After a scintillating start to the season, Tottenham’s form hit a brick wall when they threw away a 2-0 lead against Arsenal back in February. They lost 5-2 and it’s been downhill ever since. They’ve slipped from a comfortable third place to a Europa League fifth, behind both the Gunners and Newcastle. Whilst fans will be disappointed, many are already waiting with baited breath for the transfer window to re-open and offer a chance to fix problems prevalent within the squad.
But I imagined at first that Tottenham would be doing most of the spending but now it appears they’re looking to have a bit of a clear out. According to The Daily Express, Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen are both set to be dumped as Spurs look to gather the funds to make big signings this summer.
Both players signed a six month contract in January, but reports suggest that neither will receive a new long-term contract and that they’ll have to find another club. Both players were handed what appears to have amounted to a stay of execution, but now they’ve reached the end of the line.
I can understand Harry Redknapp’s unwillingness to commit to Ryan Nelsen (despite professing to have an abundance of admiration for the New Zealand defender in the past). The former Blackburn Rovers man has started just three games for Tottenham since his January move and all of them have come in the FA Cup. I’m sure that he’ll be looking for regular football and given that there’s not really any space for him in Harry’s squad, Tottenham will likely be willing to sell.
As for Saha, I don’t really understand the logic of not offering a new contract. He won’t demand Adebayor-esque wages, but he will still make for an able stand-in (assuming that Tottenham either keep Adebayor or buy a world-class replacement) when needs be. He’s scored four times for Tottenham and has even made a return to the French National team.
Whilst he’s not exceptional, he’s a fairly handy squad player and is worth keeping hold of. Yes Spurs will need to sell certain players to fund their summer moves, but should Saha really be shown the exit door? I’m not so sure.
What’s your take? Should Spurs REALLY dump both Saha and Nelsen?
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The main point is, we should never have bought these wo players to start with. Now we have them though, Nelson should go and Saha, I agree, should stay until we have a player of equal stature. Spurs currently have 3 strikers, and ideally we need at least 4, with one being a very young player trying to break into the squad (we have all these young players in the youth set up).
It must be obvious to all that these are a typical pair of ‘Arry signings, with a very short shelf-life. Both have proved less than reliable, less than influential. My take on what has happened is that Dan and ‘Arry have compromised, and the squad has been strengthened at the latter’s insistence. I think also that Dan was already wary of the future, and was not going to commit to big buys till he knew what was happening. I guess that he will now be full of regret that the FA didn’t come calling for ‘Arry, because he will now have to endure more of the same until ‘Arry’s contract runs down. We need to get back to the thoughtful long-term purchases, aside of maybe a one-off splurge on a goal-scorer. Everton and Newcastle have shown that this can be done without breaking the bank. The only way this will change will be if we sell Modric and or Bale …. ‘Arry would not be my choice to spend that kind of money.
Spurs are 4th, not 5th.
Its time we moved away from these lot simply because they cant stay fit….that means Gallas, King, Saha, Nelson need to go.
Id personally get rid of Defoe, he cant play up top on his own and modern day football has left him behind.
Thats means we need 3 new strikers but Levy must have known this which is why he hasnt spent any money even though we have sold, pav, palacios, crouch etc for money.
Id like Vertonghen, Lloris, Caulker returns, Naughton returns, Remy, Dembele, Victor Moses and a surprise big name signing.
Please dont let Harry sign Rio, Beckham, Ugo Ehiough and Stan Collymore