I get all that and we do have to cut our cloth accordingly. We have though wasted money on quite a few players in recent years, who have had to be moved on after a season or so because they were just not good enough. So in some respect it has been a false economy. It has to be quality over quantity which mean paying a bit more but for the right player.

again, we're no different to anyone else in that regard. name me a club that doesn't make unsuccessful transfers...that club doesn't exist. we've taken so much stick for supposedly "wasting" the Bale money as though no-one has ever made high-profile mistakes before. the other accusation is that we supposedly "didn't do our research" before bringing some them in, but I didn't hear that being levelled against Chelsea when Shevchenko and Torres (amongst others) didn't work out. what about the loss Man U have just made on Di Maria for instance? what about the likes of Jovetic and Robinho (again, amongst others) at Man City or any one of a number of stupid signings Liverpool have made over the last few years? besides, not every one of those players we've moved on has been a "flop" at all.

Anyone critising Levy over spending must be 12yrs old and still living with their parents. Its the players wage demands that are likely to cause a problem with Spurs paying 60k a week for stars and Chelsea etc prepared to double that you are restricted to who you can attract. Schneiderlin a good example, i think Levy would have gone for 25m to purchase but he isnt going to pay Schneiderlin twice what Kane and Eriksen are getting. Fabregas is on 150k a week, Costa 180K, Hazard 200K - and these wages amongst the clubs above us are not uncommon.

In terms of criticism of Levy, you're talking about wages specifically?

I don't think Levy can really be critisized at all he does a decent job, he does seem to have a blind spot when it comes to managerial appointments though. Levy's hands are tied as far as wages are concerned Spurs can only afford wages in a certain band and that's it, the band still being in the Top 6 payers in the EPL. Levy could afford to buy a top player and would but Chelsea could offer them double in wages. The wage bill of clubs related to turnover is regularly published and i think Spurs are paying a higher percentage than Arsenal and Man Utd.

I disagree. Levy does not do a good job at all. He has wiped a considerable amount off the wage bill this year and has left the squad dangerously low. Every summer he fails to sign the players we need in time for the new season and we spend the rest of the season playing catch up because of his petty penny pinching. I guarantee the club will only progress once he goes.

Just reading, no PL clubs interested in Adebayor so his only option is to go abroad. No bids for Lennon at price Levy wants, may change if he lowers it. Fazio likely next out, apart from WBA two Spanish clubs have expressed interest. If he chooses Albion, it would be a separate deal to any negotiation for Berahino.

I can honestly see the hatstand basically being put on gardening leave until january to see if there are any other takers - there'll likely be more of a chance of a club willing to take a punt on loaning him in if they're in the lower half of the table and need a few quick wins to ensure safety before the end of the season.

but then i don't think i'd be massively surprised to see him seeing out his contract and leaving on a free.

I do sometimes wonder if he might still go to Villa, once he's done reminding Levy who the boss is.

Why do some people think Levy just has to snap his fingers and players will sign for us? Why do they not realise that transfers can be long, drawn out, processes with many factors at play, other than us simply wanting the player to sign? Why do people act like other teams aren't still doing business, and we are the only team still trying to add players to our squad? Why do we go over this every single summer????

Oh well .. according to Sky, Fazio is at West Brom having a medical

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...of-1635m-move?

I can only assume - and hope - that Dier is moved back to CB once Mason is fully fit because at least that means we'll have some degree of cover in that position with him, Wimmer, Vertonghen and Alderwield.

It does make us fairly light in the DM positions though, unless he plans to use Alli more in that position because, as it stands, we'll only have Bentaleb and Mason, with Bentaleb being rather out of form as it stands.

I guess the only place we've really got anything approaching half decent cover is in attack - apart from the obvious shortage of strikers.

With Fazio going, I'm majorly concerned about having only ball playing CBs. Dier is probably the best in the air of the remaining CBs, but he pushes forward. I guess my hope is that Wimmer turns out to be that CB who gets stuck in and is a bit tougher than the rest.

Fazio also adds a lot of experience and leadership, that our squad is severely lacking. It's a bloody great signing for West Brom to add someone with his experience to their ranks. I feel sorry for him that in just over a year, he's gone from winning the Europa League with Sevilla, to now signing for a bottom half league team (no offence to West Brom). We've properly stuffed up his career.

A big mistake if we let Fazio go before the start of this season and before the new CBs have proved themselves to be better options. I can only think that a sale to WBA would be purely to smooth the way for Berahino to come down the M6/M1 in the opposite direction.

I think we should just pay Adebayor off and be done with him now. He has deliberately blown out the few clubs that were interested and I certainly don't want him anywhere near our training ground.

I can only guess that maybe Fazio expressed a desire to play more often and this is why we've let him go, assuming the deal is completed.

Signing Alderweireld and Wimmer wouldn't have necessarily pushed him out of contention. It would have likely meant he'd have covered the cup competitions so would still have played quite often.

I'm starting to agree with Knarf in that it's going to be a looong season ..

Well, I'm not sure Dier is any kind of answer in defensive midfield. A real shame we couldn't get Schneiderlin.

Maybe it's okay criticising Levy for not getting all this done sooner in the widnow but, at the same time, for some really key players we do have to wait for Man Utd and Liverpool to finish their shopping. Some will come to us, but only when it's absolutely clear they're not wanted by a CL side.

actually, if dier's first two performances as a DM in the league are anything to go by, I think he'd actually be pretty decent in that position. but, considering we're now likely going to be down to 3 main CB's, I'd rather have him back in defence

Don't think this CL excuse for Levy really washes.
Liverpool are not in the CL this season but this has not stopped them buying decent players. Big difference is they have an ambitious chairman that is not only interested in balancing the books while making a nice little profit for himself and ENIC.

Pulls has essentially confirmed that Fazio wants the move because he wants to play regular football


http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/spor...-pulis-9901714

^I don't blame him. Just as he'd found his feet and was really forming a good partnership with Jan, and the team was starting to click, we dropped him for a load of league games for no reason. We brought him back long after it had become obvious the Jan and Dier pairing was awful, and now this season, he's not even made the bench.

Fazio is a perfectly capable defender, but was doomed to "fail" here before he'd even kicked a ball because Pochettino wanted Musacchio instead. exactly the same thing happened with Stambouli.

we're a mess right now. I expect an absolute maximum of 4 points from our next two games against Leicester and Everton, and then some deadline-day panic deals. whoopee. either way, I think it should be pretty clear to all now that barring something pretty epic, we're going to be worse than last season. which should be fun.

the Adebayor thing really makes NO difference to anything right now, so I don't know why so many are so focused on it. whether or not he goes, he's not in our plans. Lennon is in exactly the same boat, but I don't see any NYE-type countdowns for him.

Well at least N'Jie has been granted his work permit and is available .. yay!

I think very few players would join us over Liverpool. Benteke included.

That will change in 3-4 years but for now we are where we are in the food chain. And it does mean waiting for others to do their business.

He's fast you know, I don't know if anyone has mentioned that ,,,

I see Jermaine Jenas is on WILTY tonight.

"I underperformed at Spurs". True or Lie?

And Pritch has signed a new four year contract.

Apparently the Fazio deal may have broken down over personal terms.