van der Vaart: To be confirmed or not confirmed, that is the question!

The man of the moment, Rafael van der Vaart

Am I right in thinking that the English Premier League transfer window was firmly shut at 6pm yesterday (Tuesday, 31st August 2010)?

If that is the case, how is that neither Tottenham Hotspur nor the Premier League have announced the transfer of Mr. van der Vaart?  I understand that the paperwork was filed and that Daniel Levy and his sidekick, Darren Eales were attempting to push through the deal and, according to Marca, had succeeded in doing so.

Thing is, Rafael van der Vaart (RVDV) was sitting comfortably in Madrid yesterday evening. Medical, anyone?  Could it be that the necessary paperwork did go through in time, but the Dutchman has yet to take his medical?

We never like doing anything the easy way round at Spurs, therefore, why should this deal be any different?

If something were to go wrong now, I will find a field and bury myself in it.  I think RVDV will do the same, especially after the interview he gave to the Dutch newspaper, Telegraaf.nl.

"I can hardly believe it myself [on the transfer to Tottenham Hotspur]. It's a pity I cannot now play against Ajax in the Champions League but now I get to visit FC Twente. That will be fun!

"The interest from Tottenham has only today [Tuesday, 31st August 2010] become concrete. But then it [the paperwork] went in quickly. In any case I did not take long to think about the deal. I just want to play football again and if possible, every week, at a great club like Tottenham Hotspur. I'm totally happy with the deal and look forward to this new challenge in my career." - Telegraaf.nl

Need a shovel Rafael?

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Tottenham Sign Rafael van der Vaart

Spanish newspaper, Marca, have confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur have signed Real Madrid's Dutch International midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart.  The deal is believed to be in the region of £8 million.

The club's website has said nothing though, so watch this space.  If this story is true, it's a superb signing.  RVDV can play anywhere across midfield, and in the hole behind the striker.

Source: Marca

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Parker Spotted at Spurs Lodge

Now then, the ITK's on all the Spurs Forums have gone into overdrive today!  Two different self-titled ITK's have said that Scott Parker is at this very minute, at Spurs Lodge.

If we are going to sign anyone today, I expect it to be Scotty Parker to be honest.  West Ham is a club in complete disarray at the moment.  Things must be bad, for if we are to believe the reports coming from the Hammers forums, the club has asked Tottenham to continue to pay at least 40% of Robbie Keane's wage for the first year.

After all that David Sullivan has said, if he allows the club captain to join us, he may as well resign.  If I were a Hammer, I couldn't ever bring myself to forgive the man.

If Parker is really taking his medical at Spurs Lodge, and we do end up signing him, I'll be a happy bunny.  Thing is, with Sandro finally making an appearance, Huddlestone, Jenas, O'Hara, and Palacios, we're a bit top heavy in midfield, aren't we?  If you throw Parker into the mix, something has got to give.

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Transfer Window Latest!

Right then, what does the internet have in store for us today?  Same old rubbish really, although there was a bit of news that caught my attention.

Manchester City's Togo and former Arsenal striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, has been linked with a loan move to us.  Now, I'm no genius, but this is the same Manchester City that declined Craig Bellamy a move to us a couple of weeks ago, right?

talkSPORT have gone crazy over the rumour that Harry Redknapp is about to sign the player.  The tabloid-style radio station has even discussed his contract, stating Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to cover half the players wages.

Utter rubbish.

We can also forget Klaas-Jan Huntelaar signing for us.  He's made the move to yet another league.  If he can cut it in the Bundesliga, I'll take back everything I've said about him.  Can't see it myself frankly, therefore, expect him to be included in the vast list of players to be linked to us next season.

"At the end of his career, Huntelaar could be an interpreter - Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany...." - TonyRich

The Sun's Ian McGarry was asked last night on the BBC FiveLive Monday Night Club which players Harry is likely to sign.  He didn't mention any names, but it was obvious that he was alluding to Rossi, although he did say that there's very little chance of getting him.

