Hypocrite Spurs mad at losing Champions League tickets
Update: Ferguson says he never spoke to the press about Berbatov.
Tottenham Hotspur have every right to be mad.
Here’s a club dead-set on playing in the Champions League - they’ve brought in one of the best managers in contemporary football, they have brought in some of the brightest young talent in Europe (Bale, Gunter, Modric, Dos Santos and Bostock - just to name a few), they have an excellent central defensive pairing in King and Woodgate and one of the best strike partnerships in England in Keane and Berbatov.
This was supposed to be the season Tottenham finally broke the shackles and made it to the Champions League. This was supposed to be the year Spurs would finally get results to match their ambitions and more importantly, the players would fulfill their massive untapped potential. This was going to be Spurs’ season.
Except that the scum from Manchester and the scum from Liverpool have managed to tap up the best Tottenham strikeforce in the last decade and stolen the keys to Champions League qualification right of Tottenham’s hands.
As Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy eloquently puts it:
“The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.
Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of PL rules of conduct.”
The Ronaldo-Madrid and Gerrard-Chelsea sagas are documented proof of the disgust the two clubs have shown at their own players being tapped up. And Spurs are legally correct - Manchester United and Liverpool have violated Premier League rule K8 by publicly commenting on their pursuit of Berbatov and Keane.
But in their haste to save face, Tottenham chose to disregard their own hypocrisy in such matters.
Here’s a club who tapped up Juande Ramos just last year. A club who had talked to John Bostock before making their offer for him (if it’s a matter of principle then it’s a valid claim - especially since Tottenham have also complained about their players being tapped up). A club who made the bungle of the season in the way they handled Martin Jol last year (again, if we talk about integrity, Tottenham’s treatment of Martin Jol was hardly above the board).
A club whose holier-than-thou attitude neatly sidesteps the fact that the faxed offers between clubs are mere formalities and that unofficial contact between players, their agents and interested clubs almost always takes place.
While Fergie and Benitez are wrong - by Premier League rules - to comment on players registered with other clubs, Tottenham’s hypocrisy in this situation is the classic example of a club being unable to play with fire. If Spurs want success, they should hang on to Keane and Berbatov and get Ramos to set them straight. If they can’t do that, they should sell and get on with it.
The bottom line is - Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov no longer believe that they will taste Champions League football with Tottenham. It’s the promise that brought Berbatov to White Hart Lane, and it’s the promise that’s kept Keane at Spurs. For all the money being spent, the new manager and bullish statements being made, the strikers don’t believe in the club’s chances.
Daniel Levy (and for that matter, Ferguson) can complain all he wants. Players will leave if they believe their own interests are better served elsewhere. It’s the club’s job and the manager’s job to show them otherwise, and in that respect Tottenham have failed with Berbatov and Keane just as United have failed with Ronaldo.
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Lets distil your article down to what it really means then -
‘Premier League permanently reduced to 4 clubs’.
Good luck if thats what you want football to be.
Bostock thing is rubbish he was not under contract to Palace therefore he was free to talk to who ever he liked. Spurs where no buying him they were giving compensation for his development. Simon Jordan and you obviously dont under stand the rules.
Right about Ramos though.
But if you think this about Spurs “hurt” feelings wrong again its all about the green baby.
Bostock was on a youth contract and Palace still held his registration. However, since there are no ‘rules’ governing conduct here I’m not making the illegal approach argument, I’m talking about Levy’s moral stance and contrasting that with Spurs’ approach for Bostock in which terms were decided with the player before the two clubs spoke.
Spurs never made an illegal approach for Bostock. He was out of contract and Spurs had every right to express there interest in him.
Ahmed, your comments about Bostock would never have seen the light of day if the tribunal had rightly fallen in Palace’s favour. I’m a Tottenham supporter who thinks that Simon Jordan is a moron but on this occasion I cannot disagree with the man.
To a lesser extent, Spurs have suffered in exactly the same way. Until we have the lure of champions league football, we will always be vulnerable to losing our best players. We are the only club who realistically could break into and stay in the top 4 because of our resources. As a result, the team most under threat (i.e Liverpool) decide that making an offer for arguably our most consistent player will destabilise us. I suspect they will succeed.
Sad indictment of the modern game but the media and of Sky TV do all they can to ensure the top 4 will never change. Grand Slam Sunday - I ask you. I would sooner watch Barnet play Dagenham
Its now come to light that Spurs offered Jordan a lot more than the tribunal decided. He gambled and lost. It was not against the rules for Spurs to discuss terms with a free agent
Berb tapped up? Don’t think so. Ferguson is more sensible than that, he’s played this by the book. He never mentioned Berbatovs name until a bid h ad been officially made. He hasn’t met with berbatov either. You may want to check your definition of “tapping up”. Same with Keane, although Liverpool have publicly courted him, same way they did Barry and Milner. But its still not tapping them up. Fool.
And anyway, since when were Bostock, Bale and Gunter some of the brightest young talent in Europe?! Bale is pretty good, I’ll give you that much, and he has potential, but he spent most of last season injured and only made a bit of a name for himself the season before. Its not like Fabregas or Torres. They are both bright, young talent in Europe, and they are a million miles ahead of Bostock, Bale and Gunter!
The only thing I agree with in this whole article is that Tottenham are hypocrits. Its sour grapes as theyre about to lose two top forwards
What nonsense.
Bostock was NOT under contract! but Levy still offered Palace 2.5mil in compensation which they stupid turned down.
What does Martin Jol have to do with this? - it’s totally irrelevant. He had Spurs in relegation form and fully deserved the sack.
Ramos was illegally NOT tapped up. Yes, Spurs were less than honourable in how they got Ramos, but their was absolutely NO illegal contact made with Ramos or his agent. Sevilla were at all times aware of our approach for Ramos.
Benitez and Ferguson have made illegal contact with Keane, Berbatov and their agents. The only reason you cannot see the difference is that YOU are the HYPOCRITE.
Can one spurs fan show me where Man Utd or Liverpool have spoke about signing these players, qoute me them saying they want them and not just how they like them?
they have said they are players who they are looking at, but that is no different from what Harry Redkanpp as said today about a Spurs player.
Rafa and Sir Alex was asked about them and they gave an honest answer.
I remember Diego Capel saying a few weeks back how Ramos as spoken to his agent!…..is that not “tappin up”?
