Friday, January 11, 2008

Tottenham In 'Genuine Bid' Shock


Despite the playing it down spiel from Tottenham our boys are getting very active in the transfer market. This is clearly down to the wanting to publicly support Ramos's appointment even in the weaker window and of course to shore up the glaring shortages our exsisting squad has to offer it's new master.

Word is the bid for Boro's Stewart Downing is in. How much? Obviously it's all cobblers until it's done, but a figure in excess of £10 million inc/plus/minus Tainio plus a Barbie World Kitchenette/Post Office with lickable stamps and... 'some shoes' has been whispered.
Keith Lamb says nothing is going on, at all, but he ain't Stu's agent.
Make of it what you will chaps... but the bid, is very much in.

Discuss, damn you!

67 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ello HH first time at posting on here, wouldnt surprise me if we got him either the board want to try and make good on promises to ramos when he signed, expect alot more activity aswell.

ps keep up the great work love the sight

Anonymous said...

harry you are my hero you tell it as it is keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Harry-
Any truth to the Fred rumors. As for Stu, I could take'em or leave'em.....

Anonymous said...

Harry forget bout downing, whats the news on FRED?????? SSN reporting we've had a bid accepted along with pompey!! Can you shed more light on this bid??

Harry Hotspur said...

9.31/ Snowyid

Please.

*sigh*

I make a post, then someone, preferably ANON instructs me... 'kill yourself'

You clearly have no grasp of how this particular blog works.

Snowyid get stuck in you are entirely welcome, mate....

Anonymous said...

Christ - chuffing well hope not!

Never really rated Downing, and he's not at all better than what we currently have.

Oh Snap.

Anonymous said...

A centre-half would be nice

Anonymous said...

Downing is crap, slow, overrated donkey - that's why no one else wants to buy him; I'd stick with Steed any day over him

Harry Hotspur said...

Chaps, I'm cold on the Fred deal just because.......... he ain't a defender and...... we aren't sole bidders.

THFC are 'IN' for about 4 players as we speak and I hope you know I would never hold anything back from you, but untill WE are more than just 'suitors' there's always FansFC!

BIOYC!

Anonymous said...

Downing will be a nice addition, but what's all this about Fred?! Are we gonna start playing 5 strikers now? Where's the defender and keeper that we need. If this is Ramos' work, then I'll be willing to trust it and go along. However, I'm worried that it may be more of Comolli going out and buying the players whether the coach wants them or not.

Anyways, thanks for the scoop, Harry. Hearing it from you is as good as hearing it from Sky or BBC as far as I'm concerned. If you said it, its official.

Harry Hotspur said...

I agree, to an extent, but Downing's assist rate is pretty good...

Overpriced? Absolutely.

Available to US, at THIS TIME? Perhaps at last.

Anonymous said...

He is no more than the new Andy Sinton (Mr average). £10mill for downing is almost as bad as the money paid for bent! What is the purpose of Comolli, is this the sort of player he is getting paid mega bucks to discover! We as a club complain about the likes of Man Utd unsettling our best players, then paying over the odds, well what are we doing?

Harry Hotspur said...

usspurs

Cheers for the support ~ I'll wear it always.

The boys at THFC are definately in for him, I am just hesitant to say it's even near done.

But certainly the activity on this deal is genuine and puts all previous tales about Downing into a 'cocked hat'.

ie May well actually happen.

Anonymous said...

Bent dont look bad business when you consider chelsea have just paid 15 million for Anelka. Bent scores more goals[before he came to us] and is 22 years old , Anelka is 27. As for Downing i feel a bit expensive for a squad player.

Anonymous said...

Any news on Jarque Harry?

Harry Hotspur said...

Raf_THFC ~ nothing positive mate.

Not being cryptic. Rather HIS club, agaents etc are negative on him going...

theshelfer said...

Downing is a good buy, if we want to remain a mid-table team. He has a sweet left foot, and will be deadly from free-kicks, and corners. Against the likes of Wigan, and Fulham, he will look like a world beater.

However, he has no pace and against the top clubs he will be starved of the ball and will be unable to free himself of his marker who can run faster than Marion Jones (before she went to prison).
I still cannot understand why we did not go the extra mile and buy Petrov in the summer.

Harry Hotspur said...

theshelfer...

Nor can I mate and my greater concern is that JR CANNOT have sanctioned this from the 'off'.

This is an inherited DC project.

Two words.

Uh & Oh.

theshelfer said...