What are we left with? Scott Parker, surely?

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Complications over Huntelaar Deal

Marco Borriello is a wanted man

Manchester City and Juventus are interested in AC Milan's striker Marco Borriello.

According to some media streams, City is planning to request the 28-year-old in exchange for Robinho, knowing that AC Milan want the Brazilian, but due to their lack of financing at the moment, will need to offer a player in a part-ex if a deal is to get off the ground.

If Manchester City or Juventus tie up the signing of Borriello, that leaves Milan seriously short on options up front, even if they sign the troubled Brazilian. I'm only putting one and one together here folks, but if Borriello does leave, can you see Milan letting Huntelaar leave to?

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Fabiano Signs Contract

According to SevillaFC.es, Luís Fabiano has signed a contract extension with Sevilla, with his new deal running until the end of the 2012/2013 season.

This, I think, means he won't be on a plane to N17.

And I thought he was the one we would have unveiled before the transfer window slammed shut. Wishful thinking.

We need to start thinking like a Champion's League club and make our moves early on in the window if we are to sustain any success.

I do think that we will make at least one signing. Maybe Huntelaar, maybe Parker, maybe both?

Click here to see why the Huntelaar deal might be off.

Source: SevillaFC.es

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Harry is no Wheeler-Dealer

Please be warned that the below video has explicit language in it and shouldn't be view by minors.

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The Tottenham Blip

We've been here before, haven't we? Wolves and Stoke.  I may even throw Hull into the mix.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 1 Wigan.

Was Cudicini to blame for the goal? Yes. Was Cudicini to blame for our performance? No.

When are we going to learn that you cannot turn up and expect to win? To be fair to the lads, the result wasn't solely based on our complacency, but more so on our Champion's League hangover.

We have shown our naivety today.

Terrible, shocking and utterly horrible.

"We were poor today, we got what we deserved. We started slow today and couldn't get going. They defended great and we couldn't open them up.  Only Niko Kranjcar had some idea on how to open them up. We've had a bad day. It didn't go our way." - Harry Redknapp being interviewed on the BBC.

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In other news, the main rumour in the Shelf today is that Robbie Keane is on his way to Newcastle United.  Another boyhood club?

PS. Why did Harry decide to play two holding midfielders (Huddlestone and Palacios) against Wigan, but chose to attack Manchester City two weeks ago? Just a thought.

 

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We want 10!

Surely not again?

Remember last season's humdinger against Wigan Athletic?

So then, what's changed? Well, not much to be fair. The Wigan defence is still shipping goals as though conceding them is about to go out of fashion. Four against Blackpool and six against Chelsea being my case in point.

They are missing Titus Bramble and it looks as though the Charlie N'Zogbia business isn't benefiting their changing room in any way.

Should we make anything of their 3-0 win in the midweek Carling Cup game? Some say we should and that Wigan have turned a corner. I think that we shouldn't turn up at the Lane today and expect another hammering. In fact, whenever the Spurs players have expected to win a match simply by turning up, we've gone backwards.

Truth of the matter is that on paper, we do have a vastly superior side and should win by a comfortable 3-0 scoreline. In reality, I think we shouldn't underestimate this Latics side, nor should we think their manager, Martinez, is a liability.

Champion's League anyone? As this is our first excursion in Europe's elite competition, I truly hope that we aren't hungover from Wednesday's match. Harry said that he didn't want the players celebrating too much, as they had to prepare for Saturday's game.

Having said all that, if we have prepared properly for this match, I can see nothing but a home win.

THBN Prediction: Tottenham 5-2 Wigan Athletic

In other news, the Carling Cup draw has just taken place and we've been drawn to play Arsenal. Should we be even contemplating using any of our first eleven players in this tie?