Daniel Levy is just trying to save face with his own clubs fans and his pathetic outburst as only gone on to prove that Keane will be at Liverpool and Berbatov will be at Man Utd at the start of the summer.
continueing from Michael the Ramos Approach was not illegal because he was in his last year of his contract so was LEGALLY alowed to speak to potential suitors. Bostock has been gone over and it was Jordan’s fault he didnt get more. Martin Jol had spurs in the bottom three and looked like he had no chance of changing it. Spurs where legally aloud to let him go. So please can you tell me how we are hipocrites?
Bottom line is that Levy shouldn’t be whinging, because no-one cares. People do seem to be moved to comment at the moment because it’s blatant that Fergie is doing exactly what Utd have complained about Madrid doing, but it won’t last.
People weren’t moved when Jordan whined about Spurs, and it just makes Levy look weak. He just needs to get on with it. Berbatov wants to go - shame but we’ll survive. Keane?! If we get five million it’ll be three more than he’s worth. He is the Carlos Quicabol of his era - the Andy Cole of London, as his profile at Liverpool will soon reveal. The amount of missed sitters that bloke will contribute to a game defies all comparable stats; the only reason he’s still at Spurs is because Jol couldn’t handle his tantrums.
My god !!!
YOU ARE A TWAT !!…………Benetiz said on camera he was trying to get Keane,and red nose said off camera to the press he expected Berbastrop to be in by Aug KO,he said he was comfortable & was in the box position,so feck off with your idiotic comments
dave your the fool, if you read Levy’s statement, he has proof that the 2 clubs spoke to the players/agents after we told them they were not for sale, this is against the rules and is classed as tapping up. And who say’s were going to lose them, they both are under contract to Spurs and if we don’t want to sell then we won’t. The top 4 clubs are not the be all and end all of football in this country, and its not sour grapes its the feeling of injustice, same as those clubs felt with ronaldo/real madrid and gerrald/chelsea.
Spurs’ strike force is their biggest asset, selling them will be a big blow, one which the fans will not be happy about. After Spurs shameful treatment of Jol, and the criticism levelled at the club and Levy, he will not want the fans turning on him again. Hence trying to create a siege mentality amongst the fans, against the big bad United and Liverpool. Whether the Spurs fans will be silly enough to buy into it or not is yet to be seen.
Spurs will be in serious trouble if they loose Berbs and Keane,yes they will get top money for them, but it’s far from certain that money will be spent wisely or new players will gel together. With one of the worst defences in the league, their goal scorers got them out of jail last season, who knows how far down the league they would have finished last season with the great partnership of RK and DB.
Jordan never whined about spurs, he whined about the tribunal because he knew he F’ed up when he took the case there instead of taking the far larger amount of money spurs offered.
In response to Comment 13 -
Diego Capel was not tapped up, fool! Firstly, we got permission from Sevilla to speak to him. And secondly, it was Capel talking about Ramos and Spurs, not Ramos and Spurs talking about Capel. Get the distinction?
The facts of the case have been quite extensively stated by the comments above with regard to the difference between Spurs behaviour and the behvaiour of Man U and Liverpool.
In summary, Ramos was not tapped up. Seville had full knowledge of our interest in him. The fact that Spurs held talks with him in secret was not to keep it from Seville, but to keep it from the rest of the footballing world.
There has been no bid lodged for Keane. Therefore, any comments made by Benitez were designed to destabilise the player and ‘turn his head’
A bid was lodged for Berbatov but it was rejected. Not negotiated. Rejected. Therefore, any comment made by Ferguson can be classed as ‘tapping up’.
That’s what’s clear. Spurs have acted properly in their transfer dealings. Man U and Liverpool have, once again, not
I think Spurs need to sell to balance the books don’t they? Ramos has spent something like 40 - 50M already after Jol spent same on Bent / Kaboul etc. The only incoming in recent times was carrick.
I agree that both Utd and Liverpool have been wrong but I think Levy is just trying to make himeself and the club look like the good guys.
COYS (aka soft cockney keyboard warrior)
————————
no they didn’t,
Rafa was asked is Keane one of the players you are interested in and he said he is one we have looked at and we are working on other names.
that brakes no rules he just answered the question,
Sir Alex said it off camera did he?? prove it!.
Spurs are a small club who cant keep their best players from wanting to join a big club and that is why Mr Levy as spat is small dummy out.
oh and how hard are you to call someone a twat over the internet??!!
mygod - Rednapp, is speaking about a player for whom we are listening to offers.
We made an official bid for Capel. we have made no public comments about capel other than we made a bid for him which was refused. so again, its apples and oranges.
Nick - Goalscorers who got us out of jail? Actually, part of the problem was that they missed so many chances.
Also, we don’t have one of the worst defenses in the league, we had the most injured defense in the league. If Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool had the injuries we had in defense last season, they would have conceded a lot of goals too.
While its not certain if replacements will play well and gel, its not certain that they won’t play well or that they wont gel.
There are a lot of poorly thought out and factually ludicrous posts on this article.
first of rez i don’t think that replay was for comment 13, and sean on comment 17, Spurs do not need to sell to balance the books, we need to get rid of some of the squad due to us having a rather large one, but we are a well run club with a lot of money, we are not in hock to a load of yanks who bought the clubs with a massive debt.
You are a PLC arent you? So you answer to your shareholders and HAVE to make a profit on an annual basis…..
Where does all your money come from then? No Champions League football and only 36000 a game seems that your have to balance your books. Havent you spent something like 80M in last 18 months or something?
You are in hock to your shareholders son….Its a much worse situation (ask Man Utd who came off the exchange)
Sean - we got 18mil for carrick, 9mil for Defoe. we’ve also sold atouba, edman, michael brown, danny murphy, mido, kanoute, andy reid, simon davies, matthew etherington all for a profit - and that is just off the top of my head.
Sunderland are about to hand us a bag of money for our rubbish.
So, again, the idea that we need to sell to balance the books is not just factually incorrect, its abosolute nonsense.
well said michael
Sorry brightonyid. No, it wasn’t meant for you. I was responding to ‘my god’ and his ‘assertions’ that we tapped up Capel.
no problems, and i agree with you, spurs seem to conduct themselves with a bit of honour, something lacking in the top 4.
And whatever happened to ” Honour thy contract “. Either enforce this and get rid of the Bosman, or scrap contracts as they don’t mean a thing at this time. And footballers are slaves ? give me a break
Its a shame people dont get their facts straight before writing articles. Bostock was out of contract therefore Spurs didn’t need to speak to Palace. Palace had no control over him and could not stop him leaving. Even Jordon acknowledges that hence the fact his argument is with the tribunal not Spurs
If you cant see the difference between talking to a free agent and tapping up a player under contract then you really shouldn’t write about football matters
You have spent 80M in the last 18 months…Are you seriously telling me the players above have paid for that? According to Soccerbase you are down 60M net in last 3 years. Again, without Champions League football and only 36000 each game.