Harold,

you appear to be doubting the skill of DC. If so, please be assured by the law of large numbers. In short, the more we buy, the greater the liklihood one of them will be good.

Anonymous said...

thsi Downing business is awful news for all of us

although hes a good player and would give us width, allowing us to play Steed infield where he is most effective

however Downing has been a spurs target for years which means this is not a Ramos transfer (im sure he be able to find someone better for cheaper using his foreign contacts)

this transfer policy of people buying players without other parts of the management involved is exactly what led to the disruption between Jol & Commolli

i cant say im pleased to see spurs have learnt nothing from that saga

Harry Hotspur said...

theshelfer = quality.

The Law Of Large Numbers.

I'm only against this law as I failed to patent it.

As you just did.

Chirpy said...

Problems solved then H. All season I've been watching Spurs and thinking, if only we had a mediocre crosser of the ball running down the left instead of Bale or Malbranque. Thank god we didn't waste our money on a central defender, left back, or central 'midfield general'.

On the bright side, Ramos is quality and will at some point realise the only reliable thing DC has done thus far is hire Juande.

Dare I mention Tiago?

Any thoughte on tomorrow's midfield?

Chirpy said...

H,

I've always had revered those that have the courage to face their inner demons; However, Merson's 'the semi is Spurs final' comments were childish (“Twat”) and forced me to temporarily suspend this.

Also, the manner in which he delivered this gem to camera got me thinking; Being reminiscent of other drunks who I've had the misfortune to discuss the Arse* - Spurs 'special relationship' with. Then, lo and behold in today's thelondonpaper, beacon of truth that it is, I read that the very same toothless crack-whore (no disrepect intended, if you like the pipe or need extensive dental work) has been ejected from his 'luxury' apartment in the Midlands for non-payment of mortgage - having blown the money on drink and gambling.

Respect fully dissipated.

Anonymous said...

Viva Chirpy!

Anonymous said...

I'm with everybody else on not wanting Downing. He has the talent, but he's lazier than Thudd, chokes under pressure, and has a miniscule amount of the desire that Steed shows every game.

We need to save all our dough and try to bring Kanoute back. He is the PERFECT compliment to our attack force. He would slot in the midfield just behind Keane and Berbatov and allow us to move the ball from the defence to our strikers through the midfield without going the back pass to Robbo route - which never works against the top clubs.

Anonymous said...

why oh why would we ever need to sign a donkey like Downing.. we need a centre back and two midfield playmakers... go get someone from Spain who is trickssyyyy and has good techncial ability so that Berbie and Keane can get some good service....

Anonymous said...

Don't want Downing, can't understand the fixation with him...if it's just cos he ticks all the boxes on comolli's sheet...there one other box....crap factor. He had penty ofchances to come and he didn't want to..so crap and doesn't wanna play for the club enough!...except now it's a good career move and boro need dough to buy too...NEXT!

Gonaa win tomorra lads ...coys!

Anonymous said...

Just heard that Fred has turned us down as he will only consider a move to a big club.

Anonymous said...

so so so dumb
how can you all take this guys word for anything...
seriously if anyone can tell me a good reason why harry hotspur isnt like all the other cunts that spout shit spurs rumours, then ill be fine
but seriously just because its posted on the internet... doesnt mean its true, sort yourselves out

Anonymous said...

I dunno about Downing either chaps...doesn't exactly fill me with excitement to begin with.

Secondly based on the question of does he add improvement to the team?...well I would also prefer an out of postion Steed over Downing in the short-term and then longer term once Bale is back, I believe he's got bags more class than this bloke, and then even O'Hara as a backup isn't a bad foil either, so over and above what we've got already don't add anything special for me.

Yeah creativity/service is always welcome, but is far from our biggest problem at the mo, since we're scoring enough goals and as long as Berba stays is like having a world class playmaker in its own right.

Now whats become a bigger problem than the tired old left wing saga is the core of the team, and especially the defence...duh!

So let common sense prevail and get some more fucking defenders please!...a top notch left back for a start so Steed or who ever is playing left wing can concentrate on creating with peace of mind the bloke behind him isn't getting bullied. Even more importantly a top notch "ready now" centre half who isn't injury prone so I suppose that rules out the likes of Woodgate. Ben Haim at Chelsea would be more preferable but doubt that would happen unless they wanted Chimbonda, but then we're stuck trying to get a top right back in a short amount of time so sorting things out on one hand while screwing ourselves on the other. Personally would leave Chimbo be for now until we can find a quality replacement.