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Huntelaar in Loan Move to Tottenham Hotspur

The Mirror have reported that Daniel Levy is currently in talks with AC Milan over the possibility of bringing International Dutch striker, Klaas-Jan-Huntelaar, to White Hart Lane in a season-long loan deal.

The deal could include the option to buy at the end of the loan contract, with the sum reported to be in the region of £12 million.

Source: MirrorFootball

If true, I wouldn't mind any possible loan deal. I've had my doubts about Huntelaar for a while, but if the story were true and there were no strings attached, I think it would suit all parties.

If Huntelaar can hit the onion bag and prove that he's a decent player in the Premier League, £12 million wouldn't be too steep.

I'll wait on Luís Fabiano though. A little birdy has told me that he could be a Spurs player within days. We all know what we think about silly little birdies though. Therefore, until something is concrete, I won't be believing anything, although no one ever said dreaming was wrong.

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Daniel Levy

The Mission | The Man

When Daniel Levy was appointed as Tottenham Hotspur's new Chairman, we were going nowhere. Players like Dean Richards, Gary Doherty, Chris Perry and Mauricio Taricco may have worn the shirt with pride, but unfortunately, we were a club in disarray.

Look at where we are today; the Champion's League anthem echoing in and around White Hart Lane.

Some say that Tottenham Hotspur is a genuine contender to win the Champion's League. Our squad is among the elite in the Premier League, for we have a young, balanced squad. We are financially sound; with a fantastic new stadium on the way, one of the greatest football training complexes anywhere in the world half finished and fans that will rock any stadium off its foundations.

Take a bow at everyone involved at THFC and the mastermind behind it all, Daniel Levy.

COYS!!!

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The Big One

Make no bones about it, tonight is the biggest match we have played in a long time. We are on the brink of the Champion's League proper, with only eleven Young Boys standing in our way.

When I saw our line-up last week, I practically hit the roof. Instead of packing our midfield, Harry chose the 4-4-2 option. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about; the one that Harry Redknapp himself slated while he was a pundit for the BBC at the World Cup.

"Against English sides, you can get away with playing 4-4-2, but on the continent, you just can't play that system". Those were Harry's words in June.

To cut a long story short, we were found out. Young Boys came out the traps faster than we could cope. No matter what you think, their pitch did have a part to play. Our lads couldn't get a hold on the game and we lost 3-2.

After that rant, you would expect me to say that we should play a 4-5-1 formation, control the game at our pace and attempt to hit them on the break. Well, you'd be wrong. This time round, they're coming to our place, our stomping ground. I do hope Harry gets the lads playing the 4-4-2 formation and drives them on to attack. We need to go for the Young Boys jugular. I have a feeling that they will be expecting us to do this. Let's not disappoint.

Spurs are at home, in North London, at White Hart Lane with 30,000 plus supporters surrounding the pitch, baring those silly advertising boards that will probably restrict the view of some punters. If we can emulate the same form that we showed when we needed to beat City up at Eastlands last season, we can beat this team and make the group stages.



Against City last season, we played some impressive stuff. Some said that we really only needed a draw. Our lads obviously were not privy to that train of thought, but instead, went out and took the game to City; making sure that they were always on the front foot, setting the tone and tempo of the match, whilst never allowing City to settle or react while Spurs dictated play. Can we do that tonight? Of course we can.

I've chosen Kranjčar over Palacios as I am not a fan of the Honduran. In my opinion, he's an accident waiting to happen. Young Boys will most likely play the same way they did against Fenerbahçe; counter-attacking and playing deep. That's why I would not put Wilson Palacios in the starting eleven as he gives the ball away far to often for my liking. I also think Niko Kranjčar is class and deserves a place in our midfield. I am interested to see what players Harry starts with.

THBN Match Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Young Boys

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Will Gallas be paraded on the pitch?

It's been the case at White Hart Lane recently that any new signing is paraded on the pitch, either prior to kick-off, or at half-time. With Gallas' former connections, do you think he'll be introduced to us when we face Young Boys in tomorrows must-win Champion's League Qualifier match?