Seems the Guradian agrees also
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/18/premierleague.tottenhamhotspur?gusrc=rss&feed=sport
To be fair guys I like Spurs as a club, I am not trying to have a go in any way at all. I agree Liverpool and Utd have acted really badly and its embarrassing to a degree as a Liverpool fan to see us doing this (and to Villa). I honestly think thought that Levy is also playing a game in that they will sell at the right price and want to avoid a fans backlash.
Just an opinion, not a slur on a good club like yours
heh
I like all the comments about knowing the rules of contract law in football.
They may well be different for underage players (I await enlightenment) however, the rules do not state that once you have no contract you can talk to anyone you like.
In fact the rules are quite clear on this.
If your club has offered you a new contract, or begun negotiations on a new contract, you cannot talk to another club.
Jordan obviously thought his ‘gentleman’s agreement’ was either an offer or a invitation to negotiate, hence Spurs were wrong to approach Bostock (if the same rules apply for youngsters).
In any case this is nothing more than Levy acting the twunt to:
A) get more money
B) deflect criticism from the fans for selling their best players.
If only Ledley was fit
sean… at last someone who talks sense… there is lot’s of hypocricy in football and in this age the media do link everyone with everyone else. They stir it up so bad that it affects the players. I personally think that Bostock was a treacherous thing to do at grass roots level, however if what was said by an earlier comment that Simon Jordan was offered 2.5 million and he turned it down then the guy is a muppet. I like the way he stands up for the club that he loves, but 2.5 million should have been accepted…
I love Robbie Keane to bits and I’m gutted, but I can hardly blame him. It’s not like he’s going to another mid table team, he want’s to better himself and he can only do that at one of the top four clubs, even Ramos has come out and said don’t expect a top 5 finish next season! How the hell are we meant to keep our top players if our manager doesn’t have the belief in the squad. I wish Robbie Keane all the best, he’s been a great servant to the club… Berba on the other hand is a disgrace, all last season he played with a sulky look on his face and to be honest with you I don’t think he will last at Manure. It was obvious he was only ever coming to spurs as a stepping stone, but last season he hardly ever broke into a sweat.. he just seemed to jog around the park. I hope he ends up in the manure reserves… that would be funny
COYS
The man is an total idiot, Liverpool enquired about Keane and that was that but the Mirror got hold of the story and through their subsidiary The Liverpool Echo started the snowball rolling and then the rest of the vultures had their peck at the carcass and have led the story since then. It was they who have pestered Keane and to them he said he wanted to play for Liverpool. whilst all this is going on the Spurs manager told the press he has to sell Keane and Berbatov to balance the books.
Come on Mr Levy stop trying to cover up your financial failings by deflecting attention on to LFC & ManU. The Liverpool owners are tight fisted but our finances are there for all to see.
Good on Ya Levy, make them pay through the nose for that moody git, as they’re tatics are designed purely to get the asking price down by unsettling the players, and causing disharmony in the team.Unfortunatly for Fergie as unlike Carrick ;Berbatov is on a longer contract and we hold all the cards…in other words pay what we ask or sod off, the same goes with Keane who recently signed a long term deal. Personally I’d make both Liverpool and Utd examples, but thats unrealistic and not good business sense.As for expecting Utd fans to understand integrity?, be real if they did then they’d support their local sides instead of glory hunting
i think the whole story has been blown out of proportion.
i think that for starters, levy would be crazy to consider selling berbatov or keane at this stage even if offered 50mil pounds each/
thats how serious this forward formation is if they are to even contemplate a top 4 finish.
i just really really want keane and berbs to stay on and achieve what they wanted to acheive when they originally signed for the club.
as for the man utd and liverpool talk. give it a break, theyre not at fault at all, they want talent. if the players choose to become unsettled than its their ego problems which should be dealt with.
btw im a die hard tottenham fan
I feel that Daniel Levy has the best interests of the club in his mind. He always has, sure he hasn’t handled everything perfectly. But we got rid of Martin Jol and replaced him with a world class manager in Juande Ramos. Should we remember some of the players that Juande has brought in since his arrival: Woodgate, Hutton, Modric, Gilberto and Dos Santos, we also have players that are for the future in Gunter and Bostock. As Spurs fans I know it’s hard to have faith in times like this, but we need to believe Juande is going to bring in the players like he has since he’s been here.
This is my message for Robbie Keane: You are a motherf****** c*** lip a** hole and I hope you rot on the bench you Judas piece of s***. You pledged your heart for us and then turned your back on us like we are a $2 hooker. Go f*** yourself, and your word is about as useful as a used toilet paper. You deserve all the bad things that happen to you in your footballing career. I hope Rafa gives you the Crouch treatment you f****** piece of s***.
Nice message Rob.
How’s about taking a hanky out, drying your eyes, washing your mouth out with soap and being a good boy?
has robbie actually said he wants to leave.
or was he just saying, that playing for liverpool is a dream (one which could be fulfilled later on)
and im not taking his side here. lets weigh up the possibilities first.
Not in the press, but behind closed doors he has (allegedly)
its dark days for tottenham.
their season has ended earlier than it did last year. i certainly hope there is no sacking of ramos on the cards for this. thats the last thing the club needs, more confusion.
I dont get what the big fuss is with this whole tapping up deal. Everyone does it, but they don’t like it when its done too them. I really dont think its the big deal the media is making it out too be.