As are also welcome any top notch midfield generals, I dare say having Hudds, Boeteng and Tainio as our main centre mid options in our heros Jenas' and Zokora's absence won't worry Chelsea too much in that department tomorrow.

Funnily enough the presence of Ramos as our manager makes me feel a lot more at ease regardless of team selection, just seems to motivate who ever's available to play to the best of their ability...now isn't that clever?

Coys...Bioyc!

Anonymous said...

Vinny - I think you had one too many tonight. You forgot that we have the best young LB on the planet in Bale. Also, Thudd has 2 more games on his suspension.

How about O'Hara & Kaboul in central midfield? It wouldn't hurt us to go with a dedicated holding midfielder for a change, and Kaboul is a better fit for that role than he is at defender at this point in his progression. He is outstanding at stopping opponents off the dribble, and he seems to have a ton of energy and desire to push forward.

Another benefit of this is that SWP is going to walk all over Lee and Kaboul could help provide extra cover so that Steed doesn't have to.

Anonymous said...

If its true then one can only quote what was said before "Commoli"... Can't tell me Ramos was winning UEFA cups back 2 back and thinking when I get to Spurs!! i'll sign downing???? Best left winger we could sign is Pedersen, Downing's a Barnet Sinton FFS!!!

Anonymous said...

Agreed. What a crock of shxte. Don't forget his role, Comolli is not only responsible for new talent but also ensuring that there is peace within the camp. As far as I know the players that he was bringing in like Kaboul, Taraabt, BAE and co were being told on arrival that MJ never had a future but just keep schtum and you'll see what happens but won't be disappointed. How could these players ever play for Jol with that dressing room atmosphere? Robbo for all his blunders is at least a man of integrity and wears the shirt with pride. He was the one that had carrick up against a wall when he wanted out afetr Jol gave him his first real run in the side and made him what he is. Do you really think that Jol sold Carrick? No chance! Jol for all his negative tactics and wrong decisions knew what MC meant to the team and then Judas fecking Commolli engineered the sale. Levy obviously believed him when he sadi that he had the perfect replacement in the form of zokora but not taking anything away from Didier, our side fell apart. We are now buying this no trick pony natural left footer for a riciculous sum (quoted at 12mil 10 cash and tainio). How much do you think Manuel Fernandez would cost? Weigh up the pros and cons of each player..... There is no arguement - Levy is running a shop and they have looked at the market and the rising prices for top class footballers and they see a trend. This trend they do not see abating and since thats the forecast they are acquiring the likes of Downing, Bent, Gunter, Bale (although boy wonder bale has nothing to prove except that he can stay healthy) in the hope that the lets call them; 'tier 1 footballers' values continue to increase at the same rate they have been for the last 5-10years. That being the case then in three years after we have paid Bent 30k a week in addition to the 16.5 million that we paid for him, the average price of a striker like him will be 20-25 mil. That would mean that he would be on our books but never actually cost a penny after we sold him in 3-4 years. The reason Chimbo is on his way out is so that we can still cash in on him as he is 29 and Chelski, Villa/Other will still pay good money for him. In 2 years he won't be worth jack sh it. My opinion is that there is absolutely no way that Ramos has sanctioned an acquisition of Downing at 12 Million or 10 or 8 or 6. Ramos is just about the best thing that Judas has done for the club since defecting from the scum. However while I see our general game improving, I do don't think it will ever be possible to make a top 4 finish if he doesn't have free reign over who he buys. If we do get Downing then Ramos will have to play him at some point even if it is shop window time. That means Levy is picking the team in part and a recipe for disaster.

Moving on.....

All in all I am just glad to see Ledders back and I think it's gone unoticed but Dawson is fast becoming the rock he once was with his favoured sidekick alongside him. Chelsea will be a tough task tmw - I watched them play against Everton and even 10 men they were at it and actually playing football. Hank ten Cate is the reason for taht although Grant is taking the credit. Anyway enough of this rant - I have had it now. Stewart Fecking Dowing - What are we doing? please no. Please no - oh feck . please no no no no no no no no no

Anonymous said...

Downing is goin 2 play LB 4 us.

Anonymous said...

HH - kill yourself

Anonymous said...

Given Ramos' apparent desire for slick, quick passing football, Downing would appear to be the last person he would be bringing in.

What do Tottenham see in this guy that none of the Big 4 seem to see?