If both Gallas and Sandro are presented to us, what do you think Sandro will make of all the booing?

I personally wouldn't boo the lad, but that's just me. I've spoken to a lot of Spurs fans recently who still can't believe that we've signed the former Arsenal captain. I think we should trust Harry's judgement and just get on with it, although in the above picture, he does look like a homeless guy that's found the new Spurs shirt in a dumpster.

The best thing William Gallas can do is keep a low profile and play a blinder on his debut. If we were to ask for a cherry on top it would be to see him kissing the badge when he scores. Wishful thinking?

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. Either way, we have to win, therefore, booing any Spurs player, new or not, will be counter-productive.

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New Signing Arrives at Spurs

Young Brazilian midfielder Sandro has arrived at Tottenham Hotspur after completing his move from Brazilian side Internacional for a reported, although not often believed, £5.7million.

Sandro left Brazil on a high, helping the club win the Libertadores Cup, making them the champions of South America. Despite having only two full seasons under his belt, the 21-year-old is already a Brazilian international, after making his debut as a substitute in his country's World Cup qualifier against Chile last September.

Sandro is well aware that despite the fact he has won South America's biggest competition, he will be starting from the bottom at Spurs. The young holding midfielder will face a battle to get into the first team with Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios, Jamie O'Hara and Jermaine Jenas all competing for a starting spot. With Spurs vying for silverware on four fronts this season, Harry Redknapp will need numbers in midfield if he wants to maintain a concerted challenge on all fronts. The Betfair Football odds suggest we have a chance of winning something this season.

On top of this, it has been reported that Jermaine Jenas has been attracting interest and it looks like he could miss out when Redknapp names his 25-man Premier League squad for the season. The Spurs manager has already confirmed Sandro will be included.

Our young Brazilian certainly looks to have promise, especially as he graduated from the Internacional youth set up in 2008 making his debut in the first team. The following year Sandro was chosen to captain Brazil's under-20 side as they won the South American Championship. As he became a regular in his club's first team, his reputation grew and his full international debut followed. During his time with Internacional, Sandro made 99 appearances, scoring four goals. He narrowly missed out on being selected for his country's World Cup campaign and instead was named as one of seven back up players.

However, his international career looks set to continue after new Brazil coach, Mano Menezes, named Sandro as one of the 22-man squad of Europe-based players who will take part in a six day training camp in Barcelona.

As Spurs fans, we will understandably be excited to see our new, highly-rated midfielder, who has been likened to former Spurs hero Edgar Davids, who spent two successful seasons with us at White Hart Lane from 2005 to 2007.

Thing is, the lad is going to need a time to settle, learn the language, get used to the weather, his team-mates and the Premier League. If we do see him in action this year, I'll be surprised, but it will also mean that Harry and his backroom staff would have been impressed with him.

Meanwhile, the Wigan betting suggests we should pick up another three points when we meet the Latics next weekend.

The north-west side have already collapsed to two heavy defeats this season and a repeat of the 9-1 win from last term could be on the cards, although I can't see another score line like that for a long time.

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Let's give City a real stuffing

Right then, we're finally here again. Do you remember the Liverpool game, the buzz, the excitement, the passion, the drive?

Having had no real movement in the transfer market, our squad has gelled and is ready for action. Thus far, Harry's been unable to add "that special player", but there are still 18 days left for Redknapp to demonstrate his wheeler-dealer tactics.

Manchester City on the other hand, have drafted in a new batch of prima donnas, with this lot even more intent on earning greater sums per week than the previous mercenaries.

Don't let the blue half of Manchester fool you into thinking that everything is running smoothly. Craig Bellamy's recent outbursts demonstrate that not everything is as it seems up in Moneybags City.

We all forecasted it (well, I did anyway), that you cannot bring in proper professionals into a club that has done nothing for donkey's years and expect them to gel immediately.