Can we please get this sorted. In regards to Robbie Keane, the 1st I heard of anything was a spurs website reporting it saying that Talksport had announced that Keane was going to Liverpool for 8 million plus Crouch. Crouch of course didn’t want to go to Spurs he wanted to go to Portsmouth, whose manager co-incedently admitted publicly on Radio 5live that he wanted Crouch but that Liverpool were asking to much. Now the story mushroomed and grew legs with Bascombe declaring we were in for Keane in the News of the World (the Sunday Sun), now whilst I accept that once upon a time if Bascombe had written Liverpool would sign Gary Neville I’d have gone O hell he’s coming. However Bascombe was in those days writing for the Echo, a paper he turned his back on in order to go the Sunday scum. Bascombe now sensationalises everything he comes across in the old tabloid game of WE TOLD YOU SO, of course the fact that Liverpool were trying Van Der Vart (we weren’t) is forgotten about. However the Keane thing was out! and this dear Spurs fans is where the crucx is, when the question came to Rafa about Keane what was he meant to say. Sorry not interested, no comment, come on you know the story would have been printed that no Liverpool interest in Keane, which would have lost him all creditability with journalists (if we sign him) and if we’d have been linked with Pele (an extreme example) and Rafa had said no the journos would have said but you said that about Keane. He said he’s a player we like but their are other names on our list! Now whilst you may not like it that’s the world of football today. Is it immoral? Yes Is it greedy? Of course but face it why do you still go to games because you love the game and your team. Intresting to note also is that Mr Levy complains like merry hell about this but was he not involved in an moral stench last year with how he handled the Martin Jol/ Juande Ramos situation. Some of you i.e Rez can argue what you want but it was a stench the way you did it, sack Jol in the summer by all means but no you couldn’t do that cause your fans would (quite rightly) have been in uproar. Finally Rez you state in comment 16 that Spurs had a bid accepted for Capel. Really mate when was that then cause the whole world knows you’re after him, they’ve known for 6 months but to the best of my knowledge you have not yet had a bid accepted, so Ramos talking to his agent is clearly illegal in the world of football rules but hey if your club does it that’s fine but if someone does it to you it’s a disgrace, two words for you WISE UP. At the end of the day I believe Liverpool probably have spoken to his agent without permission but sure everybody including Spurs do this nowadays, so either clean the whole system up, which would seriously hamper Fergie’s way of doing business, or accept it as it is. Which do you think the F.A will do?
“the rules do not state that once you have no contract you can talk to anyone you like. In fact the rules are quite clear on this. If your club has offered you a new contract, or begun negotiations on a new contract, you cannot talk to another club.”
Uhh, actually, if you are out of contract, you can negotiate with whoever you want. This is basic Contract law and common sense. You can talk all you want, we didn’t tap up Bostock in any way whatsoever.
Like it or not Yogi, there was nothing stinky about how Spurs got rid of Jol. It was suicidal, but the chairman was ultimately correct in thinking that Jol wasn’t up to the job. He received a handsome payoff and now he’s a manager of a big club in Germany.
In my book tapping up is when you have an unauthorised meeting with the player a la Chelsea. Publicly expressing interest in a player is a standard tactic for unsettling a player and tempting him to speak out in favour of the move. But clubs have been doing it for years. If anything United are one of the better clubs because aside from a couple of high profile pursuits such as Ince, Ruud Van Nist, and Hargreaves they do the bulk of their business secretely. Of course they cannot help it if the press put two and two together and work out that Berbatov is a likely target and Berbatov knew already we were interested because we placed a bid last summer.
I think Tottenham protest too much and are trying to drive up the transfer price and place the blame on MU and Pool when really like most clubs they will sell any of their players at the right place.
I think Jol is going to play with only one striker in any case. If he can sell the pair for 50 million that will fund the purchase of hot prospect or two and leave around 25 million to help rebalance their accounts.
If Tottenham are to break into the top 4 it is going to be in a few years time. That is plenty of time for their young talents to mature. They should then have a deep squad with no real holes.
1. Spurs have made a huge profit on buying and selling players over the past 3 yrs. therefore, we do not need to sell Keane or Berbatov to balance the books - they are already balanced.
2. Both Benitez and Ferguson had unathorized contact with Keane and Berbatov (at least, Levy claims to have evidence of this).
3. Man Utd did not place a bid for Berbatov last summer. They tapped him u via his agent last summer and this January.
What’s obvious is that Levy’s statement is all about appeasing the Spurs fans. “We’re not a selling club, honest! It’s just those nasty people from the North who are stealing away our best players.”
They’ll sell. He’s as good as said so by complaining about the effect of having the two players in the dressing room. He’ll be bloody relieved to have some money coming in as well after the amount they’ve splashed out the last couple of years.
United, on the other hand, will not sell. This is the key difference in the two situations.
Michael
Just read the rules. I’m not in the business of making things up.
Why does everyone comment on Spurs needing money.
We are not Man U, Liverpool, or Arsenal who may or may not have made a profit during a years books but never the less are ”STILL HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN DEBT”
ENIC ( J Lewis) Spurs majority shareholder is still a billionaire even after loosing 500m overnight in US banks crash.
Get hte facts right!!!
It’s all about the profits, all about the profits…if they’re making well enough profits to offset those debts they’re in, then no one cares until something goes wrong.
I won’t comment on anything else in the article but the Bostock issue - Jordan may have gambled, but what he did is something we should be applauding, not saying, ‘Well, he’s an idiot for turning the money down.’
He had a close relationship with Bostock and his family, and he felt, quite rightly, that they and the system shafted him much like it does for a lot of clubs who raise bright young talents, lose them, and then watch them get someone else rich. 2.5m? Bostock was worth more than that in his opinion, and so was integrity and fairness…and frankly, I don’t blame him for being as steamed as he is.
Sure, Tottenham may offer Bostock a better chance to strike it big, so the boy and his family made the right move in that respect, I suppose…but someone’s feelings always get hurt in the end, and Jordan’s the unlucky fellow in this one.
Fair play to Levy for standing up to the alcoholic Scotch hypocrite and the rubbish bearded idiot. Berb and Keane were tapped up. Bear in mind Keane recently signed a 5 year contract and Berb in effect has a 4 year contract so Spurs deserve decent fees. Which is totally what this announcement is all about. This will add a couple of extra millions to our transfer coffers and we will have players lined up. They will both go. Good partnership but Robbie misses sitters so often and Berb wants to leave and we know what a sulker he is so time to move on.
Only wish Bent would go too.
You sound like a bitter Spurs fan. Let it go, I’m going to do fine at Anfield under the legend that is Rafa Benitez.
Hey remember all the tapping up Spurs have done with Jol, Ramos, etc.?
Funny how recent history is so conveniently forgotten.
As a Liverpool fan it is hard to defend SAF but in this case i dont blame him.
Spurs fans are calling him a hypocrite because of the Ronaldo issue but he reported Madrid for tappin Ronaldo up and they weren’t punished so he thinks if they are going to do it that way then I guess i will.
Keane has been a top striker for years and i think spurs fans should be grateful not bitter, he is a top player and spurs are a top team but Liverpool is a more attractive offer in his eyes.
Hi Robbie - Spurs did not tap up Jol or Ramos.
