Transitional lot in a state of transition

With Manchester City emulating the full-cheat-mode within Football Manager, it looks as though they may be a season or two away from breaking into the Top Four Ltd.

But alas, one team will be shipped out of the upper echelons when the inevitable happens.

That team could be the Woolwich Wanderer's FC (aka. Arsenal FC), with their decline commencing with the possible departure of Andrey Arshavin.

Marca have let the bomb go by announcing that the current Champions League holders, Barcelona FC, are very much interested in Russian.

This news will be a blessing to the ears of his long-term girlfriend and mother of his child as the poor blighter just can't settle in "boring London" with its "boring food".

The Spanish paper has quoted Arshavin saying that he'll be off in a flash if and when Barca come knocking.

If he goes, how long do you think Fabregas will hang around for?

How long can Arsenal's transitional squad remain in a state of transition?

We've hit an iceberg

So then, another day and another player linked.

Fortunately, the formula of 1 player linked per day is down on last season, when we were linked to 2-4 players daily.

Today, it's the turn of Marcus Berg. Apparently this 22 year old can score a bit to.

Everton & Villa have been watching and so it can be assumed that we to are interested.

To be honest, his record in front of goal isn't too shabby at all.

I did watch him knock a few in during the two-bob cup that saw England take it up the rear in yesterdays final. Not a bad player at all.

Anyway, he's the type of player that would do well in the Premier League as he's physical enough to cope and proud enough to show it.

Whether he's at Spurs is another matter. I'd take him over Pav any day mind.

Championship Player, £12 Million

Good morning fellas.



Is it me, or does it look an awful lot like Downing's agent is trying to fob him off on us practically every second of his life?



Yesterday I read that Downing is progressing well and could be fit by September.



Today I've read that Boro are open to selling Downing, but for no less than £12 million. That's £12 million Sterling by the way, not Turkish Lira.



I've ranted and raved about us not signing Downing for the past 3 years, but it looks as though our previous 4 managers have had a different view.



That's right, all this started with Santini (remember him) and it looks like it will end with Harry.



I can see us signing him. Let's just hope he's not another player we sign and then sell at a 50% loss 12 months later.

Keane rumours gather momentum

Sunderland ITK's, Sundersmoothy & Makemitk have reported that Robbie Keane's agent, Struan Marshall, has been in talks with Niall Quinn over a possible move.

Robbie is thought to have arrived back in London after his holiday break. If there is any truth in these rumours, we can expect to hear a lot more on this story.

I think it would be bad for the team as a whole if Keano left. After all, who could we realistically get in so as to replace him?

Those of us at The Lane last season could see from his body language that something was off during the last few matches.

Let's just hope that he stays and works hard for the good of the team.

What's wrong with Dawson?

With the news that Bassong may be on his way to The Lane, the real question we should be asking is if another centre-back is needed?

I thought Michael Dawson's displays last season could have even merited him a place in the England team.

Hasn't the lad proved himself enough?

Is Bassong a better player? To be honest, I've not seen enough of the lad to comment, but I have see Dawson throw himself into countless challenges for the cause.

Do we need another centre-back?

Harry wants another tough tackling midfielder

Various papers are running the article that Harry Redknapp is interested in signing England under-21 tough tackling midfielder, Lee Cattermole from Wigan.

With Downing persistently linked, it looks as though Harry is opting for a sold central pairing in the middle of midfield, with the flair coming directly from the wings.

He employed a similar system at Pompey when he paired Muntari & Diop in the centre.

If we do sign Cattermole (or another tough midfielder) and a left winger, it begs the question; what will happen to Luka Modric?

The real reason as to why Spurs fans are the best!

With all the rubbish that's been flying around, it's our joy and responsibility in asking that you all turn and bow down to Spooky.

If nothing else happens in this close season, we will remember and hail the great Spooky for his ability to bring cheer and happiness to our miserable existence.

Spooky's "Dan"

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Summer scouting reports

This summer is one of those close seasons that do not contain a major football tournament. Fans are instead restricted to the Confederations Cup and European U21 Championships in the hope of spotting new talent.

The Tottenham money men seem to be concentrating their summer recruitment policy on the Real Madrid clearout sale and despite there being plenty of desirable talent on offer at the Bernabeu, Daniel Levy and co. should also look out for bargains at the tournaments currently occurring.

In South Africa a potential World Cup final warm-up looks set to take place, with Brazil and Spain, as expected, emerging as the dominant forces in the Confederations Cup. A new signing from one of those squads will be nice, but a potential recruit from the hosts or other participating nations is more likely.

23-year old Bernard Parker has scored twice for Bafana Bafana, taking his international goalscoring record to seven from 16 appearances, a good return for a player who often plays as a winger. Parker has recently joined Red Star Belgrade, where he has made a good start, and his progress should be monitored.

United States have been the surprise package, edging out Italy to join Brazil in the semi finals. There has been a steady flow of American talent into the Premier League and young midfielder Michael Bradley, currently of Borussia Mönchengladbach, could be the next to join the list.

The Euro U21s event taking place in Sweden, where England have reached the semi-finals, is the ideal source of discovering young talent. These players are generally at major European clubs but are yet to make the breakthrough and a decent tournament in Sweden suggests they can cope in the pressurised environment of the Premier League.