My ecstasy of seeing Robinson finally outed will die down pretty quickly if that overated carthorse comes in. Wouldn't we have all sooner had Petrov?

Anonymous said...

Harry - Do you know what has happened to Terry Dixon? He came back this season, got crocked in almost bhis first game and now seems to have disappeard off the face of the earth.

EL said...

Should downing actually arrive, I hope he hasn't been reading this site. Nothing like a warm welcome. He's not my cup of tea either but if Ramos can get him playing regularly at his best, maybe he can improve the overall strength and balance of the side without being a step-over star.

For what it's worth, downing, as of 8/1/08, is 84th on the ACTIM premiership players list for this season, to Malbranques 98th.

I looked on wikipedia to find something positive to say about him but the most positive thing on there was that he supports a campaign to help kids kick the habit of placing their heads infront of moving trains and then pulling them out of the way at the last minute, presumably to relieve the boredom of living in Middlesbrough.


Anyway, here's to stuffing the sovereign ringers.

Go on the Spurs!

Anonymous said...

Anybody else think Chris Gunter may get the nod over Chimbonda today?

Anonymous said...

downing is wank. does this mean malbranque will be demoted to the bench - cos personally i think he's having a quality season. id much rather a couple of new defenders were brought in than downing

Anonymous said...

anyone want to offer an estimate as to when "steve" Malbranque will over run the ball, give it away and set up chels on a goalscoring break?

I reckon 86 mins, after we've held on to 1-0 from the 3rd minute.

Anonymous said...

or i just might be talking poo.

unlike HH who talks pretty much the opposite of poo - whatever that is.

My wifes getting her hair cuttoday. I wonder what that will turn out like?

Anonymous said...

We'd probably be better playing King in Midfield, the problem with our deffence stems from not getting enough cover from our midfielders, since Carrick went up north weve struggled, i'd play King as a holding midfield player if he's fit enough, that way Kaboul could be marshalled until he gains confidence, we all know kaboul can play thats for sure, just his confidence thats lacking a little, plus him and Dawson are young guys.
we'd probably be better offering defoe to villa for young and larsen, that would give us decent left winger and a quality center half with experience, if defoe isnt signing his deal, then have no option but to ship him out the door in this window.

Anonymous said...

So disappointed when the Hutton deal fell through. He would have rocked our world.

I just hope the Downing deal doesn't collapse. Not only has he enjoyed the amazing experience of working under Steve McLaren at club and international level, he scored for Boro in a 4-1 Worthington Cup win over Brentford in October 2002. Quality.

Oh, and he has 'a sweet left foot.'

Look on his works, ye mighty, and tremble.

Maybe there are certain 'benefits' to clubs that culture English internationals? Pffft. Dunno. He's a squad player - that's all - and over-priced.

We're a bit short in the middle today against the chavs, but I think we could do 'em.

Nice weekend, all.

9.37 Anon

Anonymous said...

If this is true then it's got Commoli written all over it as others have suggested.
The worrying thing is we seem to be good at attracting young or not entirely proven players -Gunter,Drowning,Kaboul,KPB, Bale ( the only real success which is why he's been crocked twice )yet fail to get the top notch players like Hutton and Petrov + a few others.This seems to be because either Commoli thinks they are too old or they think we're not big enough.
The way forward seems to be for Ramos to exercise his influence and out Commoli in his place.

Anonymous said...

Ive just realised we are gonna do plenty of business in this transfer window because we can offer european football.If we dont qualify for europe at the end of this season its gonna be bloody hard attracting top class players.

Anonymous said...

I reckon Ramos, not Comolli, will sign about 5 players this transfer window. Goalie, centre half, centre midfielder, left midfielder, striker. Expect the same number, if not more, to leave. Ramos will want to stamp his name on the club and now is a good time for it.
Whoever joins, I hope we all give them a fair crack and not boo them after one game.

Just 1 other thing. If the reports about Robbo are true wanting to leave after being dropped, then he goes way way down in my thoughts on him. No-one has a god given right to play and he needs to buckle down, shut up and prove, to us, Ramos and himself, that he is still a top class keeper, which undoubtedly he is. Throwing toys out of prams is nonsense. Didn't he sign a 7 year contract last year and say he wanted to stay for life? Prove it Robbo; show Ramos he's wrong. We want you back, but only as a top class goalie.

coys
bioyc

Anonymous said...

i see shelfy has risen from the dead btw!!!