LFC - i’m not in the business of making stuff up - i know contract law. Do some basic research.
Fegie hits back at Levy:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_3839332,00.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1036531/Sir-Alex-threat-sue-Spurs-chief-Levy.html
Ha ha ha. Looks like levy, spuds management and the spuds fans have shot themselves in the foot again. this’s gonna be fun.
And its funny to see comments from the spurs fans to the effect of:
we have made enough profits, so we will not sell this year = we are not a selling club = we have faith in our board.
the fact of the matter is, spurs board is one of the most profit hungry boards out there, and onlt damn they give about supporters is that they show up at the lane and but the tickets.
its very clear from the statements of everyone from ramos, who said that they look to buy young players, and sell the older ones for a profit to levy, whose comments about reporting united to the FA are nothing but attempts to pacify the supporters.
fact of the matter is, spurs are selling club, and the current board is probably even looking to sell the club for a nice profit. until that happens, good luck trying to beat the top 4 monopoly.
Shreyas - what is funny is that clowns like you continue to delude yourself as to reality.
You make up unsubstantiated lies about the Spurs board being one of the most profit hungry in the league.
You completely misinterpreted what Ramos said. He did not say we are a selling club. He said we balance books. Nothing about having to sell Berbatov or Keane to do so.
If Man Utd are a selling club (and everyone knows, Ronaldo will leave this summer or next), then everyone is a selling club and your infantile slur is redundant.
@ Michael
He did not say we are a selling club. He said we balance books. Nothing about having to sell Berbatov or Keane to do so.
Heard of anything called reading between the lines? Its fairly obvious that no one in an official position in any organization will make blatant statements like: we arre selling club. hell, even aulas of lyon or the sporting lisbon guys (two of the biggest talent factories) make it sound as though they are being forced to sell their star players.
look through the history of united and there has been hardly any instance of the club selling a player to make a profit when they are at their peak. that makes us a non-selling club, in contrast to spuds.
anyway, ther’s no point trying to make a reasoned argument with a fellow who starts calling names and makes personal slurs, just cuz he cant’t agree with a comment. congrat, u have less class than mr.ronaldo. truth hurts, as they say.
Carlos Vela, the mexican forward from arsenal, recently said this of his compatriot dos santos’ move to spurs:
I hope things go well for him at Tottenham. He is a very good player and let’s hope he can then move on to a better team.
gives u a fair idea of what the players themselves think of spurs. selling team? i think so.
“Heard of anything called reading between the lines?”
Yes. I have also heard of reading what you want to read between the lines. You chose to believe something that doesn’t make sense. You cannot name one player Spurs sold just to make a profit.
We stole 18mil from you for Carrick but we weren’t advertising him for sale like we are doing with Chimbonda and Kaboul for example. We’ll steal 30mil from you for Berbatov but we weren’t advertising him for sale. So again, you have no basis for concluding that we are selling to make a profit. You will steal 60mil from Real Madrid for Ronaldo. what’s the difference? - the amount of money, that’s all.
So Man Utd are a selling club after all, just like everyone else except Real Madrid. Yes, indeed, the truth does hurt - Real Madrid are bigger than Man Utd. Can you feel the sting?
Quite frankly, how can you say that Man Utd did not sell Beckham, Kanchelskis, Ince just to make a profit? You can’t.
If you make clownish comments, i’ll call you a clown. It’s not an insult - its obvious that you are a proud clown.
If there’s no point trying to make a reasoned argument, then why did you just make a concerted effort to do just that? I disagree that your argument is reasoned.
Carlos Vela? LMFAO! Your backing up your clownish argument by quoting an Arsenal youth team player’s jealous comments about his superior countryman, Dos Santos, having the biggest platform to showcase his skills while the Gooner youth team player tries to break into the Arsenal Reserve team. What a clown you are.
Can you feel the sting? The sting of the truth hurting you deep inside.
I’m tired of reading all this nonsense. Lets be realistic here Spurs have no chance on advance to CL next year or year after that or year after that one. The best they can do is finish 6th or 7th if lucky. I’m sure people will say I dont know what I’m talking about, but its not all about the starting 11 its about who’s on your bench…. and Spurs have nobody backups are the most important, one injury and its over. SIMPLE!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Spurs its time to SELL SELL SELL SELL
Spurs are not a selling club, you people read too much into this. One simple quote Levy can tell you why they are selling both players. BECAUSE THEY WANT TO LEAVE!! Spurs arent selling these players because they are looking for money, they are selling them because they both want to leave.
Michael
Why would United sell Beckham for 25m just to make a profit when he was making more than that in shirt sales?
Vela will probably turn out to be better than Dos Santos. If he was that good a bigger team would have picked him up
Madrid are not a bigger club than United. They are just CR’s favoured club. It doesn’t really sting so much considering United are PL and CL champions.
If you want to get into this I could start an argument about how Arsenal are better than Spurs and how you haven’t won anything substatial in about 40 years but I won’t
Face it Spurs just aren’t good enough to break into the top 4 and when you’re in a hole you should just stop digging people have been disproving your comments throughout this thread and you keep making up ‘facts’ to defend your point of view
oh and btw I don’t know where Levy’s proof comes from as Fergie himself just said that he never said anything. If bidding for a player is now seen as tapping up then football is in a sorry state
Fergie denies ever mentioning “Berbatov” to the press. He says that the quotes in the papers did not come from him and that Levy faces “embarrassment” as he’s got his facts royally screwed up in his complaint to the EPL to the Premier League. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7513117.stm
It had struck me as strange that Fergie should take such pains to avoid mentioning the name of the United target when interviewed at the airport prior to United flying out to South Africa, only to make express statements naming “Berbatov” as the target only a few hours later. Now we know: he did not name “Berbatov” as the player or Spurs as the club.
either way tottenham has to find new forwards right now or risk relegation.
thats how important these 2 dickhead forwards were for us.
ok, normally i dont reply to these sort of things. i quite enjoy just reading people replies, as i think alot of them are funny, truthful, or not. But i just want to reply to someone that said Spurs are selling Berbs and Keane to ballance the books. Spurs are, 14th in the world richest team. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4269991.stm Only Newcastle earns more money then us outside the Champions league.
However, i believe Spurs are only 1 of 3 clubs, might be wrong might be more or less. Whatever; that have no debets. That is right, NO DEBETS!!!
So a club that is 14th richest with no debets doesnt need to sell to ballance the books. They can afford to spend shitloads on players and not sell. Thats why they have proberly the biggest squad in the prem. More than 30.