Sweden’s Marcus Berg grabbed the headlines by scoring a hat-trick in his team’s opener against Belarus. The FC Groningen forward has already scored four goals for the full national team and has been a regular scorer in Dutch football since his club paid IFK Gothenburg £2.5m for his services two years ago.

Berg is strong with both feet and is good in the air, so would be a potential target man if Harry Redknapp decides to shake-up his forward line.

Transfer News

It looks as though David Bentley will be sold to Villa within the next few days. If you believe the stories doing the rounds, Bentley's agent is discussing the move.



Whether Daniel Levy & co agree to the fee is another matter.



Jamie O'Hara looks set on a £4 million move to either Fulham or Everton, whilst Tom Huddlestone has also been linked with the above 2 clubs and as a possible replacement for Barry up at Villa Park.



Darren Bent could well be on his way to Sunderland, according to his agent, but any move will have to wait until July 3rd as Steve Bruce is away.



Stuggart look prepared to pave the way for Roman Pavlyuchenko to join them in a £12 million move.



Sevilla's left winger, Diego Capel has stated that a move away from his club could be on the cards. After agreeing to pay them compensation for the Ramos saga, a move for the talented winger could be on the cards.

As for Ashley Young joining us, I think there's more chance I'll be playing for Spurs next season.



Don't believe a word of it.

Luca or Ruud?

The People have reported that Harry is interested in Bayern Munich's Italian International striker, Luca Toni.

Toni still has 2 years left on his contract and Bayern have made no inclination as to wanting rid of the 6.5 foot tall target man.

If we really are interested and Luca is to sign, then you can expect him to get goals and a lot of them.

In 81 games (2 seasons) for Bayern Munich, he's scored 57 goals. That's not a bad return.

Van Nistelrooy has scored 63 goals in 93 games (3 seasons, although he was injured for a large part of last season).

If both players were available and willing to sign for us, I would sign Luca Toni based on the fact that I just don't like Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Could Keane Go?

What do you make of the related stories regarding Sunderland wanting Keane?

It seems obvious that playing just Defoe and Keane up front simply doesn't work. Also tie in the fact that Robbie didn't look himself in the remaining last few games of last season.

This could all just be paper talk, but if it was true, how would you feel if Robbie Keane was sold?

Personally, I wouldn't mind if we could bring in one of the linked strikers.

Pav would suit Roma

If the rumours about Roma wanting Pavlyuchenko are true, then good luck to him.

If he does go, we'll never know if he would have turned out okay for us. After all, he played continuously from mid February 2008 up until May 2009.



The few times I saw him at The Lane, he looked as though he was waiting for something to kick into place.



The lad has skill, but seems lazy, terribly lazy. Therefore, the laid back culture of Serie A may suit the Russian, although I can't see us getting anywhere near the £14 million we paid for him.



I'm up for him staying for another season. Would you like him to stay put or leave?

Gomes out, Hart in?

The Mirror has stated that Harry is looking to offload Heurelho Gomes. With Manchester City's Joe Hart available, would you prefer Hart or Gomes in between the sticks next season?



Although Gomes has drastically improved since the arrival of Tony Parks (Spurs goal keeping coach), he still looks as though he's prone to making a blunder or two, while Hart looks like a safer pair of gloves.



City are said to only be looking at loaning out Hart, but if the price is right, a permanent deal to sign the player could be on the cards.



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On the Ashley Young story, one of the THBN users made a great point.



We had the opportunity to sign Young for £9.75 million just before the lad signed for Villa from Watford. But of course, our amazing transfer policy meant that we weren't interested in signing him for under £10 million, but would rather sign him for £23+ million (Bentley + £8 million).



What a waste.

Ashley would do nicely!

Ashley Young has been linked to us via The Sun. Normally, I take stories like this with a pinch of salt, but there could be some truth in the line that Harry Redknapp is interested in Ashley Young, but more importantly, the fact that Harry believes a deal for the winger is possible.

Harry has a lot of friends at The Sun and is one of the best in the business at tapping-up players, either first-hand, or via his media sources.

If there is any truth in the story that Harry's offered Bentley plus £8 million in return for Young, then signing a player of this magnitude would be a magnificent coup for us as it would show that we can still attract the top players, but would also relieve us of Bentley and his contract.

To be honest with you, I can't see us signing Ashley Young, but if the near impossible did happen, we would have a superb player on our books.

Harry is in the market for "one or two" already established players. Young fits the bill nicely.

Don't count on a good pre-season

With the likes of the current Champions League holders, Barcelona and Scottish giants, Celtic on our horizon, I do hope that we get modest results against them.

Can you imagine what it will do to our hopes if we thrash Barcelona and Celtic in the Wembley Cup?

All this "we're good enough for the top 4" nonsense really should stop. The truth is that we're nowhere near good enough. Even if Harry does strengthen us with "one or two players".

Let's get behind the side and hope that we can get ahead of the likes of Everton, City and Villa.

Finishing 5th this season will be the hardest feat yet. Let's just hope we're there or thereabouts.