Good afternoon.
Nothing earth shattering I have to say. a.bola.com the Portuguese site ran a speculative piece yesterday suggesting that come January Andrè Villas-Boas will try to resurrect the deal to bring João Moutinho to The Lane. An interesting turn of phrase from the author, describing the situation on transfer deadline day night as…
“a negotiation that left the British on the brink of a nervous breakdown, after being forced to cancel a pre-enrollment Moutinho sent to the Premier League, just hours before the close of the transfer market in Western Europe.”
Also it supports the notion that there was a deal desperately trying to be hammered out and not a sinister work of fiction as purported by Robby Boy whatsisname from TopSpurs.com and others unable to cope with reality which is in the main, normally quite a humdrum business.
Today the player has issued the following in relation to the move…
“The market has already closed. Not worth talking more about it, I’m just focused on FC Porto and not on speculation. This club gives me all the stability to show my football”
This is what you’d expect from a professional footballer and I guess leaves the door open for ‘another go’ in January. The issue here is third party ownership. As I said on the last HHH, if you were buying a house – and we all know what a completely thankless grind that can be- and then just as you agree a deal a third party pops it’s head around the door in Harry Enfield ‘only me!’ style, telling you they own 15%, odds on it’s Game Over. Do Not Insert New Coin To Continue. Go Home.
Can someone please explain why leaving deals to the last minute is seen as a good idea. As far as I am aware the only reason holding out until the last few hours could work is if the selling club are desperate for the sale.
Why would a club with no need to sell, sell for a lower value on the last day and leave themselves with no time to reinvest the money.
That said, Moutinho was never going to happen and will not happen, much like Leandro. Its all spin.
I’m sure one of the ‘In Levy we trust’ brigade will help you out.
Otherwise you end up paying 35m for Andy Carroll!
What??
Did you come to that conclusion yourself? Or did someone draw you a diagram.
Explain.
The more eager you are for something the more you pay! I think we were calling their bluff. King Kenny didn’t he jumped and ended up paying an astronomical fee for a solid club player. I gather Moutinho wanted to come or that argument fails.
What??
Explain.
Haggling
Are there two questions up there or am I being a moron?
@Minionas
Actually, the story was that a fee was agreed for Carroll set at 25m. In the event, Newcastle then turned around and said, actually, chuck another 10m on that, and finally Liverpool caved in and Carroll was signed, wait for it, on deadline day.
Yes because deadline day deals give all the power to the selling club. Not the buying club. Unless they are desperate to sell.
So why do we leave it to deadline day to buy?
Who knows? Personally I think Levy’s strategy is to blow hot and cold, will-he-won’t-he for a bit. Then start prepping a deal, getting it really near done, then going cold for a bit again, then returning on deadline day with the same deal but for lower money. Seems to be what happened – and worked! – with Lloris. But perhaps didn’t work so well with Moutinho. Oh, hang on, blasted 3rd parties again, forgot about those pests!
Although he does seem to have another strategy which is to offer bids that will never be accepted by their clubs for the managers preferred choices (Willian, Damiao etc) and bids that would be financially accepted for players that would never come to Spurs (Tevez, Aguero, Rossi, Rivaldo etc).
I don’t know, maybe he just likes playing mind games with everyone?
I assume you mean as a gardener or something?
Was it? Thought that happened much earlier. Felt like it.
Does work both ways I suppose!
JGM, sorry mate, I’ve a fever at mo and am on the lemsips. I’m answering only the top bit.
No worries, its all Levys fault.
:)
Isn’t it always?..the bastard ;-)
last minute deals are done for several reasons:
1. Clubs of Spurs stature often have to wait to pick over the bones of what is left after the big spenders have filled their bellies. Note how Utd often get their deals done early, because few can better what they offer
2.Similarly, the better players will be happy to wait about for the best offer rather than taking the first deal that comes along.
3. Clubs will have multiple targets and while waiting to see if a deal can be done for player A, a time will come when that deal is dropped if no progress is made and player B is targeted, then player C. But you’d often wait to the last to get player A rather than making do with player C.
4. For Teams like Spurs money is critical. Fans toss around sums of millions as if they are nothing but put into context £2m is match gate receipts. If we save a million here and a million there on asking prices then what is saved can make a real difference elsewhere.
5. Negotiation is a test of nerve. Whoever blinks first usually loses money. Our chairman looks to buy at the best achievable value and if that means waiting then so be it. More often than not it pays off, sometime it fails/costs us.
We do not have the luxury to get big deals done early. No doubt we try where we can but unless we are willing to give in on fees/transfers then we are in the hands of the sellers/player.
Sir, As usual, characteristically and uncommonly lucid and insightful. :daumen: :shifty: :daumen:
In other words we really do window shop in Harrods and end up buying from the reduced shelf in Tesco then?