Ramos is just trying to get rid of alot of players he doesnt want to trim it down to 21-23. Maybe Keane and Berba falls into that group. However, he aint selling them cos he need funds to buy new players, he is selling them cos he feels he can get alot of money for them and buy players that will replace them and fit into his system better for alot cheaper.
Although i dont want to see them go to a rival club above us, that surely will improve them, i have total trust in Ramos with his transfer dealings and who he will let go and bring in. The Modric transfer is example enough. He knew he would be a star at the Euros got him in for cheap. Every single 1 of his transfers since he has joined has be great. Woodgate, great if he stays injury free. Hutton, great signing! Dos Santos, you know he is going to be something special. Dont listen to that twat Arsenal reserve player. He will be a great player.
If he thinks selling Keane and Berb is for the greater of the team for who he wants to bring in then great i trust him. But understand, he is only selling them cos he needs to make room for HIS signings. Doesnt need the money, just couldnt play his players he wants to bring in, with 1 or both of them at the club.
If Fergie didn’t mention it in the press, why is it on Man utd’s official website?:
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7BB4CEE8FA%2D9A47%2D47BC%2DB069%2D3F7A2F35DB70%7D&newsid=6614071
i think big phill summed it nicely.
i have 150% faith in ramos/
The article in the Man Utd website is a quote from The Sun.
Big Phill Ramos is not selling them to make room, he is selling them becuase they want to leave, I have already mentioned you people are reading into this too much when it is clear and simple.
We didn’t ‘tap up’ Bostock…he is 16 and was free to speak to any club he liked for his first professional contract.
You will notice for all Jordan’s vitriol over the saga he NEVER criticises Spurs’ conduct.
The author of this article is a clueless fool and clearly not fit to write any kind of serious journalistic articles.
The ablility to use a spellchecker doesn’t make a journalist, nor does the description of two clubs as ’scum’.
The lack of facts is truly outstanding and has been pointed out several times here that no tapping up was done for Bostock and a bid was made and accepted for Juande Ramos with Seville otherwise Spurs would’ve been in trouble.
For all of Seville’s compaints and refusal to trade with Spurs, I haven’t yet seen an official complaint which says something, no?
Terrible article, no substance and really quite embarrassing, I can only guess that this isn’t a serious website and is merely Ahmed Bilal’s blog who I’ll guess is an Arsenal fan.
Naw he’s a Manc… this place is full of them!!
so if they do sell the duo.
will they once again pursue luis garcia?
i really think they should just say good riddance and move on quickly before other stars get signed up for the upcoming season.
come on tottenham, at the moment your gonna come out 2nd best.
I’m sorry that you lack the intelligence to understand that putting up newspaper articles on your website which quote your manager is a transparent attempt to cover your back and to claim, as some of you have, that it was the press that made it up and that it has nothing to do with Utd.
The fact of the matter is - Man Utd leaked that quote to the press and then they put it up on their website. They have been doing this since last summer and this is what Levy is talking about in his complaint - not just one comment but 12 months of illegally tapping up berbatov.
Michael
saying a player’s name isn’t tapping up. I don’t know if you are familiar with the rules, I’ll assume that you don’t. Tapping up is talking to a player without the selling clubs permission. United have never talked to Berbatov and how is Ferguson tapping him up by saying ‘we’ve bid on a player’ at the airport the day before these ‘quotes’ surfaced in the Sun who got their ‘exclusive’ from a Norweigan website. Ferguson confirmed that he never spoke to the Sun yesterday and since he didn’t mention Berbatov on SS in the airport I just don’t see what he has done wrong.
Michael,
Read the article, read the part where it says ‘from the Sun’. ManUtd.com is not exactly a ‘mouthpiece’ for the club - their news section covers a lot of rumours and stories mentioned in the press without confirming or denying the stories.
I understand that you don’t follow ManUtd.com so you wouldn’t know this, but it’s true.
Jonathan (#72):
Actually, I don’t use a spellcheck. I have an editor for that (and another one coming in just for proofreading). And the part where I called Utd and Liverpool ’scum’? In context please, read the whole article and see how it turns from supporting Tottenham’s case to pointing out Tottenham’s hypocrisy. Too clever for you?
And as for Ramos - again, Levy was arguing on a point of principle and painting Spurs as doing things the right way. I’m just pointing out that the Tottenham way isn’t always ‘right’.
Read my response to your article Ahmed.
Putting up newspaper articles on your website which quote your manager is a transparent attempt to cover your back and to claim, as some of you have, that it was the press that made it up and that it has nothing to do with Utd.
Manutd.com is the official website of Man Utd. It is owned and run by Man Utd. The official mouthpiece of the club is EXACTLY what it is. Can you not see how transparent it is to print a newspaper’s quotation of your manager tapping up another club’s player on your official website?
As for Spurs hypocrisy, the facts simply don’t support your false accusation. Bostock was not tapped up because he was not under contract. That really is all there is to say abot that. Ramos, a manager, for whom the same rules do NOT apply, again was not tapped up. We approached Sevilla and signed him but we were at all times negotiating with them alone even though we had every right to talk directly to Ramos.
In any case, for you to point out Spurs’ alleged hypocrisy rather than pointing out the blatent hypocrisy of the Old Wino who manages Man Utd.
is ridiculous
Frankly, Tottenham fans shouldn’t be concerned about morals or anything of that sort when it comes to Berbatov and Keane, because when it all boils down, a) Ferguson or Benitez don’t need to coerce either of them into leaving when they’re perfectly capable of making those decisions themselves, b) I think anybody who accuses anyone of something in the game today doesn’t have any room to say anything on their end, even if we’d like to think that the club that we support is on a higher moral ground than another.
Spurs submit one-year’s worth of ‘evidence’ to the Premier League…
newspaper clippings?
You pray that the evidence is newspaper clippings. A decent joke, but really, it seems like you are a little bit nervous and you are using the joke as therapy to lessen the anxiety you feel.
This shows that Fergie illegally taps up players as part of his normal transfer strategy.
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8750_3847716,00.html
Michael,
A small word of advice. Step back from the computer for a minute, take a deep breath, and just let it go.
If he does, he does. He isn’t the only one, and trying to go after him for it would likely drag a lot of other people down as well. If he doesn’t, well, all the same. Worry more about what your club is doing, not what someone else’s is.
