko.

    But tanguy’s fitrness was below PL standard, and i noticed this in the games I saw him play at WHL, dier had a few words with him couple of times as well, when having to cover for him., and moussa’s bad injury. Jose could get sonny and moussa to talk to tanguy about their 1st year at spurs, as both had rough time adapting.

    Talking about spurs player injuries… anyone else notice opposition players are targeting hk10 sonny, lucas and others, a lot more robustly than previous seasons… they even take turns in fouls so there are 4 or 5 players going in very hard and in 3 or 4 tackles maybe 1 of their players get a yellow card. So times that by 3 tackles each there are 12 or 15 bad tackles happening to our players, with 3 yellow cards, but with the damage done to spurs players in injuries and confidence knocked as well. Certain teams are doing this with their managers not “seeing” anything bad happening.

    IMO.. this is a part of spurs decline (with upsets by want out players / players not leaving to stay on their very good contracts) under poch and since Jose arrived.

    • Niall D says:

      Thanks guys for the replies. I thought this Kondogbia guy was a Wanyama type player. Thanx for the heads up guys. Some good posts. Look at us talking about football. Good to see EJ back.
      Stay safe every one

  • El Jefe says:

    Hi Niall, interesting conundrum you have there as we all want to see the best of N’Dombele naturally but where do we fit in Lo Celso also? I thought Dele came on superb under JM and deserves his place behind HK10 but Lo Celso was not far behind and deserves his aswell – maybe in CM?! Problem is we appear to need a DCM as originally described by PY and that would place pressure on N’Dombele surely especially if we are to accommodate Lo Celso in CM? Will be interesting to see what JM does in regards of this . COMPLETELY agree we need a new RB – hopefully one will be sorted in the summer. We probably also need a LCB but I would still keep Vert’s also. Back up for HK10 also needed assuming HK10 stays in the first place – agree with the sentiment – only forgivable if was to go abroad – hate to see him at another Prem side.

    Hope everyone is keeping well – all my best to fellow YIDS on here and respective families also. Good to see most of the same poster’s still posting showing they are doing OK – long may it continue!

  • El Jefe says:

    Appreciate the mention there ND, keep well mate and same to your family!

  • Danny Winter says:

    How’s everyone doing as we go into another week of the largely unknown? Numbers look better even allowing for natural quieter weekends and reporting delays, but it’s certainly not over yet.

    Hope all are well and safe & spirits are high.

  • BelgianSpur says:

    Niall D – I am all for asking every player, Kane included, to take responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. Conceptually speaking, I can accept the “we win together, we lose together” mentality.

    This being said, on an individual level, every player has a job, and Kane is doing his quite well. His job is to score goals. He’s won the Golden Boot several times, and scored more than nearly every player in the PL since 2015. What more can he do, individually? If we have had shortcomings, I would logically start the investigation elsewhere.

    The reality is that although football is a team sport, team performance can be significantly affected by a single player. If our keeper, or one of our centre backs, is very error prone, it could completely wipe out any efforts produced by our attacking players.

    Some of the players we had a few years ago were wildly overhyped by our own fans, as well. Despite your claim that many of pour players were still involved in the last 4 of the WC, was Trippier ever that good of a RB, despite being a star at the WC? On the other hand, take the Croatia team that made it to the final. Half that team was made up of players who probably wouldn’t make our squad. How a team fares at the WC depends on many factors, and is hardly a measure of true individual worth.

    We can also all talk up the “we were in the top 3” period, but Chelsea had a span of 4 seasons when they missed out on the top 4 twice. The other 2 years, they were champions. Are you saying that a Spurs player like Kane shouldn’t have been looking over fondly at what was happening there, and just be content to be in the top 4?

    As for Gerrard, he would have been a god/legend regardless of where he had finished his career. A lot of Liverpool players who eventually left, like Owen, Torres, Xabi Alonso or Pepe Reina are still considered club legends by Liverpool fans, despite eventually leaving.

  • BelgianSpur says:

    Block 108 – you can list all of the delays you want, but was it really a surprise that a real estate project of that magnitude was going to encounter hurdles? I am not saying that you can prepare for anything the world throws at you, but at the very least, it would have been reasonable to expect delays of various sorts on such a project.

    Levy’s project planning has always been very optimistic, leaving very little leeway for unexpected problems. Worse, his public communication to fans was atrocious. And at a later stage, I won’t even get into the fire detection systems debacle, which delayed the grand opening several months. There’s a lot to be said about how that project was managed, but Levy apologists such as yourself will only look at the final result. Personally, I think Levy should be held accountable for all aspects, and those shortcomings didn’t suddenly disappear once the stadium opened.