Harsh, considering we got Jan, [and in an early deal], Siggy, [also early], Lloris – widely spoken of as one of the best. Leaving the Moutinho deal until the last resulted in getting the price down to just above £20m, and with straight-forward ownership the deal would’ve been completed. The D’s from Fulham are potential hits if their previous is anything to go by and look at the price we got them for? If they don’t perform here we can cope with the consequences. As we’ve seen before at £15m per player… they need to be dead-certs. Bent and Bentley were playing well at the time we bought them, but we got roped into paying £17/£18m for them. Ridiculous outlay when there’s no need. We’ve signed two guys playing just as well at a fraction of the cost. Then Ade. It wasn’t a bad window at all. And the personalities of our recruits have been spot-on for quite a while.
If you were buying house, you wouldn’t sell the house you’re in and leave it to the last minute to buy a new one and leave yourself homeless.
Only a moron would do that.
Levy bashing will see you banned from supporting Spurs. Youre on dangerous ground.
You have learned then?
If the chance ever arises I would take one for the team and run him over.
Levy bashing is most fun when literal.
We sold a mansion, and bought a Bunglalow. It’s given me a semi though. Terrible joke! Very flat.
I am right in thinking that bungalows have nothing up top?
Yes, but you could stay at relatives.
@TMWNN
I don’t think you’re being fair there, I don’t really think you appreciate it just how complicated it is when you sell your house, or indeed your best player, then go out shopping for somewhere else to live, or indeed a replacement for him, right at the last minute. All these things can be really complicated. See above post.
I mean, can you honestly say that you understand how intricate and fiddly such a thing might be? It’s way more complicated buying a 25m footballer in just a couple of hours than it is buying a 250k house, trust me.
Hmm, I hadn’t considered that. Perhaps unlike estate agents, football agents are so complex, they don’t actually tell you who owns what you want to buy until the final hour in a perverse attempt to fail to line their own pockets.
I wouldn’t rule out any such possibility with these so-called ‘agents’. I mean at the end of the day, have you ever done a 25m deal with a football club and loads of agents and secret 3rd parties at the end of the day? Exactly. #Inlevywetrust
crap analogy!
If you are constantly being told “the deal is on… I’m signing… here is the paperwork… whoops I’ll fix that.. all good… whoops forgot about that bit… whoops etc” and its your number one target, of course you are going to keep pursuing it to the wire. But our friend Mr Levy still had his ace up his sleeve by being able to snatch Dempsey out from under The pool’s nose at the eleventh hour.
NOt th edesired result, but you can hardly blame him for going to the wire if AVB firmly believes that Joao is the man.
I thought it was pretty telling that Dempsey said last week:
“It will be interesting to see where I’ll fit in, because I don’t know what his plans are in that sense.”
What that said to me was: Dempsey was Levy’s idea of a last minute bargain shelf grab. If this isn’t the case then surely AVB might have spoken to the player / his agent and told him what he wanted from him?
We’re window shopping in Harrods, but doing the actual shopping in Tesco. Let’s hope Dempsey and Dembele turn out to be Tesco finest.
mong went to Iceland.
A Van Der Vaart-lite midfielder with a shit first touch, and 25 BBQ wings please.
Yes but would you sooner have Tesco’s profits or Harrods?
@Boy Charioteer
I don’t follow football to see the profits. Do you?
Tescos ain’t even cheap. Joke is void.
No, I was merely drifting into an aimless argument about aimless comparisons. Sorry, I’m getting senile.
Good, because that would be pretty weird.
Mind you, profit sheets are like trophies to the Gooners, woe betide we follow their path.
omg! U lot r shocking! Moutinho wants to play under avb again! And avb has said he wants him Its just down to money and the 3rd owner that wants more money and levy! Make it happen levy same as damiao!
I cant work out if you are taking the piss, or being genuine.
I hope youre taking the piss for the sake of your future employability.
bla bla bla bla bla we’ll see! Just worry bout your own team mate
As I said on the last HHH, if you were buying a house – and we all know what a completely thankless grind that can be- and then just as you agree a deal a third party pops it’s head around the door in Harry Enfield ‘only me!’ style, telling you they own 15%, odds on it’s Game Over. Do Not Insert New Coin To Continue. Go Home.
It’s sort of a fair point, except to say that few people try and buy 3 houses in 12 hours. Try and buy 3 houses in 12 hours and fail once, erm, shame on the 3rd party involvement. Try and buy 3 houses in 12 hours and fail twice…
Truth is there is no truth! Only hearsay and conjecture.
All I know is he isn’t here. Everything is pinned on Dembele now, barring a miraculous return to form and favour for Tommy the Hudd.
I can’t compare mod with Dembele but there’s a lot to get excited about me thinks.
I think you’ll find there’s a large body of professional opinion that thinks Dembele has what it takes to be better than Modric. I’ve not seen enough of him to judge, but I’m obviously hoping they’re right (and that 45 min cameo against Norwich suggests they could well be).
Okay, by a ‘large body’ I ostensibly mean Mick McCarthy, but it’s a start.
His nose is pretty large, if that’s what you mean. Large but very crooked though, wouldn’t trust him.
Also, your estate agent/advisors would have done their fucking homework and known that this additional information needed addressing and that when his hand went up the skirt, he wasn’t grabbing a pair of knackers.