30m for a guy who’s all too excited about leaving is money well received…the investments that Ramos can make on Spurs’ future with that money and the money from Keane’s sale (and the sales of Malbranque, Chimbonda, Kaboul, and Tainio) will go a long way towards a future that’s already pretty bright.
Eddie Griffin - You can keep your condescending advice. In your arrogant stupor, you missed my point completely. I’m not the slightest bit upset at Man Utd & Liverpool for tapping up our players. It happens all the time at all levels.
I just find it nauseating to hear most of these Man Utd supporters and some Liverpool supporters berate Spurs as a small club who should just shut up and know their place. This is bitch-like behaviour and you know it. When it was C. Ronaldo and Gerrard getting tapped up by Real Madrid and Chelsea respectively, there was a tidal wave of self-righteous outrage. Very few Liverpool fans and ZERO Man Utd fans have paused for a second to realise the rank hypocrisy.
Ahmed is one of the worst offenders in this regard. The facts clearly show that Bostock was NOT tapped up by any stretch of the imagination. The facts also show, once you get past the rumours, that Ramos was not tapped up either. The guy is just typing bullshit lies. Meanwhile, Ferguson, as shown in my previous post, has done this as a matter of basic operating procedure throughout his career but Ahmed didn’t call him a hypocrite.
What a joke.
I’m not trying to be condescending, I’m just trying to say don’t get so wound up when you shouldn’t be. Don’t take it the wrong way.
Ahmed never said that Bostock was ‘tapped up.’ His point, at least from what I read, is that Tottenham didn’t go about things the right way by talking to Bostock before talking to Crystal Palace - not necessarily tapping up, but more or less not going about it sportingly.
And as for Ramos - the man himself says that Spurs made him an offer to replace Jol well before he actually took it. Ramos was under contract at Sevilla, and Jol was still employed by Tottenham. In the end, the fact that Jol was getting the sack and that Ramos was taking over for him was one of the worst-kept secrets around. Whether or not it was tapping up, it was a mess that I’m sure all parties involved would like to replay much differently, even though I think Ramos is the right man for the job.
As for your arguments for hypocrisy - I can understand why you’re upset/annoyed/nauseated, but hey, Tottenham may well get the last laugh.
Michael - thanks, I thought it was funny too.
comment moderated
Finally all is clear! Up to now there was no real evidence and much disagreement based on little real fact. But at last we know…………..Michael has the REAL FACTS. He KNOWS that Utd tapped up Berbatov for over a year and has CLEAR evidence that Utd met with Berbatov and his agent, as did Liverpool with Keane and his agent.
And I thought it may have just all been rumour!
Thanks for clearing that up Michael……….
Comment deleted by moderator. Read the comments policy.
Funny that! I was reading this thread along with a mate of mine here at the office and I said to him that this guy(Michael) was simmering away here and I bet I could make him fully ignite……and Hey Presto!, off he went like a rocket.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the explosion before it was deleted!!
Very funny mate
Comment deleted by moderator. Read the comments policy, and play nice!
Of course I was upset with Chelsea’s constant badgering of Gerrard but if we had have reported them I would have been ashamed of the way my club was conducting itself and I think Liverpool managed the situation brilliantly were as Spurs see it differently.
No. Spurs are not a small club, there are no small clubs in the EPL (except maybe Stoke and Hull, no offense) but Man U and Liverpool compete for Europes top prize year in and year out and both are almost expected to reach the last 4 each year so they are a level above.
Ah, my bad michael. It sounds less offensive but that’s probably because it didn’t register the first time what it meant. Fixed.
Ummm… if Liverpool have done nothing wrong, as loads of you claim, how comes the public apology from them and the sizeable donation to the Spurs charity as appeasement? If they’d done nothing wrong, why would they need to do that?
Fergie was misquoted and never said Berba’s name. He just had a mystery bid but never mentioned the player so hence he did not breach the Premier League’s rules and that is why Fergie said that “it will be very embarrassing” for Levy because Fergie initially did not say anything!
Spurs submitted a “DOSSIER” of evidence which is why they dismissed Fergie’s infantile statement.
I’d like to thank Ahmed Bilal; I didn’t especially enjoy his article (although it didn’t offend my Spurs fan sensibilities as much as it did Michael’s) but it created a lot of very entertaining hot air.
I would hope Ahmed appreciates that the Bostock transfer was both legal and not particularly unsporting, even if the end result of a fantastic young talent leaving the team who developed him while he’s still so young isn’t really how we’d like to see things go in football. I’ve no doubt if Bostock had stayed at Palace for another season or two, he would have continued to play regularly, come on in leaps and bounds, and then promptly been snapped up by one of the top 4.
However, Spurs offering him a contract rather than dealing with Jordan wasn’t ‘unsporting’, but rather more pragmatic. If we’d spoken with Palace instead, they would have offered Bostock a new contract which he would’ve had to accept, negotiate or reject, with no idea of what we were offering. That would’ve put a lot of pressure on the lad, which everyone involved wanted to avoid. As it was, we offered him a contract, which he liked the look of and accepted. Then we offered Jordan a sizeable wedge (but still not enough, in mine and Jordan’s opinion) which he rejected in favour of settling with the tribunal, which bizarrely valued Bostock even less. All the big4 do business in a similar way, signing up promising youngsters to play in the reserves. Often they make offers for youngsters who are out of contract, and often tribunals settle the fee. Arsenal do it all the time. Its perfectly legitimate, and even if its how we’d like to see football going (myself included), that’s the way it is, and that’s how the top4 generally manage to assemble world-class squads without paying world-bank transfer fees like the so-called Galacticos.
So Spurs weren’t really unsporting at all, and its a bit silly that Bostock’s being dragged into all this hypocritical name-calling and finger-pointing. I understand where you were coming from, Ahmed, but its just the nature of the Premier League beast.
I won’t go into the Jol/Ramos saga, suffice to say that I think the other Spurs fans on here have successfully proven we did nothing wrong, and everyone else (and some Spurs fans) have rightly pointed out it was a shambolic train-wreck, the blushes from which still haven’t quite faded.
Keane and Berba, the crux of the matter… Well, Robbie submitted a transfer request to the effect that he wanted to talk with Liverpool. After signing, Rafa apologised and gave us a donation on top of our already massively inflated transfer fee, so there must have been some wrong doing. Fact of the matter is, had Rafa not declared interest, Robbie would’ve been happy with us. That’s not tapping up though, so maybe Robbie was given a hypothetical contract offer in secret, or maybe Rafa was just being sympathetic (not likely).