Anonymous said...

We don't want Robbo. Ever. He is shite. Bring back Bobby Mimms.

Anonymous said...

the suggestion that Ramos wouldnt know about Downing is absolute rubbish, saville played Boro in the UEFA cup final two seasons ago and dispite saville thrashing boro 4-0 a not fully fit Downing was easily Boros best player. lets not be nieve and think that because Ramos isnt English and new to our league he isnt aware of Downing and others and doesnt have a say in who comes in.

Anonymous said...

Re cloud8......knowing about something and avoiding it are two different things...ask Freddie Mercury Oldgaz

Anonymous said...

Daytripper,

Was assuming Bale at left mid only in the circumstance we do not sign another player there as we've been trying to sign one for 3 years, so if he was fit now, sticking him on the left and push Steed into a central behind the strikers role would be interesting.

Sorry didn't realise Thudds is still on his suspension, in that case for today would play Tainio in the DM holding Role and either Steed or O'Hara in infront of him, there's even Boateng but is falling a bit short in his performances so far.

Now Kaboul and O'Hara at centre mid you say???...please mate, pack your bags and come and join me at the AA recovery centre now!

Anonymous said...

Fellow spurs fans be afraid,be very afraid....who was the last english based ,left sided midfielder/winger that we pursued for several years and eventually signed?????????ANDY REID...nuff said. oldgaz

Anonymous said...

Lee-young is shit. He is to blame for Chelsea's 2nd goal!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I just don't understand what Boateng has done to deserve the start today. Finally (after 2 years) when Jenas seems to have a good stretch of form, we're stuck with watching this tit in the midfield? He's been absolutely shocking his last two outings. Sort it out, Juande.

Anonymous said...

We need some quality goal-scorers and fast. If we can't score against a pile of west-end puff-pastries then we are sunk. Sounds great doesn't...leading Premiership goalscorers but we just don't score against any of the top teams. Keane is past his sell-by date, DeFoe doesn't play enough to get a rhythm (was it a big5 mins today?)and Berbatov just isn't scoring. So that makes about 9 new players that we need...how many will we get in this window...I reckon none (that will actually improve the team). One reason is that if anyone any good is available he won't want to take a pay-cut to come to Spurs. It's the old pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

Anonymous said...

jimijazz

Jenas was suspended after 5 yellow cards. Finally someone, like me, who believes in the lad!.

Am not too downhearted, cos we were never going to get anything from this game, maybe a draw. Next season at their place after Ramos has shaped HIS team will see how well we are doing.

coys
bioyc

Summerspur said...

my team to play reading in FA cup
WALKER

STALTERI

RICHARDS

LACEY

AUSTIN

GHALY

DOZZELL

ACIMOVIC

TURNER

REBROV

BERTI

MANAGER JOLSGONEMENTAL

just watched manure and i believe its only in our best interests, honest chaps, trust me on this one.

Anonymous said...

Id play Iversen instead of Berti.
Man U were bloody awesome today.

Anonymous said...

Ah, looks like i'm the tit then. Still, I would've preferred Tainio. Boateng plays like Ghaly -gasp- at times.

Anonymous said...

"Good For Agents":

Keane is past it? He's our top scorer
Defoe needs more game-time? He started against Villa and did jack shit.
Berba's not scoring: He scored four in one game last month and also put one past the Scum.

Go take your valium you depressing cunt.

Johnny Mac

Anonymous said...

team for tues:
Robbo
gunter archibald-henville dervitte Berchiche
taarabt dixon tainio rose
peckhart Olsen
bty

Anonymous said...

An exiled Spurs supporter near Boro land. The word is Downing is not up to it Johnston is the better player. Downing avoids tackles and does not work for the team. Sounds like it a done deal for Spurs then!!!

Harry Hotspur said...

Summerspur talk with UNforked tongue.



Cheers for that quality post, I needed something to distract me from trying to score some anti~depressants.

Harry Hotspur said...

Johnny Mac:

Totally appropriate unasterisked use of the c word. Well done.

goodforagents:

You bloated crabstick: Defoe's N17 VISA has pretty much expired. I write as a fan. Keane? Get a grip you big oaf. I am not Keane's number one fan but you're talking cobblers son.

Anonymous said...

You bastard!

GRAZZA said...

Mimms

Tramezzani
Nethercott
Scott
Austin

Clemence
Berti
Dozzell
Acimovic

Postiga
Doherty

COYS!!!