    Comparing our financial outlay to Arsenal’s makes no sense, for several reasons. First of all, it fails to take inflation into consideration. Second, it fails to take into consideration the explosion of revenues for PL clubs in the last 15 years. What may have seemed like a lot in 2006 doesn’t necessarily seem as big now, given that clubs’ revenues have vastly increased since. Finally, the Emirates was always intended to be a football stadium only. Ours is a multi-sport venue, which was always going to cost more money, and hopefully generate more revenues down the line. Levy could have chosen to build a football only stadium, which would have been a lot less complex, and cost a lot less too.

    It’s a conscious decision by Levy to spend that much on a stadium, with the side effect of the significant impact on our finances. Would our sporting interests have been better served by dedicating less of our revenues to a real estate project, and more to our transfer budget? We’ll never know, but the question can be asked.

    Finally, two more points:

    1. You say some managers failed to accept “Levy” players, and you use that as an example to say more money could have been spent. From the get-go, this setup is flawed. Give the manager a budget to work with, and let him choose players within that budget. We have tried many times to integrate “Levy” players in the squad (Stambouli, Wimmer, NKoudou,…) and it has never worked, despite making a healthy resale profit on a few of those players. Those players were never expected to actually improve the squad, and were merely seen as investments. As far as I’m concerned, they shouldn’t even really factor into our transfer “spend”.

    2. I am all for “living within our means”, but we have been among the lowest spenders in the last 5 years, despite breaking our revenue/profit records every year, and setting the highest profit mark for a football club ever, in that period. Something doesn’t add up. Nobody is advocating “doing a Leeds”, but there is surely a middle ground between running your club into the ground financially, like Leeds did, and being the lowest proportional spenders in the PL despite being one of the wealthiest clubs in the world, which is our reality. We could increase our transfer budget by 15 or 20% and still be considered financially conservative by the likes of Deloitte.

    That’s no longer being prudent, that is being greedy.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    Hi guys, good to hear you are all safe.

    DW, I’m not that impressed by the figures, the number of new cases is still fairly high considering the length of time we have been on lockdown. I can only assume that there are still too many people who think the rules don’t apply to them, one of my near neighbours is still receiving as many social visitors as she ever did, probably averages 2 every day, yet when I talk to her she blasts people who don’t follow the rules! I have taken to clapping for carers in my house because I don’t feel able to do it alongside someone so hypocritical.

  • PompeyYid says:

    Hey you all, hope your all still keeping safe,

    TQ2S….I think a lot of us have those “hypocritical” neighbour’s one way or another, don’t lower yourself by not clapping outside, hold your head up high keep on clapping esp outdoors and carer’s like me thank you.

    BS….I see your keeping safe over there, how is the wife and your not so new born now keeping?
    Glad to see you back with your opinions, whether I agree or not, keep on writing mate.

    All of you fellow YIDS and your kin keep being safe. COYS 4 ever

  • Niall D says:

    BS good argument put forward. But how do you rate success. It has to be by constant achievement. Come on there were a few times we were knocking on the door of the prem title. And would you prefer world Cup winners in your squad or also rans. Which proves to me we have people with the mentality to win large competitions. Tripps is flying this season in Spain. He did admit himself that he was under par in his last season at Tottenham. As I said I respect what HK10 has done. But as B108 said there were times he went into needless tackles which left him on the injury list. And as you said sometimes a stupid error in defence or a wrong decision by a ref can cost you the game. These are the margins. As for over hyped players. How many of the Leicester prem winning team would we have had on our side. Very few I would suggest 3. I think it was EJ who listed our back 6 at that time Lloris, Verts, Toby, Tripps/Walker, Rose/Davies, Dier, Dembele, Wanyama. Who would you have taken from another Prem team when these guys were at their best.
    TQ hope you’re keeping, here’s me trying to re-establish football focus and you’ve brought it back to an episode of Eastenders (lol) but I agree there are those who cannot grasp the situation or it doesn’t apply to them. Stay safe folks. COYS.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    BS…”Would our sporting interests have been better served by dedicating less of our revenues to a real estate project, and more to our transfer budget?”

    Surely if you want to invest more to buy quality players you also need the revenue stream to afford their high wages, you can’t generate sufficient income from a dilapidated 36k seater stadium.

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