Either way, at the end of the day, we got a large fee for a decent player who’s performed above expectations for us for the last three or four seasons. He isn’t, however, a world class striker. There’s no doubt he’s a talented lad, and when he’s on his game he can be astonishingly good, but at every club he’s played at his form has been patchy (although it got better in the last two years, he still had some months when he couldn’t hit a barn door).
I’d like to say I hope at Liverpool he can find the consistency he’s struggled to find elsewhere, but I don’t really, because it’s dog eat dog in the PL and last thing I want to see is Keano getting a golden boot this season and winning Liverpool the league. All the same, I think calling him a Judas is a bit much. This was no Sol Campbell episode - we got a lot of money for Robbie, and he was very gracious about the club he had worked tirelessly for for a long time.
I created a little thought experiment to deal with the transfer. It might help other Spurs fans who, like myself, feel a bit bitter about Robbie asking to leave:
1) You’re a decent footballer, playing for a decent PL team.
Let’s say it’s Villa.
You’ve been there 6 seasons but only got European football for two of them, never in the CL.
You’re 28. You’re peaking.
It’s all downhill from here.
Maybe Villa might get to the CL sometime in the next 2 or 3 seasons, its all a bit sketchy.
2) Spurs, the team you’ve supported all your life, declare an interest in signing you.
They’ve been playing in the CL regularly, hell they’ve even won it recently.
They sound like they’re really keen on you; they’ve put in a bid way more than you’d value yourself, and way more than Villa could really ask for you.
This is probably your one and only chance to play for your boyhood team - if you don’t go now, they’ll probably sign someone younger and give up on you.
Remember, you’re 28.
Also, it looks like you’d fit into their squad nicely - they’re shipping out some players who you would otherwise have to compete with for selection.
Oh, and they’re offering you a lot more money than Villa’s wage structure would allow.
If any Spurs fans think they would turn down Spurs and stay with Villa in that situation, they’re either not really Spurs fans, or deceiving themselves. I’d jump in a second - and be sorry to leave Villa, but delighted to join the team I’ve always supported.
This isn’t a terrible betrayal, its the realisation of a boyhood dream, and I feel glad for Robbie that he’s getting this chance, even if I feel gutted for Spurs, and annoyed at the board for not having sorted this out sooner. When Ramos took over, I said I hoped he’d sort the squad out before this season starts. He may yet do that, but we’re cutting things a bit fine, and ultimately we’ll have the same old excuse “new players need time to gel” to rationalise bad performances, if there are any (oh god I hope not, but let’s be realistic here).
As for Berbatov, I grow tired of the issue. I don’t care whether he stays or goes (I’d like him to stay, but if he doesn’t want to work harder to win stuff with us, then I don’t want him) but I do object to United fans arguing we should just hand him over for whatever they want to pay.
There’s a lot of factors involved here - firstly, he’s under contract and he’s a key player for us, but just as importantly is the fact he’d make a huge difference for United: he’s not a van Nistelroy-type player, he’s not going to bag 40-odd goals a season, but with his touch, his ability to drop the ball on a penny, combined with United’s mouthwatering attacking midfield, he’ll create as many if not more. Hansen said (and I loathe to quote the Scotch muppet, but he’s right) last January: “Bottom line, if he goes to United, they win the Champion’s League.” Well, they won it anyway, fair enough. But with an addition like Berba, United would struggle not to win the league and CL for the next three or four seasons. Plus the impact of a player like that on your youngsters is immeasurable. United already have a wealth of talented players inspiring their youngsters, so that’s perhaps not such a factor for them, but I dare say Berba would only have a positive influence on established younger players like Rooney, Tevez (if he stays), Nani, Anderson etc.
So I think if you Reds want him, fair enough, but don’t whine about the fee we set, otherwise you’re no better than that Madrid lot.
And anyone who takes Levy’s complaints at face value, and not as the wily (but unscrupulous) business they really are, is a bit dim. We don’t seriously want to keep an unhappy Berbatov at Spurs and have Fergie’s wrists slapped - we just want as much money as we can get for our prized asset.
As a last word on the subject, if I were Ramos, and I had as much sway over transfers as he supposedly does (after all this Spurs fan talk of how its going to be better with Ramos because the board trust him with money more than they did Jol), I would tell Levy not to sell to United, whatever they offer (listen to bids but not accept - don’t reject, just stall) and take a lesser fee to sell him to Barca. We don’t really need the money, and we certainly don’t need to see our star player helping United to a clean sweep this season. Better to see him playing in Spain. Then we can be pleased when he works his magic, and helps knock the top4 out of the CL on the way to lifting the trophy, rather than seeing him playing at one of our direct competitors…
Well, I can dream. The reality is Levy will be after as much as he can get, and assuming Fergie can persuade the Glazers to put in enough money (money which isn’t theirs anyway, its the club’s), we’ll bite their hands off to sell.
I’d also like to point out the absurdity of United fans commenting on our financial situation. You mortgaged your club for over a decade to a bunch of Yank idiots with no money. They will take billions of your profits to pay off their own debts. You make plenty enough for it not to be a serious issue (except having ever-so-slightly tighter purse-strings in the transfer market), but still, take the log out of your own eye before you start telling us about the speck in ours.
And finally (honest) the question of who is and isn’t good enough to break into the top 4 is absurd. At the moment, the gulf in winnings between EC and CL qualification is so enormous, that the top 4 are a monopoly. We (and a few other teams) could conceivably break into 4th place at some point, but it would be foolish and naive to believe it would be sustainable - Liverpool, or Arsenal (or one of the other two, if they were ever to muck up so badly) would simply spend a bit of money buying some more strength for their squad and walk back into the top 4 the next season.
There really ought to be a fairer way of distributing winnings among the whole league. Like results-based winnings - if you won away at the team who finished top, you get maybe 2% of the prize money, whereas if you beat the team who finished bottom at home, you only get 0.1%. I obviously haven’t worked the numbers out, so don’t quibble with that. The point is with that sort of system, the smaller clubs could still get a decent lump of cash to help them develop, if they managed to pull of a giant killing. This would make the league a lot more competitive, from start to finish.
Right, sorry for the length of that, but having digested everything everyone has said on here, there was a lot to address. Hopefully no one can possibly disagree with anything I’ve said, but that seems unlikely on recent form. I’ll try to keep checking back here over the next few days in case anyone does reply, but since its already quite an old article, I might meet with silence. Either way, thanks to Ahmed, and all the fans here, for a genuinely entertaining (if not always entirely rational) debate.