£50 million to spend but our hands are tied

At the end of last season Tottenham went on a post season trip to the Bahamas for a friendly against Jamacia.

Several important things happened out there. Firstly Gareth Bale agreed a new contract in principle, we agreed a wage with him, what is happening now is just the fine tuning. Spurs plans for the new season were outlined to him and improving the striking department was certainly a part of that. Bale, Soldado +1 sounds exciting, especially when it's in front of Paulinho, Sandro and Dembele.

Next and very importantly was a great piece of Tottenham news. Joe Lewis made it clear he wanted Champions League football and to get the players needed to take us there, arranged to invest £50 million into the club.

That of course is £50 million on top of anything we raise from sales, which is errr nothing.

Paulinho has come in for £17 million to create an impressive first choice three in midfield, Soldado is imminent, very imminent and if you have been reading my articles on the Valencia situation then you'll know why I am confident of that happening. Mind you I was confident of David Villa until Athletico Madrid doubled his salary and off he went, money was the deciding factor with him not Spurs dithering as he'd have everyone believe. This time the man will be ours though.

The next decision was agreement on who stays, who can go. That was the easy part. Now for the hard part, shifting the blighters.

Take Tom Huddlestone. Everyone waited for it to happen with Tom and it didn't, plenty of promise but ultimately frustrating. Time to leave Tom.

Can we shift him, can we heck. He is on a low wage so that isn't the issue, he has spoken to numerous clubs so that isn't the issue, what is is that he won't put his pen on their bits of paper. It's as if he is in his comfort zone, with a bunch of workmates and reluctant take on a new challenge. It's almost as if he has an I'll amble along as I am attitude.

Scott Parker, well wages says everything. We are one of the top 5 in the Premier League so if we buy a player and put him on a decent wage the only real way he can go is up or abroad, teams below us in the Premier League can't afford the wages with the exception of Liverpool. That causes a constant problem as we have been finding out for a few years now.

Emmanuel Adebayor, who I have to say looked good against Sunderland and if he would stay in the box more would be an asset, is reported to be very close to signing for Basiktas in Turkey. Codswallop.

The Besiktas president, Fikret Orman, has said himself:

"We are interested in Adebayor and a transfer can always be done. Once [the UEFA case] is settled, I am going to London to sort out the transfer."

How do you get a deal is nearly done out of that.

Orman has previously said remember, that wages are a problem, they didn't realise he'd be wanting so much. Doesn't sound to encouraging from where I'm sitting.

So if the ban isn't overturned and I see no reason why it should be when match fixing is involved, then Adebayor is going nowhere. He is not close to a move at all.

Do you fancy playing in Turkey Ade?
Yes alright.
How much do you want then?
£120,000 a week.
OK leave it with me.

That about sums up the Ade situation in my eyes and that isn't anywhere near a transfer.

We have a whole batch we'd happily get out the door, I'd almost forgotten Gomes, another whose wages are a problem.

The pitch against Sunderland was terrible and I don't think AVB wanted to risk anyone on it so he picked almost a second team and still got a first choice player injured. Gomes played to put himself in the shop window, that was AVB's way of saying look we have a goalkeeper, buy him.

Jake Livermore is one that constantly springs to mind. Why? Because he never plays, we had a virtual second team out and subs and the guy still couldn't get a game, yet according to the useless Woy Hodgson, he is an England international!

We will continue to bring players in, indeed every report, and I don't mean every re-hashed article proliferating websites, seems to suggest we genuinely are after Coentrao from Real Madrid, who stll owe us arounf £12 million from the sale of Luca Modric.

But with something like 37% of transfers dome on the last day and 47% in the last week we'll have to wait a bit longer yet before we can shift some.

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Would you want a Manchester City style owner?

For the first time in ages, our board have taken a conservative stance on the transfer market. Thus far, no £15+ million players have signed up. Looking back at what £15+ million has got us in the past, this may be a good thing.

The transfer market has gone a bit off the rails and even though we are still linked with all and sundry, there has been no movement. To be honest, with the money we've spent in the last 3 seasons, I can see why Levy is being quite reserved.

After reading that our owner, Mr. Lewis, has bought up a large stake in the Mitchell’s & Butler pub group, I had hoped that he would swing some of his cash our way. Wishful thinking? Course it was.

So it got me thinking. How would I feel if a rich somebody came into the picture and had the will and the way to sign up as much talent as possible? If we had the same sort of cash as Manchester City do and we went in for the players they've signed, do you think Gareth Barry would have picked them over us? What about Tevez? Would he have come to us instead?

It's all relative I suppose.

The good news is that our club is run properly. We are the richest club in the world never to have played in the Champions League. I'm not too sure if that's something we should be bragging about, but never mind.

I suppose that with the outlay the City owners have spent, they will want results and fast. Wanting results normally means a higher turnover in managers, which we've all seen at Chelsea (and us), simply doesn't work.

So am I happy with our current regime? Funnily enough, I am. I'd take our business model over the Manchester City one. I also wish them the best of luck in the world in dislodging Arsenal from the 4th spot perch. I think they'll need our well wishes as money can't buy luck.

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