Every player that has been purchased with the Abu Dhabi money is there for one thing; money. If you think that players like David Silva, Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor have signed up for any other reason than money, I advise that you stop deluding yourself. Unfortunately for City, players who are willing to sell their soul to the money-gods, don't often make decent pros.

Think about it. Why does Manchester City need to fork out extortionate transfer fees and wages? Firstly, the selling club doesn't want to lose its player, therefore demands a massive fee. Secondly, the players themselves don't want to join City and would only be tempted if they were to quadruple their wages.

Get-to-the-top-schemes rarely work and it looks as though City, under the stewardship of Cook and Marwood, will fail. Unless those two clowns get it out of their head that you cannot run a real football club like a Football Manager game (I'm talking about taking over a team on FM, only to sell its best players to your original team and sell your naff players, like Taarabt, for £40 million. There's no shame, we've all done it), City will not progress.

So then, we come to the crux of it. Let's not kid ourselves, I think most footballers are prima donnas. It all depends on what PD Level they're at. City players, in my opinion, are at least a few notches above the Spurs players. Should we also take into consideration that most of the City players haven't had longer than a season together? Probably. It all depends on which players have the most drive. I think the Spurs players do.

Tottenham 3-2 Manchester City.

PS. Expect a roller coaster of a match.

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"Spurs Could Win The League"

Nick Anelka has topped us as being dark horses for the Premier League title. To be honest, I still think we're one or two players short of winning the league.

Can we stay in the top four and cement our place there? In Harry's words "for sure". No matter what you think of our current squad, it is still a very strong one and will continually grow in stature.

Having Jamie O'Hara back and Gio Dos Santos, is like us having signed two new players, although both could be used as bait as Harry tries to wheel and deal. Shame really, as I would like both players to stick around and bolster our squad.

Harry was being interviewed on talkSPORT yesterday evening by Spurs season-ticket holder, Danny Kelly. Redknapp sort of hinted at us maybe doing some business with Villa, but only if they sell Milner, which Harry thinks they will. The business with us and Villa could be the sale of Keano to them, as well as other players. Jenas, anyone?

Transfer markets all over the world are dead at the minute as clubs simply don't have the cash to strengthen their sides. We look to be in the same boat unfortunately. If Anelka's words about us challenging are to be proved right, it looks as though we'll have to ship out a couple before being able sign anyone.

Seems ironic that we spend the worlds fortunes on trying to get into the Champion's League, but now that we're so close to it, the money pit has dried up.

Harry did say that it looks like all our business will be concluded towards the very end of the window. Just our luck.

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The Scott Parker Theory

We've just finished the debate on us tearing apart Young Boys. I believe everyone in the office thinks that Spurs should get through these two legs. Towards the end of the conversation, the topic changed to Harry's pursuit of Scott Parker.

Mario, a massive Hammer, told us that Scott Parker's posters which depict him modelling the new kits, have recently been pulled from the club shop and replaced with other players.

Talk around Upton Park is that Parker wants to definitely come to Spurs and doesn't want to join Villa. However, the money that both Spurs and Villa have offered is nowhere near the amount the board are willing to sell at.

Apparently, Scott Parker has told the two Dave's that he wants to leave Upton Park and join Spurs and they have agreed to let him go, but as long as Tottenham pay up.

It looks as though a deal to get him out of West Ham is on the cards. The Hammers marketing guy's are using the same tactic we used when shipping out Robbie Keane last season. Just like Robbie, Parker was pictured everywhere, but since Wednesday, his major posters have been replaced.

Read into it what you will. All I know is that this transfer window better get moving.

A lot of Spurs fans dislike Parker and think that he isn't the sort of player that can push us on to the next level. Thing is, exactly what level do you want us to get to? Harry is building a squad and sees Scott Parker as an ideal part of that squad. Let's not jump too far ahead of ourselves. We may make the Champion's League proper and Scott Parker would be a decent enough acquisition, as would Craig Bellamy.

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Tottenham Hotspur vs. Young Boys in Champion's League Qualifier

We couldn't have asked for a better draw to be honest. The Swiss side is the weakest of all the non-seeded teams that we could have been drawn against. Although I think we shouldn't be too complacent.

The first leg will be played away in Switzerland on either Tuesday (17th) or Wednesday (18th) of August.

The return game will be played a week later.

COYS!!!

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Dos Santos looks to prove his point

Giovani Dos Santos has made only seven appearances for us in two seasons at White Hart Lane and at one time could only find first-team football by going out on loan to the Championship with Ipswich Town. He earned his place in Portman Road folklore by scoring the winner in the East Anglia derby against Norwich and he looked a different class in the Championship, scoring four goals in his eight games before another injury cut his spell short.

The 21-year-old forward put his Premier League frustration behind him this summer and came out of the World Cup as one of its brightest young stars. He was short listed for the Young Player of the Tournament in South Africa.

Dos Santos finished last season on loan at Galatasaray but looks set to be given a chance this season by Harry Redknapp. The Mexican has looked sharp in pre-season, setting up Gareth Bale's winner against Benfica in the 1-0 friendly win. The striker was also the one positive thing about the 4-1 defeat to Villarreal - he looked sharp all night and grabbed a goal as Spurs were taken apart.

When Spurs signed Dos Santos in the summer of 2008 we were excited to see a player from the famed Barcelona youth set-up. However, this attacking player who is equally adept at playing on the wing has yet to stamp his authority on White Hart Lane but, to be fair, the Mexican International has hardly had a chance to make his presence felt due to a succession of ankle injuries and loan moves. The injuries look to be behind him now and this could the season where Dos Santos truly arrives in the Premier League. The Aston Villa betting suggests we should finish well ahead of them and Giovani could be an important back-up striker as Spurs look to put clear blue water between them and the chasing pack.

He showed his ability at the World Cup this summer for Mexico. Dos Santos was one of their best players, operating just behind a main striker. When he was at Barcelona, comparisons were made between dos Santos and Ronaldinho, although fans haven't seen much proof of that during his time in London. Pundits like Andy Gray probably won't give Spurs much chance of doing well this season, but we proved the experts wrong last time out and the club will need all the players they can to push on from last term.

Redknapp needs to show the youngster he has confidence in him. If he's given a decent run in the team, there is a good chance that Dos Santos could turn out to be as good as a new signing for us. It won't harm the team to have the Mexican in the squad as we look to challenge both domestically and in Europe.

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Robbie Keane didn't Travel to Portugal with the Team

I personally didn't see the headline, but Tommy from COYS as well as other colleagues of mine, told me about the Sky Sports News headline this afternoon which read: Robbie Keane not on the plane to Portugal along with the rest of the Spurs team.

The club say that he's picked up a knock and therefore there's no need for him to travel with the squad to face Benfica in tonight's friendly (live on ESPN at 7:45). I say that the Villa he's looking for isn't located in Portugal.

Some of us at work found a spare second and researched various Aston Villa forums. A few of their apparent trusted ITK's said that Robbie Keane had not renewed the tenancy contract he has with a local agent on his penthouse in Coventry as he expects to move back into it fairly shortly. Can there be anything in that?

Other "In The Know" Midlanders were sure that Keane was spotted at the Villa training ground today. Some, dare I say it, said that they have good information in relation to Reo-Coker being a part of the deal.

As is the case this time of year, the lot of it could be a load of rubbish, although there could also be some truth to the matter.

As regards the transfer of players, if Keane is to go to the Midlands club, I expect the Milner to City deal to be nearing completion. Things seem to be hotting up. If online betting is your thing, I would take a punt on two things; 1.) Blackpool getting relegated and; 2.) Roberto Mancini not being the Manchester City boss come the end of the season.

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